new teapot paintings - nos. 215, 216, 217

See my three teapot sets here:

3rd Set of 100 Teapots
[13 Dec. 2007 & resumed 11 May 2008 - ]

2nd Set of 100 Teapots
[8 Dec. 2006 - 31 Oct. 2007]

1st Set of 100 Teapots
[22 Dec. 2005 - 2 Oct. 2006]

May All Beings Be Nourished

Breeze of delight

Here are some friends we met on our walk today ~

it's May now :)

Up early this morning, I smiled at the pink and orange streaks in the sky through the openings between prickly pear pads. Got dressed, drank some cool rooibos tea with rose petals floating in it from last night that i left on my dresser. Yuki and I walked out into the day.

happy April!

the Sun in our hearts

~Nature mirrors the growth inside us~

It's Springtime!!!

HapPy Year of the Rat

Continuum. 2007 to 2008 and beyond!

From Turtle Tranquility Temple,
at this end-of-the-year
beginning-of-the-new-year cusp,
Yuki, Jesse, and I wish all our friends
(and all beings)
continued good health, abundance, and contentment.

May we always remember
our lives, this earth, our universe,
all beings, and all events with Gratitude-Appreciation-and-Joy.
From 2007 into 2008 with Love.

明けましておめでとうございます！
皆様、今年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

The Real Work

[click on the image to see it enlarged]

The poem below is a recycling of a post from July 2005 and feels appropriate for this moment in my life. Dedicated with love to everyone I love. I've paired it with the above drawing I did about three years ago. I put this drawing out to the universe as my "build it and they will come" desire. I want to build a school where language learning and arts and hands-on projects are everyday inspirations. Draw it and it will manifest??

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

~Wendell Berry (Collected Poems)

If you are reading this and have lots of money (or fund-raising ability), inspiration, creativity, and community spirit to contribute to the building of this school, let's talk. Until then, I'll keep on envisioning this school, drawing it into existence.

Please feel free to follow or join the expanded conversation on my flickr photostream. There you will see more details on my school.

A winter meal

miso shiru


natto on rice


nori for the natto & rice


steamed kale


takuan (pickles)


tofu with grated daikon, soy sauce, and sprouts


sencha (green tea)

Nolliag Shona Dhuit

Nolliag Shona Dhuit

I got the idea to post this song from a flickr friend who posted it on her photostream. I had fun singing along with Enya and listening to the Irish Gaelic. Reading the lyrics while listening gave me an idea of the letter-sound relationship (grapho-phonetic correspondence for you TESOL/TFL types).

Enjoy!

full moon night

[Kyoko Kumai. Wind from the Cloud Wall Hanging. 1992. Stainless steel wire]

The old man who lives down the street from me had a heart attack. I found out tonight when I was walking with Yuki. We walk by the old man's house almost everyday. Tonight, a younger man came out of the old man's house, walked down the steps and past me and Yuki to the street side mailbox. The man looked at me and said he was picking up mail for the man who lived in that house. I nodded. He asked if I knew which mailbox was the old man's and if I knew which key was the mailbox key. I didn't know, but I held out my hand and he gave me the keys. In seconds, I found the right box and the key that fit it. Sometimes other people can help with the small things when big things like heart attacks happen. I just happened to be there, able to jiggle keys, and open a mailbox. The man picking up the mail may have been a relative. As he took the mail, the man said, "he had a heart attack--at my house; he's in critical care at TMC." I nodded. What could I say? I often saw the old man outside planting or weeding; I live down the street. So, that's what I said. The old man is over 80.

* * * *

By the way, if you read my harrumpff posting a few posts ago, you will see that my blogger header image has reverted to its original appearance. Is this a case of computer magic? Or, perhaps another case of "empty boat(ness)." The empty boat story goes something like this:

It was a calm, clear day on a turquoise lake. A woman was out in the middle of the lake in her row boat, contentedly reading a book while slowly drifting on the the calm waters. After a while, the woman saw what looked like a red leaf way off near the other shore. As the leaf moved a little closer, she saw that it was a red houseboat. It was still quite a distance away, so the woman went back to reading. In a few moments, however, she saw that the houseboat was coming straight towards her boat. She started waving her arms frantically and yelling. Doesn't the captain see her? Why isn't it swerving out of the way? As the houseboat crashed into her smaller boat she was still shouting, but she also saw that there was no human aboard. She had been frantically waving her arms at an empty boat.

clear day

Today I bicycled from my house to epic cafe, enjoying the glorious blue sky and warm sunshine on my face. I've been holed up for the past several days with a head cold, kind of flu-y and fuzzy headed, so being outside felt like a real celebration. I can breath through my left nostril now; a wonderful thing, breathing. Right nostril breathing still to come.

Teapots 10, 11, & 12

My little cha book is filling up.

Teapot no. 10 (210)

Watercolor and sumi brush pen in my handmade cha book.

Teapot no. 11 (211)

Paper cut outs glued into my handmade cha book.

Teapot no. 10 (210)

Green fountain pen ink (that looks aqua on the pink paper) and watercolored yellow spots.

Teapot 12 & 11 together

teapot nos. 8 & 9

Teapot no. 9 (209)
Sumi brush pen and watercolor in my handmade cha book.


Teapot no. 8 (208)
Fountain pen & colored pencil drawn inside my handmade cha book.


8 & 9 together in my handmade cha book.

View my newly started 100 Teapots Set 3.