Kitty

Hello hello aloha!

Today, I wanna share with you this piece called Kitty. It's Marianne and Héloïse as kittens!

They're sleeping, after playing so much. They look so snuggly and comfy, too.

Did you know that cats sleep for 15 hours a day on average? Some say it's 13-16, even 20 hours!

Once, as I was going for my morning walk, I saw our neighbor's cat, Pachi by the window.

It's made of glass, so you could see her back. I approached and saw that she was sleeping, and her tongue was stuck out! It also looked like she was shivering a bit. Poor thing! I hope she's ok. She's probably dreaming.

Kunoichi

Heyo!

Today, I'd like to share with you this pencil drawing that I made. It's inspired by Ayame, a female ninja in a videogame called Tenchu.

Maybe you've heard of the word kunoichi, which refers to female ninja. What does the word kunoichi mean?

When I asked my Japanese friend, her initial response was to write the kanji for 'woman': 女. She pronounced each component that makes up this character: く(ku), ノ(no), 一(ichi). "What does it mean, though?" I asked. "Hmm...I wonder?" she replied.

So I went to do some Internet digging!

Dig, dig dig...

Turns out, it's a fricking rabbit hole of theories (in Japanese)!!

So before I get lost, I'll just come back up and share a gist of what I found:

1. Although it's generally known to refer to female ninjas in cartoons, movies, games and novels - the word itself doesn't have that definition.

2. According to ninja texts that were compiled during the Edo period, it's secret ninja code for 'woman'. However this didn't explicitly mean "female ninja".

3. There's another theory that relates to the human body...but I couldn't confirm if it's rooted in Onmyoudo (old Japanese occult divination system based on Yin and Yang; now prohibited) or Taoism. And tbh I don't want to explain it. XD

4. It was coined from a Japanese novel about ninja by Yamada Fuutarou.

And there we have it!

The ocean

I miss the ocean. I miss seeing the waves. I miss walking barefoot on the seashore and feeling the smooth, soft sand sink beneath my feet.

This may be one of my favorite paintings yet. It's called 'Seaside'. Marianne and Héloïse look at the horizon beyond them. This may be one of my favorite paintings yet. It's called 'Seaside'. Marianne and Héloïse gayze at the horizon beyond them.The serenity of the sea conveys the sense of calm within the two womans.

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