BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE.....

 

Hello all,

Well, I'm back and, I have to admit that, the best thing about travelling is coming back to the familiar comforts of home and, especially, family.

Above is the photo of the first arrangement I made since returning and it was made with some of the flowers from my Mother's Day bouquet. They were chosen by my youngest granddaughter who loves pink (what little girl doesn't?). The willow branch was sitting in the bucket in the studio since before I left. It had sent masses of roots and brought fresh leaves. I removed both and used the stem in my arrangement, purely out of laziness.

Said laziness extended to the next arrangement. The painted wisteria was in another arrangement and, having been in water for so long, the ends were rotting. I cut off the rotting bits and reused it together with more pink  flowers, this time roses. Amongst my bouquet were also the stems of magnolia grandiflora.

My trip to Japan is still very fresh in my mind and I'd like to share a few more photos. During our travels in the Tokyo subway we came across a lovely O'Hara school arrangement inside a glass enclosure. Its freshness and beauty were quite incongruous with the hustle and bustle of the subway.

The next day I was travelling the same route alone and went past the same window. This time there was a new arrangement. I have to commend the arranger for changing the arrangement even though the materials were all still quite fresh.

One place we most looked forward to visit was Naoshima island, which is in the Seto sea. It is referred to as the Art Island and with good reason. It took a Shinkansen, a regional train and a ferry, lugging 3 large and 3 small suitcases to get there from Osaka. We checked into our lovely suite and were preparing to go sightseeing, when I received a phone call from our colleague, Swann, informing us that we needed to have prebooked to visit many of the museums. This was not the case when I was there in 2014. Our hearts sank. No, they hit the floor. We scrambled to book whatever we could and, thankfully, we got to see the some museums as well as all the outdoor art, dotted around the island.

Sam and me in 2014 with Yellow Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama

Back in 2025 sans Sam (He was much missed)

The next photo is of a sculpture that intrigued us as much in 2014 as it did in 2025. It is of a man reading a newspaper with his canine companion at his side. The interesting thing is that it depicts a Greek Newspaper called 'O Kosmos' meaning 'The World' and the text is in Greek.

Le Banc Sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle (1989)

And whilst we're on Naoshima let's look at some more photos.

Whilst wondering around the outdoor exhibits, we were approached by a very friendly and charming young man by the name of Kohei, who is a photographer planning an exhibition. We spent a pleasant half an hour with him and, of course, we took the obligatory photos. I will only share one with you.

Lucy next to an untitled piece by Jannis Kounellis (Yes, he's Greek too)

Yayoi Kusama's silver balls featured heavily.

OK, now I'm stopping. Seriously, I could go on all night adding more and more photos. For those who have not been to Naoshima, I strongly recommend you put it in your bucket list. BUT BE SURE TO PREBOOK EVERYTHING!

Bye for now,

Emily