falling forward

Yuri in Japan

greetings to all you heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

as heat waves explode across our globe, many of us look forward to fall. and, with cooler temps urging on home-centered activities, we’ll be spending more time working on our future film about Yuri.

we now have all 5 episodes of 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' completed and available on Gumroad:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

and, our 'Native Vegan' project (funded with a grant by VeganFlix) is viewable on our Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byMMjdjj9CU

now, our attention is focused on a graphic novel and documentary film about the incredible artistry of Yuriko. we’ve been busy uncovering old footage, slides, and still photos showcasing her many art projects that we’ll be sharing in the film. 

here’s one of the many quilts that she created and sewed.

please enjoy the cooling breeze of falling autumn leaves, and we’ll reconnect at the end of this year. 

Yuri’s Fans Forever

summer fun!

happy summer to all heARTists and heART lovers everywhere. 

it’s the 9th day of the 6th month, and we are shamefully a day late in getting this post up! 

the looming summer is looking hectic as we juggle several arts projects. paramount, of course, is the film and graphic novel about our favorite heARTist, Yuriko. 

our research begins next month with a thorough inventory of all of Yuri’s oil paintings, silk paintings, wood carvings and other heARTwork. we hope to gather enough material by fall to begin this long delayed project. 

here are some samples. 

this is noren, or Japanese doorway banner, that Yuri sewed many years ago:

 

Yuriko's noren

Yuriko's painting

and, above is one of her paintings: 

meanwhile, all five parts of ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ is now available on Gumroad: https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com 

enjoy your summer. watch our films. and, we shall meet again on September 8. 

Yuri’s Fans Forever

international women's day celebrates Japanese war brides!

greetings heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month of the new year—time for more heARTwork by the incredible heARTist Yuri.

but wait. we have a surprise for you. 

we’ve recently made the 5 “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” series available online again. you may have already known about Yuri’s life as a Japanese war bride. and now, you have the chance to learn about other women like her.

in “Herstory”, two historians discuss how these women ended up married to their former enemies.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/HERSTORY

historian Lily

women like Asako-san, who married a white Marine, and Fumiko-san, who married a black soldier, are featured in “The Brides”. check it out to see how their lives differed.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theBRIDES

Asako-san and Margie

Diane, Fujiko-san and Myokei

in “The Kids”, adult children tell their mothers’ stories—like Roleta, whose mom was an entertainer; and, Jean, whose mother hid a major secret from her family. a group of hapa blasian kids also discuss their moms, while eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theKIDS

Joe, Yayoi and Roleta

Joan, Elaine and Naomi

Andy

Jean

meanwhile, the kids in “The Culture”, talk about their mothers’ influences on them. M Fumie demonstrates origami and prepares several Japanese dishes. Diana talks about obon. and, Yoshi shows off her Japanese decor while preparing ramen.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theCULTURE

M Fumie, Michelle and Steve

Yayoi, Ed and Diana

Yoshi

“BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever” features three families with Buddhist beliefs, thanks to their mothers.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/BUDDHISTFRIENDSFOREVER

Mike, his wife, Doris, Alana and their cousin

Doris and Cassie

Kim, Cassie and Mr. Farrison

you can stream the episode that most resonates with you, or you can stream all of them. watching all 5 will only cost you a total of $7.

meanwhile, we’re also in the process of creating a film and graphic novel about Yuri. they should be done by the end of this year.

please stay tuned at this blog where we’ll return on June 8 with more heARTwork by Yuri.

International Women's Day, omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

happy holiday heARTS

welcome to the season

greetings heARTists and heART lovers worldwide! 

this is the 8th day of the 12th month and time for more of Yuri’s amazing heARTwork. 

handmade wreaths by Yuri

how are your holidays going so far? since we’re in that season, here are some of Yuri’s handmade festive pieces to put you in the mood.

Muffin barks holiday cheer

in 2022, we’re going to be super busy working on another docu*memory—this time, one that is exclusively about Yuri’s life.

Yuri painted Mr. Claus

please join us for updates, likely, not available until summer.

meanwhile, we’ll set this blog on ‘pause’ while we work on our new film(s). (there’s also the Native Vegan doc sponsored by VeganFlix.)

you can also check out Yuri’s website for more glimpses of herARTwork.

iAmArtistYuriko

have a safe and sane holiday season, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself, too!

omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

fall and heARTs are in the air!

greetings heARTists and heART lovers everywhere! 

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month and time to share more of Yuri’s incredible heARTwork.

say, can you sense the change in the air? surely, fall is about to arrive.

and with fall, comes bountiful harvests.

so here are some of Yuri’s paintings that represent produce. they're all painted on wood, too!

bamboo shoots are a delicious vegan food

notice that the foods represented are all vegan. yep, we’re sneaking that plug in to let you know about our upcoming documentary about Indigenous cultures and their pre-colonization diets.

yellow onions, green onions and garlic

carrots, jalapeños and green pepper

below is a very ‘quick and dirty’ short video of our upcoming film. 

arrigatou! to VeganFlix for giving us a grant to make our future documentary:

Native Vegan

and, please check out Yuri’s website to see more of her heARTwork:

iAmArtistYuriko

when we meet again, it will be chilly winter. please stay safe, and don’t forget that we are and will always be...

Yuri’s Fans Forever

summer heARTS with Yuri

a tender song

happy summer days, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

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

nothing says summer like birds, cats and flowers. so for this blog, we would like to share some of Yuri’s pantings featuring—what else, but birds, cats and flowers.

you can almost smell the sweetness of the flowers she painted, and you can almost hear the tender songs of the birds, can’t you? well, except for those noisy crows.

the cawing of crows

as for the cats, watch out! they may look cute and cuddly, but cats are awfully playful at times. look out for the little beasts' claws. me-ouch!

even though we have a few more days before summer is official, here’s hoping that you’re enjoying the blue skies no matter where you are in this world—unless, of course, you're experiencing winter where you live. in that case, we offer our condolences.

for more heARTwork by Yuri, please visit her website at:

iAmArtistYuriko.com

meanwhile our ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ series continues to win film festival awards. this is a 5-part documentary about Japanese war brides like Yuriko. for a time, the films were available on Vimeo, but we are now searching for another platform.

please check out our website for the latest: www.warbridesofjapan.com

until we meet again, happy summer and i will always be with you as one of…

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Yuriko's heARTwork contributions to international women's day

happy International Women’s Day to heARTists and heART lovers around the world!

an old woman reflects on her life's past

a young woman reflects on her life to come

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

interestingly, Japanese war brides like Yuriko contributed to global awareness of women’s issues without even realizing it.

when they arrived in the US for the first time (along with their American military husbands), Japanese war brides had experienced very little contact with western culture—outside of what the US military brought to Japan during the Occupation.

even Empress Michiko designated the war brides as ‘cultural ambassadors’ for Japan.

obon dancers by Yuriko

besides their beliefs in Shinto and Buddhism, the brides also perpetuated obon (ancestral celebrations) with bon odori (obon dances), ikebana (flower arranging), sumi-e (calligraphy), and the introduction a variety of foods. everything—from sushi to tempura to sukiyaki—eventually became popular in US specialty restaurants. 

war brides innocently brought their practices of Japanese culture to a country that had been so hostile towards Americans of Japanese descent that they had imprisoned them during WWII. 

by naively clinging to their native beliefs and arts, war brides were able to keep aspects of Japanese culture alive while Japanese Americans had been forced to destroy many elements of it.

through her love for painting, Yuriko imparted messages of peace and hope. even though she preferred to paint landscapes and seascapes, she also created paintings that featured Japanese motifs as well purely American ones.

Yuriko's koi painting is very Japanese

while her eagle woodcarving is totally American

some of her heARTwork appear on this blog page while others can be viewed at iAmArtistYuriko.com

Yuriko won many prizes for her heARTwork

a Wordie by Jason

also, you can stay updated about the 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' series at our website: www.warbridesofjapan.com

until June 30, I will always remain one of...

Yuri’s Fans Forever