Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Kyoto ~ Day 1
Today I met a girl, Caroline, from the UK at the Nijo Castle and we ended up spending the day together...look what all we did!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Aiko's Gallery - Japanese Paper Products
Aiko is a wonderful woman - very talented and a great steward of the Earth! She talks easily about anything in the world and is well traveled ~ but one thing she holds close to her chest is her technique for making Japanese Paper! She would not share a word about it with me and worked on it behind closed doors for the two weeks I was with her. The only 'proof' that I knew she was working on it was a few days I saw she had some new pieces out drying in the sun.
OK - it's her secret and her passion - enough said!
She also has various other artist's work on display in her gallery which is in her home. The gallery will not be open until the season starts at the end of March. But it is clean - I cleaned it - and had a wonderful time arranging price tags in Japanese that I am sure did not match the piece! Who cares ~ it looked nice to me! (Aiko will do the fine tuning and make sure that everything is right - I'm sure!)
At first I was uncertain about all of the little ceramic characters that are made by her good girlfriend, but as I cleaned them and really noticed the detail in them I really became quite fond of them!!! Very unique and very whimsical ~ rather delightful.
I pray that Aiko's gallery has a very successful year!
OK - it's her secret and her passion - enough said!
She also has various other artist's work on display in her gallery which is in her home. The gallery will not be open until the season starts at the end of March. But it is clean - I cleaned it - and had a wonderful time arranging price tags in Japanese that I am sure did not match the piece! Who cares ~ it looked nice to me! (Aiko will do the fine tuning and make sure that everything is right - I'm sure!)
At first I was uncertain about all of the little ceramic characters that are made by her good girlfriend, but as I cleaned them and really noticed the detail in them I really became quite fond of them!!! Very unique and very whimsical ~ rather delightful.
I pray that Aiko's gallery has a very successful year!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Making Miso
Aiko is actually a mad scientist - she has things growing & fermenting in EVERY nook and cranny of her house! I had an upset stomach for the first few days here in the mountains at her house in Japan - I would try anything she put in front of me. Some of the smallest things she put in small dishes on the table, I found out were the oldest and the scariest! But I'm a gamer!!! SO, yesterday we made miso! I love miso and was excited to see the process.
The pictures should tell their own story, but basically she mail orders the moldy rice, (koji fungi spore) and then boils soybeans for hours out side. After the beans are soft we put everthing together with lots of salt, form balls out of it and throw them hard into a plastic bucket (to take all the air out), AND then let it AGE FOR THREE YEARS! Really??? Three years? Aiko says that it takes longer for her miso to ferment because of the colder climate in the mountains! I looked on the internet and it said to check after 6 months. I just think Aiko likes things really old and WELL fermented!!! Let's check back in a few years.....
The pictures should tell their own story, but basically she mail orders the moldy rice, (koji fungi spore) and then boils soybeans for hours out side. After the beans are soft we put everthing together with lots of salt, form balls out of it and throw them hard into a plastic bucket (to take all the air out), AND then let it AGE FOR THREE YEARS! Really??? Three years? Aiko says that it takes longer for her miso to ferment because of the colder climate in the mountains! I looked on the internet and it said to check after 6 months. I just think Aiko likes things really old and WELL fermented!!! Let's check back in a few years.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)