Interlude: An Homage to Spring [2024]

kwingading

kwingading

— 3 min read

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[Excerpt] The Sensitive Plant - Percy Bysshe Shelley

A few of my favorite pieces from the Musée d'Orsay.

Two Variations of Woman with a Parasol - Claude Monet (1886)
In Norway: The Boat at Giverny - Claude Monet (1887)
Morning Sun, Autumn, a Woman in an Orchard, Eragny - Camille Pissarro (1887)
[Excerpt] Endymion - John Keats (1818)
Daphnis et Chloé - François Gérard (1825)

The Famous opening to The Pillow Book - a beautiful homage to the seasons.

[Excerpt] The Pillow Book - Sei Shonagon
Three Beauties Representing Snow, the Moon and Cherry Blossoms (Sei-shōnagon, Murasaki-shikibu and Ono-no-komachi) - Katsukawa Shunsho (Edo Period, 18th Century)

And now for a touch of melancholy, some Ono no Komachi. An expression of wabi-sabi at its finest.

Ono No Komachi (9th Century) · Translated by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Arantani
Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash
[Excerpt] Spring Snow - Yukio Mishima (1969)
Photo by Amy Tran on Unsplash
[Excerpt] The Makioka Sisters - Junichiro Tanizaki (1936)
関東風の「桜餅」（右）と関西風の「道明寺製桜餅」(Image Source)
[Excerpt] Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant - Murata Yoshihiro, Kuma Masahi (2012)

F and I went to a Kintsugi workshop run by Mio Heki recently. I love the philosophy behind the craft: Broken things can be made even more beautiful than they were originally. An act of renewal, of rebirth. Very fitting for spring.

Works by Mio Heki

Here in Kurokawa, sakura are no longer blooming. Instead, we're beginning to catch glimpses of purple crowns and sashes, the noble fuji 藤 [原 - haha] unfurling among the common green in all their splendour.

Now for my Ins this season: Writing from the heart, untethered from structure. Homecooked food. Slow, languid trips stretching over weeks. Simplicity and Ardor. Bags that fit books. Tamago Kake Gohan. Books about being a woman - Ferrante, Woolf, Plath - all the greats. Flowy dresses, flowers in hair - spring personified. 

Lots of love,

Kelly

Thanks for checking out my first attempt at curation (as inspired by Patricia Mou’s Rabbit Holes) - I hope you liked it :)

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