My thoughts on the craft, the process and the subjects
NGC 7635 is a unique-looking emission nebula in the Cassiopeia constellation. It looks like a glowing bubble, and in some sense it is. It’s a shell of ionized H II gas blown out by a massive, hot young star SAO 20575. This central star has a visual magnitude of 8.7 and has a mass of 44 Suns. Its light travelled for 11,000 years before it hit my yard in Victoria, BC on June 7, 2024.
Churaumi aquarium is famous for its scale and a large collection of animals. It is also controversial, basically for the same reasons. It is highly promoted as one of the top attractions in Okinawa, so we expected to see something grandiose. It actually blew the expectations away. Truly fascinating! For what it’s worth, I personally learned a lot. But I wouldn’t have believed that such incredible variety of species could coexist in such close proximity if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes just a day earlier while SCUBA diving at the local coral reefs (didn’t see a whale shark then, though).
Had a great day of SCUBA diving at the amazing Kerama Islands National park. The corals and the variety of brilliant marine life is the best I’ve seen. Thank you, Dorka, for guiding us on this amazing adventure!
This shrine was established at the base of the Hakusan mountain over 2,100 years ago! Hakusan, which stands over three prefectures (Ishikawa, Fukui and Gifu), has been considered a sacred mountain since ancient times, being an important water source for the valleys below. The deity of the shrine is a goddess of matchmaking and family happiness.
Hakusan Hime jinjya has an incredibly tranquil atmosphere – a cool, quiet forest full of the sound of running streams. The 800-years-old sugi cedar, a sacred tree, that stands at the omote-sando walkway is 12 meters in circumpherence at the base and is 45-meters tall! I’ve see several trees during this trip to Japan that reminded me of Studio Ghibli’s “My neighbour Totoro,” and this is one of them.
We were lucky to enjoy some golden light when we came up to the main shrine. The building is both grandiose and elegant at the same time. And the shimenawa rope, which is meant to ward off evil spirits, over the entrance is some of the most impressively thick I’ve seen.
Our daughter, for whom this the first visit to Japan, was soaking up the incredible surroundings and enjoying learning the etiquette of visiting a shrine: make an offering of money, bow twice, clap twice, bow once. When leaving, turn around and bow again.
Kotoji lantern at Kenrokuen garden.
This iconic symbol of Kanazawa resembles a bridge on a koto – a traditional Japanese string instrument. It is different from other Japanese lanterns, because it has two pedestals of uneven length – one on the ground and one in the water. Their beautiful curves give the lantern its unique shape, and they are quite difficult to capture precisely in a sketch.
Visiting Shinsuke Yoshitake’s exhibit at the 21st Century Museum of Modern Art on a rainy day.
The first full day of our extended visit to Japan. We spent the morning exploring the Tokyo Station neighbourhood and took a Shinkansen train to Kanazawa.
Visited the 21st Century museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa yesterday and saw Shinsuke Yoshitake’s exhibit. Amazing amount of work, creativity and attention to detail! Not to mention, a great sense of humour.
On the way to Kanazawa for a research visit.
It’s the beginning of a rainy season in the Hokuriku region in Japan. I saw this building, which was almost overtaken by the vegetation, from a bus yesterday and snapped a quick photo with my phone. As much as I like live sketching, yesterday’s heavy downpour could have given the word “watercolour” a new meaning. So I used the snapshot as reference, sketching in the comfort of our temporary home, listening to the sound of rain outside.