I love the kittenish quality of tiger paintings in Japan. Clearly they never saw the real thing, though I am told they saw the furs. Thanks to the kindness of friends, we had a lovely time on Kyushu. From visiting a coal magnate's mansion (reputedly the "Rockefeller of Kyushu") to the Heian Buddhist temple that [...]
After speeding from Kyushu to Honshu on the Shinkansen, we transferred to a one car, narrow gauge train that took us through the mountains to the sea, to the little town of Hagi. No chance of a runaway train here, as the conductor kept his white-gloved hand firmly on the controls as we trundled along [...]
Hmmm, the purported cat town part of Tokyo revealed many, many cats, but none were the living, breathing version. Well, ok, I saw three in a window, some pretty beaten up looking boys that I was glad to see had some shelter. I will have to assume they all come out at dusk and roam [...]
Being still a little jet lagged and not paying much attention to the date, I neglected to note that yesterday - April 8th, was the historical Buddha's birthday. That was, until we encountered the masses of people at Senso-ji temple, close to the Amuse Museum, our destination. My favorite part of this temple complex was [...]
It's comforting to know that some things never change; in this case, the quirky side of Japan that can keep you constantly entertained (even when you're distracted by a lost wallet). If someone can tell me what "Minute Men/ Meat Puppets/Descendents/Angst" refers to, I'm open to suggestions Headlines in yesterday's local paper, translated to English [...]
We arrived in Tokyo just fine but Richard's wallet didn't; he lost it somewhere between the airport and Shibuya. A sorry landing but our first time ever traveling to have this happen. I figured we had a 70/30 chance of getting it back, this being Japan, and this being Tokyo, where the number of foreigners, [...]
For many reasons - friends, art, textiles, visiting old and new friends, flea markets, and cherry blossoms, we are heading back to the land of beauty and strange juxtapositions. If you want to follow along, you can subscribe for email updates.
I met this lovely pair of Seattleites at Hardware Sales in Bellingham. She even said something about them looking alike. I didn't see it til I caught these photos. They both seem so happy. (p.s. there is another photo if you open the post!)
Life Cycle, watercolor and ink/Japanese paper. 4"x6" Prayer, watercolor and ink/Japanese paper. 4"x6" The mosaic floor of the cathedral in Otranto, Italy is absolutely amazing. The three aisles each have a tree of life running the length of the church, with an intricate array of Christian and pantheistic imagery intermingled and climbing [...]