For many artists and craftsmen, nature is a great source of inspiration. For Toyama-based sunago craftsman Tatsuo Nagaoka, the beautiful scenery he encounters while hiking in the mountains is also his inspiration to create new work. His subjects range from a sea of clouds viewed from a mountain peak to butterflies flying over a flower garden.
"Whenever I see something nice I wonder if I can depict it with sunago," he says.
Sunago is the traditional Japanese art technique of adorning fusuma (screen doors), byobu (folding screens), lacquerware and Japanese-style paintings with the powders and foils of precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.