{"id":267,"date":"2013-01-30T17:00:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T22:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/50.87.217.193\/blog\/creative-nudge-a-japanese-perspective"},"modified":"2015-03-07T00:09:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-07T00:09:01","slug":"creative-nudge-a-japanese-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/creative-nudge-a-japanese-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Nudge – A Japanese Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlueJade1A_550\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Today I am writing to you from
\n Tokyo, where I've spent the last few days at the quilt festival.
\nOne of the great things about attending quilt shows in other countries,
\nis that it completely reshapes one's ideas about what is possible in
\nthis art and craft.<\/p>\n

If you've ever seen the quilt show in Houston, you have probably noticed that the Japanese quilts really stand out.
\nThis is because they are intricately handmade, with points and details made to absolute perfection.<\/p>\n

Here in Japan, in order to be a quilt teacher you must first pass a
\ncertification.
\nMost quilters study with just one master teacher their entire life – not
\n like in the US where we study with as many teachers as possible! <\/p>\n

In the US we've been working to develop young quilters for several
\nyears, but in Japan the quilters are still overwhelmingly middle-age to
\nelderly.
\nIt is a challenge to get all of these older ladies down the stairs of
\nthe baseball stadium, and onto the show floor which is on top of the
\nbaseball field! The show has over 35,000 attendees per day, with a total
\n of 250K visitors in one week.
\nAnd yes, it is crowded!<\/p>\n

About 4 pm the crowds dissipate.
\nI am told that all the ladies have to go home and make dinner for their
\nhusbands at this time! They stream out of the stadium by the thousands –
\n headed back to the nearby train station.<\/p>\n

I have been very fortunate to make several good friends here over the
\nyears.
\nThanks to them, I've been able to meet many of the artists.
\nThe most popular colors used in quilts here are muted and traditional
\ncolors: Indigo Blue, Taupe, and muted colors of Grey, Mauve, Sage, etc.<\/p>\n

However there are several quilt artists who work in bright colors, often inspired by other cultures.
\nOne of my favorites is Fumiko Nakayama who specializes in Mola quilts.
\nShe has recreated The Tales of Genji in bright colors with the Mola reverse applique technique.
\nHer work is mind-blowingly intricate, and she is unbelievably prolific.<\/p>\n

Because most of the name cards here are only in Japanese, I have decided
\n to paste in the image of the name card on my images this year.
\nPlease bear with me as I edit these quilts so credit is given where it
\nis due.
\nThis striking quilt "Blue Jade" (200cm x 200cm) has the name written in
\nJapanese characters, in the lower right corner of the image.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow is the last day of the show, but I am going to Mt.
\nFuji tomorrow.
\nI was able to rebook my flight off of the Dreamliner, and instead I am
\nflying back via Hawaii to drop in on Paul's parents there for one night.
\nI leave Tokyo Thursday night, and arrive in Honolulu early Thursday
\nmorning! (crossing the Date Line)<\/p>\n

Watch for show photos on my photo page.<\/a> Sayonara!<\/p>\nShare Post:<\/strong>
\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I am writing to you from Tokyo, where I've spent the last few days at the quilt festival. One of the great things about attending quilt shows in other countries, is that it completely reshapes one's ideas about what … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,24,21,23,18,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-color","category-creativity","category-japan","category-quilts","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1248,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equilter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}