#SomethingBeautiful
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glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful
roger1952.bsky.social The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 23h
By Japanese artist Kazuhiro Ikeda
A portrait by Japanese artist Kazuhiro Ikeda combines traditional nihonga aesthetics with modern Japanese figurative art against a muted, beige-grey background. In the lower-right foreground, a young woman with straight black hair tied into a low ponytail and blunt bangs looks toward the left with a calm, contemplative gaze. She wears a dark grey sailor-style school uniform (seifuku) detailed with a subtle geometric woven pattern, white collar stripes, and a six-pointed star emblem on her left shoulder. Her right hand is raised near her chest, fingers curved in a claw-like posture. In the upper-left, hovering amid stylized, scroll-like clouds and floating pebbles, a large cream-colored cat rests in a classic grooming pose with one hind leg raised, revealing its pink paw pads. Wisps of smoke or mist drift gently from the cat’s ears and mouth. A bank of clouds settles along the bottom edge, where the artist's signature characters (和宏) and a square red seal (hanko) are stamped in the lower-left corner.
October 28, 2026 at 10:32 AM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - an ancient shrine
roger1952.bsky.social The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 3d
The mossy stone steps and torii gate of Kamo Shrine (Kamo Jinja) located in the cedar forests of Keihoku, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto.
In this mesmerizing forest landscape photograph, the sacred entrance to Kamo Shrine (Kamo Jinja) in Kyoto’s northern Keihoku district unfolds within a dense cathedral of Kitayama Japanese cedars (sugi). Centered in the vertical composition is a long, ascending flight of stone steps (sandō), fully coated in a velvety blanket of luminous green moss (koke). The stone staircase draws the eye upward toward an ancient stone torii gate, its lintel and pillars weathered by centuries and overgrown with moss and lichen. Beyond the threshold of the torii, a humble timber shrine structure (haiden or honden) peeks through the shadowy timber recession. The surrounding forest comprises towering, perfectly straight cedar trunks that shoot upward into a thick canopy, filtering the ambient sunlight into soft, ethereal rays of emerald and cool blue light. Situated in the remote, forested valley of Keihoku in Kyoto’s northern Ukyō Ward, Kamo Shrine shares historical roots with the ancient Kamo clan (Kamo-shi) and Kyoto's revered Kamigamo and Shimogamo Shrines. Keihoku has long served as a crucial hinterland for Kyoto, renowned historically for producing Kitayama cedar timber (Kitayama sugi) used in traditional tea houses (chashitsu), sukiya-style architecture, and imperial construction since the Heian period (794–1185). Nestled within this working timber forest, Kamo Shrine exemplifies rural Shinto animism (Jinja Shintō), where nature itself—ancient trees, mountain streams, and rocky outcrops—is revered as the sacred dwelling place (yorishiro) of the kami. The long, moss-lined stone approach represents a traditional masterwork of sacred landscape architecture (monozukuri), designed to slow the visitor's gait and quiet the mind while ascending from the mundane world into the sanctified forest precincts.
October 26, 2026 at 8:35 AM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - observing and documenting the magic of art in everyday life
ani-obsessive.bsky.social Animation Obsessive @ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 2d
This beautiful, surreal film is a masterpiece of stop motion. It's one of the very best by director Hermína Týrlová.

Our new issue looks into The Blue Apron, and into Týrlová's love of putting life into mundane objects:
animationobsessive.substack.com/p/an-invisib...
October 27, 2026 at 8:29 AM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - recording the history of anime fandom from living memory.
terebifunhouse.bsky.social D. Merrill @terebifunhouse.bsky.social · 3d
working on panel slides today
October 26, 2026 at 8:38 AM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - this glorious owl painting hangs under ancient roof beams at the Old Inn in Crawfordsburn. Back home in London it reminds me that human creativity makes art.
October 28, 2026 at 8:53 AM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - loving what you love
kambole.bsky.social kambole campbell @kambole.bsky.social · 3d
made my annual pro-wrestling pilgrimage earlier today - this time back to Korakuen Hall for a New Japan show. saw Místico wrestle (!!)

(I met Hiroshi Tanahashi manning the merch stand 😭🫡)
guy being dropped on his head in Korakuen Hall (in a wrestling ring) MISTICO!!!!
October 27, 2026 at 8:37 AM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - a door into ancient lives and loves
fotofacade.bsky.social Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 4d
✨ From the latest digest: T.W. - R.M. - J.B. - 1627. Initials on a door at Alrewas. Inside, their world seemed to light up around me - a pulpit, a table they might once have broken bread over.

Read the story 👉 www.digest.andymarsh...
October 25, 2026 at 8:02 AM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - goth disco moth
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 5d
The six-spot burnet moth is the most “goth disco” of all moths.
A six-spot burnet moth in Devon, a little while ago, before the weather got crap
October 24, 2026 at 7:38 AM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - cherry blossom punk
colinsmith.bsky.social Colin Smith @colinsmith.bsky.social · 5d
Siouxsie Sioux, Mount Fuji, Japan, 1982, by Anton Corbijn.
October 24, 2026 at 7:35 AM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - rediscovering how the Romans made colour-changing glass.
October 25, 2026 at 8:08 AM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
Rijksmuseum library, Netherlands
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Rijksmuseum library, Netherlands - multiple tall levels of bookstarcks, high windows with visible rays of sunlight streaming through
October 26, 2026 at 5:51 PM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - a 300 million year old sea bed teeming with life.
wrycritic.bsky.social Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 6d
Nothing to see here, just a 200-million-years old Jurassic sea bed, frozen in time. Layers of dead ammonites and drift wood lining a dark, oozy seafloor of the Jurassic, forever locked in stone. Hundreds of tiny shelly squids.
October 24, 2026 at 7:31 AM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
Squire Law Library, University of Cambridge
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Squire Law Library, University of Cambridge - showing curving glass windows above atrium, and upper level with large bookstacks and computer desks
October 28, 2026 at 5:30 PM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
Raza Library, India
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Raza Library, India - large onion dome with ribbed pattern on tower, surrounded by smaller domes and chhatris, deep-red, ochre, and cream tones
October 25, 2026 at 4:55 PM
helenmccarthy51.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - Senbon Torii
roger1952.bsky.social The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 7d
A Shinto priest walking through the famous Senbon Torii (thousand torii gates) tunnel at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Japan
This striking photograph captures a lone Shinto priest (kannushi) walking away from the viewer down the center of the famous Senbon Torii (thousand torii gates) corridor at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. Framing the stone pathway, hundreds of closely spaced vermilion-painted wooden gates (shu-iro torii) form a glowing geometric tunnel. The priest wears traditional formal Shinto vestments: a pristine white flowing robe (ikariginu or jōe), dark pleated trousers (hakama), black lacquered wooden shoes (as沓 / asagutsu), and a high black tall headpiece (eboshi). Black painted bases anchor each gate, while black kanji inscriptions—recording the names of donors and dates of dedication—cover the vertical wooden posts. Fushimi Inari Taisha, founded in 711 AD at the base of Mount Inari, serves as the head shrine (taisha) for the more than 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan dedicated to Inari Okami—the Shinto deity (kami) of rice, agriculture, fertility, tea, and business prosperity. The famous Senbon Torii paths began taking shape during the Edo period (1603–1867) as a custom of devotional thanksgiving. Businesses, merchants, families, and individuals donate torii gates to express gratitude for fulfilled wishes or to petition for ongoing commercial success. Today, over 10,000 vibrant vermilion gates span the forest trails of the sacred mountain. The vermilion color (shu-iro), traditionally made using cinnabar and red lead, carries deep spiritual significance in Shinto cosmology, believed to ward off evil spirits and preserve the underlying wood against decay.
October 22, 2026 at 7:20 AM
soonleenz.bsky.social
Enjoying the white Phalaenopsis sp. flowers all fully opened now while they last. #orchid #flower #somethingBeautiful
Closeup of a spike of white Phalaenopsis orchid flowers all fully opened. Wooden coffee table out of focus in background.
October 25, 2026 at 10:04 PM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
I feel guilty for just posting a photo of the Seeley Library in my beautiful library series. So here's a proper photo of a library:
Skywalker Ranch library
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Skywalker Ranch library - circular stained-glass dome, two levels of tall shelves with curving and ornate wooden staircase leading to upper balcony, Art Nouveau-style lamps and details
October 27, 2026 at 5:40 PM
glider.bsky.social
#SomethingBeautiful - crop circles. Just remember that any science you don't understand is functionally indistinguishable from magic. Or alien activity.
October 23, 2026 at 8:23 AM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
Radcliffe Camera, University of Oxford
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Radcliffe Camera, University of Oxford - exterior, circular with dome, stone
October 23, 2026 at 11:56 AM
soonleenz.bsky.social
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this clear morning, boats moored, golden fluffy clouds reflected by still water. Also, Auckland CBD skyline on a mostly fine, mostly clear morning. #river #WhauRiver #publicTransport #bus #Auckland #TamakiMakaurau #AucklandScenes #somethingBeautiful
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this clear morning, boats moored, golden fluffy clouds reflected by still water. Also, Auckland CBD skyline on a mostly fine, mostly clear morning.
October 28, 2026 at 6:32 PM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
Seeley History Library, Cambridge
As a former user of this library, I'm not sure any of us called it beautiful! Famous for leaking, overheating, excessive sunlight
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
Seeley History Library, University of Cambridge - designed by James Stirling and James Gowan, concrete slabs, red brick, stepped pyramidal glass and steel canopy
October 27, 2026 at 5:27 PM
laurenjane.bsky.social
Something beautiful about the last few days has been crossing the water, rainbows in the kitchen and watching a lot of art...
#haiku #SomethingBeautiful
October 21, 2026 at 12:22 PM
soonleenz.bsky.social
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this cloudy morning, boats moored, ripples on the water. Also, Auckland CBD skyline, gold on horizon blending to dark cloud up high. #river #WhauRiver #publicTransport #bus #Auckland #TamakiMakaurau #AucklandScenes #somethingBeautiful
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this cloudy morning, boats moored, ripples on the water. Auckland CBD skyline, gold on horizon blending to dark cloud up high.
October 26, 2026 at 6:35 PM
soonleenz.bsky.social
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this clear morning, boats moored, ripples on the water, north bank of river visible. Also, Auckland CBD skyline, morning on a mostly fine day. #river #WhauRiver #publicTransport #bus #Auckland #TamakiMakaurau #AucklandScenes #somethingBeautiful
View from the bus of Whau River mouth this clear morning, boats moored, ripples on the water, north bank of river visible. Photo of Auckland CBD skyline taken from bus window, golden skied morning on a mostly fine day.
October 27, 2026 at 10:50 PM
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social
Another in my series of libraries
The Queen's College library, Oxford
#SomethingBeautiful #LoveLibraries #EveryLibraryMatters #Libraries #Library #LibrarySky #libsky
The Queen's College library, Oxford - long room with highly decorated white plaster ceiling and walls, tall freestanding bookcases with ancient tomes, large globes encased in glass along the room
October 22, 2026 at 2:10 PM