Ephemeral nature of life and Sakura blossoms

Hi, Maho beauty friends! The cherry blossom, or Sakura is Japan's unofficial national flower and there are many dozens of different cherry tree varieties in Japan. Sakura blossoms symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. The life of Sakura is very short - they only remain for a week. Yet they are so amazingly beautiful! heart emoticon Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms in Japan?
Here is playful yet elegant Japanese kanzashi with Sakura. Please click the URL for details: http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php…
Japoniška vyšnia sakura laikoma neaoficialiu Japonijos simboliniu medžiu ir gerbiama kaip nacionalinis reliktas. Japonijoje vyšnių žydėjimas yra atrakcija, pritraukianti minias vietos gyventojų ir turistų. Nepaprastai graži ir trapi ji vadinama Japonijos siela ir savo rausvos bei baltos spalvos žiedais skelbia apie atėjusį pavasarį.

Kanzashi are ornamental hairpins or combs that have been used for traditional Japanese hairstyle. Originally, kanzashi were considered as charms.
It was believed that magical power was in the stick of the kanzashi and it could fend off evil spirits when it was put close to the head, which is the most important part of human's body. http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=250

Another theory says that kanzashi were used as weapons of self-defence. However, kanzashi came to be used as hairpins to put hair together with the growing aesthetic sense of women.
It is said that the change of kanzashi made more variations of women's hairdos.
http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=250

When we see kanzashi today, there are a wide range of materials, shapes, and designs. People enjoy kanzashi with western style clothes or gowns and it looks very elegant and natural. 
http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=61

Kanzashi attract many women not only in Japan but also in other countries now.
http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=61

Gorgeous big Sakura cherry blossoms decorated with small shining rhinestones. Absolutely lovely item - it would make a unique gift. http://www.mahobeauty.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=61

Amazing Portraits Cut from Layers of Wire Mesh by Seung Mo Park

Via:  http://www.thisiscolossal.com

Japanese multidisciplinary artist Tomoko Konoike explores various crystaline structures in sculptures and drawings. Drawing inspiration from manga, Shinto animism, Noh drama, and pop culture, the artist creates surreal, otherworldly artworks that encompass sculpture, drawing, photography, and animation.

A Reflective Six-Legged Wolf Covered in Mirror Shards by Tomoko Konoike
http://enpundit.com/japanese-artist-creates-six-legged-wolf-sculpture-covered-broken-mirrors/

http://enpundit.com/japanese-artist-creates-six-legged-wolf-sculpture-covered-broken-mirrors/

http://enpundit.com/japanese-artist-creates-six-legged-wolf-sculpture-covered-broken-mirrors/

http://enpundit.com/japanese-artist-creates-six-legged-wolf-sculpture-covered-broken-mirrors/

Japanese Foxes  - Kitsune

Fox guardian at Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine.
Foxes (kitsune), regarded as the messengers, are often found in Inari shrines. 
Found on flickr.com

Fox holding a key in its mouth, at the main gate of the Fushimi Inari shrine. First and foremost, Inari is the god of rice. And key is an attribute for the rice granary.
Found on flickr.com

Each of the torii at Fushimi Inari Taisha is donated by a Japanese business.
Layer after layer....
http://regex.info/blog/

The Torii gates (鳥居) at Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) These gates date back to 711 A.D.

It is a big shrine, located in a district beside, Kyoto. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. There are thousands of gates that guide you up the mountain.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen-oung/6080763075

Real Cat and Stone Fox
at the Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社), Kyoto Japan
http://regex.info/blog/

LOOK CLOSER - those graceful and calligraphic shapes in the sky are not birds! They are made up of thousands of plastic bags, meticulously arranged by the artist Alain Delorme! 


The bags twist, weave, and undulate in concert with each other creating a visual mesh of kinetic fluctuation. The digital creations reflect the idea of a land art installation, metamorphosing natural spaces through an artistic intervention.The digital creations reflect the idea of a land art installation, metamorphosing natural spaces through an artistic intervention. (More: http://www.ignant.de/2014/07/07/murmurations-by-alain-delorme/)

You can find more here: http://www.ignant.de/2014/07/07/murmurations-by-alain-delorme/

Fuyuko Matsui - female Japanese artist, specializing in Nihonga illustrative paintings with a 'grotesque' or supernatural element

Fuyuko Matsui in front of Nyctalopia
http://www.culturekiosque.com/art/interview/fuyuko_matsui.html

Despite its often shocking aspects, her art is part of the tradition of Japanese art going back centuries. For example, her painting "Insane Woman under the Cherry Tree" (2006) is inspired by "Ogress under Willow Tree,” a painting by Soga Shohhaku (1730–1781), the iconoclastic Edo-period painter, who was influenced by the art of the Muromachi Era painter Soga Jasoku (d. 1483). http://www.matsuifuyuko.com/

Despite their often shocking aspects, she claims that her art is part of the tradition of Japanese art going back centuries.
http://www.juxtapoz.com/illustration/qfuyuko-matsuiq

http://www.matsuifuyuko.com/

http://www.juxtapoz.com/illustration/qfuyuko-matsuiq

http://www.matsuifuyuko.com/

Painting "Becoming Friends with All the Children in the World" by Fuyuko Matsui
http://www.matsuifuyuko.com/

Amazing illustrations made by a Polish artist, Mateusz Urbanowicz

You can find more about his works here: http://mattjabbar.tumblr.com/

Beautiful and Mysterious Black cat magic in Watercolour and Ink paintings by artist Endre Penovác

You can see more works of artist Endre Penovác on his website and on Miss Moss. His prints and originals are available through Saatchi Art.