FAQ’s stands for Frequently Asked Questions. If you have questions related to this website please write to dawn@nakfinearts.com

1. What is the quality of the t-shirts that you use?
2. What types of payment do you accept?
3. How are shipping charges calculated?
4. What is mochi?
5. How were the Mochi Illustrations done?
6. How did you get so connected to baseball?
7. What’s with the obsession with sweet potatoes?
8. Why aren’t there PayPal buttons for the paintings?
9. Did you design your own website?
10.What was the inspiration for the Cages & Enclosures Series?
11. What's the piece Ten White Paintings about?
12. What is the Infield Fly Rule?
13. I can't download the calendar. What should I do?
14. What is "Obon?"

1. What is the quality of the t-shirts that you use?
Men’s t-shirts – 100% cotton, 6.0-ounce heavy weight t-shirt. It is taped shoulder to shoulder, with coverseamed neck and double needle stitched at sleeve and bottom hem for insured durability.

Kids’ t-shirts – 100% cotton, 5.6-ounce t-shirt. It is taped shoulder to shoulder, with coverseamed neck and double needle stitched at sleeve and bottom hem for insured durability. (Infield Fly t-shirt in athletic heather is 90/10 cotton/poly)
XS=(2-4) S=(6-8) M=(10-12) L=(14-16)

Women’s t-shirts – Hanes for Her, 100% cotton 5.6-ounce jersey, coverseamed neck. This is a basic tee. (not a baby doll) It is a bit more fitted, shorter in length and slightly more relaxed around the neck than a men’s tee. Click here to view style.
S=(6/8) M=(10/12) L=(14/16) XL=(18/20)

Men’s 3/4 sleeve baseball jersey – 100% cotton 5.5-ounce jersey, 3/4 length sleeves, double needle sleeve and bottom hem. White body with black sleeves.

Kids’ 3/4 sleeve baseball jersey – 100% cotton 5.5-ounce jersey, 3/4 length sleeves, double needle sleeve and bottom hem. White body with black sleeves.

Men’s orange sleeveless t-shirt – 100% cotton 5.6-ounce jersey, double needle stitched collar, armholes and hem.

Mens & kids' ringer tees are 100% cotton 5.5 ounce shirts.

2. What types of payment do you accept?
Payment options: PayPal is the quickest and most secure option. All transactions are documented with emails going out to both seller and buyer describing the money exchange and the items purchased/sold.

Personal checks & money orders are also accepted. Click on the PayPal buttons to select the items you want. When you have all the items you want in your shopping cart click on the “Checkout” button. That will take you to the “Payment Details” page. You can print out a copy of your shopping cart list and send a check or money order to: Nakashima Fine Arts, 1535A Virginia Street, Berkeley, CA 94703. Be sure to include shipping and handling. California residents please include 8 3/4% sales tax. (on product only) If you have questions you can write to dawn@nakfinearts.com. With the check/money order option it can take longer for you to get your product because I have to wait for the check to clear before shipping.

3. How are shipping charges calculated?
Shipping charges are calculated as a percentage of your total purchase according to the following chart:
$.01 - $9.99 30%
$10.00 – $29.99 25%
$30.00 – $49.99 20%
$50.00 and up 15%
In the case of paintings and other large works shipping may be calculated on an individual basis.

4. What is mochi?
Mochi is/are Japanese rice cakes made from a special sweet rice. It is made by cooking the rice then grinding it either by machine or the old-fashioned way of pounding it with mallets in a granite or wood bowl. The ground/pounded rice is then pinched off into smaller pieces which are formed into individual rice cakes. The process of coming together to make mochi is called Mochi Tsuki. Mochi Tsuki often occurs between Christmas and New Year’s as mochi is used as an ingredient in the New Year’s feast or “Oshogatsu.” Click on the link below to see pictures from the Livingston (CA) 2004 Mochi Tsuki.
http://homepage.mac.com/dawnnakashima/mochi_tsuki04/PhotoAlbum5.html

5. How were the Mochi Illustrations done?
The Mochi Series of illustrations are based on photos I’ve taken over the last 20 years or so at the Livingston United Methodist Church Mochi Tsuki in Livingston, CA. (my hometown) They are created in the Illustrator program.

6. How did you get so connected to baseball?
I’ve played baseball ever since I was a kid. Growing up my brother Stu was very much into baseball. That’s how I got access to equipment. Since he was the only boy in the family and we lived out in the country it was play with me or nothing. We’d play catch and hit grounders and fly balls to each other. We also collected baseball cards and followed the San Francisco Giants. Now I play on a women’s slow pitch team and coach my daughter’s girls softball team. I don’t collect baseball cards anymore but I’m still a huge Giants fan.

7. What’s with the obsession with sweet potatoes?
For a few years I was enlisted by my folks to sell their organic sweet potatoes at a couple of Farmers’ Markets in the Bay Area. Much to the surprise and delight of my dad I became very good at "sweet potato outreach" and merchandising. For a while there “sweet potato” was my medium.

8. Why aren’t there PayPal buttons for the paintings?
Since they are one-of-a-kind I’d rather you send me an email to inquire about the paintings or to schedule a studio visit. Shipping/handling/delivery of some of the paintings will also require special attention. dawn@nakfinearts.com

9. Did you design your own website?
Yes, with the help of my very patient friend Catherine Betts. www.catrinbetts.com It's done in Dreamweaver.

10. What was the inspiration for the Cages & Enclosures Series?
It had always been in the back of my mind to do a piece about my parents' experience of being relocated to Concentration Camps during World War II. As American citizens of Japanese ancestry my parents were forced from their homes in Livingston, CA (Dad) and Fresno, CA (Mom) and ordered by the United States government to Concentration Camps away from the West Coast. (Dad to Granada, CO and Mom to Jerome, AR) The tricky part about doing a piece like this was how to approach it. This was not my experience and I wanted to come about it in an honest way. My answer came when I was visiting my folks over the holidays in 1995. They were talking casually about their camp experiences to my husband Jonathan when it hit me - "Oh my God! These people are truly NOT bitter about their experience!" I had always been trying to mine some sort of anger or resentment from them and it was just not there. So my "internment" piece became a piece about overcoming adversity - how one deals with the "cards they've been dealt" - whether they move on with their lives or whether they are forever "caged" in the unfortunate circumstances of their past.The rice bowls held within the cages represent the individual. I chose the rice bowls because when people immigrate to other countries their ethic food tends to be the last thing to go in terms of assimilating into another culture. In some cases the bowls can be easily removed from their enclosures. In others it's impossible. There are varying degrees of visual and implied psychological harshness and severity. The tags that are attached to the cages mirror the ones that were attached to the internees and their belongings when they were in transit to the camps and also serve as price tags begging the question, "What price for freedom?"

In addition to the Cages & Enclosures series I created a companion piece called American, of Japanese Descent. It's along the same lines as the Cages & Enclosures series but addresses the unwavering patriotism of many of the Japanese Americans of my parents' generation.

11. What's the piece Ten White Paintings about?
These are some things I thought about while making Ten White Paintings:
• I love the game show Wheel of Fortune because of its focus on what we know collectively as Americans, the way it analyses how American English is constructed and the way the letters are manually turned by Vanna White. (they since have switched to electronic letters)
• Who would have thought that a person could build an entire career as a “letter turner?”
• Baseball is America’s Favorite Pastime – loved by a diverse cross section of Americans
• Contemporary art is not generally understood by the general public
• The main influence in art schools is Western European
• White in the title of this piece could refer to color as well as to race
• I like puzzles and trying to figure things out
• Do white abstract paintings have more value if they serve a purpose (place holders) as in Ten White Paintings?
• Are the blocks with the letters on them the real paintings?
• What do we have in common as Americans?

12. What is the Infield Fly Rule?
The infield fly rule is a rule used to prevent a team from letting a pop-up drop in order to get two outs instead of the one that catching the ball would accomplish. It is called when a pop-up is hit on the infield (judgment call by the umpire) and there are less than 2 outs and runners on first and second base, or the bases are loaded. The reason is that a player could let the ball drop and because all of the baserunners return to the bases assuming the ball will be caught, the fielder could presumably throw to two bases for a double play as if it were a ground ball. Once the rule has been called by the umpire (done by pointing to the sky) the batter is out, and the runners can advance at their own risk after tagging up like they would on a fly ball.

13. I can't download the calendar. What should I do?
You can go to the Adobe Acrobat website and download an Acrobat Reader for free. You should then be able to download the calendar.To insure that your calendar prints properly make sure your margins are set to 1/4" all around.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html

14. What is "Obon?"
Obon Odori (Obon for short) is a Japanese Buddhist Folk Dance performed outdoors. It generally takes place during the summer months in connection with a Buddhist Temple or Church. Practice sessions and the actual dance performance (line dances done in concentric circles) are generally open to all. Though a memorial observance, there is a festive mood during Obon. Obon is a time to remember and honor all those who have passed on before us. It is a time to appreciate all that they have done for us and to recognize the continuation of the influence of their deeds upon our lives. Obon is also a time of self-reflection; the joy one feels is not from the happiness of getting what you desire, but the joy of being shown the truth -- the joy of awareness.

Although I didn't grow up in the Buddhist religion our family participated in Obon at the neighboring Cortez Buddhist Church when I was growing up. Now I take my daughter to the Buddhist Church/Temple in Berkeley to do Obon. Just about any Obon you go to you see the familiar paper lanterns decorating this event. They look the same now as the ones I remember from my childhood.