A fascinating and illuminating essay about the essence of black in Japanese lacquer.

realizing the importance
of this fleeting moment

It's hard to tell the difference between sea and sky, between voyager and sea. Between reality and the workings of the heart.

Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

on foggy april days we recede into gardens, unseen

feather clouds of mist
from this flowering forest

in every bud
another word

to write this in
a box of words

words are not
what it takes

this glint of glimmer
a sparkling shimmer

poem /blackbird YouTube video by andyamholst

Samstagabend um halb acht ist (aus Gründen) Frank-Lepold-Gedächtnisstunde

„Poem / Blackbird“, Animation youtu.be/tGO8j1vhVB4 (© fflepp 2019)

#inmemoriamfflepp

This elegant painting on silk, created in 1901, is a masterful example of the kacho-ga (bird-and-flower painting) genre by the celebrated Kyoto artist Imao Keinen. Known for his naturalistic yet decorative style, Keinen captures a tranquil spring moment featuring a pair of peacocks amidst a blossoming landscape. The composition is centered on a vibrant male peacock perched majestically on a gnarled, moss-covered tree trunk. Its brilliant cerulean neck and intricate, eye-spotted tail feathers cascade downward in a graceful arc. Beside it, the peahen is rendered in more subtle, earthy tones of brown and grey, providing a harmonious balance to the male's opulence. They are framed by the delicate, pale pink blossoms of a cherry tree and the soft, feathery needles of a pine, symbols of renewal and constancy. Keinen’s technical skill is evident in the fine, rhythmic brushwork used to define the individual barbs of the feathers and the textured bark of the tree, all set against a luminous, neutral silk background that enhances the depth of the colors.

A Pair of Peacocks in Spring, 1901, Japan, by artist Imao Keinen color on silk.

a veil over the
windswept lake

Moonlight and the Magic of the Unnecessary Every night, for every human being that ever was and ever will be, the Moon rises to remind us how improbably lucky we are, each of its craters a monument of the odds we prevailed against to exist,…

"There is a soft moonlight that gives us peace, and one that inspires a kind of awe. There is a cold, austere moonlight that tells the soul of its loneliness and isolation, and one prompting love, not only for an individual, but a whole universe."

www.themarginalian.org/2024/03/06/moonlight/?s=09

misty weather
serene and moody
hibiscus sky

Basho

some thoughts and volatile ideas
and finally some flocks of words

silhouettes filled with
between-the-lines

words waiting to be
magnetically assembled

Wagasa Illuminated in the Night This striking nocturnal photograph captures a display of wagasa (traditional Japanese umbrellas) transformed into glowing sculptural lanterns. The composition is dominated by several large umbrellas made of translucent washi paper and bamboo ribs, which are backlit to reveal their delicate structural skeletons. A large, cream-colored umbrella in the foreground is the primary focus, its fine radial lines creating a mesmerizing geometric pattern. Surrounding it are other umbrellas in deep crimson and royal purple, their colors saturated and radiant against the pitch-black background. Below the hanging umbrellas, dozens of small bamboo candle holders are arranged on the ground, their warm light casting soft circular glows that mirror the circular forms above.

Japanese umbrellas, Wagasa. Japan. Photography by Chajimori on Ganref

there is this flow, there is this river
and finding it again and again

from the beginning
always forever

the bright moon over dark rolling hills

I moonbathed diligently, as others sunbathe.

Denise Levertov

And he beholds the moon; like a rounded fragment of ice filled with motionless light.

Gustave Flaubert

Mixedmedia-Meerliebe-Assemblage im runden Format auf blauem Grund mit Goldrand (Durchmesser 30 cm) Mit verschiedenen Fokus-Collage-Ausschnitten 1 Scherbenfundstück, 2 Delfine. Text: Minimalismus und Poesie Art by Teena

Ahoi
mit
Minimalismus und Poesie.
🌊🌊🌊🐬🐬☀️🩵☮️

#FokussiereWasGutTut
#Mixedmedia
#Collage
#assemblage
#LifeIsABeach
#cleanupthebeach
#Scherbenbringenglück
#Meerliebe
#DerBlauePlanet

Max Ernst, Sea and Moon, 1925

the balance between moon
and sun on a rainy winter day

soul cracks
through ice

a raven’s eye and upper body superimposed over female eye and upper torso, as one.

song at dawn

Ph. Laura Makabresku

Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple
understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy.

Terry Tempest Williams

All he could do was wait like this, patiently, until it grew light out and the birds awoke and began their day. All he could do was trust in the birds, in all the birds, with their wings and beaks.

Haruki Murakami

this whole universe
in a galaxy of starfish