Stop Press!: The Artist's Canvas: An 'Urban Klothing' Artist

Article also published on: http://www.heruni.com

(Photograph of artwork kindly provided by Urban Klothing/Maurice Henry)

       We have all seen art in some form - from Da Vinci's paintings; Warhol's commercial pop art; children's finger-paint pieces; jewel art on Iphones, nails & makeup; and graffiti art on the streets - art is everywhere, and it is no surprise that art takes its form on t-shirts too.

That is the very fibre of Urban Klothing - from draft sketches materialised into creative and unique drawings, to then be imprinted onto clothing - 25 year-old Maurice Henry has brought his art designs to life (and sales!). Armed with stationeries and a sketchbook, Maurice draws and designs his way into entrepreneurship. Jessie Jing meets the brilliant, young artist and has an insight into his life.

Chef's Kitchen: Bento Boxes

"Bento" (written 弁当) or "Obento" (お弁当) = A Japanese meal that is packed into a box; in other words, a Japanese lunchbox.

However, the focus of a 'thorough and balanced' meal is the main purpose of a bento lunch. Bentos are also sometimes slightly different in terms of visual aesthetics - these highly decorated, 'art' bentos (which is what this post is mainly about) are called: 'kyaraben' (キャラ弁) or 'entaatein-bento ' (えんたあていん弁当) <- (p.s. I am not sure how correct this is - I used hiragana for the 'entaatein' part, so basically it's just how you pronounce it, I do not know of the kanji itself yet)

The traditional Japanese is very health-conscious and their meals always consist of balance and variety. In addition, the variety of 'bento art' that are created (The Japanese believe that we 'eat with our eyes' too, aside from touch, taste and smell) - could explain why the bento box is an increasing favourite of home-cooked lunchboxes.