Blog - Page 30 of 32 - Studio Deanna

Explosion of Color at Space Galleria

Spent an Artist’s Day out today in Chiba at Space Galleria to see a group exhibition in which my new friend Michelle Zacharias had work on display. When I walked in the door I was greeted with the most wonderful explosion of colors! Everywhere! Hanging from the ceiling, draped over mannequins and lined up on the floor! It made my heart happy to feel the passion these artists had in reworking Ishikawa-San’s pieces into their own.

石川剛のガモリープリントを遊ぶ at Space Galleria near Chiba Train Station will be running through Sunday, November 10, 2013. I highly recommend you stop by to see his work and the work of several other artists, including Michelle Zacharias’s. I acquired one of her watercolor and ink pieces to do a little of my own collaboration work :)

Creativity Powered by Tako 蛸

The amazing selection of delicious seasonal fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood in even the most mundane grocery store here in Japan has really peaked my interest in cooking. Of all the ingredients readily available, my respect for Octopus has continued to increase as I explore all the options available for cooking this nutrition packed Mollusk. Yes, technically it inhabits the same branch on the biological tree as clams.

3oz of Octopus contains 45% RDA of Iron, whereas 3oz of Beef contains only 8% of RDA of Iron.

AND Octopus contains 25g of protein in that same 3oz vs. Beef’s 23g of protein. These are just two of the many reasons Octopus, 蛸, Tako in Japanese, has become a common cooking ingredient in our household. The other day I sliced it up and made Teriyaki Tako along with the deliciously plump King Trumpet Mushrooms.

Compare for yourself, be sure the serving size for each is set to the same amount for best comparison:

Octopus Nutrition Data: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4252/2

Beef Nutrition Data: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beef-products/3793/2

Anyone else enjoy Octopus for dinner?

Scarf Lost…Better Scarf Handmade

Last Spring I left my favorite scarf at a restaurant in the Omode-sando Station. The colors were perfect, it was super easy to crush into my bag and it always drew compliments despite it having been a random store bought item.

Shortly after, I was able to find a yummy, chunky yarn of 45% Silk, 40% Cotton & 15% Wool in an amazingly similar colorway but have started crocheting three different patterns before I found the right one.

Thanks to Jennifer Dickerson’s Pavement Infinity Pattern, it is finally a better scarf than the one I left behind. It was an easy, peasy zippy pattern to complete and it really shows off the colors as they each blend into the next. Just in time as things are getting much cooler each day.

Pattern Modification: At the beginning of each row, the pattern calls for “ch 3”. Instead I chose to do the (CSDC) Chainless Starting Double Crochet found on Moogly’s Blog, for a much nicer edge.

Yarn purchased from Yuzawaya in a Furisode colorway.

My Studio Nando

This week’s goal: Organize my Nando!

After a very busy year of moving to a new area and the gallery show this fall, I realized my Studio Closet, Nando (納戸) in Japanese, is a complete disaster of yarn, metalsmithing tools, sewing notions, and office supplies!

Not to mention the surfboard and the filing cabinet outside the photo frame =0

My Studio itself is well organized and I have plenty of comfortable space to work, yet my closet is clearly screaming for well-deserved attention if I ever hope to complete another large scale project.

This week’s goal: Organize my Nando!

Projects in Periwinkle

Yesterday I finished two disparate projects in periwinkle coincidentally:

The first project is the finishing touches on a silhouette paper cut design I made at a gallery workshop I attended about 2 years ago. The pretty paper heart design, created by Ncoco, and cut by me in the workshop has been one of those projects that just sat in a drawer in my studio. It sat as a finished project that really wasn’t quite finished and I was recently inspired to crochet a lace frame for it. The airy lace frame project didn’t take long during my train trips around Tokyo and the silhouette cut is now a true completed project hanging on the wall of my studio.

The second completed periwinkle project started out to be a pretty, feminine neckwarmer for a friend however the Victorian lace pattern combination I used is just way to feminine for her and I think she’d be insulted if I gave it to her now, LOL!! I still love the design, it’s just not for her, or for me, but I know the right person is out there to love it for the super yummy, soft 50% alpaca/50% silk design it is. Currently it’s posted in my shop on Etsy, StudioDeanna, waiting for just the right person to give it the love it deserves.

Thank You!

My Four Seasons Hanging Scroll Project at Hagiso Gallery is now finished and it has been an amazing experience!

Thank you so much to everyone who has attended the show. Thank You so much for the flowers MinoriSan! Thank you so so very much to those made purchases.

Thank You to so many of you who have provided moral support from around the world. Understandably many of you are unable to just hop a flight or unfurl their sails to Tokyo see my Four Season Hanging Scroll Project in person. Your support and encouragement have been very much appreciated.

This project and the amazing support has helped me push a few more ideas forward which you will see here in the future. Thank you to my fellow members in Art Byte Critique, I feel very lucky to have found a great group of artists in which to do a show. I’m looking forward to seeing how much our work evolves in our future endeavors.

Stay Tuned! ありがとうございました、みんなさん！

Crochet w/the Artist Success!

Thank you everyone who came out to Hagiso Gallery to enjoy a fun stitch session this afternoon!

A very fast crochet expert joined in first:

Then a couple of very enthusiastic and curious novices:

A lovely tatted piece completed during the workshop: