2004: Itsukushima

December 2004
Big Canoe, GA

As I begin to write this letter the first goldfinch has arrived at the feeder and the first snowflakes of the season are falling. The snow is not a serious effort as yet, since the flakes are tiny and intermittent, as I enjoy the wooded view out of the grand windows at my house in the North Georgia Mountains. I have escaped Athens for the whole of the Holiday Season celebrating all the special days here with tree, decorations and many candles alight giving their special glow each evening. I am enjoying every treasured moment here in my nature retreat. By the next morning there was a thin layer of snow on the deck and a light dusting in the woods, partially covering the thick layer of fall leaves. It is far from a White Christmas but still a thrill to enjoy the change of seasons here in Big Canoe.

The fall was glorious with the most spectacular color in years, according to those who have been around here longer than I have. There are numerous maples everywhere that provide the most dramatic colors. These trees are in dense settings, so the foliage is sparse creating subtle brush strokes of yellow, gold, orange, crimson, burgundy and brown. These precious maples keep their leaves the longest, through Thanksgiving week, and have just recently dropped their last jewels. Oh, it was a magnificent fall here! I was able to spend most every weekend here since my return from Japan in early August.

Early January was the start of the new semester and soon after that I took off for what has become an annual trip over the MLK holiday to Tucson to stay with my cousin, Gloria. She always plans a busy schedule of visits to museums, historic sites, missions, quaint villages, ranch country and Mexico. This part of the West has its special charms and I never tire of the desert, the mountains (viewed from her home patio) and the sunsets. My next trip is only a few weeks away!

In mid-March I made my first trip of the year to Kyoto over our spring break. The trip is an essential renewal of my eastern soul, connecting with friends there and making final arrangements for my Study Abroad Program. There are always many activities to keep me busy including long walks in ‘my’ nearby shrine and along the eastern river with its views of the nearby mountains, many exhibitions at the museums and galleries, dining on real Japanese cuisine and making little improvements on my rental house there. I always return refreshed and this year I could share my experiences with my class in Japanese Fabrics as well as with a Freshman Seminar I taught in contemporary Japanese culture. This was the first time to teach this latter class and I had a full house of eager freshmen to challenge me.

As director of the Study Abroad Program – Japan I have been honored to be invited to a variety of events at the residence of the Consul General of Japan in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. This often involves some type of program followed by dinner prepared by the chef brought over from Japan. The food, needless to say, is both beautiful and delicious! In the spring the master of the major Japanese tea ceremony school in New York was visiting to give a lecture, demonstration, and tea party. There was an international group of 20 Atlanta-based elite (excluding me) but including Jane Fonda. I was surprised to find myself at the same table with Ms. Fonda, the tea master, the publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Consul General. Jane Fonda was delightful, great at conversation, humorous, serious, and always interesting. The Consul General gave a great tribute to Henry Fonda in his role in “On Golden Pond”, with Kate Hepburn and Jane. He was enamored by the L.L. Bean jacket Henry wore in the film and rushed to Maine at his first opportunity, many years ago, to get one for himself, which he produced and slipped on. It was a memorable evening.

In mid-May staff and the largest group of students headed off to Kyoto for the sixth year of the Study Abroad Program. We had a total of 20 students this year that stretched our facilities to the maximum: the inn where we all stay for the first week, the public buses, the studios and residence rooms in both the fabric and ceramic programs. Maxed out, perhaps, but a great success. I was blown off my feet when I was awarded Study Abroad Director of the Year at a reception on campus in the fall based on student evaluations at the end of the program.

I returned to Athens shortly after the students in the middle of June to check on the house, finances, Big Canoe, and other essentials, although I had a great yard, house and mail care person. The 10 days went by quickly and I was off to Kyoto for the rest of the summer. I had just a week to finish preparations for my solo show at the Wacoal Ginza Art Space in Tokyo, which opened on the 5th of July. My exhibition was an installation work that utilized panels of traditional kimono fabric hung in three ‘layers’ that filled half of the gallery space with a change of the colors each day. On the opening day I had the collaboration of a butoh dancer from Kyoto who did an improvisational performance in the space interacting with the fabric in a personal and exciting way in a color fusion of pink and white, ‘Plum Blossoms in the Snow’. This title was especially ironic as we were to experience a heat wave that was soon to knock me down and wring me out. The streets of Tokyo were like the Inferno of Infernos. Over the week I was there I ventured out of the gallery only for lunch at a great veggie cafeteria I discovered that was accessible through a series of air-conditioned shopping malls and underground passageways. At night I escaped into Ginza movie theaters to see ‘Troy’ (great indigo shibori costumes), the latest (and best) Harry Potter and ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’ (so Vermeer-esque in every scene). I also had the opportunity to see a few exhibitions in Tokyo while I was there.

Kyoto, too, was hot, hot, hot. With the help of friends there I planned a trip to the Japan Alps to escape the heat. I found a delightful spot in Nagano Prefecture where the weather was cooler, the air clearer, the mountains and rivers beautiful, the people friendly and the hot spring (onsen) a sheer delight. I have never felt so clean and relaxed. Days were spent walking, visiting a favorite coffee shop in a log house, and reading al fresco, the evenings relaxing and enjoying local cuisine. What a treat that little vacance was. Since I had a Japan Rail Pass, used for this trip, I also had the opportunity to visit friends, fiber artist Tetsuo Kusama and his wife, Hiroe, in Okayama with a side trip to the nearby ‘art’ island of Inujima with its pleasant beaches, outdoor sculpture and several very noteworthy museums of international art, and houses and temples containing installations. As the pass was about to expire, I did a one-day trip to Hiroshima to see the famous shrine with its huge torii (gate) surrounded by water at Itsukushima. The whole shrine is built over the water where it ‘floats’ at high tide and this time I hit it right on a rainy and foggy day. Ah, so Japan! The following day I whisked off, once again, for a one-day Tokyo fling on the Shinkansen. Oh, how I do love that Silver Bullet. Sayonara, Nihon, I shall return.

Upon my return to Georgia in August, I was immediately off to the mountains to my retreat. The stream was a mere dribble but my love stronger, none-the-less. How great it was to be home again. Next year I will arrange my Japan time so that I can spend the heat of the summer in the Georgia mountains between my two streams. Labor Day gave me a long weekend there and I returned each weekend from Friday noon when my classes were over.

My fourth trip to Kyoto was over our fall break and I arrived just after the worst typhoon in decades, which was evident from the raging rivers near my house. In addition, while I was there the severe earthquake struck in Niigata in the north of Japan far away from Kyoto. Cool fall weather refreshed me, as always, and I kept busy with arrangements for the spring Study Program, visiting museums and galleries (Kusama-san had his solo show while I was there), working on the house and in the garden and being a tourist at flea markets, temples, and shrines. I have assembled a collection of patched farmers’ wear that is the inspiration for new work now in process.

This fall we had a taste of the hurricanes that struck with such fury in Florida. Ivan was the worst, causing a cancellation of classes at UGA that allowed me to rush off to the mountains to access the damage there. There was a thick deposit of mud in front of my garage door and some evidence of water having entered under the door. My neighbor reported that my downhill driveway was a river of water off the mountain 8″ deep blasting into my garage door! A few boxes got wet but no serious damage. The stream was like a raging river at least 4′ above its normal level. It has since settled back to its gentle babbling self.

My year’s tale and this page have come to an end. I will be here with the streams, the woods, the birds, the deer and other creatures plus family and friends until early January. To all I send my warmest wishes of cheer, peace, good health, and happiness for the NEW YEAR of the ROOSTER!