So holily the snow falls

The kanji 聖 has the meaning of pureness.

The softness of light ink effectively shows how purely, genuinely and quietly it snows.

A woman on fire

I swear!!
After this year’s final calligraphy exhibition.
Following the intracompany exhibition in March and Mother-Daughter Exhibition in August, “the 5th Miki Otake’s Intracompany Exhibition” in November ended with a phenomenal number of visitors. Fellow calligraphers are surprised that I hold the calligraphy exhibition three times a year, saying “you have great energy”. They care about me, automatically thinking that I’m completely exhausted and I can’t concentrate on anything for a while. But I don’t feel tired. I’m rather feeling excited about the future, first, the next year.

Here I swear to you all!!
In 2009, I will do everything I can as much as possible, I will never give it up even if I fail or get laughed at.
Just like I changed myself this year compared to what I was last year, I want myself to be advanced next year.
It is the best gain of this year that I learned that nothing will change unless I make a move. It’s the fact that it’s based on the success of the calligraphy exhibition held three times a year, which could be reckless.
Thanks to backup of people who come to see the exhibition.
I realized again that I am not living alone.
I would like to be a “woman on fire” and return the favor to people who support me.


In 2008, I started to write the blog, which was a new challenge. I also encountered people who visited this blog. Thank you!
I wish everyone good luck for 2009!!

Can’t believe the bone is broken!!??

A misfortune slipped into a space in my mind that took a rest after the 5th Miki Otake’s Intracompany Exhibition (November 19th – 24th).

On December 2nd, the door chime…rang, rang, and rang.
I rushed down to the door just like falling from upstairs (with a weird “snap”!!...??)
The snap came from my left toe. It rapidly got swollen so I put a compress on it. However, pain developed and I went to the hospital.

“It’s broken.”

What!?
I sent e-mails to my friends, “I had my bone broken!” Almost all of them replied to me, “think about your age!”

Oh my God! Did I do something wrong?
My enjoyment in winter, swaggering in heeled boots…is warned with the red light this winter.

The only consolation is a pair of sheepskin boots that my daughter sent to me. I can wear them even with my left foot, which has been fixed and grown large. I’m glad these boots are trendy this year! They are dyed in vivid purple, which is also this year’s trendy color (laugh). Looking at my foot, I spend days with deep sighs....

Imagine!!

Not for Sale.

This is a poem from Yoko Ono that is said to inspire John Lennon to write "Imagine". The poem that uses only imperative forms is sensational.
In it, I saw her strong will and the way of life.

My partners "SANBA"

Today I would like to talk about my partners, brushes…
One of my favorite brushes is a sanba (山馬) brush.
Sanba means “mountain (山) horse (馬)” but it’s not of horsehair. It’s made of hair of a wild deer that lives in the interior Vietnam, and because that wild deer is called “sanma” in that area, it was named “sanba” using kanji山 (san) and馬 (uma) (which is pronounced as sanba as one word). The left in the picture is the sanba, and the right is a common brush.

It has the hardest hair of the brushes. Now the number of wild deer has decreased in Vietnam, which has made the sanba brushes difficult to obtain and expensive.
The picture shows the four brothers of sanba (laugh). The sanba brush with long hair is expensive, and it doesn’t last long while it is expensive…
It is a hassle to wash the brush, and as each hair is coarse, it gets broken if it is washed hard.
When writing with it…it feels hard!

Sanba hair does not contain a lot of ink because of its nature.
Scratchy, strong, and sharp lines are its characteristics, but because this brush is difficult to write with, it’s not common.
Also, there is an interesting brush called nanayou sansaba (七羊三山馬).
This is a unique brush with soft wool and sanba in the ratio of 7 to 3.

I use these brushes depending on the atmosphere of words and poems to be written, and what I like about the sanba brush is its uncalculated lines most of all. Because the brush doesn’t go as I imagine, it can bring unexpectedly interesting lines.

Calligraphy,"SAKANA" The Fish

This kanji 魚 is for fish, from word KINBUN 金文 (ancient letters that were engraved on copper wares in the Bronze Age in China).

In summer, fishes cheerfully jump out of the water. (Summer from the four seasons tapestries)

September

As scheduled in September I got out of shape because of accumulated busyness in the summer. Also I had no free time as usual.

On September 28, the collaboration between Ms. Y, a calligrapher whom I respect, and a famous artist, was held in “Akiyoshidai International Art Village” which is famous for the calcareous cave. Creating impromptu works for two hours each in the morning and afternoon was collision of talents, which showed us the great process of creation and works.

However it was a phrase from Mr. Y’s free talk that was strongly impressive to me - the faith to “write a work that remains for thousand years”.
I have heard these words once before. He advised me to “write a work that remains for thousand years” when I was dithering. He told his clear decision to me. I felt grateful again.

Ms. Y is now lives out of a wheelchair. Being handicapped, she is rather enjoying all of her life saying “I don’t think I am unhappy now. I can write characters that I can write only now.”
When writing on a big piece of paper while she is in the wheelchair, a brush (her arm) cannot reach it. She uses a brush with an extended shaft.
I am moved to tears by her positive and strong way to live and inconvenience that cannot be avoid after all…

The beautiful sound of “thousand years” surges. In contrast to the beautiful sound, I have to make a heavy decision…
I think I have to be prepared to face the endless flow of time.