Happy Easter from Me & Peter Rabbit!

There must be so many people who grew up with Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit books. Well, I wasn't really one of them, but I've always loved her works... who wouldn't, really. They are full of innocence and very vibrant as if the characters would jump out from the pictures just like the scenes from the movie, Miss Potter. And speaking of the movie, especially after seeing the movie, I have become a huge fan of Beatrix Potter, her life, and of course Peter Rabbit too.

According to the legend, on the night of Easter, rabbits carry the basket full of colored eggs, and visit Children's houses. I am not a Christian. But, who wouldn't want to celebrate the day of Jesus's Resurrection & cute bunnies with lovely colored eggs! So here it is,
Happy Easter to you all :-)))


Happy Easter from Peter Rabbit!








I didn't create new Easter designs this year. But since this is one of my favorite Easter illustrations, here it is again.
Happy Easter from me to everyone too!


Baby Aprons, Stickers, and other gifts of this design are available at
http://www.euphorianchicgift.com/ Holiday Design Category.

Love, Yoshika

Introducing Etsy Japan Team!

Finally, I am adding a new entry. And today, I would like to introduce some of artists from Etsy Japan Team.

Well, Etsy Japan team is for artists who run etsy shop based in Japan. So, I am not a member. But, since I am Japanese myself, I visited some of member's shops and was totally impressed with the quality of their works.

I especially appreciated the fact that there are artists who are from other countries, and create "very-Japanese" art. So, I would like to introduce some of their works here today and show some support!

1. AKJapan : http://akjapan.etsy.com

Andrea is from Australia and She is an admin of Etsy Japan team. She really captures the colors and feelings of Japanese traditional art. I love them.




2. Togei: http://togei.etsy.com

The word "Togei" means Japanese ceramic/pottery art. His "togei" works are beautiful! And he also sells Japanese Kimono at his etsy shop.


3. GalleryJuana: http://galleryjuana.etsy.com

I love her portrait works as well as the one that she uses Japanese papers for her watercolors. Beautiful:-)


They have their blog JapanFocusEtsy.blogspot.com. You can visit member's Etsy shops from the links. I know there are MANY talented artists in Japan who are not part of Etsy because they don't speak English...what a shame. But, the ones that are in Etsy Japan team are really great. Please visit their shops:-)
Andrea (AKJapan) kindly introduced my shop there a while ago and also included my work in her treasury from Etsy Japan team & friends. Thank you so much!

Love, Yoshika

NYC Waterfall Tour

Yesterday was Columbus day and it was the last day that NYC Waterfalls were exhibited. I actually read the article about this public art project back in early spring and remember thinking it was such a wonderful project that would benefit a lot of people.

As the artist says that he wanted to bring some nature element in the city scene, thought the huge waterfall under the brooklyn bridge is something that people would like to see for once if they had a chance, it would not only promote the idea of public art, it would benefit NYC tourism for sure as well.

Although it was said the exhibition was going to be this summer and I thought I would love to take a look if I had a chance, as you may already know, I was very busy during last several months and I almost forgot about it. But luckily, I happened to see the TV commercial about this waterfall about a week ago, and I finally made a visit on the last day of the exhibition.

There were four waterfalls, 1 under the Brooklyn bridge, 2 Brooklyn bridge pier, and 1 north shore of Governors Island. I think I could see at least three of them. (I might have seen all 4 ...) There were many ways of seeing this waterfalls, from Manhattan, from ferry tours, etc. The city was offering free Staten Island ferry ride for this waterfall tour, so I tried that one.

.....And, my impression for these waterfalls was... "Oh.....that...."
Overall I loved it. But, I also must add that the frame for the waterfalls were little too big, too exposed and it made the waterfalls looked more like "fountain". (There were actually people calling it "fountains") Well, as far as I remember, in their anticipating finished image that I saw in spring, the frame part wasn't shown like that, probably neither did in artist's finished images.

But, it must be much more beautiful when it is lit at night. In my visit, I couldn't wait 4 more hours there to see the illuminated ones. But, the people who had nice evening nights at South Street Seaport this summer must have enjoyed it very much.

These are the photos of the NYC waterfalls that I took.

From the view of the waterfall from South Street Seaport. (My best possible angle.)

The waterfall of Governors Island

The waterfall of Brooklyn Bridge Pier

Bad angle one.
And of course, the Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry



The artist who initiated this project is Olafur Eliasson and it was funded by Public Art Fund.
For more about this project and hear the interview of the artist, please visit:
http://www.nycwaterfalls.org/.


Love, Yoshika

Bloblove -- Karim Rashid Exhibition

Well, this post is a little too late for his exhibition. It already ended on 15th. I wanted to post it earlier, but things were a little hectic around me recently.
Anyway, I had to go to Manhattan the other day, so I also brought myself to his exhibition in Chelsea and had a little gallery tour myself. Although I also wanted to show other artist's works that I liked, my scanner seems to be broken now.

Ok. Back to Rashid氏. I am a huge fan of his works, especially his industrial designs. Well, in one article about him, he says he never liked nature,(which is almost opposite of me, by the way. He says it's because nature is already complete. It makes sense, though...)but anyway who cares. His designs are just great! I really love to hear his concepts behind his works as well. It's deep. And you feel the energy from his work. If you are someone who study designs, whatever your style you work with, there must be a lot that you can learn from him.

Here are some works from his exhibition. Feeling lots of love!!

Flying Bloblove




Seven Sins

The title of the first image is "Spiralik, Flying Kromaskapes". I couldn't find the meaning of the word "Kromaskapes" in English. I found "Kromeskies" though...But it's Russian style croquett....But, if you try to look at it that way, it does kind of start to look like it, doesn't it? A twisted croquett.....:DDDI'm planning another little gallery tour in near future. Hope it'll come true soon:)

Don't forget to check out his other works & shops:
Karim Rashid Offical Site: http://www.karimrashid.com/

Karim Rashid Shop: http://www.karimrashidshop.com/

Karim Rashid Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/karimrashid

Love, Yoshika

My Favorite Pianist, Fujiko Hemming

These are some works by the renowned international pianist, Fujiko Hemming. She was born in Berlin to a Japanese pianist mother and a Russian-Swedish architect father and has lost her hearing due to high-fever in her late 20's. I just love the sound of her piano as well as the loving energy of her artworks. She is not just someone who was born with exceptional talent, but also someone who has gone through very hard times in order to reach where she is now. I feel it is showing in her sound of piano and in her artwork :-)




Please visit her official site

Love, Yoshika