Empty Bowl 2011

There is an annual event put on in Chinatown called the Empty Bowl event to help to wipe out hunger. You can buy ceramic bowls for $20 and a bowl of soup is included along with the purchase. They are all donated and handmade by various ceramicist. This year, there were over 4000 bowls to choose from. The line ran from Mark's garage down Nuuanu Street and it wrapped around King street. There was a large turnout. Many local restaurants helped by donating soup which made it a successful event. Art collectors like me could choose and buy a piece and at the same time help to fight hunger in Hawaii.

Above are the two bowls that we purchased. They were made by no named artists.  They symbolize night and day for us.

Sake' Sets

Hello to all of you who frequent this blog. I recently experienced artist block which was far from having ideas bottled up, or even the lack of motivation to create, but more accurately finding nothing very interesting to share... that is until now. I had lunch with a friend today who asked if I kept up my posts on Apartment Art and my response was that I had slowed down quite a bit. He articulated that he likes to find small artistic pieces whenever he travels because of the ideas that he has read from this blog. I was inspired by his comments so I wanted to thank  Elijah for the positves!

Recently, I was shopping at a Japanese market called Marukai. Frequenting the household items I found this sake' glass set with a sumo motif. They were very unique and I knew that they would be wonderful conversation pieces for dinners with friends who enjoy Japanese rice wine or sake'. There are five different poses by five different wrestlers.

The glasses are about 1.5"in height even though the photos make them appear larger.

Inspired by Japan: Hawaii Potter's Guild

Esther Shimazu, "Cleaning My Head I and II"

My family and I left our car at Jiffy Lube for a jiffy lube and we decided to walk around the corner to get a burger for lunch. Before arriving at the burger joint we noticed that there was an event taking place at the Japanese Cultural Center which we decided to check out. There in the distance was my high school English teacher Pat Takeshita who articulated that we were at a ceramics show sponsored by the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation. The work speaks for itself with a very high level of talent from the Hawaii Potter's Guild. I hope that you enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed the show!

Shelle Avecilla, "Smoke Stacks"

Judy Okimoto, "Angelina Flying"

Domenica Sattler, "Light:Happiness"

Yoko Haar, "Drifting"

Patti Gallagher-Jones, "Lost at Sea Fish"

 Pat Takeshita, "Copper Earth Willow"

Queenie Kwock, "Dimpled Shadows"

 Esther Shimazu, "Cleaning My Head I and II"

 Aaron Padilla, "Red Swril"

 Esther Norwell, "Lion Dogs"

Maile Yawata, "Boy Soldier"

Rain Rain Rain

Although some may say, "rain, rain, go away," I say, "rain, rain, let it stay." I am grateful for the wet weather for providing the opportunity for fun fotos.

Blown up to 5x7 images these would be wonderful bathroom art!

Japanese Bookbinding as a Christmas Gift Idea

Scratch Booklet

With a little innovation and some persistence, I put together a scratch booklet using cardboard from a box, a couple of paper bags with Christmas print on them, and some computer paper that was printed on one side but not the other. It is my of eliminating used paper without being wasteful. This idea came from making an old fashioned photo album that uses sticky triangle corners to hold photos, for a needy family after I did a photo shoot for them. The above is a prototype and I didn't take the time to measure the holes in the spine so the string is a bit crooked. This is a fun project and great conversation piece to pass out for Christmas or for no reason at all.

The spine of the booklet

 

 Inside

Wabi-Sabi

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Wabi-sabi is a feeling of simplicity, so here's a haiku to describe my work.

Inanimate rock

Holds life and becomes alive

Subdued, submissive

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