Harvard Loves Japan!

There will be charity events in Harvard all week from March 21st to 25th. Sasuga Harvard! Thank You So Much, the Fabulous President Drew Faust and all the people who made this happen!! Big Respect & Appreciation :D

TAKARA Magazine Cover design & Interview :D

TAKARA Magazine is a free Japanese paper in Boston! If you are Japanese, you should know this super useful & fun magazine! :D Thanks to Yasuko-san, my artwork will be on the cover throughout this year! Woohooo!!

Yasuko-san liked my Mt. Fuji collage "Japanese Energy - I am Passion" because it's very New Year's festive "O-shougatsu" look, and chose for New Year January cover ;D
Below is my interview article! You can click the image to read in Japanese.  Thank YOU Soo Soooo Much, Yasuko-san, for such a wonderful article which gives me more energy & smiles each day ;)))

So, you might be thinking what's up with this mask?! :P This was made for Harvard Masquerade Ball party organized by HESA - Harvard Extension Student Association!  The awesome President Philip Harding & his sweet wife Rachelle Harding and the HESA team made this event so much fun with cool music & delicious dessert!!  

So for the Harvard Masquerade Ball, you have to bring your own mask to wear. This was my first time to make a masquerade mask! With Brandon's help, first I made my mask shape with sculpey clay and baked it in the oven, then colored it with silver spray paint. In the picture below, I am putting shiny rhinestones! Also I incorporated our beloved chicken feathers, sprayed in hot pink, neon green and silver. The flower was white but again sprayed in hot pink! Yeah you know my favorite color is ;P

The below picture was taken by a school photographer Evgenia Eliseeva who has great energy and took many pictures at the event! She made everyone comfortable in front of the camera and here is one of the pictures at the event! Thank you sooo much, Evgenia! :D

I really enjoyed wearing this mask and made me want to wear it every day! Brandon is wearing a safety mask which he got an idea when he was spraying my mask! It turned out to be a such a cool mask ;P

Above is the cool Harvard Masquerade Ball poster and 13 Harvard School logos!

Big Picture on the wall at the school office!

Entered the school office and surprised to find the picture on the wall!!

You may remember this picture from my previous post. Yes, this was the picture taken by gorgeous photographer Jeffry Pike, which was used for the school brochure ;D
The pumpkin pancake was amazing, Jeff!!! Yummmm ;D Thank you soooo much for your love & fun spirits, as always!! :D

Follow a bumble bee! :D

Saturday Field Trip for Ecology class ;) What a fun assignment: to follow insects around in the angelic Garden in the Woods!
Here is a beautiful hard-working bumble bee landing on Black Cohosh (Actaea Racemosa).

In this precious wildflower garden, Garden in the Woods, there are more than 1,000 native plants including rare and endangered species. This field trip was about pollination syndrome. I really enjoyed your class, the wonderful professor Mark Leighton and the awesome TA Jen Palacio! The best class happens outside, under the sun ;)

Nature makes amazingly gorgeous patterns...

Found a super natural green roof ;D

This could be a dazzling chandelier design, don't you think?!

Wow! Lucky me! "Tombo" (Dragonfly) landed on my assignment sheets!

Sweet frog baby!! This Japanese Tree Frog (Hyla Japonica), we call "Ama Gaeru = 雨蛙," in Japanese, which means Rain Frog :D
I used to play with these wet & smooth sweet frog babies in Japan ;)))

I looove Nature; Nature makes me happy! ;D

Eco Presentation @ Warren Prescott Elementary School ;)

The dynamite team Alisyn Johnson, founder of Quench, and Wayne Sentman, Oceanic Society Biologist & Naturalist, asked me to present something green and artistic to Warren Prescott Elementary School Green Team :D Since their teacher, Tina Champagne, is a science teacher, I decided to present something science related: a fun way to start growing vegetables at home (or classroom) ;D
(I have been thinking to upload this news and time just flew awayyy!!)

This is what I brought (all biodegradable):
- Organic Yellow Bell Pepper (You can take seeds out from a fresh one or use the dried ones you already took out; either one works!)
- Paper Pot Maker and 8.5 x 11 recycled paper (cut in half before using)
- Paper Egg Carton from Organic Eggs (You can either plant seeds in an egg carton or paper pots)
- Coir Pellets* or Soil
*coconuts husk fiber: excellent water retention, free from bacteria and fungus, saving the environment since they are usually are waste products!
- Hot/Warm Water

The fun part:
- You can enjoy watching your vegetable babies grow! Your appreciation for food goes up ;D
- When you have a fully grown plant, you don't have to buy vegetables from a supermarket = "super" local & organic produce at home (or in classroom)!
- This could be a fantastic gift with a personal message around the paper pot! (which I do sometimes ;D)

All the students had fun playing with coir pellets and watching them expand super fast in hot/warm water ;D They wrote their names and whatever they want to draw on the surface of the paper pots :) Some brought the paper pots home and some left them in the classroom :D
When those babies grow, the kids will smile ;D


Several days later, Alisyn, Wayne, Tina and the Green Team visited Harvard Community Garden ;D Brendan from Office for Sustainability and Tyler from Harvard Community Garden showed us around.

They have all the vegetables you can think of, even watermelon babies!! :D Watermelon plants need more care. They put plastic bottles to protect them from cold nights.
Below are super happy swiss chard and zucchini plants in the back. First time for me to see zucchini plants! They look very similar to cucumber plants but much bigger than cucumber plants!

Gorgeous Mesclun Lettuce Mix!! Bon Appetit~!! ;D

Thank YOU so much for this fun inspiring opportunity, Alisyn, Wayne and Tina! I really had fabulous time with you guys!! It was such a beautiful sunny day!!! :D

(from left to right: Chris, Wayne and Nolan)

About two weeks later, the organic yellow pepper babies stick their beautiful heads out!! ;D

On the Coverrrr! ;D

Went to the Harvard University Extension School Information Sessions and found the freshly printed school brochure... and guess what, we are on the cover!! What a wonderful surprise! :D
Huge Thank YOU to the super-sweet born-talented photographer Jeff Pike, for taking a fabulous photo again!! In this picture, Brandon is wearing Jeff's green jacket for color effects :)

Page 1: Yes, everyone loves Dean Shinagel!

Page 2: And the challenging speech class by Steven Cohen!

You can watch Brandon Welti's awesome speech at the Information Sessions (for prospective students) here! ;D
http://gallery.me.com/n2dkq/100169

Canoe Trip to Never-Never-Land!

Used my tiny biceps and triceps at the Harvard Extension Environmental Club Eight Mile Canoe Trip, hosted by "The" Mike Mahoney! Here is the video (3 mins 26 sec) for you :D

You will see the fun crowd and wild tarzans: Warren Anderson and Brandon Welti doing a rope-swing! Next time I will bring my swimsuits and bigger arm muscles! 

The President of the Club, Super Fun Mahoney!

Mike gave everyone Native Indian names for the canoe trip; mine was "Hononegah", which means "Dear Little One." Here is the pioneer woman!

And here is me :D Since I didn't have feather to look more like a Native Indian, I put a Hawaiian flower on my head, which my friend Hon-Yin gave me :)
Yes, breeeathe deeply, smell the water and grass, hear birds singing, watch fish swimming, feel the sun energy.... Nature is the best playground! ;D

Big Arigatoooo!

BIG Thank YOU for stopping by, Bob Breslin, Coralie Henderson, Elvira Ivanova, Jeff Pike, Keyvan Nicoucar, Lauri Murphy, Leah Arnold, Mike Mahoney, Tony Tambunan, even though you guys are super busy!! That meant a lot to me :D You know I don't have many friends here yet! And Thank YOU so much for your emotional support, even though you couldn't make it to the show :D

Below is the Harvard Art Show poster with everyone's artworks :)

Chosen: The Harvard Art Show!! :D

I am super psyched to know Harvard has an Art Show~!! This is their second year.
This year they received over 665 artwork submissions and the Art Selection and Review committee have selected 120 individual pieces from 76 Harvard artists.



And 4 of my artworks were chosen :D I am SO HAPPY and honored to be a part of this superb art show! YAY!!

Date: April 30th, oh yes Happy Friday!
Time: 12 noon to 8:30 pm
Place: New College Theatre, 10-12 Holyoke St, Cambridge
Website: www.hcs.harvard.edu/artshow

Throughout the show, they will have refreshments, performances and a Silent Auction while you enjoy photography, painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, digital art, wood block print, pottery and jewelry and more! Prices range mostly from $30 to $2,000.

Huge Thanks and Warm Hugs go to Sweet ladies, Co-Directors: Alissa Schapiro and Julia Guren, and Lovely Artist Liaisons: Sarah Natow and Snoweria Zhang! ;D And this wasn't possible without the sponsorship and support of the Office for the Arts at Harvard!

Please join me at this fun annual event on April 30th!! You will encounter all the fun & creative people and art lovers! :D

Please Vote for me - Harvard Credit Card Design Contest ;D

Now my Credit Card Design for Harvard University Employees Credit Union is up!

I chose my rainbow fireworks design to celebrate Harvard ;D

Pleeeease vote for me from this page or the link below :D The process won't take you more than 5 seconds! You can choose 4 favorite designs from those student credit card designs. The first prize is $500 and more than that, I would be SO Thrilled if people carry the credit card and feel good every time they see my art ;D

Mine is #13!

https://www.huecu.org/forms/vote2009.html

Huge THANK YOU to everyone~!! Crossing my fingers, hair and everything else!!

Welcome to Haaarvard~!

From September, I am back in school, this time to study Environmental Management in a graduate program at Harvard University Extension School ;D I am still not sure I can really survive a Harvard education but so far my first papers were 5/5 and 10/10! Whew!! Pleeease wish me luck!!

My creative partner Brandon Welti and I were luckily chosen to be photographed by Jeff Pike for the school website. Jeff took so many pictures and all the pictures look great, which made us want to keep all of them ;P Jeff chose his favorite and the above picture is the approved for the website~!! Woohoooo ;D

Super smile~! Yeeees, makes you smile, right? :D He is the fabulous photographer behind the Harvard University Extension School website, such a fun person to work with, which made us think we were just playing together for several hours ;D Love YOU, Jeff!!

Here are some of my favorites from the shooting :D

Young Professional Theme~!!

Jeff asked us to wear "young professional" clothes one morning. Do we look professional enough?! I love the shining soft-green trees and my hair swinging in the wind ;D

Skateboard + Bike Theme :D

This was done on the day when we met Jeff Pike for the first time!

I thought I will miss New York so much but I learned Harvard Square has a similar New York City feel. You see artists, musicians, homeless people, cute gay guys and crazy happy people with multi-colored hair on the streets ;P Plus New York City is just 4 hours away! :D

So far I am having a great experience here!! People are super sweet, they will stop their cars for you if you are crossing streets, which makes you feel like you are a king or queen crossing the street with a velvet carpet underneath you ;D

Come to Boston~!! Wishing all my friends will move here :D