At Home with Venetia in Kyoto

Going along with the seasons, Venetia makes cocoa butter cream to soothe her skin tanned from the garden work in summer and cleans the wood stove with lavender vinegar in preparation for the coming winter. The tulip bulbs she plants are for the spring. She visits the herb garden of Noriko, an old friend who helps her with the garden work. A certified instructor of floral designs, she makes seasonal wreaths from wild herbs so that more people can appreciate the beauty of wild flowers.

During a trip to the Izumo region in Shimane Prefecture, Venetia, British by birth, visits a kiln associated with the British potter Bernard Leach. In the early Showa era, he visited this area and taught such techniques as slipware. Encountering this legacy of her motherland thrills Venetia. At an old indigo-dyeing workshop, she is amazed at the craftsmanship of a rare technique called tsutsugaki, which is found in beautiful furoshiki wrapping cloths brides in this area have traditionally taken with them.