Gorgeous peony from our yard. I really wanted to do something and decided to draw in ink drawing. 芍薬が庭に咲き、何かしたいなと思っていたので墨画に挑戦。
After some trial and errors… I could finish at least one. I used pigments in these colors, plum red, fern green, apple green, forest green, ochre, yellow, and shell white. 色々試して、一枚だけ仕上がりました。使った顔彩は、紅梅、若草、緑青、青草、黄土、黄、胡粉。
This peony is a gift from my Japanese parents. When they visited us last year, they planted in our yards. I hope to see this beauty every spring and remember the time we spent with them. この芍薬は、去年両親が遊びに来た記念に、植えていってくれました。これから毎年咲くたびに、一緒に過ごした楽しい時間を思い出せそうです。
I love the moment to prepare for Shodo lessons. お稽古準備は楽しく特別な時間。
Normally Shodo gives me the world of white and black, which is very simple, and it makes me deeply concentrated. However, writing for lessons is different. The Shodo red ink is so bright and I get a lot of inspirations. It is time to have fun for me by thinking about students and their writing.
On Mother’s Day this year, I started kid Shodo with my 5 year old son. This will be a big challenge to me since he even doesn’t recognize all Japanese alphabet. My first goal will be keep him for a year. 今年の母の日は、5歳の息子の日本習字幼児部を始めることにしました。まだひらがなも完璧に読めないので、多分険しい道のりになりそうです。まずは一年続けばな、、、と思います。
After hiragana (Japanese syllabary) practice, i wrote some my imaginary products and digitally framed using a phone app.
つららむね icicle ramune (soda) Inspired by icicles from winter stormあぱらちあの雫 mineral water “Drops from Appalachia”
Ohhh these are so fun and keep imagining….
喫茶あぱらちあ Cafe Appalachia
I could see that Hiragana can give both warm and welcoming impressions . They looks soft and naive first, but they are very powerful tools to give such a big impact!
Yesterday I participated online Kakizome event hosted by Nihon Shuji. 日本習字主催のオンライン書初め大会に参加しました。
It was scheduled at 10 am on Sunday Jan.17 in Japan, which was 8pm on Saturday Jan. 16 in U.S.A. The time differences nicely worked for me so that I could do Kakizome right after my son’s bed time. 時差が幸いして、日曜午前に開催された第一回目に、アメリカ時間の土曜夜参加することができました。ちょうど息子が寝たあとすぐで、私には都合の良い時間だったのです。
It started from Zoom testing and Oath. Zoomのテストと宣誓を読み上げて開始です。
We were allowed to write for 15 minutes. I could write three and picked the one which looked best. 書く時間は15分間、私は3枚書くことができました。1番良くかけたかな、と思うのを選んで終了です。
対客開春酒当門掃落花 日本習字漢字部12月号競書課題 Open spring wine for guests and sweep falling flowers petals at the entrance. Nihon Shuji December 2020 Assignment
I couldn’t write well, but I am very satisfied. I normally write in my living room my self, but yesterday I wasn’t alone. I could feel the connections with all other participants who loves Shodo, and I was very happy about it. 上手く書けたかといえばそうではなかったけれども、満足できました。普段1人きりで書いているリビングが、昨日は沢山の書道愛好家が集う書初め会場となり、そのつながりを感じられて、幸せでした。