day 388 – four bicycles
Posted: December 18, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Clockwise from top left:
1. My bike
2. My other bike
3. Guest bike
4. My wife’s bike
I love bicycles. They are good in many ways; economical, ecological, and fun!
I bike throughout the year, even in the midst of winter.
It’s my last blog entry.
Best wishes passed on to the next guest blogger!
xoxo
Takashi
day 387 – four plants in my room
Posted: December 17, 2011 Filed under: creativity, Takashi Iwasaki, Uncategorized Leave a comment
Clockwise from top left:
1. Avocado
2. Ficus microcarpa
3. Pachira
4. Thai basil
I don’t know why, but Thai basil is not doing well from the beginning of winter. Lack of sun light? It’s been put under the same condition as others. Does anyone know what I should do to Thai basil?
day 386 – four dried food that i love cooking with
Posted: December 16, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Dried food is great! Convenient and tasty! It can be stored for a longer period of time than their fresh state and the flavor is altered/enhanced by the process of drying.
Out of many dried food that I have I selected these four today.
Clockwise from top left:
1. Black fungus (I use this often for soup, salad, and stir-fry)
2. White fungus (I also use this often for soup, salad, and stir-fry, but this is often used as a dessert ingredient in Chinese cuisine, too.)
3. Seaweed (I use this for salad)
4. Scallop (I use this for soup and stir-fry)
In the process of drying, most dried foods end up having dark and dull colors, but the rich flavors they get in return are wonderful. Don’t judge things only by their look; this phrase that we hear from time to time applies to dried food. Dull colors don’t describe the colorful flavors within.
day 385 – four dishes for dinner
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
Four dishes that I cooked tonight.
Clockwise from top left:
1. Surf clam and butter fish sashimi with wakame seaweed
2. Sour soup with hairy squash
3. Stir fry of liver, chives and bean sprouts
4. Basa fish Namban-zuke (sweet-and-sour Japanese dish)
day 384 – four paintings that i bought in india
Posted: December 14, 2011 Filed under: inspiration, Takashi Iwasaki Leave a commentI haven’t “studied” art since I graduated from art school about five years ago. My education in that field has been through my own art practice, meeting people, seeing other people’s works at galleries, museums, books, and very often through various online sources.
Today I’m presenting four paintings that blew my mind when I went to India in 2009. They were so impressive that I bought and brought them back to Canada for my education. If you click on the images below, you can see high-resolution version of them with a lot of intricate details. My own artworks have been quite a bit more intricate and detail-oriented since I encountered these paintings. You’ll know what I mean if you enlarge those images, so click click, click on the images!
Sorry for the reflection/glare on the glass surfaces. I didn’t go the extra mile to set them up to reduce it when I photographed them at home.
The paintings above are a diptych.
Left:
Portrait of Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s Wife) in the Palace with Taj Mahal as Background
Paint, cut ruby and emerald on carved composite board made of camel bone powder
305mm x 230mm (framed: 410mm x 480mm)
Circa 1990-2009 India
Right:
Portrait of Shah Jahan in the Palace with Taj Mahal as Background
Paint, cut ruby and emerald on carved composite board made of camel bone powder
305mm x 230mm (framed: 410mm x 480mm)
Circa 1990-2009 India
Left:
Portrait of Tibetan Deity Samvara (painted by a Buddhist monk)
Paint and gold leaf on prepared cloth
650mm x 482mm (framed: 753mm x 590mm)
Circa 1990 – 2009 Tibet
Right:
Portrait of Tibetan Buddhist Guru Padmasambhava (painted by a Buddhist monk)
Paint and gold leaf on prepared cloth
587mm x 481mm (framed: 707mm x 604mm)
Circa 1990 – 2009 Tibet
day 383 – four glass objects to be used in my sculpture
Posted: December 13, 2011 Filed under: creativity, objects, Takashi Iwasaki Leave a comment
Not all, but some components of my sculptures are ready-made items. These ready-made and semi-altered glass pieces will appear in my work in the future.
day 382 – four taiwanese teas
Posted: December 12, 2011 Filed under: creativity, Takashi Iwasaki Leave a comment
My wife’s uncle who lives in Taipei, Taiwan is a tea connoisseur. We get a variety of local teas sent from him from time to time. Taking a moment to steep and pour the tea is such a relaxing ritual – especially in a cold winter day. When I was in Taiwan this spring, I had a brief lesson from the uncle about a proper way of making tea, so I’m (almost) confident about what I’m doing!
Gold-colored brewed tea (left) and whole-leaf green tea being steeped (right)
four for the day 