josei~she
josei translates from japanese to english as she.
above was my grandmother’s “hanko”. she was an artist, poet and renaissance woman. she wore pantsuits in japan to my mothers teacher-parent conferences back in the day when women not only wore kimono’s on a daily basis but pants were purely western and discriminated upon when a woman wore them. i miss my grandmother(obachon), even though we could not verbally communicate we still understood her. once when i pulled a living flower by its stem from the ground she gracefully sat next to me placed my hand in hers and proceeded to pinch the top of my hand so hard i yelped! she then quietly said in my ear…”itai, itai, itai” (pronounceed ee-tie) which translates to “ouch, ouch, ouch” in flower/japanese! i remembered once when she raked leaves in our front yard and then as a child seated herself smack dab in the middle and laughed like a giddy kid! she always made me smile….even her cooking was enriching!
when she passed years ago i regretted not having taken the time to learn the language of my mother’s tongue. as i grew older and became aware of my creative side i knew i wanted her spirit to live on thru my work. so after much family discussion they conceded her trademark or stamp (hanko) to me with the understanding and commitment that i would sign with my name and utilize her hanko as a visual reminder.
laurel, Obachon and mariko celebrating her 78th birthday!