JUURI Art Blog
A Sudden Burst of New Work
These days, sooo many people ask me if I would like to hang work in their space/cafe/gallery/show. I do appreciate all the offers, but it's becoming impossible for me to agree to everybody. I hope no-one is offended. I simply don't have enough time to make brand-new pieces for everybody, since I'm not yet a 100% full-time artist, and I keep selling away all my inventory (a wonderful problem, of course.) There's also a big difference between hanging stuff a million places and actually selling anything from those places. I guess it's just something you have to try and see if it's working. I'd like to hear some sage advice about this topic, if anyone has any. And it's hard to know when it's time to take the big leap from being part-time to full-time. I have a feeling Galadriel voice the time... has now come.
Meeting the Ambassador
On Friday, I was invited to a special reception at the Oklahoma State Capitol (and later at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa... posh to the max) honoring the current ambassador of Japan to the US, Ichiro Fujisaki. It was an interesting event... there were suddenly a flurry of Japanese obachan (older ladies) chattering away all around me. It was surreal, considering that I know of hardly any other Japanese people here in OK. I felt like I was in Japan just for one tiny moment. I guess I was invited because someone Googled "Oklahoma" and "Japanese artist." In any case, after many speeches and hullabaloo, we got to meet the ambassador and shake hands very quickly. I gave him my newest painting "Moment -Setsuna-".
Yokai Girl: "Torn Tail -Osaki-"
OK, I mentioned before that I wanted to start exploring the world of female yokai. Yokai are traditional Japanese monsters in folklore. They are very interesting because each one is different and has different characteristics. I am also still under the influence of my childhood obsession with Ninjasentai Kakuranger, which featured a new badguy yokai each episode! So enthralling!
Haha, here's their version of the fox woman with nine tails, kyuubi no kitsune!
It's Been One Year!
The other day, I got the renewal notice for my domain, juuriart.com. This means that it's almost a year since I've started "being serious" about my art. And I mark my first "JUURI" painting as this one, "Captive -Torawarebito-" which was just sold recently. Oh such a long, long time ago it seems that I painted her and discovered my favorite method of working!
Works of Amano Yoshitaka
At Hastings today I saw a marvelous book on sale, Amano: The Complete Prints. It is a very handsome hardcover books showing ALL his prints. I have actually not seen his work before so it was a splendid discovery! I love the use of color, the ideas, the elaborate linework... and I am kicking myself in the head for not purchasing it for $20! MEH! I had thought that it would be cheaper on Amazon used, but alas, the cheapest is $54! I am SO zooming back to Hastings tomorrow to grab it. Woe to me if it's gone by then.