cat paper weight

I went to an event and saw a Japanese calligraphy performance. The scent of the ink made me miss caligraphy which has been one of my other hobbies since I was kid.

Caligraphy and pottery have many things in common. Preparing the ink and clay, the moment of the strokes and throwing...both are the most beautiful and deep moments of being my self.

I brought all my caligraphy tools to the States - a handmade water container, my stone name stamp, brushes, ink - everything except a paper weight. I only had an ugly weight so I left it.

So I needed a weight and found a clay cat beside the window. Cats can help us sometimes.

chocolate color pitchers

I am reading a book "teshigoto no nihon" by Muneyoshi Yanagi. The title means "Craftmenship in Japan." In the introduction, he says "People's hands don't just move, these moves are based on peoples' hearts and this could create something beautiful and also pursue ethical development -and it exposes people to the joy of working."

All the great crafts made by great skill and spirit create a special attachment and universal design and quality will never fade.

Craftsmanship - serving trays

My mom has 2 trays I adore. The left one is handcrafted by Yushiro Kojima. The Moku shitsu with Raden, which is wooden ware or lacquer ware with decoration of mother-of-pearl or shells inlays.
The other bent woodware is called "magewappa" in Akita prefecture. Interesting point is the color of the urushi lacquer. Usually the colors of urushi are black or red traditionally, and his olive color melts into our modern lifestyle. By Kurikyu.

about pottery class

Some french company had a pottery party at our studio the other day. They wanted to make mugs with their names. After Mr.D showed how to make mug, half of them made mugs, and the others made XL jag, very neat bowl from mold and even a martini glass. I liked their ambition:)
People were so excited to work on their own projects and they looked so satisfied and happy when they headed to the restaurant. bon appetit!

photo: It is still cold in NY! I am still stewing.

Agnello alla calabrese

Snow, snow snow. OK, let's try to cook some new Italian. I stewed the lamb for an hour and half. The cook book said that red chili is essential in the Calabria area.
It was OK, but I much prefer to cook lamb with cumin, coriander, garlic...in a middle eastern way.
The lamb smell will turn into a wonderful deep flavor with those spices. It's magic!