" DRESSING UP FOR CHRISTMAS "

Christmas is upon us and it's time to think about what I'll wear for Christmas Dinner.... Maybe I'll don something oriental ....

AH.... the glamour of the orient.... Japanese love fine fabrics, ornamentation and dressing up. I found it especially thrilling to observe the various costumes and clothing designs.

Their fashion flare has been culturally preserved for centuries through the iconic Geishas and Warlords.... While visiting Kumomoto Castle, I couldn't help but notice the guard ,traditionally dressed while guarding the entrance to the Castle.

I just had to snap this picture of a young modern Japanese girl walking in the palace grounds. It's a new millenium of fashion in Japanese as East meets West and mingles.

Often I sit at the shopping mall sipping a a latte at Star Bucks marvelling at the artistic layering of design that defines that there is a multicultural adjustment happening in the Asian fashion industy. I love people watching here ( Ha Ha)

And I love window shopping at the Osaka Hotel where they display the most beautiful gowns for Weddings, Christmas parties and celebrations. They're all gorgeous and very frilly. Wouldn't you love to wear this dress... AH ... if only we were all a tiny size 5...

Still it's nice dream about.. especially during the festive season ... While I have been away for sometime...I am now back blogging with a renewed spirit .... Thank You to all my wonderful faithful Followers... I will look forward to sharing with you again soon.

Wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

" GODDESS"

Let yourself go and see what can be created in the " spirit of the rice" ( see last blog, below).... It might surprise you !!!

" RICE SPIRIT "

"You are what you eat" is a Japanese concept as old as civilization itself.  June is the month for planting  rice in Japan.  It is the start of a  season which is celebrated by hundreds of rice planting festivals that utilized ancient tools, clothes, songs and dances to evoke the " spirit of the rice".


Until modern times, the rice crop was the standard used for managing land and levying taxes. The word for cooked rice itself is synonymous with a meal; other foods served with it, even expensive shavings of  beefstake, are considered (o-kazy) or side dishes. There's rice, rice and more delectable  rice than you could ever imagine.

In Japan , not all rice is white or brown ... There are 1,500 varieties that come in your choice of rainbow colors., which makes for an exciting cereal diversity.  My biggest decision is what shape to buy ... fat, pearl, thin or flat,  as they all have a different  texture.... Decisions .. Decisions !!!

Imagine your child going on a  seasonal  field trip to plant rice.. What fun!!!! I want to don a pair of  shorts and  a  hat and slosh my bare feet around the wet rice paddys too. ( Ha Ha)

 Each rice seedling is  carefully, hand planted  into the mud,  to ensure that it stands up securely, thus  protecting the tiny stems  from drowning in the water flooded fields.  Certainly this is a first hand education in understanding the work required to put a daily bowl of rice on the table.

My favorite part of the whole season is the ZaaArt of  celebrationing this tiny sheath of green( rice) and nurturing it,  with the traditional  folklore songs, dances  and drumbeats of the heart. It's truly a tribute to nature !!!

BLOSSOM FAIRY

The "Lusty Month of May " is over but the season of the blossoming 'Camelot" has just begun. Today, while wandering through my garden, I realize the many gifts of nature that I've taken for granted and am inspired to give thanks by creating.

In a way, this little Blossom Fairy  is just one of the many ways inwhich a creative soul can give back to Mother Earth's generosity.

I am humbled at this time, as I leave Japan and return home to Canada for awhile. I will  miss my modest little garden and the many unassuming, fragrant blooms that have greeted me with a smile.

 Ever time I see flowers, I feel happy and often relate to that good old seventies term, "Flower Power".  Nature just seems to work in harmony with our creative being .   It's quite possible that our creative consciouness does not create itself , but rather is influenced unconciously, by spontaneous ideas and sudden flashes of nature. Artistically, we record our feelings on paper and call it art. I like the idea that nature and creativity become one energy of expression.

"Fairy Blossom" (above) is my creative outpouring of  the Cherry Blossom  season here in Japan. The season is just too beautiful for words , so as an artist, I do try to recreate  the ethereal flora of the environment.

Japan's indigenous religion," Shinto" has taught me  'ZaaArt" of 'great love and reverence for nature".  The 'Kami" or balance and harmony are enrichening gifts that I carry in my heart across the ocean for the summer months.