Hello there! How have you been so far? I am doing wonderful every single day because I started doing some new things to make me feel happier. One thing is fasting. I am doing 16 hour-fasting every single day, and the other thing is taking a cold shower every single day as well. Plus, I am doing two hours to two and a half hours exercise every day as well.
Today, I want to show you some of my new kintsugi works.
I guess I can use the very similar techniques of kintsugi to paint the makie on porcelain. Some day I really wan to learn the makie techniques as well.
I have some big news to share! I became one of the featured artists for the art gallery. Actually, my art gallery is not a regular art gallery. It is so-called middleman. I sell my art pieces to them. They sell my pieces to actual shops. All of my previous pieces were sold and right now one of the shops which bought my art work is holding an art show in the center of Ginza where is the most expensive spot in the world, Japan.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2020 by yumi
Hello there! How have you been so far? I am very sorry that I haven’t posted anything almost for a year. I think my last blog entry was my studying abroad in Italy in 2020. When I was in Italy in January, I had never thought the covid -19 would spread all over the world. At that time I heard of only a few cases in Japan. Now, we are living in the pandemic.
Luckily, my family and I are fine, but I have to say I went through a tough year. First, I had a surgery to remove my gall bladder because my gall had created stones. My surgeon figured out that even my bile duct has created stones, and I had to remove the stones. However, I still keep my bile duct and I have to take a test if my bile duct keeps creating stones every single year. Then, I have glaucoma in my right eye. My level is light, but I need some treatment. Both stone things in my body and the glaucoma are inherited and from my dad’s side. My grandma had passed away because of gall and bile duct cancer and she had stones in both organs. My dad has glaucoma as well. Anyway, I was lucky to find them early because I could get some treatment.
Even though I had a hard time, I made my dream which I had longed for since I was a kid come true! This is the best part of this year. I became a professional porcelain artist! I started selling my hand-painted pieces for an art gallery in Kyoto. Long story short, I am painting for the gallery and the gallery people sell my pieces. I want to share one more good part with you. I started learning Japanese techniques from a Japanese porcelain painting craftsman in Kyoto. She is an amazing artist and I am in love with her techniques. I am enjoying learning new techniques from her with a friend of mine.
So, I want to start blogging again and you will probably see my selling pieces, my practicing pieces as usual and sometimes my competition pieces for some art shows.
Ciao! Come stai? Sto molto bene! I hope you are fine as well!
Since last month I had been in Italy and I got home the day before yesterday from Italy. So, I still feel like I am in Italy and live into the Italian time, lol. I hope I can get rid of the jet lag soon.
Before I forget the details, I would love to show you what I learned and saw in Italy!
I had amazing times with my Italian mentor, her husband and my Italian painting friends this year as well. I do appreciate their wonderful hospitality! Grazie Mille!
I had two classes from my Italian painting mentor as always and learned a lot about new techniques. I was in love with the techniques immediately, and she gave me big compliment this time. It gave me a lot of confidence. Since I really want to be a better porcelain artist, I would love to make lots of effort to make my dreams come true! After I finish writing this blog entry, I want to start practicing what I learned in Italy soon.
I sometimes went out to eat lunch with my Italian classmates at some restaurants or dolce at some cafe bars. It was fun to learn their food culture. Since they wanted to introduce everything to me, they pushed me to try out to eat everything.
I would like to show you some of the food photos of what I ate there.
We went to this restaurant a lot to eat lunch this year. I think this restaurant was new because I didn’t see it here last time. The ravioli which I ate was the best!
Mocha coffe! This was the real one and it was very strong but very tasty! Thank you, Patrizia’s Papa!!
This cake was made from rice. I thought it was very interesting because we also make sweets from rice.
Gelato! My favorite ice cream! I love Italian ice cream very much!
This one is popular among carnivals.
Marchino! I learned this one this year. Marchino is mix of coffe, chocolate and milk, and I really loved it! I think I can make this in Japan.
On the last day, my teacher Patrizia, her husband Daniele, my good friend Virginia and her husband Vittorio took me to Turin. It was my first visit there and I felt in love with the city!
Since Turin is close to Switzerland, we can see the Alps mountains. Italian people say the Alps mountains are just like a crown for the city of Turin because it surrounds Turin like a crown.
In the 18th century Italy was divided by a lot of small kingdoms just like Japan. Each kingdom had a monarchy. Turin used to have the Kingdom of Sardinia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sardinia
Turin station
National heritage: Palazzo Reale
Caffe Torino is one of the most famous cafes in Turin. It has a long history and opened in 1903.
A bull is a symbol of Turin. When we step on the symbol in front of the caffe Torino, people say that we can come back to Turin. So, we all stepped on the bull, lol.
Inside of Caffe Torino; It was very classic and I could feel the history.
The cafe is famous with chocolates as well.
We ordered some marchino and some dolces.
I am sorry I tried to fix this photo, but for some reason, I couldn’t do it.
Piazza and we can see a palace from the Royal house of Savoy
We talked about where kings sat then. It was fun to think about the seats.
The dining room was so pretty. I think they handled a lot of gala dinners there.
I took one of the plates photo, and I think this is a hand-painted limoges porcelain.
Porcelain Room
I think most of them are from China, but some of them are from Japan.
I can see some Imari vases in this group.
A vase from China
When I saw this ballroom, I imagined the Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, lol.
The palace has a church basement.
I was very overwhelmed to look around the luxurious palace.
I found American culture there!
My lunch; tuna with some veggies saute.
Turin was just like Milan. It means mixing modern and old. I saw many brand shops like Chanel.
Egyptian Museum
I found more Japan! It was in a T shirt shop.
After lunch, we went back to the palace and got into another museum which has lots of art collections for the palace.
After we saw lots of religious paintings, we saw some beautiful hand-painted pieces from Meissen factory, Germany. Since I am a porcelain painter, and I think most of my blog followers are porcelain painters as well, I want to focus on posting porcelain pieces more.
While I was looking around the Meissen pieces, they reminded me of my German teacher from the Meissen Factory, Joerg Kugelmeier. I haven’t seen him for years, and I hope he is doing fine. The Meissen pieces made me think I want to paint the Meissen style some time again. So, I want to paint something with the style.
These are made from porcelain.
We ended up at a porcelain room which has lots of hand-painted pieces. They all were amazing. I think these porcelain pieces were for gala dinners.
Some collections were from Asia.
This one is definitely from Japan. I think this one is Imari porcelain.
Since I love antique porcelain, the room was a dreaming place to me.
We went up to the top of the palace, and the view from this observation deck was really great! We could look down the view of Turin from 360 degrees in different directions.
Turin was a very beautiful city which has a long history. I really enjoyed being there. I learned a lot of things via my Italian teacher and friends. Thank you so much! Although I returned home a couple of days ago, I am already looking forward to learning new things from my Italian teacher and hanging out with my Italian friends. Until then, I will practice a lot in Japan!
Thank you so much for taking a look at such a long blog post. See you soon again here soon!
Happy 2020 to everyone from Japan! We are in our New Year’s holidays now. I came back to update my blog constantly again!
Today I want to show you my recent kintsugi work.
This photo is from the bottom of a hand-painted piece that my Dresden teacher, Alfredo’s made which was broken by the earthquake in 2018.
I bought these pieces at Gojyozaka porcelain festival last summer to fix them. When I bought them, they were broken pieces, and I got them very cheap.
The porcelain is called Kiyomizuyaki in Japanese, and the perfect ones are expensive.
The last one is an antique. I got this at an antique shop in Kyoto.
I think I am lucky to live close to Kyoto because the city is a porcelain city, and I can get lots of broken pieces for my kintsugi work.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished my first gintsugi work. Gintsugi is similar to kintsugi, but gintsugi is repaired with silver instead of gold . You will see it soon!
Posted in Kintsugi with tags Kintsugi on August 14, 2019 by yumi
Hello there! How are you doing? I am doing well, and I am excited to introduce one of the Japanese traditional techniques called Kitsugi.
I guess many of you wonder what Kintsugi is. Well, it’s the techniques to fix broken pottery. I started learning it to fix my broken porcelain from the earthquake last year.
A couple of days ago, I finished my first work of it! It took more than six months for me to finish it, but I am very happy with the result.
Last year an earthquake broke my favorite Dresden piece painted by Alfredo Toledano who was my Dresden teacher. I bought his hand-painted piece more than eight years ago in Arizona, USA from my other teacher San Do.
When I looked at the broken piece, I was very shocked. That’s because Alfredo had passed away, and it’s impossible for me to buy his new piece again. I felt very sorry that his piece was broken. Now, I am very happy that I could fix it.
The other piece is a lid from my mother in-law’s favorite tea pot. I needed a practice piece, and she asked me to fix it. I haven’t shown the piece to her yet, but I am sure she will love this.
What do you think about Kintsugi? Does it look like Frankenstein in pottery? You may think the way, but I think Kintsugi is not only to glue broken pieces, but also to create a new art piece from the broken pieces. I am totally involved in the techniques now. I just started learning it. So, I don’t have so many pieces that I can show you. You will see more and more on my blog from now on. I am looking forward to showing how broken pieces will turn into different art with the Kintsugi techniques.
Hello there! How have you been so far? I think I haven’t posted anything on my blog for a while, and I apologize my laziness. You know once we get lazy, it’s hard for us to start again, right?
Today I want to write about Japanese cuisine in Kyoto and the cuisine is called Kyo-ryori in Japanese.
I went to a Japanese fancy restaurant called Tan-kuma (たん熊）with my husband and two of our mutual friends and eat together. We had a lot of fun there to chitchat.
This is called sesame tofu made from sesames.
Fish soup called sumashi-jiru
Fresh raw fish called sashimi
Main dish
My favorite, eel rice! Mmmmm, yummy!
Desert: green tea ice cream and kinako mochi with red beans
I went to kyoto again with my other friend on a different day, and she and I ate different Japanese cuisine at another fancy restaurant. The restaurant…
I am excited that I finally can update my blog again, lol. Today I want to show some photos of Japanese porcelain shops. A friend of mine and I went antiquing in Kyoto and I took some photos there.
First, we stopped by an antique shop. Here you can see a bunch of Antique porcelain.
The shop owner was very nice and when I asked her to take some photos of the inside, she let me take some photos. So, I can show you them.
The shop owner explained to us that she has owned this shop for over thirty years. Most of the china here were made in the Edo period. It means they are 500 to 600 years old! Wow!!!
I bought some antique porcelain to practice Kintsugi techniques. Kintsugi is a part of our traditional techniques to fix broken porcelain. I started learning how to fix porcelain after the earthquake in Osaka.
After looking around the shop, we walked and found another nice shop.
This shop is not an antique shop. I explained to a worker at the shop that I was looking for some practice pieces for my Kintsugi techniques, and she told me that when I come back to the shop at the porcelain festival in summer, she can sell broken pieces for very cheap. Then, to contact me she wrote down my address and phone number on a piece of paper.
This corner is Kintsugi. I didn’t know that we can sell fixed pieces with the Kintsugi techniques. They were broken once and fixed with the Kintsugi techniques. So, we can use them again.
We ate Japanese noodle called Udon with some chicken tempura.
Since we were very close to Yasaka temple, I asked my friend to go there. That’s because I wanted to see and take some photos of cherry blossoms there.
Although the weather in Kyoto on the day was still cold, luckily we could see some cherry blossoms blooming.
We walked to the Teramachi street to see another antique shop. I didn’t take the shop photos, but I found beautiful cherry blossoms there and saw a maiko.
This shop is so-called Ochaya where Maiko and Geiko ( also called Geisya) are working. So, if we are lucky, we sometimes can see Maiko or Geiko.
Aren’t they pretty? I really love cherry blossoms with a river. The scene is the best!!
Nowadays, when you walk around in Kyoto, you can see fake Maiko or Geiko everywhere. They are tourists who are wearing a maiko costume or geiko costume. When you want to see a real one, you should come to the streets which have Ocyayas where they work for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochaya
The Maiko was a real one because she was walking alone with a plastic bag. We thought she had some errand to buy something. We chased her, lol to take some photos.
She was too fast for us to follow even though she was wearing a kimono and we couldn’t see her face. This also made us think she was a professional one. Usually people can’t walk fast when they wear a kimono.
I had a great time with my friend in Kyoto. She and I will go some antique shows and I will introduce them on my blog soon.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog!
This year I want to focus on creating my own style of art and probably it’s hard for me to show my pieces. Even so, I will try to show my practice pieces on my blog!
Hello there! How have you been so far? I am embarassed that I am writing an old article for my art blog, but I think I have to finish this first. Then, I will write about an even older than this, lol.
I studied abroad in Italy last year as well. It was last November and it was cold. I regreted why I didn’t bring a thicker jacket then. When I go back there next year, I won’t forget to do that.
Last time my teacher, her husband and my painting friends took me to Venice during our classes and this time they took me to Milan. It was my first time to get in a subway called metro.
Metro tickets
Let’s go to Milano with me!
We can buy tickets there.
Entrance
Inside of the train. It was very clean and the seats were a little bit different from ours in Japan.
Platform It looks very similar as ours.
Duomo in Milan
Unfortunately, the day when we were there was rainy and cold. There was a long line with people who were waiting for their turns to get in. Since I was with my Italian friends, I didn’t need to wait because actually, there were two lines; the longer one for tourists and the shorter one for local people. I could get in the shorter one, but I thought it was very unfair for tourists.
I am sorry for this out of forcus photo.
I was not allowed to take photos of the inside, but I saw some beautiful staindglasses and paintings there. I love seeing and entering cathedrals. Especially after reading a book about cathedrals (The book title is “The Pillars of The Earth”.) I was so overwelmed by the church.
After the church, we stopped by Gallelia which has lots of shops.
This is the most expensive restaurant menu in Milan.
This is the restaurant.
Here in Italy, art is everywhere even on the floor! I was so in love with Italy!
Prada, but look up at the ceiling. Art there!!!!
Look at this gorgeous sugar craft! So gorgeous!
I have an interesting story which I want to share with you. One of my Italian friends took us to a popular restaurant among locals. I met a waiter there. When he saw me, he immediatly asked me about my nationality. After he knew I was Japanese, he started talking Japanese words or terms whatever he knows. It was so funny because he said lots of Osaka dialects and I didn’t think he knew the meaning of what he mentioned. I couldn’t stop laughing. Since I was very curious about how he learned the terms, I asked about it to him. He told met that his Japanese friend, Mr. Honda taught them to him.
Well, we have so many Hondas in Japan. How do I know which Honda he is, lol. I told him that I am sorry there were so many Hondas, and I don’t think I know of your friend, Mr. Honda. He gave me a suspicious look and showed me his cell phone to say, ” Oh, my friend Mr. Honda is very popular here. I can show you his photos.” When I looked at photos, all the sudden, everything what he said made sense to me. The Mr. Honda is our soccer player, Keisuke Honda because he used to play soccer for The AC Milan. This restaurant was his favorite and he used to come here many times.
When I heard the story, I thought “Wow, it’s a very small world. I don’t know Honda, but now I know his friend!” Then, I looked around the restaurant and figured out that this place was really popular among local people and soccer players.
After lunch, we went to the Brera museum and saw a bunch of amazing art! Oh, I really loved it there!!!!
Very old library in the museum.
The museum allowed us to take photos, and I will show you some breathtaking pieces.
Venice! I was amazed that Venice has never ever changed!
This is one of the feature paintings in this museum. The painting title is The Kiss.
After the museum, we walked around in Milan.
Milan was just like mixi of Kyoto, Shinsaibashi in Osaka and Ginza in Tokyo because it has lots of luxurious shops, historical places, museums and art.
The other day my teacher and her husband took me to another place called Ferrara.
To be honest with you, I prefer the old town to Milan.
The town doesn’t have any luxurious shops, but I prefer this type of small local shop!
My favorite mushrooms called porcini!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I met new friends, tried out new foods or sweets and learned a lot both painting and Italian culture.
I can’t say thank you enough to these people!! I am already really looking forward to going back to Italy to learn from my Italian mentor and hanging out with my Italian friends! Ti voglio bene!!!
Thank you so much for reading such a long blog entry!
See you around in two weeks! Have a lovely week!!!
Hello there! How have you been? I want you to know that I haven’t quit my art blog and I apologize for the delay.
Two weeks has passed since new year. I hope everybody’s year started good.
I have some updates. First, I quit my painting school and I graduated from Gay’s painting school as well. I will write about my trip in the States last year on my other blog entry. I will write about my trip in Italy as well.
Last year since I took a portrait class from Cookie, I practiced some portraits. This lady portrait was the last one that I practiced last year. I will practice some portraits this year as well. I hope you will see the better ones this year.
Painting this lady was fun and I learned a lot.
Now, I started creating my own art. You will see what I will paint on my blog this year as well.
Thank you for visiting my art blog! Happy painting!
Hello there! How have you been? I am sorry that I hadn’t posted anything for a while, but I came back here.
I think many people use a cell phone now rather than a PC, and they don’t read long blog entries anymore. Blogs are kind of the out of fashion now. So, I change my art blog to follow the movement. I keep posting my hand-painting’s photos, but I don’t write long blog entries anymore on my art blog. So, it will be easier for people to check out my blog on their cell phones. To follow the movement, I started using Instagram as well. If you are interested in my Instagram, please follow me. https://www.instagram.com/yumiyumayume/
My porcelain painting blog 