Buy the Nintai (Patience) Print

The Orchid and Patience

At the end of its blooming cycle, the orchid is less appealing without its stunning flowers.  However, with continuous nurturing of the orchid, one day it will unexpectedly bloom again.  Your patience is rewarded.

My Impatience

Although I’m a Canadian artist, 90% of my customers used to be Americans buying art to furnish new homes and buildings.  By early 2008, I could feel the economic crisis begin to sneak up on my business.  However, in September 2008, it hit me right in the wallet.  I lost about 80% of those customers within a few months, and my struggle as a self-representing artist began. (more…)

Bamboo, plum blossoms and orchids are very popular subjects in Japanese art. In addition to their obvious beauty, each plant symbolizes particular human characteristics. (more…)

Japanese Lesson Notes #1

Rōmaji is Japanese for Roman letter and it’s a way of writing Japanese using the Roman alphabet. Hiragana, katakana and kanji are another three ways of writing more traditional Japanese. Rōmaji is particularly useful for beginners because you don’t have to know Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji when first trying to speak Japanese.

Examples of Rōmaji:

oishii (I say oishii when I want to say delicious in Japanese).

sugoi (I use sugoi when I want to say awesome in Japanese).

Andoria (Andria)

makudonarudo (McDonalds)

tamashii (soul)

chikara (power)

Kanji characters are ideographs, so each kanji represents a word or idea.

魂 tamashii

力 chikara

Hiragana and Katakana symbols are called kana (Japanese syllabary) because they are used to spell words. They do not represent a word on their own like kanji.

Hiragana is used for Japanese words.

おいしい oishii (o-i-shi-i)

すごい sugoi (su-go-i)

Katakana is used for foreign words and non-Japanese names. These symbols are more angular and straight when compared to hiragana.

アンドリア Andria (A-n-do-ri-a )

マクドナルド makudonarudo (ma-ku-do-na-ru-do)