swanceramics.com » Nature

Taking of my hat! :) :)

swanica — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:56:14 +0000

Thanks to all my family and friends for their help and support during the last couple of months!

I am taking off my hat for you all! My hair is growing back all curly!

We had a wonderful time in Israel. Really an incredible country with so much history. Very, very interesting!

This is a picture of a view from Jerusalem taken from the Mount of Olives. You can clearly see the Shrine of the Mount of the Rock with the golden dome located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The sights significance stems from religious traditions regarding the rock, know as the Foundation Stone, at its heart.

Here Adriaan and I are standing on Masada with a view behind us of the Dead Sea and Jordan. Masada “fortress” is the name of a site of ancient palaces of Herod and fortifications on top of an isolated rock plateau. So incredible!
Of course, we also swam/drifted in the Dead Sea. Amazing!

Beautiful autumn colors!

swanica — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:59:32 +0000

This morning I received my next Herceptin treatment. The nurse Denise helped me very well and I was quickly done(2 hours). Otherwise, I start to heal from the radiation and my hair is growing back: a very short bold hairstyle!!!

During my drive home I photographed some trees with beautiful autumn colors. The sun was shining on it like high lighting all the leaves. Just beautiful!

Yosemite

swanica — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:16:37 +0000

Last week, Adriaan, our son Maarten and I went to Yosemite National Park, which is south of Lake Tahoe and about a 4 hour drive from the Bay Area, where we live. Maarten and Adriaan went up the Vernon Falls and the Neveda Falls, which took them about 5 hours. It was a great exercise for them. I stayed on the valley floor of the park. I had some shortness of breath, but of course it was the altitude and I was anemic (what I didn’t know yet).

I took an open bus tour of 2 hours and saw the big rock formations from a far. We stayed in a lovely house and then we went to the Mariposa Grove with the gigantic Sequoia’s in the south part of the park. We had a wonderful time. The park is just very beautiful.

Then on Monday, I had my last chemo. Friday was my worst day: feeling not good at all and very weak, sleeping a lot and easily exhausted. I am anemic, so, not enough iron. My red blood cell level is very low. Those cells are less quick replenished then the white ones. My white blood cell level is good and I don’t need extra injections to keep those right. For the red ones I try to eat spinach and beans to get stronger again.

Tomorrow, I have my second appointment with the radiation oncologist and will be fitted with a mold to stay in the same position every time. So, this phase is starting.

At the end of the week, Adriaan and I will escape to Carmel (the beach, sea and galleries) for some days to celebrate the end of the chemo therapy and then he will go off to Japan and I will go to my sister in Canada for a week. Wonderful!

Koyasan and losing my hair

swanica — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:00:40 +0000

This week, I would have had an exposition during the “Happymaker” Festival at Koyasan, a sacred center of the Shingon Buddhism. Mount Koya is a 900 meter high plateau surrounded by eight peaks. The eight peaks are thought to represent the eight petals of a lotus in bloom, which is suggestive of the core of a mandala with its eight deities arrayed on the eight petals of a lotus, and with the central Buddha at the center of the lotus. Kobo Daishi or Kukai build a monastic complex on this mount in the year 816 . It is a Beautiful Dragon painting at the Nanin Temple in Koyasan wonderful spiritual retreat environment within forests and quite cool during summer!

“Happymaker” was started to bring people together with special interests in the art and bringing this art in all kind of representations, into the local community to be enjoyed and experienced by young and old: “making everybody Happy”! I had an exhibition during this festival in 2009. Look in my archives for the Month of July, 2009.

I wish all the organizers and artists a wonderful exhibition and time together and I hope to join again next time. I miss it, but I am there in spirit.

I start losing my hair now. I know of course, this was going to happen and actually, I don’t really care so much. I have easy hair: short, a little wavy, just wash it and comb it and it looks fine. But still, it is a shock when you just can pull at your hair and it comes out with a hand full. I don’t have the courage yet to shave it all off and to avoid a mess with all hair around. Perhaps, after tonight if really my whole pillow will be full. Well, I am ready for it with my scarfs and hats and a wig!! Or just nothing if I can get use to it!

Research and Support Groups

swanica — Sun, 29 May 2011 06:23:03 +0000

At the moment, I read quite a lot about breast cancer. They have quite some support groups at Stanford Hospital and also in the Bay Area. It is just wonderful to see how much support there is.

Last Wednesday, I went to the Breast Awareness group guided by the nurse of my surgeon. Of course, we all had our own stories and by sharing and listening and asking you help and learn from each other.
The next day, I went to a Chemotherapy class. I read already a lot about it, but again it is very revealing and you feel not alone. The nurse showed me the infusion center and that was quite a shock for me. You see all the people sitting in a big room with a nice open view to the outside in their own space/chair with curtain which they can close and personal tv and space for your caregiver. I was glad I saw it now and not the day of.
On Friday, I went to the Breast Cancer Connections group in Palo Alto and they had so much information and some wigs!!!! and I received a wonderful big comfort tote with all kinds of gifts made by girl scouts and a book about nutrition etc. And today, there was another group session with some great help.

Everyday I go on my bicycle to Stanford and Palo Alto first on a path through the forest and then a road through part of a forest and then I arrive at the campus. The weather is a little dark and sometimes a little rain, but it wonderful to feel the wind in your face and it gives good exercise. Today, I picked some wildflowers and listened to the wind!
But now I have to absorb everything, do some financing and go into my workshop in the garage. I have to touch the clay again before the 2nd operation! Wish me luck!

Flowers!!!

swanica — Sun, 15 May 2011 18:20:54 +0000

Flowers from my sons Roland, Maarten and Arjan and their better halves Cameryn, Mindy and Katie.

Thank you so much! Love you all!!!!!

.

Thankful

swanica — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:00:23 +0000

Two days ago at around this time 3pm I came out of surgery: a lumpectomy. The first thing I did was moving my arm to feel if it was bandaged and it was not! I am so happy about this and thankful, because this means that the cancer hasn’t spread to other lymph nodes. The day before the surgery they had injected my breast with a radioactive fluid which moved into my lymph nodes. In the morning they had inserted a wire in my breast under ultrasound guidance to find the mass, because it was not a lump. So, all kinds
The Zaimokuza beach of Kamakura, Japan.

of methods to help the surgeon with the removal of the mass. During the operation they checked some lymph nodes and would they have seen cancer cells, then they would have taken out more. Next Monday and Thursday they will have the results and we will know more about the treatment. I stayed one night in the hospital. My heart rate was quite low. Now, I’m at home and Adriaan takes great care of me!

Saying goodbye to Japan for awhile

swanica — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:47:45 +0000

I am in the train again on my way to Narita airport to return to the US.
Today is a beautiful day and the sun woke me up this morning. We had a wonderful walk on the beach, where so many surfers had already entered the water. There was just enough wind to have some nice waves. We continued on to our favorite neighborhood temple, the Komiyoji, where they built a new wooden walkway towards the pond which is just gorgeous. It is so beautifully designed and precise and the wood smells so good.

Yesterday, I brought all my “Kamakura-Red” booklets to 3 Kamakura Bori Stores, the bookstore, a gallery and a museum in Kamakura. Some friends are helping me with supplying the stores.

On my way back, I rode my bicycle on the grounds of the Hachimangu Shrine. There were so many tourists; unfortunately, almost all Japanese. I stopped at the pond where the overhang is blooming with the Wisteria flowers. A group of young women were eating their home made lunch bento boxes; so cute, small, beautiful and prepared with care! And they were happy to smile for me for the picture.

I didn’t have time to glaze and fire my kiln, but every day was filled.
I met some friends and I received some wonderful gifts: a beautiful kimono with about a thousand cranes on it and one thousand origami cranes folded into ten strings of 100 cranes. Incredible! The crane represents health, happiness and good luck. Lots of friends encouraged me and wished me well. Thank you all very much.

So, now this is what I have to do! Get better!

For victims in Japan

swanica — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:28:31 +0000

For all the people in Japan who are suffering so much, with deep
sympathy for the victims, for their terrible losses and for hope in
life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99GyFmnH59s&feature=related

.

Earthquake/tsunami and Frith workshop

swanica — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:21:10 +0000

First, I would like to say how devastating the earthquake and tsunami is for Japan. I was at that moment home in California and am now in Chicago with my youngest son, Arjan. This was all already planned of course. But Adriaan was in our house in Kamakura and felt the biggest shock ever. He ran outside. The first thing I said and what he did when he could enter the house again, was checking the risk for a tsunami. Luckily, the chance was small this time for Kamakura. So, he is fine. But in Sendai the tsunami happened an half hour after the historical big quake. Terrible! My heart and prayers goes out to all the people enveloped by this tragedy.

I was not able to write about this exciting workshop, because a lot happened last week with the preparation for my “Sakura” exhibition at the end of this month and my 2-week trip to the US.

On March the 4th and 5th I attended a Master Class Ceramics Workshop given by David and Margaret Frith at the International School of the Sacred School in Steve Tootell’s ceramics room and organized by Steve Tootell and the JapanASCD (Assoc. of Supervision and Curriculum Development).

David and Margaret are potters in stoneware and porcelain. They set up their first workshop in 1963. Their reputations are well established. David with his mastery of the potter’s wheel makes majestic pieces decorated with his personal style of waxed motifs under heavy reduction over- glazes and glaze trailing. Margaret concentrates on individual porcelain with carved decoration or colored glazes as well as producing a comprehensive range of domestic ware and decorative stoneware. Their pottery is housed in an 18th. century woollen mill which was later used as a brewery hence the name The Malt House. The mill is situated on the banks of the river Ystrad, on the outskirts of the market town of Denbigh, in the beautiful Vale of Clwyd in North Wales, UK. Their website is: http://www.pottery.demon.co.uk/

They taught us all kinds of throwing techniques and personalized it for each attendee. They showed us their way of throwing and trimming pots and the next day talked about decoration. For me some things were very familiar and I learned some different techniques especially for throwing big pots. They have 48 years of experience in making pots! I will add some YOU TUBE videos I took at the end of this blog, but next time it will be one movie. I have to learn to edit movies and put them together as one.

Steve introducing Margaret and David.

Margaret throwing.

David pulling up the clay for throwing a big platter.

David throwing a big vase in two parts. The base he threw the day before and the top he threw first separately and then turned it around and put it on the base. He is finishes it directly.

Some YOU TUBE MOVIES:

1. David and Margaret both throwing a plate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_QJUsxzu08

2. David pulling up clay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td5GNJoX2P0

3. David throwing a big vase: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzn4t5Gf-I8

4. Margaret explaining decoration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzEE0hR3qaE