strawberries and coffee beans (a mandala)

A mailart friend of mine, Rachel Freeman, is calling for mailart on the theme of "The Color of Mandalas." She defines mandala as a symbolic representation of the universe.  I hope this etegami counts.

illustration friday (egg)

Frog Eggs

where, O death is your victory?

my first etegami portfolio book

I finally published an etegami portfolio book (i.e. small coffee-table book) of my favorite etegami from the past three years. See details on my Etsy shop, and get a 15% discount by using the following code YAYYAYYAY15OFF at checkout. The code is valid only until April 1.

where is spring?

We're still buried under snow and it's not likely to go away for at least another month. But spring has come to the grocery stores. A friend came calling a few days ago, bringing strawberries. It was a lovely visit. And the strawberries smelled like spring.

etegami newsletter -- april 2013 issue

The latest EFC newsletter has been sent to everyone who signed up for it. In addition to the usual Koike quote, there's a new installment in the Artists Who Inspire series, and a new etegami call on the topic of "birds." If you can't find it in your email box (check your spam folder too, please) let me know. Feedback is always gratefully received. :)

Note: Subscribing to the blog is not the same thing as signing up for the newsletter. The newsletter is a PDF file that I send out from my personal email address. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please send your name and email address to me at dosankodebbie at yahoo dot co dot jp

everyone's irish on st.patrick's day

wendy

Wendy is the beloved companion of a close friend of mine. The accompanying quote comes, of course, from the famous poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Sonnet 43
   How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
    I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
    My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
    For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
    I love thee to the level of everyday's
    Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
    I love thee freely, as men might strive for Right;
    I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
    I love thee with the passion put to use
    In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
    I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
    With my lost saints,–I love thee with the breath,
    Smiles, tears, of all my life!–and, if God choose,
    I shall but love thee better after death.

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

  by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15384#sthash.XXqaK3O1.dpuf

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15384#sthash.XXqaK3O1.dpuf

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

  by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15384#sthash.XXqaK3O1.dpuf

illustration friday (yesterday)

Today (it's March 11 here) is the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Over the past several days, the Japanese media has been broadcasting many a special program to remind us of the incredible scope of the disaster and how little progress has been made towards recovery.

thursdays in yokohama

I spent a few delightful hours a couple days ago reading, from start to finish, an ebook titled Thursdays in Yokohama. It was authored by a dear friend and former columnist for a major English-language newspaper in Japan. The book has a gentle humor that kept making me break out in smiles. It felt very good.

The blurb for the book on amazon.com reads thus: Irving is an old Japan hand. Innocence is a recent arrival. They meet every Thursday afternoon on the Bluff in Yokohama for coffee, conversation and a "case" from Irving’s casebook of vintage Japan tales, entertaining and instructive anecdotes that span four decades of the expat experience in Japan. After a quarter century as the weekly TV columnist for the Daily Yomiuri, Wm. (Wilhelmina) Penn ventures into the world of humorous fiction with this collection of ten short stories.

When I came to the end of the book, I decided to celebrate it with an etegami. The idea for the image came from one of the many humorous passages in the book that had stuck in my memory. Of course I sent it to my friend, the author. She seemed pleased, and called it "a perfect souvenir of the book project." And that, too, felt very good.

white coral bells

I spent the weekend reading two excellent books by Linda Austin: Cherry Blossoms in Twilight: Memories of a Japanese Girl and Poems That Come to Mind: For Those Who Love Someone With Dementia. The former is the story of the life of Linda's mother, written as a memoir targeted to younger readers. The latter is a collection of poems inspired by Linda's bitter-sweet experience of caring for her mother after she had become afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. The first book has been on my must-read list for a long time, but it wasn't until learning of the second book that I sprang into action and ordered them both. 

I have a loved one-- my father-- who is afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. It is not something I talk about easily, not even with my siblings who are doing the care-giving while I watch helplessly from the other side of the ocean. As I read though Poems That Come to Mind, there was one poem in particular that moved me to paint an etegami. 

I sing to you

songs you taught me when I was small

songs from when you were small

not knowing the words would someday hold

more meaning than we could ever imagine

One of the many songs my music-loving father taught me "when I was small" was White Coral Bells. If I remember correctly, he taught it to us kids when we were squished uncomfortably into the back of the car, on one of the endless road trips that his job forced upon us. He taught us songs so we would forget to bicker amongst ourselves. It worked.

White Coral Bells
Upon a slender stalk
Lilies of the valley deck my garden walk
Oh, don't you wish that you might hear them ring?
That will happen only when the fairies sing. 

To read more about Linda Austin's books, please visit her blog at Moonbridgebooks.

working as a team

A School of Herring (etegami collage)

In my pursuit of Etegami, I've had the pleasure of supporting and being supported by artists and crafters in all fields. Some of this interaction is organized, and much is not.

I've frequently mentioned the "Group of Four," an oddly nick-named group of etegami artists in Sapporo that I meet with once a month. When my enthusiasm for experimentation takes me too far from my orthodox etegami roots (which happens a lot these days), they are the ones who gently remind me what makes Etegami etegami, and not graphic arts, illustration, western-style watercolor, or even sumi-e and haiga. I confess that I continue to experiment (the collage above, for example), but I do it with one hand grasping the end of a safety line that is firmly anchored to traditional etegami.

I am also a member of the Japan Etsy Team, a group of Esty shop owners who either work from Japan or have strong ties here. The team has a blog as well as a Facebook page. This month, a fellow Japan Etsian, Erinn from Off on a Whim Jewelry, honored me by featuring my work in her monthly newsletter. You can sign up for her free newsletter by going to her blog.