16 December 2016
In the past several decades, a new movement has surfaced in the interior design world; eclecticism. This style combines the fashions and designs of multiple periods, from ancient to contemporary and East to West, for example. The popularity of eclecticism has risen as people – especially interior design professionals - discovered a vast array of objects, art and furniture can be united t...
28 October 2016
Part of what makes calligraphy an art form is the spiritual and disciplinary aspects of the practice, which extend back to the days when writing was a form of devotional training for young monks. They would spend days reproducing Confucian and Buddhist texts by copying the contents word for word. Above all, calligraphy masters preach the importance of achieving a state of “nothingnes...
19 August 2016
Sometimes, a blank canvas can be utterly intimidating to an artist. In response to viewing this void another void is created, and in it nothing may come to mind, the hand freezes, and time seems to stop. Calligrapher Seiran Chiba had this experience when her calligraphy master passed away and she was left for the first time with no guiding figure. For days she sat in front of a blank sheet...
29 April 2016
Edo, Tokyo, 1834A late winter snow obscured the sunrise over Edo, casting the city in hushed grey tones. Vendors and stores were slow to open. Young girls with morning chores hurried on their way under oiled paper umbrellas while merchants wearing straw capes and bamboo hats jogged with heavier strides. Yet, despite the cold and early hour, a group of people were already lined up against ...
14 April 2016
Springtime – Nara, Japan A small cherry blossom petal landed abruptly and silently in a cup of chilled barley tea. Shinobu, the man cradling the cup found his gaze drawn to tiny ripples spreading across the surface, momentarily forgetting what his wife Chiyo, was talking about. A gust of wind blew across the hillside meadow where they sat picnicking under the Sakura trees in full blo...
31 December 2015
A long, long time ago in the Far East, the Jade Emperor – supreme deity, ruler of the Heavens, and first emperor of China – decided to hold a race. He called on all the animals in his kingdom and decreed that the first twelve to reach him would each represent a year of the astrological cycle; but to reach him, the animals needed to cross a wide river. The first animal to act wa...
31 October 2015
Edo, Japan. The year was 1749. It was the 15th night of the 7th month, the start of the annual Bon Festival, a celebration honoring the dead. On the edge of town, where the merriments of the festival were subdued, a group of samurai gathered at an old mansion. In the main hall they waited for the darkest hours of the night and lit one hundred candles in a circle. Then, one by one they bega...
08 May 2015
Have you ever printed a picture that looked marvelous on the computer screen, only to pick it up from the printer and experience an utter ‘what the heck!?’ moment? Delicate hues turned into globs of ugly, dark color, conjuring a catastrophic oil spill inside the printer! Or, have you ever printed on different kinds of paper only to discover that some absorbed too much ink while...
27 February 2015
What’s it like looking into a mirror for the first time? Dogs bark at their own reflection and run full speed ahead to play with the ‘newcomer,’ only to crash headlong into themselves. Cats stop, stare, and even pounce on the doppelganger. Babies smile, laugh and dance with the other little person in the mirror, even if they can’t stand up. Even as adults, whe...