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Exquisite...its own being, its own presence and echo of the sea.

Japanese mother-of-pearl hairpin.  date unknown

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“The breeze kissed waters, which occasionally stir for a few moments, but quickly return to their usual stillness, as if ashamed.” Artor Pastor, Portuguese Photographer

He described photography as “understanding the art of seeing.” His most uncompromising tool was light, spending an entire day sitting and looking for that perfect “tilt of sun."

Note the beautiful palette curving across the photograph in this quiet, but intensely alive, moment.

Artur Pastor.

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 “It is a serious thing just to be alive in this fresh morning in this broken world.” Mary Oliver

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Yes!

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” ― Henri Matisse Jazz cut-out by Henri Matisse (1947).

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This fabulous view of the moon by Yashima Gakutei - poet, artist and fine woodblock printmaker - delights me with the beauty of winter becoming spring or as a cooling image for the summer months.

Yashima Gakutei WHITE CRESENT MOON AND PLUM BLOSSOMS Edo period, 1615-1868

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Like Tagore, I too "have come far, led by my dreams and visions."

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Anaïs Nin, self-publisher. She decided to print her book, Winter of Artifice, herself when she couldn't find a publisher for it. She recounts her experience in her diary, Volume 3 1939-1944:

"The writing is often improved by the fact that I live so many hours with a page that I am able to scrutinize it, to question the essential words. In writing, my only discipline has been to cut out the unessential. Typesetting is like film cutting. The discipline of typesetting and printing is good for the writer."

I am a letterpress printer poet myself, and every word she wrote on the craft is true.

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“Everything is on fire–but everyone I love is doing beautiful things and trying to make life worth living.” – Nikita Gill

Personally, the effort alone makes life not only worth living, but magical, mysterious, wondrous.

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"…and yet there are endless mysteries under that clarity, behind those naked, fairy-tale eyes…" Anaïs Nin, from The Diary of Anaïs Nin: Vol.1, 1931-1934

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This is more than a waterpot; it's magic transportation to other realms, and possibly better than Aladdin's lamp:-)

Waterpot (Suichū). ca. 1850–60s. Credit line: Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/47081

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The title itself is eye-catching, along with the image nod to the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle". The book is filled with whimsical typography and illustrations of rhymes, many of which are still recited today with gusto by children in the park near my home. You may be surprised by some of the contributors, such as Shakespeare, Hans Christian Andersen, Kate Greenaway, the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, Walter de la Mare and Eugene Field, to name a few.

Cat, fiddle. The Latch key of my bookhouse. 1921. 

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The complex act of reading & playing music simultaneously is clearly revealed here.

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I can relate!

And, Otto's damned happy about it, too.

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"Please, you're blocking my view. Thank you."

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To start, note the whiskers and how a couple of brush strokes delineate the inner hind legs.

“Deer”. Ink on paper. Early 19th century, Japan, by artist Katsushika Hokusai. Freer/Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian

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The Wexford Carol is a very old Irish carol, beautifully sung and played in this video. Unfortunately, I don't have the names of the other musicians who helped make this performance so moving. And. yes, they got it on this take:-)

Many blessings to all of you.

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“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” ― Anais Nin