shin shin

the light of hope

2012-03-11T13:08:00.007Z

Exactly a year before today, I remembered that my mind completely lost function with the devastation in Japan. Since then, I have been thinking and participating in whatever I could do as a Japanese, including the fundraising project and visiting the town wiped out by the tsunami, which made me realise that they’re facing an unimaginable long road to recovery.

It is vital to continue sending our love and support for those who face the hardship. It is important to keep the light of hope lit for the next generation. I believe that has to be done by us as adults. What an individual can do may be small, but together it become a big light of hope.

Busy life has been holding me back but I have never forgotten. I will be starting again, HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. Aiming to open this summer, with a completion of my degree. My support will be on-going. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested. x m

exhibition quick peek

2012-02-29T17:12:00.006Z

The exhibition last weekend went very well. It had a good turn out and many positive feedback. Thank you for those who came along. Here are some images of my work - an installation of porcelain lilypads and a film projected onto muslin screen...

For those who may be interested, this is a brief background. This exhibition was one assignment of my degree study, which was to work in collaboration with a local art dealer and gallery owner. The project was to make work in response to the wonderful 1820 Georgian house where he and his family live.

I focused on two aspects of the house that fascinated me from my initial visit; one is a story of a fish pond, and other is beautiful patterns throughout the house. It was explained that the state of house & garden was quite run down when he first bought it. Due to over grown plants, he did not even realise there was a fish pond in the garden first, then he even found a fish ALIVE! (and still is today!) No one knows how long this fish has been living there, to which I thought the fish may have never seen any light. I was instantly intrigued by the story and made a short film about fish point of view. Similarly, as the restoration continued, the beautiful original feature of the house appeared, such as floor tiles and wall paper. Both fish pond and those patterns were undiscovered and untouched for a long time. I felt a sense of revealing ‘hidden beauty’ in both elements, which is what my work is all about.

Those lilypads are all in unglazed porcelain, which I have never worked with before, certainly not thrown. It was quite a challenge for me, but enjoyed a whole new experience. Screen print design was all hand-drawn first. (you can see the process here) My favourite was pierced ones. (you can see the process here)

Hope you enjoyed. (and so did a dog!?) x m

quite a journey...

2012-02-24T22:22:00.000Z

it’s been quite a journey

so many trial

and error

right in the middle of academic horror

just wanted to hide sometime

but finally...

Dissertation is done!

Exhibition work is up!

What a relief!

more images of the exhibition will soon be followed... m x

s t i l l

2012-02-16T17:24:00.000Z

just that moment i like... do you? xm

an exhibition on its way!

2012-02-10T20:35:00.030Z

So it went on the front page of the weekender in today’s local newspaper. To find out what it is about, click-open the image in new window to enlarge, or you can read from here.

If you are local, please do pop over. The exhibition is open to public at 16 Cold Bath Road, Harrogate, North Yorskhire, HG2 0NA on Saturday 25th February 11am - 5pm and Sunday 26th 1- 4pm. (I will be down there on Saturday till 2pm.) Fingers crossed for all going well! xm

winter goes round

2012-02-05T13:10:00.003Z

The weather forecast in Britain is a little hit and miss, but it did snow after all. Unlike my step-son who dashed out to sledge with his mates early this morning, snuggling in bed was preferable. Start with a bowl of blueberry porridge and a drop of melted local honey. The studio was rather warm from the heat of firing last night (thank god). Checking the result of transfers that was rather a battle. It was half good and half not good. Must find out why the transfer decal keeps coming off on the edge. (any solutions welcome) Oh, winter heaven, winter hell… xm

fish point of view

2012-01-25T21:28:00.001Z

I’ve never read so many books at once and written this long in English, probably not even in Japanese, and let me tell you, IT WAS BL • • • Y HARD. Nevertheless, a full draft of dissertation is finally done. Just about to review it through. Phew...

Haven’t been making anything for ages, but it’s time to start again. Work for my next assignment - one day exhibition at the local gallery - is about to shape. xm

winter magic

2012-01-20T18:13:00.001Z

i really cannot thank enough for your kind messages on the previous post.

your support does help me so much right now.

a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart.

and these are for you.

have a lovely winterly weekend. xm

frosty morning

2012-01-14T12:28:00.000Z

How are you all? Here in North Yorkshire, we had a very cold but fresh morning. Regardless what’s happening outside, I am suffering from never experienced amount of stress, multiple pressures and worries over my study, work, career, family issues all at once for some reasons. At the same time, I am embarrassed to say this, as I know there are so many people who suffers more and would be glad to replace with me. How do we all cope? Taking one thing out of them seems to be not an option. Giving myself tap on my back. Nearly there, don’t give up. Occasional doodling is a wee bit of help for now...

what I saw in a new year...

2012-01-04T21:15:00.000Z

wishing you a wonderful 2012 with lots of happiness. x maki

finally...

2011-12-19T17:08:00.000Z

Almost the end of 2011! How was your year? For me it’s been one of the most hectic years so far and I am continuously in panic mode with an endless to do list, but finally I did manage to spend one afternoon just to do this….

cut cut cut

stitch stitch stitch

and look at each other at times

then

this year’s cards are finally sent out...

and this is for YOU.

wherever you are, whatever you do,

Have a wonderful Christmas!!!

x maki

slow pleasure

2011-12-04T17:18:00.001Z

work in progress slowly slowly… x maki

WINNER

2011-12-01T17:43:00.001Z

December is here!! Can you believe it? (I certainly can’t!) Here is a bit of early celebration mood for you...

Thank you everyone for kindly answering my dissertation questionnaire. My thanks gift is a set of porcelain decorations. I have finally picked a name out of my winter hat. The winner for the prize draw is (drumroll please)……..

Valerie!

Please email me your postal address. Hopefully you will receive in time for Christmas.

Many people asked what my topic was. It is linked closely to my final project, so hopefully I will share about my research and some images of work here, but for now I must finish them first!! See you soon all. x maki

november??

2011-11-26T16:31:00.005Z

It’s nearly the end of November. This is so unreal! I have lost a track of time completely. Thank you so much for many kind words on tribute to David and those who replied to my dissertation questionnaire. How could I manage without your support?? I really do not know. It's been a rather hard and emotional time for me, but also helped me reflect on my life and what I must do to move forward. So thanks again everyone. In the next post, I will announce the winner of my christmas gift prize draw from those who kindly participated to my questionnaire, so please do pop back!

Here are a bit of catching up of this month…

FLARE in earlier this month went well. It is always nice listening to people’s feedback. Many thanks to K for the beautiful scarf :)

Adam Frew came to our college to do a demonstration. You just cannot take your eyes off his stunning work (and gorgeous Adam)!

Dissertation is currently overtaking everything, but in between the nightmare of 'reading English books', I have also been busy experimenting for new work, which are gradually building up the forms, so have a peek...

Wrap up warm, folks! x maki

Tribute to David

2011-11-11T17:08:00.002Z

The last few weeks have been the most difficult and saddest time in my life. Everything else instantly had gone out of window. At first I did not know whether I should be back to my blog or not, but I have decided to write this post respectfully to the wider audience for someone who truly deserves to be known.

My mentor David Constantine White died on 27th October after fighting with cancer. David and I both knew this day would come, but I never expected it so soon.

I wrote about him this summer in my blog (here and here, or click label under 'mentor') with his kind permission to do so, although I did not mention his illness at that time and obviously I did not wish to publicise that way. I returned to work with him this summer, as I wanted to support him as much as possible. David had full of upcoming ideas and worked soulfully, literally non stop, despite his condition and regular hospital visits.

This Tuesday was his wake. It was a wonderful and very unique ceremony full of love and respect. (Sad to say this, but it was the best and the most beautiful funeral I have ever been to and I am sure David would have loved it.) To make this happen for David, I would love to say a huge thank you to Tim and Sarah, Tim and Katherine, Dorothy and Ian, who all did tremendous jobs and also supported me going through this sad time. I was asked to ‘man’ his workshop for the visitors prior to the funeral, which was very emotional yet such an honorable task to me. So many potters across the UK and beyond came over, as well as many of his local friends, which revealed how wonderful the man was to all. It was sad that I have finally just met those people at this occasion after knowing him for 11 years.

As David had wished, a bursary will be established in his name, to support others to benefit from his inspiration. Please visit his newly set up website (click here) to view his wonderful work and further information will be shown in time.

To me, David was soulful, warm-hearted, eccentric, mysterious and patient man, and above all a strong fighter. I read my last words to David at the memorial, with a brave face on, although I was shaking, I did not cry any more. Many kindly came and spoke to me afterward to share their thoughts. I hope David liked it too.

Please allow me to share the last part of my words here, that would hopefully help me stay strong. Love to you all. Love to David. x maki

. . . I miss you David.

Your big hands. Your smile. Your yelling voice. Your humming voice.

Your sense of humour. Your laughter. Your whistling singing to the Archers.

Iʼve tried to recall everything of you, but I canʼt find them all with my tears.

I feel like a ship that lost an anchor.

But from this day, I will shift this sadness into my courage.

Otherwise, I guess you would yell at me again, saying ʻjust get on with it.ʼ

You were and always will be my mentor, my life teacher and my friend.

I will carry your soul with me forever.

I will carry your spirit with me forever.

Thank you for everything you did to me.

Hope you find your dad and no more sad winter.

May you rest in peace.

YOUR VOICE COUNTS! Can you help please?

2011-10-24T22:52:00.008+01:00

As you know, I am currently in the middle of working towards my dissertation of my degree. Here is a big favor. CAN YOU HELP PLEASE? I need as many voices as possible for my research and it would be greatly appreciated if you could spare some time for this questionnaire.

There are only 6 questions. It will remain anonymous. Please do not worry if you are not in a creative industry, it does not matter. Your voice does matter to me. Feel free to share this link to your friends and family. The more participants the merrier.

How to submit your answer:

Please send me your answer via Email to makikohastings@gmail.com

You can use blog comment space, but in that case you may like to select anonymous, unless you don’t mind your link will show up.

Deadline:

Please submit your answer by Monday 14th November.

(Those who participated in the questionnaire will be automatically entered my Christmas Giveaway Prize Draw!)

Thank you so much!!!!!!! So here are the questions…

* * * * *

Q1. What is your age group?

☐ below 18 ☐ 18 - 24 ☐ 25 - 34 ☐ 35-44 ☐ 45-54 ☐ 55-65 ☐ above 65

Q2. What is your perception of ‘beauty’? Please describe as many as you like.

Q3. What is your perception of ‘ugliness’? Please describe as many as you like.

Q4. Have you seen (or made) any examples of what you perceived as ugly art or ugly subject? If so, please briefly describe what it was and why you felt it was ugly. If the answer is No, please go to Q6.

Q5. Have you seen (or made) any examples of art work, that you first perceived as ugly, but your perception has altered later on? If so, please describe what it was and how it altered.

Q6. Please look at the following four examples of British Artists work and follow the question Q6-1 to Q6-4.

(fig 1)

My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin

Emin shows us her own bed, in all its embarrassing glory with empty booze bottles, fag butts, urine stained sheet, worn panties, the bloody aftermath of nervous breakdown. By presenting her bed as art, Emin shares her most personal space, revealing she’s insecure and imperfect as the rest of the world. (referenced form the Saatchi Gallery)

Q6-1. Do you think this work (fig 1) has the aesthetic value and why?

(fig 2)

Piss Flowers (1991-92) by Helen Chadwick

12 flowers bronze casted from the cavities created by urinating in to the snow, by both Chadwick and her partner David Notarius. She saw the work being erotic, since they were made via a sensual bodily collaboration. (referenced from fineart.ac.uk)

Q6-2. Do you think this work (fig 2) has the aesthetic value and why?

(fig 3)

No Woman, No Cry (1998) by Chris Ofili

A tribute to the London teenager Stephen Lawrence who was stubbed to death in 1993. The Metropolitan police investigation into his racially motivated murder was mishandled, and subsequent inquiry described the police force as institutionally racist. In each of the tears shed by the woman in the painting is a collaged image of Stephen Lawrence’s face, while the words “R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence’ are just discernible beneath the layers of paint. The painting stands of two dried, varnished lumps of elephant dung. A third is used as the pendant of the necklace. (referenced from Tate Gallery)

Q6-3. Do you think this work (fig 3) has the aesthetic value and why?

(fig 4)

Fantasy Village (2006) by Grayson Perry

The vessel depicts an alternative vision to the rural idyll and was made for the Charms of Lincolnshire exhibition curated by Perry in 2006. Perry described the work by saying ‘often our vision of rural life is mired in the pre-industrial age. The Victorian era is a popular setting for sexual fantasies as well. The snapshots show typical rural sights today.’ Transferred images captures such as parked vehicles and squashed plastic bottles on streets. (referenced from collection of art and archaeology in Lincolnshire)

Q6-4. Do you think this work (fig 4) has the aesthetic value and why?

Thank you so much for your time x maki

FLARE

2011-10-21T17:06:00.001+01:00

porcelain christmas hangings on their way

ugly ducklings available at FLARE

Going a bit manic with the last minute work for this year’s FLARE. I will be holding my stall on Sunday 6th November at The Tithe Barn. With loads of excuses, I haven’t made much of new items, but will do a big stock sale of my ceramic and print work (up to half price!!!), so don’t miss out the chance! Hope you can make it.

Have a nice weekend, everyone! x maki

J D I

2011-10-16T13:20:00.006+01:00

How are you all doing?
I am incredibly slow and low with everything at the moment, as the fear of dissertation is taking over my daily life, as well as a huge concern on my mentor’ illness. There seems to be not much improvement with my work but thought I’d just say hi to the world. Life is such a cruel monster at times stealing things around you, but hopefully we all see the peaceful light at the end of the tunnel.

The image is new Ai-Awase test pieces that came out of a kiln this morning. It took me ages to develop this far but there is still a long way to go. My mentor said, “you can have as many ideas as you want. But just because your idea is precious to you, you don’t have to put them all together now. You must develop it and grow it before putting it into your work.” When I was telling him the idea of my final project and dissertation, he pointed out that I was not thinking enough… He shown me a number of pages of drawings and endless ideas in his sketchbooks, which rather made me feel inadequate.

Whether you agree with what he said or not, you know now the fact that there is NO EXCUSES. Just Do It. x maki

art of serendipity

2011-10-06T17:28:00.002+01:00

Thank you so much for your supportive comments and email messages on the previous post JAPAN NOW. Your ongoing thoughts on people in Japan is definitely the greatest help. I am aiming to start the project in 2012 so will let you know once it’s ready.

* * * * * * * * * *

Today I would like to share some wonderful arts and artists that I met in Japan, (and sorry for the delay in posting this!) all of which I found it a kind of ‘serendipity’. You can view more info by clicking the name.

Kiiroi-tori-utsuwa ten is a beautiful shop with tons of lovely ceramics made by Japanese potters like Makoto Kagoshima and Koki Terakado. I always wanted to visit this shop, so we went off at the first thing in the morning but it was closed! (Oh no, should have checked the opening hour, silly me!) Luckily the shop owner Takahashi-san let us browse and even served us cold drinks in those beautiful pots! How sweet! :) Thank you so much Takahashi san.

Another fortunate ‘serendipity’ was when I visited Gekkousou to get a new sketchbook. It came cross with a beautiful playful collage and printing exhibition by Mitsuru Ishimasa. I fell in love with his work and in particular his ‘handmade’ story book of map.Then guess what? He happened to be there in site just in time, and after his kind negotiation I also purchased one of his handmade story books (only five exist in the world! ), which has become my precious.

If you like quirky illustrations, you may already know about Mogu Takahashi. I love her drawing so much and it was lovely to see her exhibition in Tokyo. I also decided to join her ‘making finger puppet’ workshop running that evening at the last minute. It was such fun to mess around with remnant spontaneously. (Mine are two birdies) Thank you Mogu-san :)

* * * * * * * * * *

I am going to have a bit of blog break in order to concentrate on my final year of degree study. Hopefully I can come back now and again to share my progress and certainly will keep you informed about HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me via email. Bye for now. x maki

JAPAN NOW : Six months since the earthquake. What I saw, heard and felt in Japan today and the future.

2011-09-21T22:26:00.008+01:00

Since been back to England, I have been hesitating whether I should write this in my blog or not, because it’s going to be a long and sad story. However, by sharing what I saw, heard and felt in Japan, I thought the real view of Japan today that you cannot see over here could be acknowledged, and the ongoing thoughts for their ‘true’ recovery would be spread to as many people as possible. Please feel free to share your thought on this post. (This is the longest blogpost I have ever written, so I apologise in advance for my clumsy writing. Please click to view large images.)

organic paddy field my father helps out is waiting to be harvested.

this time of year, those golden field can be seen everywhere in Japan,

but this year some have lost by the tsunami and others fear from the radiation.

Japan was hotter than I expected. Since my Degree study got started, I have altered my full time job to part time. Considering the finance, I have been holding back traveling to Japan for nearly three years. Nevertheless, after the earthquake in March, I felt the desperate need to see my family. Earlier this month I have flown to Japan as a last minute quick visit, just for a week. Another reason for this trip was to visit the area that has been affected by the Tsunami. In order to consider how I would continue to support their recovery, I wanted to see them first hand. On the 11th of September, half year since the devastated event, I set off to Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, to meet my old friend.

Blue tarpaulin above house after house in Sendai city.

Not catching up with fixing the damaged houses after six months.

Miyagi is the prefecture that has been the most affected by the Earthquake and Tsunami. Although My friend N, who lives further inland, did not have the direct damage from the Tsunami, I was so concerned due to the failure to contact her. With her friends help, we found out that one of us could managed to reach to her mobile phone a few days after the earthquake, whilst she was queuing for the water supply for six hours. Her house has got cracks and holes everywhere, shattered windows, fallen roof tiles, within the continued large aftershocks, waiting for the gas to be finally reconnected in May, yet she says “nothings to worry, nothings inconvenient at all.” Sendai station and roads looked totally up-side-down on the news that I saw six month ago, but today things were all back to normal with few reminders. Such a speedy recovery makes me think Japan is resilient and advanced. Yet, whilst we were driving through the city of Sendai, I have noticed a great number of blue tarpaulin covering house after house. Roof tiles (called ‘kawara’) and glass windows were shattered by the earthquake and many still waiting for fixing. Six month on, the roofers (we call them kawara-ya) cannot keep up with the huge orders. Winter comes early in the North. Soon they will face snow. Wishing them to be fixed as soon as possible, I recalled the TV news I saw the day before that a kawara-ya said the order pile is equivalent to ten years. Foreseeing this situation as a business opportunity, more kawara-ya are coming over here from the South. It is said that among them there are some kawara-ya who deliberately rips people off. How come there is always people like that in such a bad time? Having hold my sadness and frustration, we entered the motorway.

Minami Sanriku. Town that has been wiped out by the 30m height Tsunami.

Recked ship and destroyed car still remains in the sight.

Driving about two hours further north, we headed to Minami-Sanriku, where almost the whole town was wiped out by the Tsunami. Well before we reached the town centre, still among the mountains where we could not see the sea, we have noticed a strange thing. Supposed to be a deep green forest tree line in the mountains have turned into dull brown. As we looked around, it began to appear with destroyed cars, fallen electric poles, empty houses without glass or wall, and twisted rail way lines. I was stunned. The brown trees were due to the wall of sea water. Had the Tsunami come this far? We continued along the main road and drove through the mountains. As soon as we came down on the hill, unimaginable view appeared in front of my eyes. The exact sea line was rather faded, but the whole area from where I reckoned is the sea to the bottom of the mountains were completely empty. In the distance, I could see something looks like huge piles of debris and concrete buildings here and there, but other than that, there was no sight of people or even the sound of birds. Is this really the town centre? My friend N who has passed by here in the past doubted where she was, as if she could not recognise anything, so we decided to drive further up. We drove between the mountain, and before we knew it, we found ourself at Bayside Arena on highland, where people had evacuated to until recently. In Arena, the ceremony for those who lost their lives was held since that morning. The ceremony had already finished by then but we still saw several people in black. It has gone passed three o’clock. I was going to pray when I hear the siren at 2:46, but silly me, there won’t be any siren where there’s no electric and stuff. Instantly I realised that it was the town centre where we passed earlier. “There really was nothing!” At the entrance, there were still many lists of missing people and lists of body found next to it. The newest ones were only the day before, most of the recent ones were found in the sea and indicated with no longer clear identification of sex or age. My heart sank when I thought of those who have been looking for missing loved one for the past six months.

Petrol station about 1km far from sea.
You can tell the Tsunami hit real hard from the shattered metal frames.

a rice cooker pot buried on the ground. one of many remnants of life.

We left Arena and went back to the town centre we drove passed earlier. Near a small bridge we stopped, there were hundreds of destroyed vehicles lined neatly. Numbers were sprayed on its body. Is that indicating the place the car was found or the dead body within? Looking towards the sea from the top of the bridge, I could see the area still filled with water and a wrecked ship. Looking back the opposite toward the mountains, about 20, 30m height of brown trees were stood right up to the end of mountains, along with the huge piles of debris in front. On the opposite side of the river, one empty concrete building was left with a car stuck on the edge of the roof. I walked toward the building with my camera. It seems to be that most of debris were already tidied away, and all I could see that day was sand the Tsunami has left on the ground and weeds growing wildly up on it. From time to time I saw remnants of life, such as a single shoe and a rice cooker container buried under the ground in between the marks by a bulldozer. Apart from the main road that has been put in order, I could not identify where the houses or roads used to be. That three storey concrete building was revealing a part of kitchen or entrance, and through the wall the Tsunami has taken down I could see the mountains beyond. Around there, it must be about 1km or more from the sea. I walked a little further to the main road, there was a petrol station. By the shape of metal frames that distorted into one side, I could tell the Tsunami hit real hard. I began to feel uncomfortable to take photos.

Looking toward mountains.

Long line of ‘brown trees’ shows how far the Tsunami came.

A car washed away and stopped on the top of this three storey building.

Driver survived & rescued next day.

When I returned to the concrete building, I saw a truck parked and a man who was collecting debris. He repeated the maneuver of fetching debris and piling up in the corner within the same area. Soon he sat low on what looked-like a concrete frame, began to sharpen a sickle with a drip from a bottle of mineral water. I first hesitated but could not ignore so walked toward him. “Must have been hard time…” When I said so, his tanned face looked up to me. Around my retired father’s age, I guessed. “Ship, house and everything has gone...” He stopped his hand, took a deep breath and told me that it used to be his house there. He, who currently living in temporary housing with his survived family, were coming to cut down the weeds growing vigorously in his estate. Where he was sitting was the foundation of his house. “It was really frightening. Such an enormous noise and shook the ground so long. Knew it’s going to be the huge one (Tsunami).” He, a former fisherman, had let his wife and two ground children evacuated in that truck soon after the earthquake and he went down to the sea to try to escape with his ship. With his strong accent I could not quite understand how on earth he has managed to evacuate after that, but I did not wish to question him so I just continued to nod as he spoke. Pointed down about a few meter from his house, he said “When Chile ones (earthquake in 1960) hit, tsunami came to that far.” Since then, the whole town has been preparing for tsunami and practicing for a thorough evacuation every year. Nevertheless, there were many who did not evacuate and lost their life. He recalled his neighbours saying, “Even we shouted out loud to run away, they just assumed it won’t come this far, it will be safe in the second floor… they all died.” Then he pointed out the car stuck on the concrete building, “That has been swept all the way by the Tsunami and stopped there.” A lady who was inside was rescued next day. “She did very well in such freezing cold over night.” He said. What divides us from life and death? “She didn’t give up at all, didn’t she?” I said. Then he nodded and said “We must not give up from the beginning. She must have never given up until the last minute, mustn’t she...” As if it reminded him of something, he wiped his eyes flooded with tears. From time to time, he stood up and pointed the directions, explaining to me that house too has people who died without evacuation, that area used to be paddy field and so on. He looked up the electric line left stood in front of us, explained there used to be fish nets, futons and all sort of debris stuck on and all were cleared by the Self-Defence Force. Just before ‘black’ Tsunami arrives, there was unimaginable force of ebb tide and he could even see the bottom of the sea. I looked down the sand under my foot, that huge wave has left on his land. Where he indicated “used to be a car park” I could see four concrete blocks as tyre stoppers. Apparently he used to live together with his daughter’s family. “This used to be a prime site right next to the main road. Let my daughters graduated up to university, she has just got a qualification to start up her job. Young people are fighting for the recovery elsewhere, but being over 70s, lost boat, cars and house and all… should I start from zero with huge loan again….” Describing the uncertain future that way, he quietly sighed and continued to sharpen the sickle.

seeing concrete building and mountains of debris from ‘his’ estate

Like him, there are many of those who cannot decide how to go about from now on. Those who lost loved one and could not even start think about it yet, those who are desperately trying to find a job to support family, those who once evacuated from the devastated area but returned to hometown to support their recovery, those who could not bear with the uncertainty and moved out of their homeland to start a fresh elsewhere. People who were affected have spent this half year in many different ways. Whilst each town has started new plans for their housing and local businesses in order to move forward with a safe and speedy recovery, lots of them are asked to moving out to high land or joining a large business, yet the truth is that it hasn’t gone smoothly as many citizens could not agree. Born and bred in this area, he said “cannot even think about living without the sea.”

I guessed it has passed about half an hour since I started to listen to him. I could only say “ Sorry for letting you talk to such a stranger, but thank you.” Then he kindly said, “ Talking makes me feel a little better…” Did half year make him able to speak out like this? What those people need now may be time and space to digest slowly. I returned to my friend’s car, having unsettled feeling ‘I could not do anything’. In the back seat, I glanced at the purple wrapping. This year’s lavender from our garden that I kept it for N. “Don’t worry about me, just take it.” Thanking briefly to N, I dashed to him with the bunch of dried lavenders in my hand. He looked little unease. I handed the purple wrap to his hand, “Please do give this to your wife or your grand daughters. When you cannot sleep, it should help you rest.” He opened the wrap and said, “Oh, that’s nice smell. Thank you.” He then put the lavender in the car seat and went back to weeding.

Shizukawa hospital. Tsunami covered a whole building of four storey.

From its entrance.

Beyond the recked building frames, another mountain of debris.

We went back to the road we came, stopped at four storey building covered the front entrance with a massive wall of debris. Shizukawa Hospital. I recalled the view from the news that people evacuated on the roof top after the Tsunami completely filled up to the fourth floor. As you walked inside, the floor was sunk and the ceiling was fallen. I prayed at a small table where flowers were gathered. Looking back the entrance, within the shattered concrete frame, I could see another pile of debris like a mountain. As the sunlight started to fade, we left Minami-Sanriku town. Every time I recall his tanned face, I could only wish so hard for the day when the town regains the light of hope.

public toilet in front emphasises the height of debris

Including Minami-Sanriku, there are tons of areas that were affected by the Tsunami in the North. After half year has passed, there are still ‘too many’ areas that could hardly see the sight of recovery. The day before I set off to Sendai, I saw the TV program about a lady still in a dangerous condition. Having closed the evacuation centre now and whilst many others moved to provided temporary housings, she could not make it for the selection. Hence she was forced to return to the building affected by the tsunami and continued to live on the third floor of the building, which has no electric, water or gas, where seawater still fills the first floor in high tide due to the sunken ground by the earthquake. There are still many people like her who are not selected to live in the temporary housing and continue to live with fear.

In parallel to the fact that we show our empathy to them, there is also negative reputation growing toward Fukushima where the nuclear power plants continue to leak radiation today. During my stay in Japan, Media was creating the top news about a politician who described in public Fukushima as ‘a town of death’. Severely criticised his careless voice, he has apologised in public, yet soon after that he was picked up by media again as he shown gesturing to spread the radiation to others when he was visiting Fukushima on duty. In a way, I feel that his description of the town might have been true, especially after having seen Minami-Sanriku with no sight of human or even birds. Nevertheless, people like him, who are supposed to lead the citizens, should never ever say things like that. It just shows how carelessly he thinks of the affected people. Moreover, media does stir it up unnecessary. In such hard time, could not government and media focus on the more important issues? Why can they help that lady in the three floor building, whilst they faffing about? I cannot hide my frustration every time I see such hopeless, careless act by the politicians and media.

Negative reputation toward Fukushima must be beyond the imagination to those who are in the firing line. My friend who works in Tokyo Electric Power, even works in totally different prefecture, has been working her socks off since then, no time to rest, coping with numerous of phone calls to complain. In a way, she is too the affected one. Think of people who are still in the nuclear plant, working under the fear of radiation without any sleep. They must be working truly the hardest. In newspaper today, you can see the radiation level just like a forecast. In Saitama, where my parents lives, is about 200km away from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, however it has been shown quite high level at times. We still do not know how much radiation has leached under the ground or into the sea right close to the power plant. “If the government cannot help us” trying to minimize their mounted fears, there are many individuals and companies who provides machine to read the radiation level and water jet to wash the radiation off. In Fukushima, there is a town that 80% of population have moved out the town. I hear many people moving out of the main land, to escape from the potential radiation. Many of families who have children seems to have made decision quickly and moved shortly after the earthquake. It is heart braking when I imagine living under the circumstances; to view your hometown getting wiped out as if something took over in second, not knowing if you could ever go back, and people and jobs disappearing.

During my visit, I watched a documentary about the history of the Nuclear Plant. It included some American engineers and researchers who were involved with Fukushima reactor called Mark 1. It was said that Mark 1 was the first nuclear system that has been introduced in Japan by US in 1970s, by 1980s it was questioned about its safety among the American engineers. The issue has become quite a big discussion in US, but in the end, they promoted the opinions that to say the likelihood of major accident was astronomical, and hence has never been reconsidered. That case has been the same when it came into Japan. Despite the American engineers’ concerns about “Mark 1 should not be based in the area that earthquake likely occurs”, the low likelihood of major disaster has been raised more than need of the safety precaution. Whilst safety precaution should have been based on the worst case scenario with back up of back up, how come Japanese government and relevant authorities at that time did not ‘care’ enough? “Japan is safe” somewhat this sort of typical assumption seems to develop over the history of our rapid industrial development since the war. What if we followed up the question raised in America in 80s? What if we thoroughly studied the potential risk and pursued the correct safety measurement? We might have been able to prevent this disaster from happening. Since it did happen, we now have to closely monitor and suffer from the humongous radioactive waste, for another decades and centuries.

My niece, nine, and nephew, four.

She has made ‘green sweet’ for summer holiday homework,

which is aparently representing ‘safe and less energy’.

Many schools have provided homework related energy saving and nuclear

this summer. What can we, adults, leave to the children? Fear or hope?

Six month then. Within the fear and uncertainty, what we, adults, can leave to out children and the next generation? Could we possibly leave them hope? Writing horrible things like this may have create more fear, however, if you turn your back to the reality, believe Japan is safe regardless and did not nurture the sense of precaution, I feel that things can be repeated. In order to regain the hope, we as individuals have to develop the ability to ‘think‘ what we can do, and take into action by step by step without giving up. What we can do now as a adult as an individual. Thinking of that and working toward that seems to be the only way to seed the hope to the future.

This visit helped me decide to continue to support Japan from now on, as a Japanese and as a tiny part of this world. I am now pondering and planning what I could do as a individual who make things. I apology if you find my writing too pushy, however, I do sincerely appreciate those who read this far. I am hoping that the hope and thought of support to Japan to be spread to as many people as possible from now on.

An early morning view from my parent’s house.

I have left Japan with a firm decision...

In March 2011, when the earthquake hit Japan, I started fundraising ‘HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT’, for which I made 1000 ceramic mini birds and donated those proceeds. The project was completed in May and even now I receive wonderful messages from people who contributed to the project, saying that whenever they see the birds, they think of Japan. I then began to feel that I have done something that did help Japan at the hardest time. Having seen many unsettled life and hardship in today’s Japan and considering their future, I am going to restart a fundraising project in the near future. This time, I would like to run longer, change the method slightly and hopefully deliver the donation directly when I go to Japan in 2012. If you are interested in my next fundraising HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2 or/and happy to spread the words, please do not hesitate to contact me via email or blog. I will inform you as soon as the project is ready to start. (hopefully in new year, as I am currently so tied up with my BA study, I'm afraid... )

Thank you so much again for your time. x maki

makikohastings@gmail.com

thank you summer

2011-09-04T17:44:00.003+01:00

thank you summer

for bringing us a new friend

scent

taste

touch

feel

all the goodness from nature

and endless inspiration.

Hope you had a good summer. Here in North Yorkshire, I feel Autum is in the air already. My favourite season :) By the way, I will be off to Japan next week, catching up with my family after three years! Really exciting! xm

testing testing...

2011-09-01T20:45:00.000+01:00

recent studio views. new colours and shapes in progress. xm

colour me today.

2011-08-29T17:08:00.004+01:00

still gorgeous when they finished
and
reminded me of

this

and this.

my favourite pastels at home. xm

g e r a n i u m

2011-08-28T10:17:00.000+01:00

almost the end of this year’s geranium

full of life till the last petals

i would love to live like that

p.s.
guess where i found this glass?
xm

smile maker of the week #5

2011-08-26T20:19:00.000+01:00

a gorgeous package from Canada has arrived.

original mixed media work by Annamaria Potamiti.

I think her work has unique narratives beneath that can take you to the wonderful journey together. Those composition, mark-making, line drawings and colour combination, all the stuff I love, her work has it all! In this particular work called ‘my sweet vacation’, I fell in love at the first sight. Thank you so much Annamaria.

Have a lovely weeked all. xm

good, bad and ugly

2011-08-23T19:42:00.000+01:00

somehow i tend to settle on the 'ugly' ones. xm

experiment

2011-08-20T20:16:00.000+01:00

All of a sudden I felt like painting. Sometimes it is nice to just follow an urge and have a go. I even dug out a blank canvas. Last time I painted on a canvas was when I was in junior high. Blimey, what have I been doing for the last quarter of a century? xm

53 degree workshop

2011-08-17T20:10:00.001+01:00

Last Saturday I ran the ‘hand-building’ workshop at the New School House Gallery. This was a part of 53 Degree North exhibition that to offer the local community to access arts more closely. Although I normally teach people with special needs and I have run the children’s workshop in the past, I was very nervous as this was my first time to run the session to the general public. Thankfully it was a very small group, so I have managed not to panic as I thought I might have. All have made several items out of ‘coiling’, ‘slab building’ and ‘pinching’ techniques during the two hour session.

Thank you so much for coming Janet, Liz and Chris. Your work will be fired this week and ready for home soon. Many thanks to Robert for organising this. xm

curiously compulsive #2

2011-08-13T18:10:00.001+01:00

old glass bottles

best with sweet peas this time of year xm

story from Brier Hey Pottery #2

2011-08-11T21:30:00.002+01:00

First of all, thank you so so much for your kind words and advice on the previous post. It means a lot to me, truly encouraging and empowering so thank you!

My wrist is getting much better now and I have got back on a wheel again. On my regular visits at Brier Hey Pottery, David has been helping me ‘refining’ my throwing. It may sound odd but I have never done throwing at his studio in the past. It was simply not my role at the time. Nevertheless I watched him throwing many times and tried to copy it. Of course it was not that simple to copy just by eyes. My throwing was mixture of what I had learnt briefly at college 10 years ago and self practice for the rest. It was pretty much ‘guess work’ and obviously I have developed quite many ‘bad habits’ - too much water, too much clay on the base, too long messing about… you name it. I suppose there is no right or wrong way to throw, but it is very helpful if you can reduce those bad habits in order to establish the best way that suits you. Under his guidance, I have been practicing to make numbers of bowls in exactly the same shape, in height, diameter, thickness and angle of curve. Just doing over and over. Such practice is hard and mundane but necessary if you want to get rid of bad habits. It’s been a good learning curve so far and my body has begun to response better. The result of my throwing is much less wasteful of clay, water, effort and time. Thank you, David!

my unsuccessful thrown pot going to the death road

He is now off to another ceramic event in France so I will not be working in his studio for a while. In the meantime I must keep practicing at home and start making work for the forthcoming event and the final year of my degree course. Soon it will be a mad time again!

view from Brier Hey Pottery Studio

By the way, the last minute decision. I will be finally flying to Japan next month before my course restarts. It’s been three years since I last saw my folks. Well over due and I’m soooooooooooo looking forward to it. xm

should wait or should not?

2011-08-07T09:30:00.001+01:00

We went to POTFEST yesterday. POTFEST is one of the annual ceramic festivals in Britain where over 100 potters sell their work at a three day event. I have been visiting there almost every year since I first viewed David’s work back in 2000. It was lovely to find his stand filled with many visitors attracted to those dynamic strokes of colours on his work. I was one of them of course, like a bumble bee that cannot resist the taste of summer flowers.

I have dreamt about doing POTFEST one day and that day has not arrived yet. Even David has encouraged me for some times especially since I have gone back to work with clay, I hesitated. Lack of confidence is always the issue. When do I ever overcome such a thing? Lots to consider for a big event like this, in particular financially to be there for three days. What if I do not sell anything? Should I wait until when I…(many excuses here)? Who knows such answers? The application of next years POTFEST will start this autumn. I am gradually building up the positive mood for going ahead at last… xm

images of colourful majolica work by David White

this summer

2011-08-04T18:58:00.000+01:00

i love being out in the garden so much this summer. how about you? xm

53 Degree

2011-07-31T09:53:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was an opening of 53 Degree North Exhibition. There were really good mixture of work and it was great to see them all. Here are some images from the show and my favourites. Click the title, you can view the idea behind of each work. Click the name of artist, you can visit their site.

me and my “Rakugaki”

this is my “POT CAN FLY, SO CAN YOUR DREAM”
Thanks for coming all the way, David!

I love this “Ceramic Scribbles” by Anne Laycock

Fine liner drawing “Compulsions” by talented Harvey Herman

stunning “Worth its weight in Porcelain” by Joseph Hartley

Gorgeous “Textile necklaces” by Therese Johnson

beautiful mix media painting by Alisa Read “Storm”

The exhibition is on until 27th August. If you have a chance, do pop over. xm

exhibition coming soon!!!

2011-07-26T17:41:00.000+01:00

A GOOD NEWS!!

Two of my work have been selected in the forthcoming exhibition ‘53 Degree’ at the New School House Gallery in York! This exhibition was open for the students across the UK, who are currently undertaking Degree in Visual / Applied Arts and 53 selected students will be showcasing their work. I applied actually bang on the deadline, as me being hesitant for a while and eventually decided to have a go anyway. When they told me that I got through, I was over the moon!

The 53 Degree Exhibition will be on from 30th June until 27th August. I will be there for the opening show on this Saturday 30th at 2pm, along with other selected artists. So exciting!! If you have a chance to visit York, please do pop over. For more information about the gallery, please click here. xm

smile maker of the week #4

2011-07-22T21:48:00.002+01:00

a wonderful post arrived from Japan
too cute to open!

gorgeous zine by hiki

open and smile

and more zine

my favourite page

I first saw those lovely photos by hiki via my friend’s flicker favourite and soon fell in love with her world. I love all about her photos, how she captures the everyday beauty around us in its composition and its subtlety that tickles your heart without unnecessary explanation. Her zine is available from her shop among with other gorgeous Japanese goodies. I am sure you will find your awe.

Have a nice weekend everybody! xm

story from Brier Hey Pottery

2011-07-19T18:44:00.003+01:00

Brier Hey Pottery is the studio run by David Constantine White. David is my mentor. Well, I call him so. He was the key person who made me realise that we are allowed to pursue our passion.

It goes right back to the summer in 2000, when I first met David. I was a full-time student then, who just finished a Diploma study in Ceramics. With my tutor’s suggestion, I took off a long train journey to POTFEST in Penrith, annual ceramic festival. Among over 100 potters, I stopped at David’s stall. His colourful and almost painting-like approach to the ceramics were so fresh to my eyes. His style of Majolica was nothing like what I learnt at college. My heart began to whisper ‘I want to know more’. Following this curious meeting, I later visited his studio in Mytholmroyd. This was my first time visiting an artist’s studio so I was excited and scared at the same time. So many ‘real’ questions after questions popped in to my head.

Things did not stop there. Of course, it is hard for any student to get a pottery related job or start their own business soon after the diploma course, and there are many other reasons to hold it back in your life. In my case, I started to work as a social worker but thanks to David, I also started to help in his studio voluntarily here and there on my irregular days off. I found myself enjoying simply being in the clay world. This has led me to a paid assistant job in his studio, which I still did on irregular basis on my days off. I’ve learnt so much by just being there. Things you have never learnt at college. Making clay dug out locally, mixing low materials in a large batch, maintaining the studio, tips in glazing and decorations etc etc. It was a very fortunate experience.

Sadly I had gradually reduced my working time in his studio as the demand of my career as a social worker with long hour and shift work did tire me out without a proper day off. 2 hour journey to his studio on my days off (although it changed from train journey to driving) did kill me. I was also about to give up the hope, as it seemed to be so long away for me to be able to work in a creative business. Eventually I stopped working at his studio, instead I was developing my career as a senior social worker leading a team. Nevertheless I’ve kept in touch with him and visited his studio occasionally. I suppose I could not completely destroy my creative soul.

So you can imagine how grateful I felt when I got my current job as the pottery workshop instructor. My life has totally changed since. I feel the experience at his studio has finally paid off. Looking back at those experience in his studio, I have realised that so much stuff has soaked into what I do now. Yet I still do have lots to learn. David is still my mentor in distance. I ask every time I have questions at work and more recently my own studio work. The words cannot explain enough how lucky I am.

This summer, I have been returning to work in his studio on a regular basis, like a short term apprenticeship, making most of time off my degree course. There were several reasons that I wanted to do this, but mostly I needed the positive influence of someone who does what they truly love in the present. All my energy spent on the fundraising project, last minute course work and the show, have turned into a complex feeling that is somewhat overwhelming and now added with recent homesick, I was struggling to motivate myself. I needed to kick my backside. I am glad that I’ve made this move. A huge thank you to David, again.

David is currently working toward POTFEST in August, followed by a similar event in France. I am sure I could share more stories here soon. xm

curiously compulsive #1

2011-07-17T11:04:00.000+01:00

old kitchen tools.

season of car boot.

endless treasure hunt.

I look at them, feel them and use them.

my heart sings. xm

mind the birds

2011-07-13T20:24:00.002+01:00

Doodling from the ‘wings wall’. (We have a wall and a cabinet in front covered with birds and other flying creatures in paintings, printings, cards, ceramics and even charity shop found… It is one of my favourite spaces in our house) Never been so obsessive with birds until recently. Now my mind is full of birds. I seriously enjoy watching birds everyday. Are you birdie mind?

These guidebook from Sunday Telegraph are ace. xm

simply i heart

2011-07-09T09:52:00.000+01:00

images kindly permitted by Mitsuru Koga

I fell in love at first sight. Made my heart sing and brought a smile to my face. Those sweet sea stones by Mitsuru Koga. Aren’t they just aww? He emphasises the nature of the found objects by his creative hand, which echos the coexistence of human and nature.

A number of Japanese artists including Mitsuru have lately started the joint exhibition event both in Tokyo and Sendai, aiming to support the artists in Sendai (City of North Japan, where significantly damaged by Tsunami on 11th March). I admire those artists who stand up and do what they are the best at, to support others. Information of the event is here (I’m afraid all in Japanese) but please do visit Mitsuru’s world here. I can assure you too go awwwwwwww. Enjoy! xm

brown bandage and white wall

2011-07-05T17:14:00.003+01:00

The use of your good hand. One of those things you take for granted. Since my right wrist accident, ordinary things that I do daily like driving, brushing my hair, washing up, lifting a kettle etc are wee bit difficult. Although I am currently off from my own studio work as I won’t be able to knead clay or handle the wheel, I’m still handling clay for my students at work, where my white bandage turns into brown daily. I wish I were both handed. Nevertheless, my left hand managed to do a pretty good job over the weekend. xm

painted the garage wall.

and the skirting board.

and the kitchen door. (and the rabbit door.)

breathe

2011-07-03T13:38:00.000+01:00

We’ve been busy again this weekend doing the house up. Had a lovely lunch break out in the garden. Looking up at the beautiful blue sky with not a single cloud. Hello July. Hello English summer. My hub says it’s rather too hot but not for me. Having grown up in a ‘proper’ humid hot city in Japan, it is just right. Hope my folks are coping well in the hot summer over there with restricted electricity use.

Been a long time since I last visited. I do miss them lots these days. xm

back to clay

2011-06-30T17:01:00.003+01:00

Been a bit relaxed (or slacked more like) since the show. Enough of break, so I went back to the studio last night. Then what's next? I sprained my wrist somehow on the wheel. Stupid me. Cannot even be a bad joke, a potter spraining your arm on a potter’s wheel! (obvious reason not to call myself a potter..) It was difficult to do any normal things today with my silly arm. (sigh) Oh well, hope it will fix soon.

July tomorrow? Honestly? xm

usual spot

2011-06-28T20:36:00.001+01:00

hope you had a good day. xm

the most amazing gift ever!

2011-06-26T13:27:00.001+01:00

Oh my goodness! Jiminy cricket!! Merlin's beard!!!

The words are not enough to express how surprised I was and how excited I was! Yesterday I received the most amazing gift from our friends Kristian and Jenni.

We’ve known Kristian for many years now through karate training and have shared so much laughter and joy together. Some months ago, he got married to his charming partner Jenni, so I gave a pair of my Hanetsubo gold goblets to this young couple as a small gift. They popped over to our house yesterday bringing their thank you gift for the return. How sweet of them! And guess what they brought?

A book of my blog! Featuring a whole year of my writings and images up to the recent blog anniversary, with carefully considered layout and everything! How awesome is that? They thought it would be a shame my blog to be stuck only in the internet so put them together into this beautiful book. What a generous idea and I absolutely LOVE it. As I looked through the pages, all those memories that I recalled have turned into a big smile on my face.

Not just that! At the end of the book, there are wonderful messages from my blog friends! Apparently Kristian had E-malied to them and has collected those kind messages. What a stunning thought and gesture! All the effort Kristian and Jenni have put into this book made it so precious to me. Of course my husband and I did not know any of this until yesterday. You can imagine how much we were surprised! Honestly, I was s p e e c h l e s s !

Thank you so much for your beautiful words, my blog friends Kat, Varonika, Mary, Julie, Flora, Suzanne, Onneke, Wini, Tika, Concetta, Claire and Paula!

A beautiful card from Kristian and Jenni

Thank YOU sooooooooooooooo much Kristian and Jenni! I am so pleased to have such wonderful friends. xm

about me?

2011-06-23T19:11:00.003+01:00

Two years of foundation degree has completed. The final year of BA will start in September. Following that change, I only meant to ‘tweak’ a bit of my profile section (on the right), but after a few attempts, I deleted them all. Writing about yourself is hard. Some people write a lot. Some do none. Some do a little and leave the readers to wonder the rest. What is your profile like? I mean, what do people want to know about me? Or do they in fact?

Anyway I've decided to write about me randomly here and then I may ‘tweak’ a bit later if I fancy.

i was born and lived in Japan until the age of 24.

i speak English with Yorkshire accent. (apparently)

i am under 5ft.

i used to drink lots of milk believing to get taller.

i still drink lots of milk but not with the same reason.

i love bunnies. (not to eat or shoot)

i don’t do chocolates nor cats. (sorry no offense)

i roller skate well.

i like the smell of cut grass.

i suffer from a hey fever.

i am good at making a mess.

i agree with the fact of the three most stressful things in your life; moving house, marriage and divorce, all through experience.

i chill in a very hot bath.

i don't bite my nails but often bite my tongue when i sneeze. (literally)

i think my husband is ACE, so is the person who introduced the car boot sale.

i think of drawing but end up doodling.

the little things in life easily make me happy.

it’s good to be a geek.

i know Julie’s dates and walnuts cake is THE best.

some of the students in my workshop call me MAC, which is ok but i prefer maki.

i would like to engage with you.

i wanted to be a stuntman (or lady precisely) of superhero program.

i have a thing with quite a lot of things.

i feel ok. that is important.

i can cook the perfect rice. (or i think i can)

i do not have green fingers.

i am ticklish.

i dream.

... me and ceramics? xm

saltaire

2011-06-21T21:45:00.000+01:00

I just love the whole space, not just the main art sections in the mill, which is A MUST by the way. xm

smile maker of the week #3

2011-06-19T12:20:00.000+01:00

A gorgeous gift arrived from Norway yesterday.

A colourful set of illustrated cards by Line Katrin Moe. Smile maker of the week! (you can peek my smile maker #1 and #2)

She kindly sent them to me in return for my SHIN SHIN card. That is sooooooooo sweet. Thank you very much Line Katrin. Find out more about her work here. xm

end of year show

2011-06-15T18:11:00.001+01:00

rakugaki

hanetsubo

POT CAN FLY, SO CAN YOUR DREAM

i am slowly recovering from the drink we had after the open night yesterday... xm

random reflection on a rainy sunday

2011-06-12T18:35:00.007+01:00

Rainy Sunday. I do not mind it really. A good chance to reflect yourself, listening to the sound of rain and the birds singing from time to time. So calm and peaceful. We often take this for granted.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my blog anniversary. Your support and encouragement have been a huge help for me to move forward. Now I am looking forward to the next stage of my journey coming ahead. So many things in my head that I would like to try this summer and coming term, which will be my final degree year. I will also be doing another event in October (click here to view the last year), and at work I was informed to curate another exhibition for one of my students (click here to view the last year), both of which I am already excited about. I don’t know how things are going to turn. I may struggle as usual, facing the difficulties, fears and doubt. I know all of these will be an essential part of journey and I will be continued to ponder in my blog. One thing for sure is that I will always be ‘who I am’.

Three months have passed since Japan’s earthquake. People ask me how things are there now as nothing have been broadcasted over here. I hear the frustrating government move (or rather say not moving at all) and unresolved nuclear situation. People over there live life to what can be done each day, but no one really knows what could happen tomorrow. Many have asked me if I would do another ‘HELP JAPAN bird’. As you know, it was an one-off project that I desperately started at that time and took an enormous amount of time, effort and cost out of my daily life. Yet people’s voice made me realise that this could be something that links myself to my home country and the world as an artist and an individual. I am considering about redoing somehow in the future and maybe this time would aim to contribute directly to the affected area, as I am planning to visit Japan in 2012. I don’t know how exactly though. Doing smaller amounts monthly? Maybe opening Etsy? Maybe contributing half percent of my sales? I am not sure if people would be interested in this as the things are so faded now, but the point was to support continuously and not to forget. What do you think? I would like to hear your thought on this. If you could share any suggestions or advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Have a lovely sunday, all. xm

P.S.

Those who asked for a SHIN SHIN postcard, on its way to your home now.

eee by gum

2011-06-11T19:35:00.009+01:00

Last weekend we had a friend from Japan stayed with us, so showed him around North Yorkshire from Dales to East Coast. It was a great excuse to enjoy myself revisiting all the goodies that have been created within the history and nature. Colours, shapes, lines and textures within the endless dry stone walls, village halls, ginnels to canals, weather effected barns, a field of butter cups, even tacky seaside shops... so fun to see. I say ba ba you say baaaaa. Ah, good old yorkshire life.
(Can you spot Harry Potter's scene?)

Shame that he missed out the bed race, our biggest local event this weekend. 90 beds run up and down on the town hills and across the river. Even A59 closes for the beds!

P.S.

Currently I am giving away SHIN SHIN one year special postcard to all. Click here for more info. Enjoy your weekend everyone! xm

SHIN SHIN 1 year!

2011-06-06T17:55:00.007+01:00

SHIN SHIN is one year today! What a year it has been! Thank you everyone for visiting my blog. Please feel free to join me to celebrate. There will be special presents to all to follow :)

My first ever blog post was this. I started without knowing anything about the blogging world, but just wanted to try out in order to gain my creative life that has been hidden away for a long time. Now it has become an important part of my life. What does your blog mean to you? How did you start? I took baby steps each time. Learning every time. Not sure if I was doing any good. I was also skeptical about the virtual existence itself. Are you or were you? If so, I would like to say that actually there are lots of positive aspects of blogging that could make you happy. It can even change your life, you never know? To me, there were endless things that made me happy during the first blogging year, things like these...

Meeting artists in real through the blog connection. The moment that the skeptical virtual connection has become real. All were fabulous experience and I got so much buzz out of it. Thank you for your time Kat, Adam, Claire, Mizuyo and Moyra. (I also posted here and here)
My work was featured by kind bloggers. Thank you Veronika, Flora, Kate and Hitomi.
My longing dream pottery studio has been completed! Your encouraging comments certainly helped me move forward and make things happen. Thank you!
I did my first ever public show! Again your support helped me through this.
Simply being me! This was the biggie!
Success in my first fundraising project! So so so many people kindly linked my project to spread the words. Honestly, without your support, this project has not been completed like it was. Also I was pleased to know people liked my creation, too. Thank you so so much!

Your comments have always been the greatest part. I love reading every single comments and they certainly boosted me. Sadly I am not very good at replying to each comments and although I tried as often as possible, it has not been successful. So, as it’s an anniversary, I would like to give you something back. Not just one giveaway to one winner, but ‘thanks back’ to everyone. This is how I go about it.

thanks back 1:

I would like to hear what you think of SHIN SHIN. Any questions or suggestions? What you like about my blog? Any post particular? Or absolutely anything you want to write to me, please leave that to the comment space below. I WILL make sure this time to go back to your link and comment back. I will follow each one of you, too. (unless I am already a follower.) I remember how grateful I felt when I first got followers and comments (and I still do!) after worrying about “who cares about my blog???” It is always nice to know there are connections out there, don’t you think? Thought this might be a good return to start with. Please don’t forget to leave your link, too.

thanks back 2:

I would like to send a special SHIN SHIN postcard with my written message to you, anywhere in the world. Images on the postcard (as you can see above) are all from my blog post and work that I made. If you would like to have one, please email me your name and full address to makikohastings@gmail.com

Of course, you can do both 1 and 2. Feel free to join or not. Totally open to you. Thank you agin for your support on SHIN SHIN. Looking forward to hearing from you. xm

dotty moment

2011-06-03T19:47:00.000+01:00

A moment of joy when placing those dotty patterns. wonkier the better.

Talking of which, I am really pleased to know the solo exhibition of Yayoki Kusama is coming to Tate Mordern next year. Already excited. xm

now and then

2011-06-01T19:36:00.001+01:00

This is me doodling all over the house wall when I was seven. The year my parents’ old bungalow was due to be demolished and rebuilt so I was allowed to doodle whatever and wherever I liked! It was a pure joy!

This is me doodling the college wall last week, thirty odd years on. Still fun as ever! (more so as you get older??) Preparing the display for the end of year show. (click here to view the last year's one) It’s that time of the year already. Where did the year go?? xm

SOMERSET LOVE 4/4: treasure hunt

2011-05-31T08:41:00.002+01:00

Finding your own precious is a part of joy when visiting a new place. I look around everywhere if time allowed, local independent shops, charity shops, CAR BOOT SALE (oh yes!), streets and skips... (You know how much I love treasure hunt form this post.) Here are some gorgeous finds from Somerset.

Old oil lamps were from school car boot sale right front of where we stayed in Farmborough. Only six cars were there with families with kids (sweet :-), nevertheless I was lucky to buy them for just 50p! Cannot beat that! I love old jelly moulds (one of my collections :-) and a kind of nostalgic china cup & a miss matching saucer. Again all from the car boot bargain. Beautiful lines from an antique shop in Wells. Glass from a small vintage shop in Shepton Mallet. Beautiful blue letter press card from the Holburne museum. Salt glazed jug by the local artist in Radstock. All now started to settle here and there in our house. I would love to know how you would transfer into your home? Any idea and inspiration welcome!

I love lines full stop. Simple stitches are my favourite. They are table centers and I am thinking of placing my collection of old bottle glasses with this years sweet-peas.

Letter press is a new interest for me. Would love to lean how to do it. Does anyone do letter press?

Currently jelly mould are holding herbs on the kitchen window sills. My aim is to make lamp shades out of them in the future.

When I sew those glass and china cup, I already had this images in my head. I am so glad I found them.

Remember Peter Blake’s collage that I mentioned here? Thought I would make my own collage of ‘somerset love’. This is fun and I want to do more often.

from left top, clockwise; box label from Claire’s studio, flower petal found in Bishop’s garden (Wells), pine corns near Royal crescent (Bath), tree barks and Letter press card at the Holburn Museum of Art (Bath), illustrated parcel tape from Claire’s studio. receipt from a vintage shop (Shepton Mallet), jelly mould (Farmborough), duck feather (Farmborough), old metal caps found in the street (Keynsham), white lined stone (Cheddar)

Hope you enjoyed viewing a wee bit of my somerset love. Thanks for visiting. xm

p.s. where did May go???

SOMERSET LOVE 3/4: time to doodle

2011-05-28T18:24:00.000+01:00

some random miniature doodling from Somerset.

Next post is Somerset treasure hunt! Have a nice weekend all. xm

SOMERSET LOVE 2/4: meet arts and artists

2011-05-25T17:21:00.000+01:00

Meeting artists you admire is such a exciting moment, isn’t it? It is wonderful opportunity to seek their insights and ask questions you always wondered. Visiting them in their studio would be a bonus, not just you may see the actual work process but also peek through their inspiration and all sort of fabulous stuff!

beautifully 'weather effected' work by Claire

We are so lucky to have been able to visit Claire Loder in her studio, and it was a dream come true! Claire is an artist who makes unique ceramic faces and heads, and her work is widely recognised throughout Britain and beyond. I can still remember the excitement that I first met her at Origin last year, shortly after seeing her fascinating work in ceramic magazine. When she responded to my email, I was thrilled!

Claire kindly shared many of her thoughts and interests, and we had a rather long chat all morning! She was also encouraging on my study and work :-) Thank you so so much Claire for giving us such a fab time! We brought one more head called ‘sitting tenant’ back home from her studio, now happily nesting in our room. Do visit her website and find ‘them’ in her mysterious mirror world.

Thank you so so much Claire!

our new face 'sitting tenant'

We are also lucky to have visited Bath on this occasion, just in time for the current exhibition of Peter Blake at the Holburne Museum, which was also just opened after a three-year refurbishment. He is well known with Beatles’ jacket design; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but in this exhibition there were more of his personal collections over the years. He assembled everything together in to collages and displayed in collection boxes, from tiny beach combing with his daughter to a plastic elephant that you can get like a freebee. A total treasure hunt, and I LOVED it.

a museum for myself by Peter Blake

The Holburne Museum is a mixture of old and new, its building itself and display too. (Collections of ceramics were hung from the ceiling, which I loved.) There was a sketch exhibition by Karen Wallis, which showing the images of during the construction in drawings. (You can peek a bit here.) Her sketches were stunning, I wish I could draw like her... Nevertheless I did do some doodling here and there in Somerset, which I will show you on the next post. Be there if you can dare. xm

SOMERSET LOVE 1/4: inspirational wander

2011-05-23T18:59:00.015+01:00

As I mentioned before, I will be sharing my view of Somerset in next four posts. Today, I would like to share a few places that we visited during our stay. Hope you can enjoy. (you can click to view lager images)

On day one, we went to Cheddar gorge, this massive rocky hill, much due to my husbands request. It was a beautiful sunny day and many people were having picnics. We hiked right up to the top of the gorge, walking through woodland. So refreshing.

view from the top of Cheddar gorge looking cheddar reservoir

(can you see the car on the road? My legs went to jelly)

finding 'heart' in woodland walk

bluebells and ferns. I’m thinking of next screen print or transfer...

Next day, we visited Bath, one of the most famous cities in Somerset. The sandy colour of Bath stone walls were really soothing to my eyes, whilst we are used to grayish Yorkshire stones. You can find lovely features everywhere in Bath, like these windows and balconies. I was also attracted to lines of chimneys on those terraced houses. Made me want to doodle (which will be coming soon!).

Roman Bath is probably the most popular place to visit in general so I won’t write too much here, but it was fascinating to go back so deep into the history. I was very impressed with the underfloor heating system throughout the whole area, which was created with piles of terracotta tiles. I really wanted to have a bath in the end. What was the point of looking at them without actually enjoying them? Or is this me being Japanese? I do miss the public hot bath! Counting down to the next trip to Japan.

Somerset has many classic gardens that are open to the public. We went to Kilver Court Gardens in a village called Shepton Mallet. With a stunning backdrop by 19th century viaduct, you can enjoy the traditional English rose court-yard and massive rockery garden, where water cascades into the lakes and millpond. I am not much into rockery garden to be honest, but this scale (3.5 acre) definitely is worth viewing. I loved the ‘rose’ patterns created by those alpine plants, too. If you are garden lovers, you cannot miss it.

We stayed at a lovely guest house called ‘school cottages’ in Farmborough, about 7 miles from Bath. They have beautiful garden and water feature that I totally enjoyed walking around, watching little ducklings following their mum (so cute!). Breakfast with fresh egg laid from chickens in thier garden, hosted by Tim the lovely owner. Well recommended.

'children must be supervised' - well followed

Next post, I would like to share my dream visit to the artist studio. Watch this space! xm

SOMERSET LOVE: coming soon!

2011-05-22T21:55:00.003+01:00

We just got back from Somerset for our anniversary-two-night-getaway. It’s been ages since we had a short break together. (never mind the long holiday?!) Wandered around and relaxed with no plans. Just what we needed. Plus, visiting a new place is always great to find inspirations. Somerset certainly did to me! In next four posts, I’m going to share a bit of my SOMERSET LOVE (similar to the previous travel post ‘LONDON LOVE’). Hope you enjoy Sunny South England with me. xm

HELP JAPAN donation complete & my thoughts will continue

2011-05-16T22:31:00.009+01:00

Finally (yes, finally!) the donation from HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT and HELP JAPAN Handmade Art Sale has been forwarded to Japanese Red Cross via the Japanese Embassy. We have raised £4933.20 in total. The receipt from the Japanese Embassy is below.

What a fantastic result! Without everyone of you, the project would not have achieved this so thank you very much. I’m pleased that I could be a part of help toward their recovery. Of course, YOU are the biggest part!

My husband has been ‘camera-videoing’ some of me making birds. I thought this can be a message video for people in Japan to express our thoughts, so I edited into a short documentary film (approx. 6 mins), which I would like to share with you. (This is an English edited version. The original Japanese version can be seen in my jp blog.) I hope our wish will reach those affected by the earthquake.

Two months has passed since the earthquake, when the whole nation shared the sadness. Somewhat ironical to see the huge difference between those who are affected directly (and secondary) continuing hardship, and those who are back to normal. Even we say ‘thinking of them’, they may not yet be ready to move forward positively. That is why we must not forget what happened to them. That is why we must continue our thoughts. I would like to continue doing whatever I can do to support them. I would like to thank you all for helping me be strong. xm

b****y blogger or is this Friday 13th nightmare ???

2011-05-13T21:59:00.006+01:00

I cannot believe the loss of my long awaited publication about the completion of 1000 birds project! As you may know by now, Blogger had a huge trouble worldwide today and has removed my post published on 12th May, INCLUDING all of your 22 kind comments! (I haven’t even read them all!!!) They say it will be restored and it seems to be happening to some people, but I am not one of them. Mine has still disappeared from the publication window, which they put back to an older version before the final post. I really do hope they will do the good job to return my precious post including your voices asap! (patience is a virtue, I know!)

This is what they said today........ (s i g h) xm

May 13, 2011

Blogger is back (NOT!)

What a frustrating day. We’re very sorry that you’ve been unable to publish to Blogger for the past 20.5 hours. We’re nearly back to normal — you can publish again, and in the coming hours posts and comments that were temporarily removed should be restored. Thank you for your patience while we fix this situation. We use Blogger for our own blogs, so we’ve also felt your pain.

Here’s what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger’s behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts. Yesterday we returned Blogger to a pre-maintenance state and placed the service in read-only mode while we worked on restoring all content: that’s why you haven’t been able to publish. We rolled back to a version of Blogger as of Wednesday May 11th, so your posts since then were temporarily removed. Those are the posts that we’re in the progress of restoring.

Again, we are very sorry for the impact to our authors and readers. We try hard to ensure Blogger is always available for you to share your thoughts and opinions with the world, and we’ll do our best to prevent this from happening again.

Posted by Eddie Kessler, Tech Lead/Manager, Blogger

NEW HOME WANTED for HELP JAPAN birds!!

2011-04-30T20:22:00.006+01:00

This post is now information only. All birds happily found their new homes to fly next week. Thank you so much for your quick responce. (updated at 22:15)

Unfortunately, (or fortunately for some?) I had to decline some pending payments from on line orders for HELP JAPAN 1000 Birds earlier today as it passed the noticed deadline. Without completing this I cannot proceed my donation project forward. This cancelation made 4 birds available again. I have decided to look for two new homes for two pairs of birds.

£7.00 for a pair of birds with extra P&P charge.

If you would like to order, please email me your name and full postal address to makikohastings@gmail.com as soon as possible so that I can send you paypal invoice. Once you received the invoice, please complete the payment soon for the same reason as above.

First comes first for two kind people. Hope someone can help this project to complete! Thank you so much xm

HELP JAPAN Handmade Art Sale - result

2011-04-24T21:51:00.009+01:00

The fair on Saturday was fantastic turn out. Beautiful sunshine brought us lots of visitors. Many came after seeing the newspaper article, too. I met lots of wonderful visitors from the local areas and beyond, including those who shared the deep thoughts to Japan by having lived there before and studying their languages.

The last batch of birds had gone within 2 hours. My original fear at the beginning of this project of not being able to sell them all had unexpectedly gone out of the windows. Many gave us encouraging feedback to the project and art sale, which was very supportive to myself and people in Japan. We also sold 106 pieces of my work in total. I am grateful to have received many positive feedback to my work. And must not forget, a big thank you to my husband running a wonderful children’s workshop making origami Easter Bunny! All in all we had such a wonderful day. Here are some images from the stall.

Including kind donations, we raised £1188 from the stall (including bird sale on the day). This will be added to the sales from HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT and will be sending to Japanese Red Cross via the Japanese Embassy. When I have done all of the process, I will inform you once again here to share the outcome.

Thank you so much everyone for your support. xm

Missed out the bird? You may get a last chance!

Some birds still left at newly opened gallery & deli, The Pantry, in North Yorkshire. I am not sure if they could do oversea postal service, but if you like to contact them, please email: thepantrylockton@aol.com

This is a polite and urgent reminder for those who placed on line order and pending the payment. Please do check your Email and complete the payment, so that the project can move forward and the donation into the action. Due to the unexpected situation of rapid 1000 birds sales, I’m afraid I have set a deadline as 30th April 18:00 (in UK time). I could only think this is fare. Hope you would understand.

1000 hopes

2011-04-22T16:44:00.002+01:00

me and my birds on today’s local newspaper.

see you tomorrow at the fair! xm

HELP JAPAN Handmade Art Sale

2011-04-16T10:53:00.003+01:00

What are you up to on this Easter break? Why not visiting Knaresborough, our beautiful historic town in North Yorkshire? This coming Saturday 23rd April, there will be Knaresborough Easter Fayre. Why not have a look around the stalls at the market place, children’s entertainment at 11th century Castle, take a walk by the river, pop around our local deli and cafe and much more.

At Knaresborough Easter Fayre, I will be holding a stall (only Saturday) to raise money for Japan Earthquake Appeal. I will be selling my ceramic work, brooches, prints, postcards, stationaries and many more and all proceeds will go to the appeal. There will also be the last stock of birds from HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT, which is currently running worldwide from this blog. Everything on the stall are handmade. This will be the one off chance for you to get my work at the very special price and YOU will be helping Japan!

Have got kids? Why not come and join the ‘Making Your Easter Bunny’ origami workshop, which will be held by my husband (the origami master!)? It’s going to be fun! This activity is free, but voluntary donations are welcome to ‘Easter Bunny Donation Box’ at the stall. Every little does help and can make a difference.

The direction to Knaresborough and more information about the fayre, please click here.

Looking forward to seeing you there! xm

MUST NOT FORGET

2011-04-11T01:18:00.001+01:00

One month has passed since Japan’s Earthquake. It is ironically amazing how quickly the news has disappeared from TV. Life goes on around me. As if there were nothing happened. Being a Japanese living in a foreign country has put me in a strange position that I have never felt.

The truth is that Japan’s recovery has only just begun. They have a long way to go. Still tons of worries and uncertainties. Their future path is unclear. My parents say they still have shakes every hour. I hear someone I know who works for Tokyo Electric Power, has not been back home since. I hear those who evacuated 20km from Fukushima Power Plant were told that they would not be able to return home for at least a year. I hear it takes decade to clean the radioactivity. I hear about contaminated vegetables and water. I hear Red Cross has not been able to divert the donation for the use as there are too many affected areas. I hear there are not enough land to build temporary housings for people who have lost their homes. I hear lots of things. None of them seem to be enlightening the hope.

April is supposed to be the month of new start in Japan. Children enter schools. New class mates. New uniform. Graduates start new work. It is supposed to be exciting time of year. But this year, it turned out to be a different story. Many have lost work and schools to go to. Lost friends and families to celebrate together. Many of those school children who survived from the Tsunami in Minami Sanriku (the town that was completely wiped off) for school being on higher ground, have lost their parents and homes at lower ground in front of their eyes. I cannot even begin to imagine how their life from now are going to be...

Yet, they are a humble nation. Fighting for the recovery. Trying to reach out to a tiny hope they can possibly have.

Must not forget. What they are going through.

Must not forget. Our continuous prayers.

Must not forget. This is why I am doing what I am doing now.

Here is NY times link that you could see in English. I feel the importance of not forgetting those images. I hope you would share the prayers for Japan from now on too.

My current project HELP JAPAN 1000 BIRDS PROJECT is to encourage people in Japan. I could have not done it myself but with YOUR support I have managed to foresee the hope. Thank you so much for your contribution. Crazy busy two weeks have passed since it started. My birds are still an on going process (sorry for being slow but almost the last batch!) so I only sent out 380 birds. For that, we have raised £1550. Up until yesterday, I have received 713 birds orders in total! This is absolutely amazing! 1000 birds were supposed to be a long term goal, but it may not be? Thank you so so so much for your support. We are certainly cheering the nation. I will send the donation together with the proceeds from the forth-coming fair. I will keep you posted the details.

By the way, this is SHIN SHIN 100th Post! I would like to say a big thank you for everyone who visited me here. Your feedback and suggestion to my blog are more than welcome! xm