The Process of Creating the Collection – Hydrangea –

This time, I would like to talk about one of the collections from the establishment of OKURADO, “Ajisai (hydrangea)“.

In the garden of the house where I was born, there was a hydrangea that bloomed in June with pale blue petals (actually, they are not petals but foreheads to be precise, but I will describe them as “petals”).　Perhaps it was because they bloomed during the rainy season, but I remember the beautiful pale colors of the hydrangea against the monotone background of a cloudy day as if they were neon lights floating in the air.　It is a memory of “color in a gray world.”

I moved several times in Tokyo, and in every place I moved, there were hydrangeas in the gardens.And I was drawn to the pale colors and shapes of the hydrangeas that began to bloom around June.

pieces from OKURADO AJISAI Hydrangeas

There are many types of hydrangeas, and they come in a wide variety of shades.　

However, most of them are pale rather than vivid in color.Pale red, pink, blue, purple, or even pale white.

This is the reason why I am attracted to hydrangeas.

I think many Japanese people are also attracted to these pale neutral colors.　　

Incidentally, I often use Spinel, Paraiba tourmaline, and Padparadscha sapphire in OKURADO jewelry because I like pale neutral colors.

As for the shape, there are some references to it at the stage of starting to draw the design.

Although not as common as cherry blossoms, hydrangeas are often depicted in Japanese paintings and ukiyoe, such as Hoitsu Sakai, Jakuchu Ito, Hiroshige, and Hokusai.

The reference is the hydrangea depicted in Hokusai’s “Hydrangea and Swallow”.　As one would expect from Hokusai, the three-dimensional effect is very well expressed in a two-dimensional world, and the shapes are beautiful.

I wanted to express the overlapping of the petals in the jewelry as well, as if they were overlapping each other.　Although it is much more difficult to create overlapping precious metals in jewelry, I decided to create the overlapping shape because I thought this overlapping blooming shape is one of the characteristics of hydrangea.

Later, the petals were expressed using various colored stones, Japanese lacquer and maki-e techniques, and different expressions of the overlapping petals, all of which are unique to jewelry.

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    the brooch put lacquer,from Ajisai (hydrangea) collection

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    the earrings put lacquer,from Ajisai (hydrangea) collection 

    
    

     

Hydrangeas are in full bloom in many places right now.　While admiring the hydrangeas, please take a look at OKURADO’s “Ajisai” collection, which is rich in a variety of expressions.

I intend to continue this collection for a long time to come.

After my father passed away almost 30 years ago, my mother told me that the only reason we always had hydrangeas in our garden was because my father, who never tended to the garden, planted hydrangeas in the garden whenever we moved.

Hitoshi Okura

OKURADO

Freer Collection

▲my report of Japanese paintings from Freer Collection(without hydrangeas drawn)