Monthly Archives: April 2012

ARTIST ABROAD: Toyko

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April 29,2012

Week 16

Sunny,and hot

The wonderful thing about travailing is the unexpected twists on normal, for example we have had an assortment of pillows one side filled with buckwheat and the other side  filled with a synthetic fibre,some times they were a regular size and at other times so huge  it was like wrestling a crunchy monster in the middle of the night.The bathrooms, always spotlessly clean,one cubical will have a singing,waterfall,heated seat,and water squirting cleaning options toilet and the cubical next door a porcelain hole ground level and a grab bar.Train, bus and subway systems are fast and inexpensive,but even in a new stations you might have to bump your stuff up a set of stairs to get to the escalator or elevator.I have seen only about 5 people in wheel chairs and they were all in Kyoto.There is no garbage on the scrubbed and washed streets but we would have to really search out a public garbage can. Some blocks have sectioned off areas for smokers to stand in and smoke (water filled ashtrays) but  small restaurants allowed smoking inside.The bicycle are ridden mostly on the sidewalks,any side,any direction,no bells,no lights and no helmets and fast, I soon learned to look in all directions and keep my arms tucked in.All purchases are wrapped,bagged and then rebated in plastic,I had questioning looks when I would indicate that I didn’t need a bag.Japan has been a country of contrasts from manicured gardens,groomed trees,tidy parks next to streets filled with plastic branches,massive transformers and electrical wire nests, singing displays,street hawkers and flapping advertising banners, then around the corner is a small shop offering tea and sweets.Everyone has been courteous, kind,and forgiving of any unknown faux pas committed.One of the hight lights for me was the discovery of the artist Seiji Fiujishiro and Yayoi Kusama, WOW.

ARTIST ABROAD:Kyoto

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April 22 2012

Week 16

Rain,wind,and quite cool.

At every turn there is a temple or a shrine,some are huge and very opulent and others are tucked into small corners between a car park and the local corner store regardless of the size they all have offerings of oranges, flowers,and half full jars of saki, with candles and paper prayers  tucked in-between the empty spaces. Today the narrow streets were festooned with multicoloured umbrellas, it looked like fish swimming in a stream. The driving and walking is on the left so we were forever bumping into people,it is very hard to remember, when you are holding a umbrella,camera,map and ice cream cone. Fortunately everyone is very nice. We are certainly the minority, the count so far, 5 Caucasians seen in Tokyo, 7 in the seaside town of Kamakura,and 11 in Kyoto and us so that is the grand total of 27 in one week, the Tokyo Central train station has more than 4 million people pass through every day, I figure we aren’t even a grain of sand. Off to the bamboo forest tomorrow.

ARTIST ABROAD: Tokyo Japan

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April 15,2012

Week 15

Some clouds,some blue sky and coolish.

Hello one and all,

Youzer Tokyo is interesting and even though we are at the end of cherry blossom season (Sakura) the city is stunning.All the shops,restaurants,and street vendors have PINK cherry blossom decorations on the outsides of there buildings,and inside the shops. The decorations are fake blossoms  made from plastic,paper,metal and very shinny.It took me a while to catch on I just thought everyone likes pink. Even the recycling bags (very large and tied together like a raft)have cherry blossom motives.We are up early every morning walking the streets and alleys of Tokyo then drag our sorry bodies home as it is getting dark,put our feet up,have a cold beer and some seaweed crackers and recount the  stories of the day. Refreshed we head out again into the twinkling evening, investigating the small streets turning haphazardly reading the food signs (looking at the pictures)in search of dinner.If you have coin in your pocket you can’t ever go hungry here,it is the land of the vending machine.They are tucked into all sorts of spaces, main streets,car parks,little alleys, rather like our dandelions. I had a can of hot milky coffee from a vetting machine yesterday, not bad, but I don’t ever want to know what the fine print said!

ARTIST AT HOME:Victoria

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April 8,2012

Week 14

Sunny and warm,

I am still rewriting my artist statement for the up coming Independent Study Program grad show in the Slide Room Gallery. I must come up with a less confusing  filing system, uber #1,ultimate uber #1 and this is really the finished uber #1 copy is to confusing. Putting the artist statement aside, the work is fantastic,one of my goals at the beginning of September was to create 3-d space on a flat piece of paper, using pencil,pen and watercolour, always being influenced by my installation and sculptural work I am really pleased with the results. For the last few months I have cut and reassembling some of the watercolours, producing  paintings that are  physically 3-d .To day is Easter dinner at the Spiro’s the bacchanalian feast ,of chocolate,food and chocolate and wine..