Hate.

"Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated." — Corretta Scott King

"A rattlesnake, if cornered, will becomes so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is – a biting of oneself. We think we are harming others in holding these spites and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves." — E. Stanley Jones

And my favorite is from a short Japanese tale called "A Model Demon." This part inspired my 'Bind' triptych. I can't believe I didn't put it in that post:

"My rage burns as fiercely as ever, but my enemy's descendants are gone! Now I'm alone with the pain of this fire that nothing will extinguish. If I'd never felt this way I might even have been born into paradise, but hate has brought me an eternity of suffering. 
A grudge against someone else is just like a grudge against yourself. I wish I'd known, I only wish I'd known!"

8 x 12" watercolor paper.
Acrylic, graphite, and digital.

The Sea.

Even though I live a short drive away from the beach, I rarely take advantage of that. Recently I've been wanting to visit the beach so I can hear the ocean, watch the waves rolling in, and smell the salty breeze. Is it because summer officially starts in less than a week?

 

Motionless has their full album available to download for free on their website

I can imagine walking or driving by the ocean and hearing these coming from my speakers:

* sorry this first one's a little loud – I can't figure out how to adjust the volume...

Tears

Fairly straightfoward – I was thinking about how shiny tears are, like little glistening jewels running down your face... something magpies would love to pick up as their own cold little treasures.

I have an accompanying idea or two for this one that will appear in the future  :]

11 x 14" watercolor paper.

Acrylic + graphite.

Print available here

Shoes

So I'll be the first to admit, I love shoes. You can probably diagnose me as a shoe addict.

Most of my life I've worn 'flat' shoes, but recently I've taken to tottering about in heels. The higher, the better... but not for my feet. I was introduced to a whole new world of pain that is known as Wearing Heels for an Extended Amount of Walking.

And apparently, I'm not exactly alone in this opinion, based on this amusing post from Extra Petite's blog... from the perspective of a boyfriend: read here

As a matter of fact, wearing heels constantly for an extended amount of time can cause damage.

I'm also a very stubborn person, so I'm not going to give up entirely on wearing heels – I do have my tiny collection now, after all – but I went back to exploring my options of shoes with a flat sole.

Here are the ones I found myself bookmarking and checking back on:

Jeffrey Campbell - Hampton

Doc Martens - 1460 Victorian Flowers

Matiko - Lilo

minimarket - Flat Lace-Up Cutout

Jeffrey Campbell - Elegant Velvet

I was a bit sad when these were no longer available in my size.

Won Hundred - Graham

UNIF - Hellraiser

Even though black/silver is probably the most practical/versatile, I do like the wine/silver version.

All 5 x 4"
Acrylic + graphite.

Available as a set here

Are there any shoes you've been eyeing?  :]

Here and There

Last week I went somewhere and stood on the transparent section of the floor to do some spying:

Good thing I didn't wear a skirt or a dress, huh?

For some strange reason I thought these shoes didn't fit well, so they sat in my closet for a while. Then I pulled them out, tried them on, and realized... hey, they fit okay...? Somehow my feet do weird stuff like this... are they changing shape, and that's why some shoes suddenly fit well and others so poorly? Mysterious.

Transforming feet aside, I'm happy to say that my website has gone through a large layout transformation, and I am very hopeful that all the kinks have been worked out. If you want to check it out, you can take a look over at www.rachelfujii.com  :]  Let me know if there's any weird errors, okay? I'd like to think the organization and the flow is smoother and easier to navigate than before. There is, of course, new work too.

Here's a screenshot of how it currently looks: