Posts from the “ENGLISH” Category

Chicago

Posted on October 27, 2011

This is the second batch of my Chicago photos. In fact, I took tons of photos in Chicago. The city was so beautiful.A lot of people recommended the architectural boat tour, and I did join it. The tour is run by Chicago Architectural Foundation and the guides are all volunteers.A wonderful tour.I wanted to check out the names of the buildings I saw, but well, hope one day you will get on the boat and figure them out yourself. ;) The thing is, the old and new buildings, they all have stories. Contexts. The reason why they look like they do. And the reasons are, unlike in Japan, not something solely governed by the unseen lines in the air (height regulation and such), but…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel

Alternative Life

Posted on October 11, 2011

People say fall is the season for eating. I would say it’s the season when you think about your food. Because my grandparents used to live in one of the largest fruit production regions, we used to receive boxes full of apples, oranges, pears, cherries. I never thought that was anything special. Your grandparents always send you something (that’s what I used to think). Now I miss those boxes so much, especially the cooking apples. I ordered a box of apples, my favorite kind, for the first time, directly from a farmer in that region. Then I realized, this is a new generation of consumption style. Surely, a lot of people are already been doing it – buying your food directly from producers. But…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 11. Food, 2. Diary, 5. Thought

One Dream Down

Posted on October 11, 2011

It was like a dream.I’d never imagined that one day I would be seeing this painting in person. I’ve been holding back most photos from my Chicago trip, in the hope to do some background checking and researching first. Well, be realistic. I am not a professional writer, and I hardly have such time. So here they are, Chicago photos. Let me first tell you, I am a huge O’Keeffe fan. She is the only artist I’ve ever read a full biography of. I own several books on her, and have seen most of her work in those books. And this piece is my #1 favorite… (I prefer her landscape and abstract paintings than flower motifs)… it was right there, on the wall of…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel

SAW Photos

Posted on October 1, 2011

I promise, this batch is going to be the last of woody lakey photos from this trip. These are the remaining photos. As you might remember, this blog is for myself as much as for my friends. I want to post everything so that I can check back and see all the photos in one place. Yey. This was our cabin, Sommers. One of the best? The day we arrived was the very last day of summer in New Hampshire. The very last chance for us to swim and enjoy the sun. (Although some friends went into the lake on freezing, literally freezing nights, on the following days… ) Until I walked to the very end of the dock, I wasn’t sure if I…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 2. Diary

SAW Class IV – Hand Lettering

Posted on October 1, 2011

This year, I was very lucky to take 4 very different and equally inspiring classes at Squam Art Workshops. Hand Lettering was another fascinating class, not in the least conventional as what you would normally imagine by hearing the word “lettering”. We spent an hour hand lettering alphabets in all 26 different ways. It was the toughest thing! Everyone ran out of ideas after 10 or so, start running around the studio to check what classmates were doing. Everyone was so inventive…! Actually, an hour was way too short! So many different ways, so many colors. Below is actually mine. Ah, I know, it’s a mess. But it was so much fun. The second exercise was to create a page with our favorite quotes…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 8. Craft

I can’t stop thinking about…

Posted on October 1, 2011

Greek Yogurt. Yes, yogurt, my friends. I eat yogurt every morning, as my mom had brought me up to do so. She eats her yogurt with bowlful of fruits, but alas, I don’t have time to do that kind of thing in the morning. But with or without fruit, yogurt is a vital part of my life. Then what happened?I came across a pack of non-fat Greek yogurt at my friend’s house 2 weeks ago. Eversince, I ate all the Greek yogurt in my friends’ fridges (not more than 1 per day, I have to say). I even bought a few pack at Trader Joe’s before coming back to Japan. The problem is, you can’t find Greek yogurt in Japan – except one. I…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary

SAW Class III – Artful Seeing

Posted on September 29, 2011

This was a photography class. Shari Altman is a self-taught photographer, takes poetic and introvert nature photos. She lead our ways into really “seeing” the world around us. The day was also the most beautiful day in early autumn, and was perfect for walking around the woods for mushroom hunting. We had never seen so many different kinds of colorful mushrooms. Shari, the teacher, and my classmates! One more class, but I am done for tonight. More, soon.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 8. Craft

SAW Class II – Joy of Intention

Posted on September 29, 2011

Joy of Intention was a new class taught by Alena Hennessy. She paints with lots of nature-inspired motifs, tranquil and feminine. She is such a sweetheart and totally cute.We started out by relaxing outdoors with some exercise and sketches, focusing on intentions and what brings us joy and so on. Then we moved back to the studio. When I started working on my piece, I had completely forgotten about the “intentions” I sketched. I am not sure how my piece ended up being a ship sailing out. Perhaps it was a subliminal thing.The thing is, I am not very good at creating something out of elaborate “intentions”. I just draw something that comes to my mind. All in all, I am pretty satisfied with…

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 8. Craft

SAW Class I – Play & Process by Susy Pilgrim Waters

Posted on September 29, 2011

Today, at last, I am still awake after 9PM. I can post some photos from my classes at Squam Lake Workshops at last.My absolute favorite is Susy’s class (but all of the classes are my favorite…so many great teachers this year). She gave each of us an old cigar box and we decorated them free-style. I was eager to learn her style, so I decided not to cover my box too much, following her example. I also tried to experiment with different types of papers and ink she provided. SO. MUCH. FUN.I did bring the paper with “TOKYO” logo on it. That purple guided my color scheme for this project. The box is actually not done yet, and I intend to draw something over. …

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 8. Craft

Lost and Found

Posted on September 25, 2011

Things that I lost during the 2 week long vacation:– a contact lens case– my favorite thermo bottle– not-so-favorite umbrella– good skin Things I found:– Great friends, many many– Art and inspiration– A hope that modern architecture can create beautiful cities– A new dream for myself– A fact that your might be closer to your dreams than you had thought– Mentors, more than one!– A bit of boldness in me– A breathtaking sunrise

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel, 2. Diary