I love orchids, & they are quite common in Thailand, where I used to live. I took photos of some that were in my friends` garden in Nonthaburi, in the north of Bangkok, & a long time later (in Japan in 2008) I did these small pictures.
They are pencil & watercolor, 16 x 16cm.
They have been on the wall of my classroom since 2008 & you can see the paper has become very brown from exposure; you can see the edges are still white where they were covered by the frames, (which I took them out of to scan).
In 2001 I stayed in a traditional Japanese-style ryokan (guesthouse) in Ohno in Gifu Prefecture. There was a square `irori` cooking pit in the floor of the living room, with a variety of iron hook-and-lever systems(jizaikagi) for holding pots above it.
I made sketches there, then did this 20 x 30cm woodblock print later at home.
My father-in-law had some old wood that he said I could use, so I decided to try to make a bookcase.
It took me a while, and I made lots of mistakes; one reason was because a lot of the wood wasn`t straight. However, I`m creative and - like my finished bookcase - flexible, so I discovered ways around this problem. Some of the techniques I used would make my high-school woodwork teacher`s pens explode from the top of his long socks like rockets if he knew, but in the end I`m pretty happy with the result.
The next big challenge is making my wife let me use it in the house...
This is a woodblock print I did in 2007, using black acrylic paint. I added color (watercolor paint) by hand afterwards.
The size is 20 x 30cm.
I saw these objects in this arrangement in the grounds of a temple somewhere in Yoro. I was out riding my bike & exploring the countryside at that time.
The frame on this one is real!
This is a new series on my blog called "otto-no-arto" (Otto`s Art).
Nowadays I don`t paint or draw much, so some of these pictures are not recent, but I hope you enjoy looking at them anyway.
This is a lino-cut print using acrylic paint. The size is 10cm x 7cm. I made it in 2003.
By the way, the frame isn`t real. I found the frame image on the internet, then I cut & pasted a scan of my picture onto the frame.
Japanese gifts are often wrapped in stylish & colourful paper. I sometimes use this paper for writing letters on, & occasionally I even make matching envelopes from it too. I usually send these letters to my family in Australia - my nephews & neices think they`re cool & interesting.
I don`t think it`s suitable for my Japanese friends though. They think I`m strange enough already.
This is an envelope & writing paper set I made from the packaging on a souvenir I bought in Shikoku.
What do you think? Would you be pleased to receive such a letter?
This is a toy I made from recycled beach wood. Owen enjoys playing with it, but he doesn`t pay attention to the colours. He just likes putting the round pieces in it. When I`m not looking he also tries to eat them. Maybe they taste like sun-baked sea-salt.
Mmmm.
That sounds kind of yummy actually.
Our bench at Ichinomiya Teragoya wasn`t actually trash yet, but it was showing some definite signs of age, as you can see.
Time for a make-over!
Our staff Yumi got wood from her kind husband, and I repaired the bench at home. It was pretty easy, but painting the wood (clear color) was a bit of a hassle.
Next time you visit our school, please try it - it`s free!
In English, we have a saying which I like: "One man`s trash is another man`s treasure."
Japanese beaches are a great place to find interesting things that other people think are trash, but I like to collect and keep. Sometimes I even make things from them. Because they come from the sea, they have usually been washed clean, so I don`t really think of them as `real` rubbish like the stuff you put in your rubbish bin at home.
In the picture above, you can see some things I collected last week when I went to Mihama Beach in Fukui. Do you recognize any of them? Have you ever picked up these kinds of things from the beach, maybe when you were a kid?
Anyway, this is the first in an intended series. I hope you enjoy it.
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