Artists I Fancy : Kat Lowry

Pinterest started in 2010 and it was either that year or the next year 2011 that I created my Pinterest account. Even though my account was created with the intention of supplementing my affiliate marketing and other home biz efforts, a lot of my pinboards are personal, i.e. just stuff I like to collect. Two of my favorite boards are Artists I Fancy and Legends, Myths, Fables, Folklore, Culture.

Was going through my Facebook memories and found a lovely piece of Asian art and couldn't remember where I found it. Thank goodness for the Google search feature that helps you find images. So I found a source to credit the image but in the process, one thing led to another and I found this amazing artist, Kat Lowry. Her artwork was a Japanese sun goddess named Amaterasu.  Her art was so beautiful I couldn't decide which board to pin it to, so I shared it via both pinboards. Take a look! Isn't it lovely?  The first image is from her profile on Deviant Art where she uses the name Fragile Whispers.  The second image that follows was shared via her latest post (Apr 2018) on her blog called Kat Lowry Illustration.  Are you impressed?  I am!

* * *

Holidays and Celebrations: Do You Celebrate Japanese New Year?

The beauty of the United States of America is in its diversity.  People of different ethic groups and/or nationalities celebrate holidays and traditions that other groups are not even aware of.  But it's cool when I find out about them.  For example, I had a lot of Chinese friends so I learned to check every year to determine when Chinese New Year would occur.  My Japanese friends never mentioned their new year celebration.  But now I think I know why.

• The Japanese New Year (正月, Shōgatsu) is an annual festival with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, New Year's Day (元日, Ganjitsu). However, some traditional events of the Japanese New Year are partially celebrated on the first day of the year on the modern Tenpō calendar, the last official lunisolar calendar which was used until 1872 in Japan.  (Source:  Wikipedia)  

It's January 1st, same day as America's New Year.  However, the traditions are different.  In case you didn't know, Japanese New Year is the most important holiday in Japan.  Did you know the kadomatsu (image below) is a traditional decoration for the new year holiday?

Other customs and traditions include bell-ringing in the Buddhist temples on New Year's Eve, sending postcards (just like sending Christmas cards), children receiving gifts of money from adults, and various forms of entertainment and of course ... great food!!

I subscribe to a newsletter called "Just One Cookbook". The publisher shares easy Japanese recipes. In the newsletter I received for the week ending December 4, 2020, she shared lots of information in order for you to prepare for Japanese New Year!

• ​What is Oshogatsu​
• ​Menu Roundup​
• ​A 5-Day Osechi Cooking Timelime​
• ​How to Pack Osechi Ryori​
• ​Popular Side Dishes & Desserts to Serve with Osechi Ryori

* * *

Planning to celebrate Japanese New Year?

Whatever you're celebrating Happy Holidays!

**

Do You Celebrate Persian New Year?

Do You Celebrate Chinese New Year?

Japanese Tea Gardens in Texas

Would you like to visit a Japanese Tea Garden? Great!

Somehow when I Googled “Japanese Garden” I was not expecting City of Houston to pop up on the first page of the results. 😊 It led me to Yelp.

• GO TO the Yelp website. In the search box, type in “Japanese Tea Garden” and for location type in “Houston, Texas”. You get a list of the the Top 10 Japanese Tea Gardens or Japanese Gardens.

FUN FACT:

"The Japanese teahouse was built in Japan and reassembled by craftsmen here on location in Houston. It is a particular type of construction that uses no nails in holding the building together. Signifying mutual friendship, it was a gift from Japan."

~ SOURCE: Japanese Tea Garden in Houston, Texas | HUBPages.com

Kawaii Interior Inspiration | Glitter Puffs (Reblog)

A writer at Squidoo (a website acquired by HUBPages) introduced me to “kawaii”, which by my translation into plain English means “adorable cuteness”!  A more detailed explanation of the term, according to Artsy.net is as follows:

“The Japanese concept of kawaii—best translated as “cuteness”—has grown from a national trend to a global phenomenon. Sanrio’s Hello Kitty has been valued at $7 billion; the Oxford English Dictionary named an emoji its 2015 Word of the Year; and Nintendo’s Pokémon Go recently became the most downloaded game in smartphone history. The kawaii movement is wide in scope, spanning Manga comics, Harajuku fashion, and Takashi Murakami’s “Superflat” artworks, but what’s behind the aesthetic, and why is it so popular?” 

* * *
Quote Reference: 
Gottesman, Sarah. "The Art Genome Project : What Is Kawaii?" Artsy. N.p., 28 July 2016. Web. 02 Aug. 2017.

An amazing phenomenon!  Yes?  That's why I had to reblog the source link and share these adorably cute images published by a fellow blogger via her Blogspot blog who was looking for home decorating tips for a child's room.  (Also posted on my Tumblr blog.  Lots of kawaii lovers in the Tumblr community.)

Kawaii Interior Inspiration | Glitter Puffs

https://foxnooze.tumblr.com/post/174897714171/via-kawaii-interior-inspiration-glitter-puffs

https://goshoppingbees.tumblr.com/post/174897043553/strawberry-baking-bedroom-set-use-coupon