24 Seasons [ Spring Equinox ]
二四節気 春分
Hello, everyone. I hope you are all well? While human society has been in a complete chaos, the natural world is definitely getting ready to welcome a new season, spring. On the ancient calendar of Twenty-four Seasons, it’s the Spring Equinox. In Japan, the Spring Equinox has been a national holiday since the Meiji period (1868-1912) to celebrate nature and love all living creatures.
皆さま、こんにちは。お元気ですか？ 人間社会では混乱の続く中、自然界の季節は着実に本格的な春へと向かっています。二十四節気は春分。明治時代、「自然をたたえ、生物をいつくしむ。」という趣旨で法律により祝日とされたそうです。
The above pictures are from my old blog in 2017, and feature Skimmia Rubella from our garden. This old plant showed a significant improvement when we replanted it from the ground to a pot several years ago. We visited a beautiful garden cafe in the Medieval Tudor town of Tewkesbury and we saw a marvellous huge skimmia grown in a big pot. We thought this might be a good idea for our rather sad-looking skimmia as well so we did and it worked really well. But it seems like it’s grown too big now in the current pot. I hope it will show pretty blossoms again just like these after we replant it to a bigger pot sometime this year.
In the UK, just like many other European countries, self-isolation has been imposed by the government. This weekend I’m planning to make some sweet bean paste from azuki which have been kept in the cupboard for a while.
写真は2017年のブログ記事より、庭のスキミア。地植えから鉢植えに替えてからとても元気になりましたが、どうやら成長し過ぎて植え替えが必要なようです。又こんな可憐な花を咲かせてくれると良いのですが。。。
イギリスでも自主的な隔離生活が始まっています。今週末は、長らく放置したままだった小豆で餡子を作ろうと思います。
The Studio Journal #2 [ A PDF Enamel Book from Milan ]
第二回 スタジオレポート [ ミラノ発七宝作家によるPDFブック ]
I'm pleased to tell you my enamel work is featured in a PDF book of an amazing worldwide enamellers' project by a wonderful Italian enamel artist, Rebecca Di Filippo, completed whilst in lockdown in Milan. My work is on P72&73. My Japanese enamel master, Kyoko Iio's work is on P44&45 and my dear Japanese friend, Junko Annoura's on P49&50. You can download the copy of the book from here.
現在コロナウィルス感染の中心となってしまっているイタリア、ミラノ在住の七宝作家レベッカ ディ フィリッポの呼びかけで素敵なPFDの本が出来上がりました。世界中の作家がその作品と一緒に、特に若い作家さん達に向けての言葉を寄せています。英語、イタリア語版のみとなりますが、こちらのリンクにてダウンロード出来ます。是非ご覧下さいね。私の師匠、飯尾京子先生はP44&45、七宝仲間の案浦順子ちゃんはP49&50、そして私はp72&73となります。
Oval Tatewaku Ring
Tatewaku Ring 立涌
Cloisonne enamel rings featuring some of an ancient Japanese design pattern called Tatewaku.
One of our four Maine Coon furry gangs, Mochi
Thank you very much for visiting my blog. I hope you keep smiling and spend calm days. I wish the days in which we can live safe and sound will return as soon as possible for people all over the world.
今日もブログ訪問ありがとうございます。皆さんが笑顔で穏やかに毎日を過ごせますように、そして一刻も早く、世界中の人々が安心して暮らせる日々が戻ってきますように。