The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife

I appreciate Japanese woodcuts - their lines and patterns distilling an image down to a stylized, elegant composition. It didn't take much digging to get inspired by the incredible body of work produced by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). While his masterworks of Mt Fugi were familiar, the books of erotica he produced in 1814 were an interesting surprise. With this one piece, he's thought to have inspired an ongoing cultural fascination with tentacle erotica.

Many painters, including Picasso, have done their own versions depicting the story of the pearl diver or the fable of Princess Tamatori sacrificing herself to save her husband's pearls. My version includes a piece of "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" from about 1829 (and probably the single image Hokusai is most known for). Acrylic on board, 16" x 32"

Wikipedia on Hokusai →

FishermansWife-web