Wednesday, July 6, 2011

pieces of sunshine

I've been so busy painting citrus fruit this week that I didn't have time to develop an idea for Illustration Friday (this week's theme=remedy). However, I noticed that my daughter, who promptly caught a cold upon arriving in relatively cool & dry Hokkaido from hot & humid Nagoya, has been chomping on some kind of Vitamin C-rich nutritional supplement. So let my etegami oranges count for the Vitamin C that my daughter is absolutely convinced is a "remedy for the common cold."

The writing that accompanies the sliced blood orange etegami above says "sawayaka," the Japanese word for refreshing or invigorating. It's a word that is often used to describe a cool breeze that revives you on a hot day, or how a slightly tart, refreshing drink tastes when you’re terribly thirsty.

The writing on the etegami collage below that one is a quote from one of my favorite songs of encouragement by singer/songwriter Takako Okamura. The song itself is titled “Don’t Give Up Your Dreams,” and the quote (which comes in the middle of the song) translates roughly to Shine As Only You Can Shine. The orange wedges were painted on a washi card, then cut out and glued to the cover of an antique book of Japanese singing poems (shigin) printed with gold birds in flight.

12 comments:

  1. Just wonderful! :)

    By the way, you inspired me to draw e-tegami cards. Here are the results: apwohalypticahandmade.blogspot.com/e-tegami :) Feel free to comment, though!

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  2. Your paintings are always beautiful and your talent shines :)

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  3. This is absolutely gorgeous. This actually fits so well I wouldn't have known you didn't come up with this idea specifically for it. :-) (Well wishes for your daughter!)

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  4. "The task is not so much to see what no one else has seen, but to think what nobody else has thought about that which everyone sees." (Schopenhauer)

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  5. Nice! I hope your daughter feels better.

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  6. Say hello to your daughter 0 vit C is a remedy for everything :)
    Adding your beautiful art - now, that's everything human may need :)

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  7. i love the warms colors in this one :)

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  8. Your citrusy etegami is "sawayaka," too! ;o)
    Wishing a speedy recovery for your daughter. It's no fun being sick in summer!

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  9. Thank you all for your comments. My daughter recovered less than two days after taking Vitamin C, so maybe it is a "remedy" after all. Or maybe it's just "youth" :p

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  10. Do you know if there's a youtube recording of Takako Okamura's “Don’t Give Up Your Dreams? And if so, could you give us the link perhaps? Or write the song title in Japanese, please? I'd love to hear the song.

    (All her youtube songs are titled in Japanese (which I can't read). Nothing on itunes. Amazon has her albums w english titles, but the song tracks aren't.)

    Love the oranges!!! Am now wanting to taste oranges!

    Your etegami are such a delight!

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