Feb 10 Hydrogen Powered Trains / Summary of Jan 13 meeting

Dear friends and members of the U Fellowship of Tokyo,

☆Next meeting is February 10

Heather Steele (Ph.d in Engineering Birmingham University, Daiwa Anglo scholar in 2018)

 Now at Railway Technical Research Institute, Tokyo 

"Transport: The World's Needs vs. Global Warming--Future Fuel: Hydrogen Powered Trains" " 

Place:  As usual--International House of Japan

Time:  :3:00 to 5:00 with light dinner afterwards if you care to stay.

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＊Our January 13 meeting had a good turnout.

Stan Yukevich mentioned the death of another personally inspiring writer and liberal statesman, the Israeli, Amos Ox. His writings include "A Tale of Love and Darkness." 

Matt and Susan Smith led the lighting of the chalice.

Susan  gave a reading about the importance of artistic creativity and its process. 

Peggy added a passage about having beauty in our daily lives-- for everyone (no matter our circumstances). And another (from the Church of the Larger Fellowship newsletter) that when looking at our acts of making or creating (for example weaving) let us think about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness comes as  a gift, or something beautiful and "sparkling,"  from the outside. Joy is created from within us  and is thus more lasting (like the woof threads in our life fabric that hold together all our many experiences no matter the tears and holes).

Then Zuse Meyer, artist originally from Germany, talked and showed slides about her years teaching art thru"liberating"  art projects (primarily until recently to young people who identified as scientists or engineers NOT artists at Tokyo Institute of Technology). 

After her talk we all did three drawing projects:

1)A soft pencil still life of some of the diverse objects on the table

2)Same objects but drawing with one continuous line (more spontaneous)

3)Using two chosen colors to draw the objects using both left and right hands at the same time (no way to be self-conscious or pre-determined)

 From her summary--  the effects of making art (under the direction of a teacher of "free art" like herself, in small and diverse groups (she mentioned classes with Japanese and non-Japanese, with toddlers to 90 year olds), and above all doing art in supportive groups with clever encouragement and no competition  allows us to

>>Step out of our every-day patterns

>>Connect with our hearts and feelings

>>Find our individual modes of expression

>>Open up to the NOT YET known

>>Find Joy

And she rephrased the quote:

In Life learn from [making]  art, and in our art,  learn from our Life [lived experiences].

Zuse Meyer will hold an art exhibition at Kagurazaka, Gallery "Session House",  from March 27 to April 4.

Peggy Kanada, moderator