A THOUGHT ON OUR HUMAN NATURE...

If you'd like to know more:

https://artsandculture.google.com/theme/rALibNRB0espLQ

https://www.toulouse-lautrec-foundation.org/

PEERLESS!

ANCIENT INDIA

"Amarushataka" ("One Hundred Poems of Amaru")

The collection, known in Sanskrit as the Amarushataka was compiled in the eighth century and remains to this day one of the most celebrated books of poetry in India. But the provenance of this South Asian manuscript is a complicated affair! Scholars remain divided on the most elemental details: when the Amaru collection was put together, by whom, and where.

Most Western scholars regard it as an anthology, considering Amaru, a compiler who may also have included some of his own poems. For Indian scholars, Amaru was a Kashmiri king, known as a great sensualist as well as a warlord, and continue to credit him as a single author and to read it as a unified cycle.

Whatever its origins, for thirteen hundred years this work has retained its reputation in India as one of the foundational collections of poetry and is regarded as indispensable for any literate person with a classical education.

Why I love it? Because it speaks about people who lived hundreds of years ago… and I see today the same feelings and thoughts behind same behaviours, a delight for both my mind and heart! And a little criticism... no, they aren’t erotic only to me, they don’t trigger a "body only" desire inside of me, so I don’t know why the word “Erotic” in the title, but well, they were written so many hundreds of years ago, and filtered by the translator’s mind and heart… I guess we each have our own “meanings”! Below are some of my favourites.

“Erotic Love Poems from India, 101 Classics on Desire and Passion”

Poems translated by Andrew Schelling, SHAMBHALA, Boulder Colorado, 2019

JAPANESE ARTS. TEMPLES

Amanosan Kongoji Temple, Kawachinagano City, Osaka Prefecture

JAPANESE ARTS. IKEBANA

I love flowers and everything what's connected to them, love to be surrounded by them. So of course, Ikebana is one of my hobbies. I could spend hours buying flowers, choosing them in the shops or market, then coming home and make arrangements for all the corners of my place.

Obviously, I like Japanese Arts, all of them 💖☺️! Minimalists and elegant, so much good taste with so few details/accessories.

Ikebana is an ancient Japanese custom, meaning "arranging flowers" or "making flowers alive"; it is also known as kadō, "way of flowers".

At the very beginning, the art of flower arranging had no meaning, was simply placing flowers in vases to be used as temple offerings without a specific structure.

The art came into existence only at the end of the 15th century. As a little curiosity: Ikebana has always been considered a dignified accomplishment. All of Japan's most celebrated generals notably practised flower arranging, finding that it calmed their minds and made their decisions on the field of action clearer (source, Wikipedia).

Of course, there are many schools and techniques. But this is for professional florists, or historians or hobbyists. For us, the public, I think is enough to know it exists, it can be a source of inspiration (source, Elite Flowers), and above all... it can embellish our lives.

See here another link to a site that presents Ikebana in a more concise way, Veranda .

First pictures from Pinterest, The Man in the Maze Studio.

THE BEAUTY OF THE HUMAN BODY

PAINTINGS