Jewish Christmas In Japan

Tokyo, December, cold and sunny, every departments store cheerfully decorated in Red Green and White Christmas decorations, a Christmas tree, 15 meter high springs up in Hachiko square…  Christmas jewelry for sale, Christmas carols played over loud speakers in the shopping streets, what a celebration.
And my friends... well, obviously, they're all excited about Christmas.  "So, what about you and Christmas?".  "Me… I don't celebrate… I'm Jewish…" I tell them.  "So?!" came back the puzzled replies… what's one got to do with the other?

It took me a few days longer of trying to explain why us Jews don't celebrate the birth of the Christian Christ until someone finally explained it to me… in Japan, and this I knew, they pick the fun parts out of stuff and adapt it to Japan.  In addition, the Japanese New year has been set to January 1st, when everyone goes back to their hometowns, to their families and has a traditional Japanese new year celebration. This makes Christmas the perfect time for celebrating with friends before you go home, and most importantly – it's the day to have a DATE!  Yep, if you're home alone on Christmas it's like not having a date for the prom…  

So with happy memories from Japanese Christmas and seasonal greetings, I leave you with photos of me in my Santa hat, with perfect Christmas jewelry, my red, green and white bracelet! :-)

All my LoVe and merry Christmas !

Hila.

Who Said Men Don't Wear Mokume Gane Rings?

So who said that men don’t wear Mokume Gane rings? Men like jewelry too, and when the jewelry is right, it looks great. Take my husband for instance, whose figure is posing in these very attractive photos :-)

A Mokume Gane ring can be considered ultimate jewelry for men, as it combines a number of colors and creates a unique pattern the wearer can identify with. It looks as if nature got involved in the forging process, and created a pattern through the forces of nature itself. Mokume Gane is hand crafted, creating a unique piece each time. A piece of art with a classical Japanese design, these rings hold a statement of style always relevant.

This Japanese technique where metals are pressed together to forge a unique looking piece I learnt in goldsmith school, and really fell in love with it when I moved to Japan, where I lived for 4 years and fell in love with the mokume gane galleries and artists. I decided I'd become one myself, and you can find a number of items in my collections. You can find many his and hers sets…

Today, I'd love to hear about your special other's jewelry… what does he wear? 

All my LoVe (and really soon a merry Christmas!)

Hila.

Where To Find Inspiration

After a fortnight (well, maybe a little more) of being really busy with my new jewelry collection, two kids, need for time off etc., I found a moment of total peace to tell you about inspiration.  Inspiration can come from anywhere, and so comes the story of the inspiration for this painting.

There is a tale in the Kabala of the creation of man and woman. This beautiful tale tells of how G-d created Adam and Eve connected at their backs, truly connected, as if they were one. He could not see her, she could not see him. Man and Woman were created different, but equal (yes, I hear the Feminists smiling at this one J) .

Once I heard this tale, I found the inspiration for this painting, my vision of the ancient Adam and Eve…

Inspiration can lie in anything, even stories. And they are even more fun, as you must imagine the visual story along with the words that weave the tale.  Tell me a story of your inspirations…

All my LoVe,

Hila.

Few Free Hours, Lots Of Inspiration

After a long time at home with two kids, my mom decided to give Eyal (my husband) and me a special treat of a few free hours and babysit the kids. We took the offer with two hands.  We drove not far away, just off the main road to a enchanted place named Heftziba, an old farmhouse and water mill from the early 19 hundreds. 

 

When you reach Heftziba you feel  like you've stepped into a dream, blooming nature, eucalyptus groves, a stream, green grass, birds, fish and funny large lizards who decided to run away from me instead of me running from them.

I believe inspiration is all around us, and Heftziba surely inspired me. Fascinating textures, color combinations and complex creatures, I had to photograph … and run home to create.

Wood textures:

Stone textures:

Combination of textures:

So, a day out isn't complete without the perfect outfit, here I am in my black H&M mini dress, Zara Jeans shirt, and amazing 20$ sneakers from Japan.
The jewelry I'm wearing here is part of my designs. 
You can see more of my Black & White collection here.

The day was just perfect, and I hope my mum gets the hint when I suggest we make it a monthly ritual. Just look how happy we looked at the end of the day ;-)

This is a good place to say, THANK YOU MUMMY !

All my LoVe,

Hila.

Memories from a trip to Kyoto

Once upon a time, while I lived in Japan I went on an enchanted trip to Kyoto.  I was determined to see some Geisha, a dream I had since reading the book "Memories of a Geisha"…so I went to Gion, where they work, and There I met these beauties. Aren't they wonderful?

I was sure these where girls, but to my surprise they turned out to be dress up guys.

A little shock at first, but as I love to draw it inspired me to draw this 

picture… 

I had wanted to see Geisha, and asked some Japanese as to their whereabouts…it turned out it was their day off, but I could not wait around for evening, what a pity.

After that, all was left was to relax… Here I am, riding a rickshaw. A rickshaw (riksha) originated from Japan and means man-powered vehicle. As you might be able to see, the guy pulling me around the streets of Gion is quite muscular, which I found a bonus, though I not sure he has the best job, hot humid and sticky, but he put a smile on for the photo none the less ;-) 

All in all, a great day! 

The sweet memory of this trip resulted in these fan earrings, layered with color, like the layers of a kimono.

Special rice paper imported from Japan creates this effect of layers, and adds the color of Kyoto to these gold plated fan earrings. 

All my LoVe,

Hila.

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