ad libitum

ANOTHER PURSE

A long time ago (so long ago,I'm not really sure how long ago it was), I was in a fabric swap of sea themed fabric squares made in the style of Teesha Moore. I made some extra squares to keep for myself because I knew I would want to make something bigger than 12 squares. A few weeks ago, I issued a challenge to the people in the swap to make something with their squares, or to show what they already made. Last Thursday, I made a purse. 

Below are pictures of the front and back of my new summer purse.

 

PHOTOSHOP PHRIDAY

Playing with a photo from the Hindu Center in Kauai.

Below is my original photo:

And then, I played with filters:

 

 

PHOTOSHOP PHRIDAY

This time, I'm playing with a photo I took in Nagasaki.

Here is the photo:

I cropped it

...and then inverted it

...after inverting it, I added a texture I made from one of my eco-dyed scarves.

JAPANESE GOLD LEAF ARTIST

While taking a walking tour of the Nishijin section of Kyoto, Kate and I were given the opportunity to visit the home and studio of a gold leaf artist. He lives and works in the same studio that his father and grandfather worked in. His son is following in his footsteps.

Below is a photo of the garden, the room where he served us tea and the room he sells his work and his son's work from.

Here is a closer look at the garden.

We walked up some very steep steps to his studio and he showed us some of his published work and how he works.

The type of resin used influences the look of the gold leaf on the paper.

The gold leaf paper can be cut by a guillatine and then woven.

His sheets of gold, silver, platinum, and copper sheets were incredibly beautiful.

URAKAMI CATHEDRAL

Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki,was situated 500 meters from the hypocenter of the atom bomb. It was completely destroyed. Some of the statues survived, burnt and battered. A new church was built on the same site in 1959 and some of the original statues are on the grounds. They represent saints and angels. They have great dignity and beauty. Below are some photos I took of them.

PHOTOSHOP PHRIDAY

I love photos of spider webs. I rarely take  a good web photo; so I was very pleased to get this photo when I was in Kauai, visiting with Connie. 

 

I worked with levels and then used the darken blending mode to make the web more dramatic.

 

It still needs work, but I think I have a good strt here.

KIMONO

When I knew Kate and I were going to Japan, I started hoping to see ladies in kimono. It's such a beautiful graceful dress. I did not expect to see many kimono on the street, but I had hopes of seeing a few. I could not get photos of all I saw (the ladies were on the move), but I did get some. And, we had the luck of going to a kimono fashion show at tare images from he Nishijin Textile Centre in Kyoto.

Below are images from ladies wearing kimono as they went about their business.

Below is an antique kimono that was on display at the textile museum.

Below are images from the kimono fashion show:

FIRST, I WENT TO HAWAII

I decided that since I would be flying across the Pacific to go to Japan, I would stop off in Kauai to visit my friend Connie. She picked me up at the airport and spent two and a half days taking me around and showing me the sights of her beautiful island (best tour guide ever!).

We went to the Hindu Center.

She hunted down accessable waterfalls for me to photograph.

We had a great visit. We talked; we laughed; we ate; she showed me some of her beautiful leather purses and her cool jewelery tools; we had a lot of fun. And, She introduced me to Hawaiian Shave Ice. Yummy!

SIGNS FROM JAPAN

Not being able to speak more than two Japanese phrases has made me very aware of the written word. Menus often have photos or interesting English translations, many rules (such as do not smoke while crossing the street) are posted graphically, simple phrases become works of art, and graffiti seems to have a universal look to it. So, I present you with some Japanese signs.

I LOVE KYOTO

I am having big issues with the internet connection here, so I am blogging from my phone. Today has been a great tourist day. We started at a temple that wasn't what the book said, but was still interesting. The we went to the arts and crafts center and managed to have a class on printing Japanese wood block prints (since we were the only students, we each got to make 3). Then we went to a tea ceremony demonstration. Then we had a very tasty dinner at a ramen shop. Then we came back to our hotel. Life is still very good.