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Arts & Crafts Haiku Merchandise Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Sakura Days Japan Fair 2018

Sakura Days Japan Fair gave visitors a chance to experience Japan with hands-on workshops (calligraphy, origami, haiku) and amazing performances.  What a fabulous week-end!

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Several tree talks and walks were lead by Van Dusen garden volunteers. There were lots of cherry trees to talk about including the beautiful tai-haku (great white cherry).

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The winning haiku from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational 2017 were displayed in the garden for everyone to read and enjoy.

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At the Haiku House, you could attend a workshop, try your hand at writing a haiku, make a button, or take a guided walk to the haiku rock.

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The food was a major draw.

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Outdoor demonstrations included the forging of Japanese knives by knifewear.

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If you preferred to be inside, you could visit the vendors and pick up a petal mat or guide to Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver at the VCBF table.

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People gathered on the hill, sitting on petal mats, to watch the show on the cherry stage.

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During her calligraphy demo,Kisyuu disappeared behind the canvas to paint the back of the canvas while the picture was slowly revealed to the audience at the front.

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Hojo Hand-Crafted Samurai Armor Corps grabbed visitors’ attention as they walked to the stage to perform an elaborate play in full costumes.

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Two performers from Japan, Keita Kanazashi on the Japanese Drum and Kohei Honda on the shamisen, drew a big crowd with their amazing energy.

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Outdoor performances kept us dancing until 7 pm.

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The event ended with lantern procession from the Cherry Stage to the Visitor Centre.

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Sakura Days Japan Fair is two-day festival organized by the Japan Fair Association of Vancouver as part of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. It took place at the Van Dusen Botanical Garden.

People who attended Saturday were able to walk over to Queen Elizabeth park to see the Sakura Illuminations.

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Arts & Crafts Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Koinobori painting

Koinobori painting was one of the new hands-on workshop offered at the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival this year. Participants were invited to paint on a scale, or write a haiku, to contribute to the Koinobori Installation.

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The table was all set for the 16 participants who registered to the painting session at Kerrisdale Community Centre.

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Participants were greeted with examples of previous paintings lining up the wall of the South Room.

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Participants took their seat, then started to mix paint.

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It was amazing to see so much creativity.

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While participants finished their artwork, I browsed through the pile of finished paintings produced during previous workshops.

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The Koinobori Installation, sponsored by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. in partnership with the Powell Street Festival,  will be displayed at Sakura Days Japan Fair on April 8-9 2017. About 150 scales will cover the carp’s giant wooden structure.

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Come see the finished installation at Sakura Days Japan Fair on April 8-9 2017!

 

 

 

Categories
Arts & Crafts Haiku Photos

White Blossoms, Pink Blossoms (by Julie Emerson)

Julie Emerson tells us how she got inspired to write her haiku “a crow’s nest” which won Best B.C. poem at the 2013 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational:

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“When you walk around Kits Beach Park, you can see the Oshima cherry trees with the lovely white blossoms. There are also various types of gulls, ducks, grebes, and occasionally an eagle from the huge nest nearby or a Great Blue heron from the Stanley Park Heronry. But it is the crow who will accompany you on your beachwalk, who will examine and finish your sandwich. The crow is the noisiest and nosiest bird around. The contrast between the sturdy black crow and the silky white blossoms of a cherry tree is striking.

In March, the trees have not leafed out, and you can see the birds and their nests clearly. Trees offer some building materials for the birds’ nests and the sites, and the cherry trees in particular also produce blossoms. March is a windy month, and you often see a crow perched in a tree, swaying in the wind. (Did you know that the full moon in March is traditionally called the Crow Moon?)

When I wrote my haiku in 2013, I was appreciating these natural phenomena of early spring, and I was enchanted by the white cherry blossoms and the birds.

* * *

An original oil pastel copyright Julie Emerson - www.julieemerson.com
An original oil pastel copyright Julie Emerson – www.julieemerson.com

 

When, another year, I decided to create an oil pastel image of cherry blossoms every day of the season, I was inspired by only pink blossoms. I saw them as Sakura in the City. I liked the contrast of the pink blossoms in the urban landscape. Blossoms fall not only on grass but also on cement and stones and gratings, on bricks and bicycle racks, on windshields and newspaper boxes.

* * *

It’s a pleasure to experience cherry blossom season in a creative way. When I write a haiku, I am drawn to the ephemeral pure white blossoms; when I paint, I want to capture the tender pastel pink blossoms.”

 

a crow’s nest –

the wind drops

white blossoms

Julie Emerson

(2013 Winning Haiku, Best of B.C.)

 

 

 

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Arts & Crafts

True loves… for cherry blossoms!

blog_true love_ by jason turner

Source: True Loves 1 by Jason Turner (printed with permission).

Jason Turner is a Vancouver comic artist, author of the beautiful series True Loves.  His work often features Vancouver landmarks such as the Lions Gate bridge, the seabus, Stanley Park… and cherry blossoms.

 

Categories
Arts & Crafts Haiku Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Haiku Activities at Sakura Days Japan Fair

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On this first day of the Sakura Days Japan Fair, many haiku activities took place at the glasshouse.

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A lot of people came to the Leith Wheeler Haiku House to learn more about haiku.

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During her workshop Haiku “Rocks!”, Angela Naccarato instructed participants on how to write a haiku.

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Then, participants wrote their haiku on a painted rock.

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Angela Naccarato and musician James Mullin were part of the lineup of poets reading from 12.00-1.00

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Michael Dylan Welch gave a workshop about haiku from 1.00-2.00

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Terry Ann Carter showed us how to make a beautiful haiku book from 2.00-3.00

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With our haiku notebook in our pocket, it was time to take a walk to the Haiku Rock from 3.00-4.00.

The Haiku Rock (located in the cherry grove) features the top winning poems from the first three years of the VCBF Haiku Invitational contest).

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Back at the Glasshouse, participants could test their Haiku IQ at this table and also read a tiny haiku… using a magnifying glass!

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Visitors were able to get free advice on how to write a winning haiku from our team of volunteers who are past judges and past winners of the Haiku Invitational: Terry Ann Carter (2013 judge), Michael Dylan Welch, Carole MacRury, Johnny Baranski, Vicki McCullough, Angela Naccarato, Jacquie Pierce, and Jessica Tremblay.

All haiku activities will take place again on Sunday April 6, 2014.

Come to the glasshouse to learn more about haiku!

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Schedule of Haiku Activities

in the Glass House

 Sunday April 6, 2014

 

10:00a – 5:00p                How to Write a Winning Haiku (ongoing)

10:00a –12:00p              Crafts: Notebooks with Vicki and Jacquie

12:00p – 1:00p                Readings: Terry Ann Carter, Carole MacRury, Young Shakespeareans, Johnny Baranski, and Angela Naccarato with flute accompaniment by James Mullin

1:00p  – 2:00p         Learn About Haiku (workshop) with Michael Dylan Welch

2:00p  – 3:00p         Bookmaking (workshop) with Terry Ann Carter

3:00p  – 4:00p         Haiku Walk with Michael Dylan Welch(meet at the Glass House)

3:00p  – 5:00p         Crafts: Haiku ‘Rocks!’ with Angela Naccarato

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Haiku Rocks (painted by Angela Naccarato) featuring Best Canadian poem 2014 by Marco Fraticelli and poem by Johnny Baranski (Honorable mention at the Haiku Invitational 2014)

 

 

Categories
Arts & Crafts Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Bookmaking workshop with Terry Ann Carter (Sakura Days Japan Fair)

At Sakura Days Japan Fair (April5-6, 2014), Terry Ann Carter will lead a small-book making workshop for anyone—children, teens, adults—who would like to learn the basic folds for an accordion book and to make a haiku notebook.

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Terry Ann  reproduced some Japanese stamps that can be used on the covers.

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The closures will be elastic bands, thread or yarn.

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Terry Ann found a custom stamp designer in Victoria who made a “my haiku book” stamp.

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Take your haiku notebook with you on the haiku walk or decorate it on the spot with haiku and collage to make a “one of a kind” art book.

 

Papers are provided. The workshop is free, but you must buy a Sakura Days Japan Fair ticket to enter the site.

 

Saturday April 5 2014

2:00p  – 3:00p   Bookmaking (demo) with Terry Ann Carter

3:00p  – 5:00p   Make a Haiku Notebook (workshop) with Terry Ann Carter

 

Sunday April 6 2014

2:00p  – 3:00p   Bookmaking (demo only) with Terry Ann Carter

 

 

Categories
Arts & Crafts Photos

Godsai in the cherry trees (Commercial/Napier)

These beautiful artworks in the cherry trees can be seen at Commercial & Napier: “Godsai” facilitated by Helen Spaxman, and sponsored by Britannia Community Centre Arts and Culture Committee. Photos by East Van blossom spotter Vicki McCullough.

 

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Categories
Arts & Crafts Haiku

Blossom Book

Handmade blossom book by Terry Ann Carter
This beautiful blossom book was sent to us by Terry Ann Carter who ran the handmade books workshop during Sakura Days.

 

Handmade blossom book by Terry Ann Carter
Each page is a blossom decorated with a colorful Urban Tea Merchant postcard.

 

Handmade blossom book by Terry Ann Carter
Each postcard features a haiku by one of the VCBF Haiku Invitational 2012 winners.

 

Handmade blossom book by Terry Ann Carter
To complete the binding: make two hole punches and insert an elastic grasping the small twig on the other side to hold the book together.

 

Sakura Days April 7 2013 Haiku at the GlassHouse
This book is a great memento since these were the same blossoms that decorated the glasshouse during Sakura Days. At the end of the event,  Terry Ann asked if she could have some blossoms to make a handmade book. How lovely to see the result. Thanks Terry Ann for this beautiful keepsake.
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Arts & Crafts

Cherry Blossom Cards

Sakura card by ndavid paper artist

These beautiful cherry blossom cards were made by ndavid, a paper artist, who displayed them during Sakura Days.

Sakura card by ndavid paper artist

You’ll find instructions on how to make these cards in the book “3D pop-up greeting cards” by Keiko Nakazawa. All patterns are cut using an exacto knife. Recommended for advanced crafters only.

Sakura card by ndavid paper artist

Mr. David is selling these cherry blossoms cards (and various other models) at the Granville Island market in the artist alley. Stop by and say hello.

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Arts & Crafts

Cherry Blossoms: a Textile Translation

Cherry Blossoms: a textile translation

Cherry Blossoms: a textile translation (Retrospective)

When: Saturday, April 6, to Sunday, April 21 — Saturdays/Sundays, 12 noon to 4:00pm, and Wednesdays/Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00pm

Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue

Features work from many of the 50 international textile artists represented in four previous exhibitions.

Textile Demonstrations, Sundays, 2:00 to 4:00pm

Admission by donation ($5 suggested)
Co-sponsored by the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts and Historic Joy Kogawa House Society, and held in conjunction with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Also:

“Sushi and Samosas” Family Reading Event

Saturday, April 13, 2:00 to 4:00pm, Joy Kogawa House will host a family reading with Jacqueline Pearce, author of The Reunion. A Sikh girl and her Japanese friend have a fight, and before they can make up, all the Japanese-Canadians are taken away. Years later, two modern girls hope it’s not too late to repair the old friendship. For ages 8 to 11. Event includes a reading from this chapter book and a related craft activity. RSVP [email protected]