Urban Day Retreat 11 December 2010

An invitation to display our products at a yoga studio's open day was a first for Sorazora, and a event that we greatly enjoyed.

Thanks to the generosity of the organisers of The Radiant Hand, we were not only privileged to meet many good people, but also observe three specialists of different styles and practices.

Although we didn't participate in the classes themselves, we are now starting to understand the benefits and have a little more understanding of yoga, tai-chi and the healing arts.

The open day was held in Clapham and open for both their students and new-comers.

Once again, I would like to thank all the staff at The Radiant Hand for their hospitality and to all the participants who came to our stall and showed interest in organic natural fibres and natural dyes. (The home made dhal lunch served at the UDR was absolutely delicious and I hear the lasagne and quiche were great too!) 

If you are interested in learning about yoga or tai-chi, or perhaps wish to expand deeper your experiences in these fields, I would recommend you to have a look at their website for a lot more information.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Urban Day Retreat

This coming Saturday (11th December) Sorazora will be exhibiting a small selection of our products at an event called Urban Day Retreat to be held in Clapham, London.

The Urban Day Retreat is a holistic day retreat created and organised by The Radiant Hand, which takes place several times a year at different venues in London.

Its aims are to take all who come, on a journey of relaxation, creativity and inspiration. The UDR showcases different instructors and different styles of healing arts from yoga, tai-chi and chi-gong, giving you a glimpse of many aspects of spirituality, healing and other tools of empowerment for you to explore.

The Urban Day Retreat is a day for you to forget about the stress and worries from the daily grind and helps you to focus, relax and unwind.

The UDR offers a variety of workshops from the high calibre teachers that we ask to come and teach on the day, who help us to explore our yoga, tai-chi, chi-gong, healing and spirituality deeper, helping all students to create deeper insights and healing for themselves.

We know that many people are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of ancient philosophies and practices. One of the aims at The Radiant Hand is to create an awareness, of some of the ancient arts and knowledge, and what benefits (mental, physical and/or spiritual) using or practising them can achieve for oneself.

The UDR is open to everyone, regardless of your experience. We have had complete novices, who have never practised yoga or any of the healing arts, come to the retreat and after the day, have been inspired to find a practice for themselves. It's a wonderful day of healing for everyone!

To book your place or simply to find out more about the UDR, please call 020 8682 5186 or email info@theradianthand.co.uk

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

John Lynch's Landscapes

From all the artists exhibiting their work at Greenwich Market, there are two particular artists whose work really impresses me. Charles Borrell, whose work was featured in a blog dated Aug 3rd, and John Lynch.

I wish to use this blog entry to introduce you to John's work. The first piece of his work that I ever saw was a very atmospheric landscape. The style was very loose and appeared to be made up of a combination of calculated and swift brush strokes, resulting in a British countryside view over fields, copses and fences. Naturally, that painting has long been sold and no doubt found itself a worthy wallspace within a private collection. I didn't, at that time, have the opportunity to ask John about the location of the painting's scene, but in my mind it symbolised the Great British countryside.

All of the paintings that I have seen of Johns have a common theme of what I can only best describe as a relationship between that which lies above and below the horizon. English weather is moody at best and it is this fact which I find captured so perfectly.

John throws himself at not only British landscapes, but also London cityscapes and seascapes featuring stranded boats on mudflats at lowtide. These are all scenes that I have grown up amongst and are for me distinctly English. I think it is fair to say that the reality of these scapes are taken for granted, but when confronted with a large acrylic on canvas, John's work brings out not only my appreciation of his skill, but also my new found appreciation of England's horizons. If I were ever to set up home abroad, I truly believe one of John's paintings would have to come too. A way of taking a piece of England with me.

A sample of John's work is contained within his webpage, also through which he can be contacted. If you are interested in his work, I can recommend nothing better than getting down to Greenwich Market on a weekend and viewing the paintings first hand, this would also give you the pleasure of meeting the artist in person. To view his webpage, please click here!

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Green Glasss Tokyo

Today's product upload brings another three glass pendants crafted by Green Glass Tokyo.

Each pendant has been produced purely from coloured glass and attached to a fully adjustable ornate macrame cord. These cords are made from naturally dyed and undyed hemp often with a strong wax coated rayon core.

These are the latest three necklaces to be added to the selection available through Sorazora. More will be added in due course, so please do keep checking. All future uploads of the collaboration between Green Glass Tokyo and Atslan will be announced within these blog pages and also on Twitter. If you aren't already following Sorazora on Twitter, please follow the Twitter link on our homepage which can be found through the link below.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

PinoKuri Wedding Party

A wedding party is not a subject that would normally find its way onto our blog, but this was no usual wedding party!

Held in the mountains of Chichibu in the corner of Japan's Saitama prefecture on the 6th of November. Masaya (of Green Glass Tokyo) celebrated his marriage to Hiromi (of Pinokoya) in style. Neither of them had a hand in the preparations as everything was a closely guarded secret. They only knew where they had to be and at what time.

We arrived on the Friday to get started on preparations. It was a party where all of their friends had a part to play ranging from DJ, chef, barman, master of ceremony, entertainers, florist, musicians and much more. The official photographer was none other than Hitoshi Machida of Planet Magic. My role was to be a religious sort to perform mock vows at the start of the day (pictured below).

The large hall was transformed by the efforts of many throughout the day. The head table positioned at the end of the virgin road was beautifully decorated with flowers (see photo below)

 Masaya (of Nouga Glassworks) was the DJ, a role he has taken at many friends' weddings including my own. Masaya's main vocation is maker of fine glass pendants and accessories and whose work we hope to showcase within Sorazora's website in the near future.

Pictured below, Masaya checking that the sound system is up and running and supplied with enough power.

 Makoto-san (purveyor of all things djembe at Cheerful Mark) led a parade with a sealed djembe containing sake. The happy couple had to break their way into it before the sake was shared by all.

This wedding party was an informal, but heartfelt affair as Masaya and Hiromi had officially tied the knot a week earlier with a traditional Shinto service. The fact that this party was organised by many friends made it quite special. The effort and ideas came from many corners to create a party unlike any other. Cottages surrounding the great hall were rented out to accomodate the guests until midday the next day.

We at Sorazora would like to thank Masaya and Hiromi for allowing us to be part of the celebrations and we wish them all the best for the future. My recent two week trip to Japan was great for catching up with everyone and also discussing glass pendants with Masaya. To view the full range of pendants on offer at Sorazora, please click on this link.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Green Glasss Tokyo

Today's product upload are these three necklaces. The pendants are crafted by Masaya Kuribayashi of Green Glass Tokyo and the macrame hemp cords have made by Nathan Schreiber of Atslan.

Each pendant has been produced purely from coloured glass and attached to a fully adjustable ornate macrame cord. These cords are made from naturally dyed and undyed hemp often with a strong wax coated rayon core.

These are the latest three necklaces to be added to the selection available through Sorazora. More will be added in due course, so please do keep checking. All future uploads of the collaboration between Green Glass Tokyo and Atslan will be announced within these blog pages and also on Twitter. If you aren't already following Sorazora on Twitter, please follow the Twitter link on our homepage which can be found through the link below.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Hitoshi Machida's Planet Magic

Today's blog is dedicated to introducing a Japanese photographer to the UK. Hitoshi Machida has travelled widely and will continue to do so in search of beautiful scenery to photograph. His work is not just limited to scenery as he also enjoys working with portraits. Entitled Planet Magic, his collection of images take us to places that most of us can only dream about.

Countries of particular interest to Hitoshi are India, Madagascar and the Seychelles. A theme of pure nature runs through all of his work providing us with amazing timeless images that one would never grow tired from viewing.

Hitoshi's website showcases his skill at capturing nature at its most beautiful and is easy to navigate for non-Japanese as much of it is in English. To view the website, please visit www.planet-magic.jp

Hitoshi Machida has enjoyed exhibitions in Japan, including a photo exhibition at the Embassy for Madagascar, but has yet to exhibit here in the UK. All enquiries regarding his work are welcome via email to machida-hitoshi@u01.gate01.com

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/