“Hue Rain”
When I was moved by a certain scenery, I once felt as if “coloured rain” was falling on the world. The experience was very pleasant and happy.
In 2011, I was living in Tokyo when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. The day after the earthquake, I painted. I desperately drew it because I wanted to deliver a colorful “Hue Rain” to someone. After that, when I learned that a charity exhibition for the disaster was to be held, I did not hesitate to exhibit my painting “Colored Rain”. I was scared to put a price on my work for the first time, but the painting was bought by a woman I didn’t know. I was so surprised and moved by this fact that I couldn’t stop crying, but the woman kindly told me, “You don’t have to say anything.” This was a transformative event for me.
After that, I held my first solo exhibition, “Colorful Rain”, but I was inexperienced and immediately left Tokyo to live on a small remote island in Japan.
I was deeply impressed by the Native American dreamcatchers I met at the Grand Canyon, as I was living a life that blended travel and life. The moment my heart trembled with the charm of the soul woven from natural materials, I decided to make my own dream catcher and deliver it to people with the thought of “rain of colors” once again.
I put crochet hooks in my travel backpack and traveled around Asia looking for natural materials to make my dream catcher. After a year of repeated prototyping, we finally completed a product that we were satisfied with, and started online sales in Thailand. My friend bought it first.
I started receiving orders for custom-made products, and experienced a cycle of gratitude in my relationships with customers. Therefore, I wanted to create something that could be closer to people, so I started making and selling jewelry. My friend has a metal allergy, so I made a light and comfortable accessory using non-allergenic materials.
I was using Thai hand-spun yarn, but production has stopped. Therefore, instead of sticking to hemp thread, I chose a light material that is gentle on the skin and searched for a new path from the perspective of wanting to make jewelry that fits people’s lives. Meanwhile, I paid attention to silk. Silk is a material that can be worn by people with sensitive skin, and it has been found to contain ingredients similar to those of human skin. I experienced silkworm breeding at home and saw the brilliance of their lives. And I was fascinated by the wild silk thread made from the cocoons of wild silkworms that live in the forest, not domestic silkworms. This thread had a beautiful texture that was both elegant and rustic. Wild silk thread has opened new doors for Hue Rain’s work.
After that, I lived in Italy for two years, and now I am back in Japan. At that time, the wild silk I was knitting was no longer available. I searched around for threads, but I couldn’t find a thread with the fineness, number of twists, and texture I wanted. During this time, I met the president of a silk refining company and asked him about the decline of sericulture culture and the drastic decline in the distribution of wild silk.
Motivated by the words, “That culture will disappear when there are no people to use it” and “You can make original threads,” I stepped into the original production of wild silk threads. With the help of many people, I was able to complete the thread.
What I felt while living in various places is that being in a state where you feel comfortable can have a positive impact not only on yourself, but also on the people around you. This is because when you feel comfortable, good actions will naturally occur, which will lead to future impressions.
I incorporate the idea of “natural, classy and comfortable” into my jewelry making. We want to make people’s lives better by providing accessories that lightly raise the eye.
I also want to publish a book that summarizes how to make and ideas, which has been my dream for many years. I feel that sharing techniques and ideas at workshops leads to spreading happiness. Now I think that I can spread happiness online, so I want to make my dreams come true while learning.
