Author: Grace Kishino
British artist living in Tokyo, trying to increase happiness in the world through art.
Dappled Things
When I was taking Dan to school this morning, he suddenly shouted ‘Dappled light!’ when he saw some created by the tree leaf shadows and the sun. It reminded me of one of the few poems I remember from school which I quite like –
Pied Beauty
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89)
GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
When to Make Tea
I made a list of some appropriate times to make tea:
1. In the morning after waking up
2. At about 11am
3. After lunch
4. At about 4pm
5. After dinner
6. When starting work
7. During work
8. Whenever anyone comes home
9. Whenever someone comes to visit
10. When something important happens
Clothes Peg Bats
Organised an activity to make clothes peg bats for Halloween at Dan’s English playgroup today, think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did!
Chalk Town
Dan and I made a town out of chalk (from the 100 yen shop) outside our flat, kept him busy for hours!
Food
I made Dan some food from origami paper for his kitchen. Dan also likes bringing out this food when we eat and putting it on the table.
折り紙で團のキチンの食べ物を作りました。にんじん、大根、やき豆腐とねぎです。
Kitchen
I made a kitchen for Dan. We got the parts from Shimachu in Nakano. The main frames are cardboard boxes, with a real tap, shiny drawer knobs and a metal bowl for the sink. Dan calls it ‘SHIN’.
Homemade Toy Boxes
Made Dan some boxes to keep books and cars in. I got some sticky coloured paper from the 100 yen shop to decorate them.
１００円ショップのシールを使って、團のおもちゃ箱を作りました。
Car Box
Car Box (other side)
Trojan Horse
Still proud to remember that when I was 16 my Trojan Horse was used on the back cover of OMNIBVS 22 🙂
