Tag Archives: art

Klee and Japan

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Klee and Japan
Hello there Sweeties! :hirabbit:
I’ve been wanting to blog the whole time but my week was very hectic and adventurous! Last weekend I visited the Klee Museum in Bern to see the exhibition Paul Klee and the Far East and I enjoyed it very much. And this week, last week I had the chance to visit a really exclusive collection of antique European textiles and Japanese propaganda textiles, especially Kimono. The collector’s house was beautiful and the view was amazing and down in the basement he had rooms full of breath-taking textiles and dresses and we were even allowed to touch them! But I’m going to tell you more about this special excursion in a later entry…


The Paul Klee museum practically consists of two hills or waves and looks pretty cool with all the green landscape in the background. I like Klee’s art and apparently Japan loves him too. He influenced Japanese artists, writers, musicians and even architects. Some of his works show inspirations of different Japanese artists such as Hokusai oder Sharaku and I could clearly see that in his awfully cute and mangaesque fish drawings that remind me a lot of Hokusai’s prints and sketches.

These are art works of a Japanese artist inspired by Paul Klee.

Downstairs there was a large hall where you could try out different things such as Japanese calligraphy and there were many children too. In fact I think it was thought for children but I just had to give it a try too… :nope: I was totally fascinated with Buddha boards – “Based on the Zen concept of living in the moment. You simply paint on the surface with water and your creation will come to life in bold design. Then, as the water slowly evaporates, your art will magically disappear leaving you with a clean slate and a clear mind – ready to create a whole new masterpiece. source“ and that’s exactly how it works. Nevertheless I like writing with real ink much more.. :miam:

Paul Klee museum

I totally lost track of time and in the end we didn’t make it to the Qin exhibition. At least I was able to take some pictures of the inside of the museum that had some stunning deco!


I hope you guys had a good weekend! I spent mine in the countryside with lots of sun, hard work and food~
I don’t know when I’ll be back to posting because there’s the final exams approaching and as ususal I have some ‘last moment studying’ to do.. But I do have some Bento lined up and ready to be published so if I find the time, I would love to show them to you~ :raburabu:

Take care and see you soon!

byebye,

Beauty of the Moment

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Beauty of the Moment
Seriously guys, I’m happy and thankful for your sweet comments on my outfit post. I know there are plenty of fashion blogs out there with exemplary coords and shots so I really had to overcome myself before posting those pics. I’m glad I did so though! :bling:
But I’m actually here to tell you about an event and an exhibition I’m looking forward to. The exhibition is called The Beauty of the Moment ~ Women in Japanese Woodblocks Prints and is taking place at Museum Rietberg in Zurich from the 7th of July to the 14th of October. What I’m looking forward to even more though, is the Tanabata star festival, meaning “Evening of the seventh” that will be the opening of the exhibition. :hoshi: There will be concerts, yummy japanese food stands, movies, workshops, and even a tea ceremony.

Teahouse girls under a wistaria espalier by Kitagawa Utamaro

Tanabata has its origins in a moving love story. Only on this one particular day of the year can the weaver Orihime and the cowherd Hikoboshi meet before the two stars Wega and Altair, which represent the two lovers, are separated again by the Milky Way. :jupp:
Every year on 7 July, children and adults write a wish on a piece of paper in honour of the lovers. Hung from bamboo branches, their wishes should come true. :bang:

Seventh Month, Evening Send-Off by Torii Kiyonaga

The core of the exhibition however, is an exquisite selection of 100 representations of women by Japan’s best-known woodblock printers of the 18th and 19th centuries. An essential element of Japanese woodcuts is the idea of capturing the ephemeral moment. In the genre of bijinga – pictures of beautiful women –, artists portray women in snapshots full of irretrievable charm.


At the beginning of the nineteenth century, color woodblock prints in Japan played a role similar to that played by commercial art in Europe today. But soon – probably because Western art lovers admired the intricacy and refinement of the compositions – individual works were gaining world renown. The appeal of this typically Japanese art form continues to this day. Artists and designers in particular value woodblocks as an important source of inspiration. A key element of Japanese woodblock prints, which is encapsulated by the term ukiyo-e, ‘pictures of the floating world’, is the way they capture the fleeting moment.

The works displayed come mostly from the famous collection of the novelist James A. Michener (1907–1997). The Honolulu Museum of Art, where the Michener collection is housed, possesses one of the most outstanding and best pre- served collections of Japanese woodblocks in the world. All the pictures and information in this entry are from the museum’s website: Rietberg
Do you like Japanese art? Frankly I’m not the frequent museum visitor but if there’s a little fun bound to it, why not? I wish I had a traditional Japanese robe to wear for such events like a Yukata but I guess something else will have to do.

Laurita & Miho-chan, it would be fun to see you there :nekopaw:

byebye,

Planning, Ranting, Drawing & Hauling

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Planning, Ranting, Drawing & Hauling
Hello Everyone! :jumpingrabbit:
What have you been up to this week?
I diligently skipped school and have been drawing the whole time. If you follow my blog, you know that I’ve impulsively bought a graphic tablet about a month ago or so. I usually don’t draw and I can’t call myself an artistic person but I wanted the graphic tablet to personalise pictures I upload and to make my own smiley collection. :starlove: It turned out that smilies are more difficult to draw than I thought so I started to draw other things. But first, let me show you how I decorated my 2012 planner! :swirlheart: Since the art exam about two weeks ago, I’ve been feeling creative and have been doodling whenever I could.

I can’t wait for the Polymanga convention in April! But there are also a lot of nasty exams.. :crying:

I’ve never been an eager agenda user because I never wrote down homework assignments since I rarely did them. I’ve always had one because everyone had one and because I love decorating them but I didn’t really use them. This semester however, I feel under the gun so I’m actually making use of a planner for the first time in my life! It’s a strange feeling to confide all your appointments and assignments in one tiny, single red book but this is what is called being organised today and I guess it’s more convenient than having dates and numbers scribbeld all over loose papers.
And now, back to my graphic tablet.

This is the WACOM Bamboo Pen Touch and although I have no experience in graphic tablets, I have to say that I really like this one. :blinkheart: The reviews I’ve read were all fairly good but of course it’s not a professional tool. There are a few things you have to get use to in general while drawing with a graphic tablet but the second day it already felt very natural and easy to use.
If you’re following nekoblog.ch on facebook, you’ve probably already seen two sneak peaks of my drawings but here is the whole one!

Inari 稲荷大神, the goddess of rice

This is actually the second drawing, I will feature my first drawing in the next entry. :nyan: Those of you who know me personally, know that this is totally not my drawing style and I was rather surprised myself.. I guess it’s the graphic tablet that makes you draw manga style! :totorosmile:
The first thing I drew was the head with the fox ears and since I’m really bad at drawing people and especially bodies, I decided to draw a Kimono. I’m really fond of Japanese mythology and folklore so I made her the goddess Inari. Inari Ōkami 稲荷大神 is the Japanese goddess of rice, fertility and agriculture and is one of the principal Kami in Shintoism. The fox is her messenger and some times even she herself is described as fox.
I’ve always been fascinated by any kind of folklore and mythology so it seems natural to draw characters I know from fairytales and sagas. :twinkles:
I’m very happy to have the graphic tablet and I hope I can increase my drawing skills with it. Of course I will also use it to give my entries a more personal touch. :tongue:

Fairy cupcakes! :miam: Unfortunately they came out a little too hard..

Two more things and then I will finish this tremedously long entry!! Remember my March Wishlist? Well obviously I didn’t get most of the things or to be honest, I didn’t get one single item until now but March is still long so we’ll see.. :wink:
I went for a little spring haul nevertheless! Nothing really special but here it is. :smile:


I’ve read about Topshop’s makeup one several blogs contemporarily and couldn’t resist to try it! And I’ve been looking for ages for a velvet bow like the one in the picture above. I also really like the loafers!
Read on to take a look at my graphic ranting about the site I ordered my cosplay costume from!

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