Masayo's Stories

A forest nymph, entwined in layers of dusty smoke and fire emerges from the shadows, drifting into town - but she forgot her shoes. An ethereal fable in the afternoon hours of sun down.

Hand stitching on a Kimono  I remember my grandma used to make kimonos for my sister and I. They were all made by hand. She sits on tatami floor with a small shoulder bend and slowly slowly stitches the kimono materials together. It looks like she was treating the kimono very carefully much like holding a child.Each stitch was so perfectly sewn and I clearly remember the routine of her hand stitches. It took forever. Those kimonos were made for special occasions. All kimonos that my grandma made have been kept in a Japanese wardrobe in my home for many many...

Summer Black BLACK has many meanings. It is elegant, mysterious, futuristics and infinite. It is a protective colour in Japan. Some say it is associated with death and aggression but I guess it is a cultural thing and changes depending on where you are and who you are with. BLACK is often considered too warm a colour in summer, but I think it is a cool colour for any season and I wear it for any reason. Do you wear black in Summer?

dogstar SIGNATURE In Japan, we use a signature stamp/seal instead of writing our signature. Signature stamp has been a part of Japanese culture for a long time. It is actually coming from Western culture instead of China. There are so many different kinds of stamps for different purposes in Japan, we mainly use round stamps and square types. Here at dogstar I have developed this embroidery of our signature stamp. I created this one recently, combined with two different Chinese characters. DOG and STAR! It's simple but I would love to know what you think of this new signature? Proudly...

A Treasure Box During lockdown this weekend in Brisbane, we have been cleaning up our house and garage. It took a lot longer than we originally planned. We often get distracted so easily. I then found a small old wooden box which my daughter used to love. The box was her favourite when she was little, and she used to keep so many treasures in there that she collected from the bush. It has a beautiful butterfly painting on the lid. There were heart shaped rocks and dry pressed flowers, feathers and crystalised tree sap which she used to call...