I created a birthday greeting card, though this artwork can be purchased in various formats. The photo of sakura was taken near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The calligraphy I wrote last year, I think. It reads: お誕生日おめでとうございます。 which roughly translates into "happy birthday". Calligraphy is in Japanese kana majiri bun (仮名混じり文), which is a mixture of Chinese characters and Japanese kana.

I have finally found the time to re-edit and put together my poetry, and I should be able to release the book this year, and to be more precise - this month. It will be a tome gathering all of my best poems written during the years 2007 - 2013., and it will be published under the Ryuurui's Art Studio banner. The book contains over 110 of my poems (c. 125 - 130 pages in A5 format), which are divided into three chapters: love, passion and frustration. You will also find there three of my new calligraphy works, which I will publish only in this very book. So, you will not find them online. I will make the book available in hard and electronic format, and, in time, it will be purchasable via Amazon and Barnes & Noble online stores. I will also create a book preview so one can have a peek inside before buying. This is the first publication out of four books that I would like to see published this year.

Below is a book cover project. Let me have your thoughts!

Modern technology can be daunting, depressing, terrifying and even repulsive. However, I think that it is not what is modern that is heartless, soulless and lacking the natural touch. The issue lays in ourselves, in how we use it, what is our goal, and what is our intention in using it.

Chinese and Japanese calligraphy are based on nature. The names of techniques, the philosophy, the brilliance of brush strokes, the elegance, the raw beauty of the composition, and so on, those are all derived from what the wonderful gifts of Mother Nature. After all Chinese calligraphy has several thousand years of history. So, the question is, can such profound world of sophisticated art, be combined with digital reality? It is very much down to a personal feeling, but when I work on a computer software, creating photo or calligraphy composites, I think the same way as when I sit at my desk, writing with the brush.

Chinese calligraphy is written with the soul, not the brush. Consequently, if you put your soul into any creative process, and let your imagination lead you through it, then it matters not what medium you are using, the final artwork will carry your emotions over to the viewer.

Below artwork: 龍夢, i.e. dragon drams in semi-cursive script, combined with a digitally processed photo of incense smoke.

Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.

First of all, I would like to thank all who visit my site, and say that I greatly appreciate all the positive feedback and support that I am receiving, whether it is in in regards to my art and learning materials on the Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, or the artistic projects that I am developing.

As you can see, I have completely overhauled the Ryuurui's Art Studio website, and gave it a new look and feel. I did that for a few reasons. One was that I have created so many calligraphy and photography art for past few years, that it was simply too much to post it all, and too confusing for you to navigate through. So, I removed all the galleries and created a portfolio tab instead, which shows the scope of the art that I create. All the artwork that was in my art gallery is not gone from the internet forever. I will be republishing my art in the blog section, with educational articles and interesting information for all of you who wish to learn more not only about Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, but also the art photography.

In regards to the learning tab of this website, I will keep all the information as it is, but I will reorganise it in a way to accommodate some room for photography tutorials and tips. It is highly possible I will also start sharing some information regarding photography post processing, software and so on, especiall;y that I am venturing now into the HDR photography, photoshop art, composite photography, and so on.

In addition, my art will also focus on merging the ancient world of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with the digital photography and digital art. Naturally, I am still involved in studying classical calligraphy and research, calligraphy exhibitions in Japan, etc., so there is no change in this area, it simply gets expanded.

I had some questions regarding my publications. My book on etymology of Chinese characters and Japanese kanji is complete (volume 1), and my Japanese literary agent is in the process of suggesting the book for publishing houses in Japan. My poetry book should be published this year, I have the entire text ready, I am now deciding on which calligraphy art I should add to it. In regards to my calligraphy book - this will have to wait, for two reasons. One is that I have two calligraphy books written. The first one is more philosophical and the other one is more factual and history related. I am considering combining them both into one volume, and at the moment I simply do not have the time to do this. I plan on finishing it after I am done with publishing the poetry tome.

In regards to other projects of mine. The Japan in photography now has a new blog. It will be a daily photo blog with pictures of my travels around Japan, and short articles with interesting facts regarding Japanese culture, traditions, interesting places, events, and so on. Majority of those photos can be purchased in a form of fine art prints at my store on Fine Art America. I have large plans for Japan in photography in motion, but it is still in early stages, so I will share more when it is all ready to go. The digital art store area will also be expanded.

Ryuurui Foto Studio is a site exclusively for my work as a commercial photographer in Japan, which purpose will probably remain unchanged.

Last but not least, the Ink Treasures project, which we have started last year with the ink painter Mariusz Szmerdt. The project was on hold for a while, but we are already discussing its future, including rebuilding the site to give it a new look and more focus on the artwork.

This will be a very busy year for me, but since it is The Year of the Horse, I think it should be. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or wishes to share his or her thoughts in regards to any of my projects, please feel free to leave you comment below, or contact me at ponte@ryuurui.com.

Although I have begun the Japan in photography project last year, only this month I launched the daily photo with a short article blog. I plan to cover the entire Japan in my travels, and share with you some of the most exciting and intertesting photos that I take along the way. My articles will contain links to valuable recources online, either for those of you who would like to read more about Japan and its culture, history and so on, but also for those who wish to visit Japan one day. In addition, the vast majority of the published photos of Japan in the daily blog articles, will be available at my store on Fine Art America, as prints, framed prints, posters, iphone or smart phone cases, canvas prints, ands so on.  The blog is only the beginning, and I have already put plans into motion on how to expand this area of my creative work as an artist. My photography will be often merged with my Japanese calligraphy art, which, in my opinion, will add a lot of unique touch to each photo. Enjoy!

Below photo shows a Japanese paper umbrella. It was taken in the Crane Hill Peony Garden of the Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura (鶴岡八幡宮).

I wrote this poem last year. I really like it, so I asked my friend to help me with the Chinese translation. I was planning to write a Chinese calligraphy using this text, but I did not have enough time to do so, till now. For me, writing calligraphy is always a journey through time and space. I dive into the classics and masterpieces, and search for proper Chinese character forms, to push my calligraphy skills even further. This text took me approximnately 20 hours of research and studies, including writing several drafts with a ballpen. This is the first copy with the ink and brush, but I am sure it is not the last one.

Buy this artwork in printed form at my store on Fine Art America.

Many thanks to my dear friends, Snow Forest and Terry Chan, for their help with translating and editing of the Chinese text.

Each language has its own ways of expressing ideas and condensing thoughts or into laconic idioms or phrases. Since Japanese language is based on Chinese writing system, the idiomatic phrases can sometimes be very abstract or poetic. Such phrases are often based on Buddhist philosophy and way of seeing the surrounding world. Some are thousands years old, and thanks to the unique characteristic of Japanese kanji, the way such idioms were written has not changed at all for all those centuries.

The data base of phrases and idioms that I am currently working on, is not just another dictionary of typical Japanese phrases or Japanese idioms. i am carefully selecting each phrase. Also, every single Chinese character is individually linked to my favourite online kanji dictionary, wwwjisho.org (created by Kim Ahlström) which is one of the largest and brilliantly designed interactive kanji dictionaries. Moreover, the readings of the idioms or words that you will find in my dictionary, are given in English and Japanese hiragana. Each of hiragana syllabograms is also linked individually to the Japanese kana database that I have created. This data base consists of handwritten characters, etymology of each syllabogram, and stroke order charts with correct hiragana and katakana stroke order.

As you can imagine, linking all those characters is quite a taxing job for me, I am sure it will not only help those who study Japanese (or Chinese), but also will assist all those of you who are new to the wonderful world of Chinese characters and Japanese kanji, yet are fascinated by its exotic originality, to better understand its mechanics, and how words and ideas are conveyed through Chinese characters. There is also a separate section with Japanese calligraphy jargon explained.

Some of the phrases will be linked to my store with calligraphy art or photography & calligraphy art combined, where you can purchase prints with your favourite phrase, and decorate your home, or offer it as a gift. If you like a particular phrase and want me to write it for you in Japanese calligraphy, then feel free to message me at ponte@ryuurui.com

Errare humanum est, so if you do spot a mistake, or an error in linking, please let me know by mailing me at ponte@ryuurui.com or messaging me on facebook at Ponte Ryuurui or Learn Japanese and Chinese calligraphy

Last but not least, since it is my first post in 2014, I would like to wish you all a happy new year.

I would also like to thank Snow Forest (雪森) for her assistance with selecting some of the idioms and phrases, as well as with determining the correct reading (many idioms have special readings, which are often unknown even to native speakers).

pictured calligraphy: 士魂 - samurai spirit

I would like to invite you all to my new store front at fine Art America. 

You can purchase there prints of my art works in various format (canvas, metal, acrylic prints, photo prints, smart phone and iphone cases, etc.).

I plan on introducing several galleries there. there will be a few galleries devoted to my photography art, including calligraphy body art, and Japan in photography projects. I will also upload my calligraphy art in various formats and on various backgrounds. Possibly, There is also a gallery for my calligraphy and photography art project.

Japan in photography will be split into several categories, which will follow the order of the galleries on my new website www.japan-in-photography.com. I will also add links from each of the gallery on the website to a respective gallery in my store on Fina Art America.

I am already working on expanding the offer (which will possibly involve other similar online stores and galleries), and types of items in the store.

You can comment on my artworks in the store, by logging in with your facebook account, which makes things easier. There are also share buttons. Like, share, and enjoy!