I am dashing off this newsletter late Tuesday, just before I leave for Tokyo early in the morning. In case you missed my last newsletter – I decided to use my miles to get a last minute ticket – to go to the Tokyo Quilt Festival again!
The other plan is to go to the coastal village of Kesennuma on Saturday, where we distributed your 2155 donated quilts on July 13. I don't know if I will find anyone who received our quilts, but I can find out how this community is doing, and take lots of photos of this hard-hit region. (most affected by the tsunami in March 2011.)
The dream that is Venice, still haunts me, and I will have images to share. Here is a gold tile mosaic mural on the outside of a building, that I snapped from the back of the vaporetto (water bus) as it churned up the Grand Canal. There are some cities in the world where art and embellishment is everywhere…and Venice is surely one of those cities. Barcelona is the other city that comes to mind, that has eye candy almost anywhere you look. The colors of the buildings in both of these cities, are like a window full of those French macaroons that are so popular now!
It is going to be very interesting to travel from Italy to Japan within just a couple weeks. Both Italy and Japan have such an incredibly strong design aesthetic. The craftsmanship and attention to detail is stunning, but the sheer grace and beauty of design in both countries is almost overwhelming. I remember the first time I stood in that space between the Duomo and the golden Baptistry doors in Florence, I literally had tears running down my cheeks.
When I travel to either place, I am just a sponge….soaking it up and thinking about what kind of social and historic bubbling brew can create a culture of beauty that is so consistent.
Have a great trip! I wanted to write to say how much I am enjoying your newsletters – I’ve only been getting them for a few weeks. Today I was looking through your many flikr photos of Tokyo and Kobe, the quilts and the shrines. I threatened to run off to Tokyo right away when I read that the quilt festival is imminent. Maybe next year! Please post lots of photos of people and places and of course the quilts. Thanks from Australia. Bee
Luana~I saw you at the show on Friday…in fact, at several times we were snapping quilt pics side-by-side…but I didn’t want to bother you. Now that I’ve read in your newsletter of your trip, I’m so glad I didn’t! You are a real trooper!
I’ve attended the show for 4 years and I definitely felt the impact of the last year’s events reflected in the show, even aside from the obvious references. Yet, the work, as always, is so impressive. Safe travels home!