last july, i bought a roundtrip ticket on a whim and took off to visit a friend living in tokyo. for two weeks, i spent my days exploring japan's teeming metropolis on foot and stumbled upon countless galleries, museums, bookstores and boutiques that were exploding with vibrant, bold colors. i left tokyo for a weekend and visited the country's cultural capital, kyoto, and found that the same shades embraced by japan's creative elite could be found in the shinto shrines residing in kyoto's alleys. i love looking at the following two photos side by side because i think that they're a perfect pair for their harmonious hues and contextual differences. the chains of paper cranes pictured below were photographed in downtown kyoto off the beaten path: we had gone for a walk down the street from our hostel and stumbled across a tiny shrine set back a block or two from the city's main drag, and i was entranced by these meticulously crafted ropes that seem as though they were strung together by Technicolor. the second photograph is of me at the front doors of design festa, an artist's collective in harajuku, which housed some of the most bizarre and inspiring sculptures, textiles and murals that i've ever seen.
(above: chains of paper cranes, shinto shrine, kyoto, japan.)
sitting here and looking back at these snapshots, i realize that what i'm looking forward to most about the melting of winter is the blooming, bursting nature of boston in the springtime. the pastel shells of the candy easter eggs at the grocery store down the street make do for now, but i'm seriously counting days until i can shake this snowy lethargy and embrace the newfound energy that'll come blowing into town about a month from now. i get that march comes in like a lion and out like a lamb and all that, but c'maaaahn. i want brilliant shades in my life on a daily basis like they were when i was in tokyo; until then, i'll look at these pictures and paint my own and wait for the thaw.
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