Bodhi day and heARTwork, nature-ly

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers of the multiverse.

it’s the 8th day of the 12th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

it’s also time to celebrate Bodhi Day!

like Buddha, Yuri was also born on April 8. and, they share a love for Nature.

the story of Buddha is that while he was still Prince Siddhartha, he sat under a Bodhi Tree for 7 days fasting and meditating. on the 8th day, he found enlightenment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Day

we fans of Yuri would like to enlighten the world about her beautiful heARTwork. especially those pieces that reflect her love for nature.

in our last blog post, we announced our intention to work on a film about her. unfortunately, life has distracted us in numerous ways and we’ve had to postpone our project--but just temporarily. we'll make up for lost time in 2021.

meanwhile, here are some of Yuri's heARTwork reflecting both Nature and her connection to Buddha.

ps since WIX changed its software, Yuri’s paintings aren’t showing up on her website. Please give us a moment.

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

best new year's wishes, and we'll return on March 8 where we'll continue to be...

Yuri's Fans Forever

picture this!

greetings fellow heARTists around the planet!

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri. 

however, this month we’re going to focus on our upcoming film about the legendary heARTist, haiku writer, traditional Japanese dancer, photographer, painter and home chef extraordinaire—Yuriko!

Yuriko dances the role of Sanshiro Sugata, a male judo master

the film will feature old super 8mm footage from the 1960’s that Yuri shot of her family, and we’re also including slides and photos of Yuri over the years.

here's an example of family footage on Youtube shot by one of her daughters:

pop!1969 : TEEN STAR OF TACOMA

Yuriko in backyard garden with Lulu, circa 1970's

although she was born in an affluent part of Tokyo, Yuri and her family were plunged into poverty when her father suddenly died. 

the film will tell the story of how Yuri found herself working as a live-in nanny at age 13; and, how she gave up a career in fashion design because Japan had engaged in so many wars that its citizens had to toil in arms-producing factories.

Yuriko in her 20's

we’ll also show how Yuri’s marriage to an African American GI following WWII changed her life completely.

Yuri's changing life

speaking of that, our War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory film series is currently available on Vimeo for just a few more weeks. here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, here's our website:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

looking toward 2021 and Yuriko’s film, we remain…

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Yuriko's HeART

Yuriko with her daughter in Tokyo

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers throughout this amazingly heARTfelt world.

it’s the 8th day of the 6th month and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

as mentioned before, we’ve finally completed our ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ series. here’s the link that will take you to each of the 5 films where you can view a trailer before watching them:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, here's the website:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

now, we’ll begin our next film—all about about Yuri and her life of heARTwork! please stay tuned here for more news about the development of that docu*memory.

Yuriko's passport

on this page are some images that show what the film will feature—her childhood in Japan, surviving WWII in Tokyo, arriving as a war bride in the US during segregation and Jim Crow, and exploring heART forms like dance, painting, culinary heARTS and writing haiku.

dancing the role of a judo master

bon odori

a tiger has arrived

Yuriko cooks up some soul food

Yuriko relaxes with some ocha

until we meet again on September 8, please open your heART to more ART. we are...

Yuri’s Fans Forever

heARTwork by Yuri, an International Woman

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere in the universe.

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and time for heARTwork by Yuri.

and, it’s International Women’s Day, too. around the world, women are still striving for equality in pay for work performed, in child rearing and housekeeping, and even in just being able to choose their own marriage partners.

feminist pioneers: Yuri on the left, Emiko on the right

while we still have a long way to go for women to be where they rightfully belong, we can tick off many accomplishments thanks to feminist pioneers.

unbelievably, Yuriko was very much a pioneer and a feminist in ways she didn’t even realize. being a Japanese war bride during the Occupation of Japan meant that women were able to date a man of their own choosing. that those men were very recently their country’s enemies meant a lot of women were ostracized, shunned and even disowned by their families.

still many persevered, married anyway and came to a strange country they’d never seen before where they created new families.

if you haven’t already, check out the 5-part series ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’, on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, for more about war brides, go to:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

meanwhile, enjoy some of Yuriko’s heARTwork featuring women scattered about this page.

a young woman

an elderly woman

a Japanese entertainer

 for more of Yuriko’s heARTwork, visit this website:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

until we meet again on June 8, please celebrate the women in your life!

Yuri’s Fans Forever