Saturday, January 3, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Yume Japanese Gardens, 2130 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson.
“Pick up your brush and greet 2015 — the Year of the Ram (Sheep)— with a Japanese ink brush painting (sumi-e) and New Year’s card that you create yourself. Zen Tribe Wellness instructor and nationally-known zen calligraphy artist Yoshi Nakano will show you how to write your name and New Year’s greetings in Japanese, and how to create an image of a ram with deft brush strokes that you can mail to friends or frame for your wall.
Nakano creates inspirational brush works and semi-abstract calligraphy that he calls “brush art meditation”. Participants can then compare their technique to Nakano’s award-winning art, which will be on exhibit at the Gardens January 3-17.
Carolyn Classen will teach you games played with traditional flower-decorated hanafuda cards as you eat Japanese sweets and sip green tea.
All activities are free with regular admission to the Gardens”,www.tucsonjapanesegardens.org.
Sansei (3rd generation Japanese American) Carolyn Sugiyama Classen (yours truly) learned to play hanafuda as a small child in Hawaii, has taught it at the Tucson Origami Club and to the APASA (Asian Pacific American Student Assn.) at the University of Arizona.
Admission prices to Yume gardens:
General Admission
Adults: $9.00
Seniors (65+): $7.00
Students & Military (w/ID): $6.00
Children 3-15: $5.00
Children 2 and under: Free
About 60 people (lots of families) there to welcome in the Year of the Sheep with calligraphy, mochi cakes & green tea, and learning to play hanafuda with me (and my husband). Enjoyed the enthusiasm of people interested in Japanese culture. Want more? Go to http://www.southernazjapan.org, our website.