Third Naruko Kokeshi Exhibit @ Gates Inn Gallery U

I stopped by Gallery U today, but first I got all spiffed up in a kimono.

Being the incredibly humble artist that I am, I made a beeline for my own work before even glancing at the other works.

I was glad to see my Kokeshi were in a good spot, but the overall level was so high, though proud to be in such esteemed company, I'm not sure how I measure up.

Let's look at some of the dolls I thought were extremely cool.

These dolls by Etsuko Kurimori really show off the beauty of the wood and incorporate a fresh, natural style.

I love the damaged schoolgirl motif and also the style used here, which while tackling popular manga/anime tropes uses a clean, original style. The animals held by the girls are great additions

Of the figures here by Masaya Miyashita, the Nature one really caught my eye, but I'm a sucker for moon motifs as well.

Speaking of moon motifs, these three moon dolls by Tomoko Miyakawa are just gorgeous. I love the deep blue and how the characters follow the moon phase progression.

Growth was a common theme and a natural one as we were all given a set of three differently-sized dolls to work with.

Check out the growth cycle of the frog by Kyoko (Sakai?)

There were all different sorts of designs including abstract, highly graphical, and traditional. This kabuki set by Taeko Oda was quite eye-catching so I'll finish with it.

The exhibition continues until next Sunday at 4, and I'll be there then.

Gallery U is just a short walk from Matsudo station. It's the top left brown square in the map below.

Hope to see you there!

Comments

Karate Kid, IF "Similar" and SCBWI Tokyo Art Show

The Karate Kid changed my life. The movie, of course. Not the Legion of Superheroes comic character. I'm watching it right now as I type this blog and I was thinking about how many of my perceptions about karate were shaped by Mr. Miyagi. I was never big on "sports" movies, I never saw Rocky. But I knew what it was like to be the little guy. The new kid on the block. And I knew what it was like going up against an institutionalized system of separating the "winners" from the "losers". Luckily, I had friends in and out of school that liked me for who I was and not for who I desperately thought I wanted to be. It took me a little while and Karate Kid 2 to realize what I did want. The summer that KK2 was the summer where I decided to take control of my life and stopped worrying about what the @$$holes thought. It wasn't even a gradual thing. Once I had made that decision, suddenly things started changing around me. I had confidence and that made it ea...

Illustration Friday "Wise"

This week the Illustration Friday's theme is "wise". I was going for a wise old pirate, but I think wizards are do "wise" better. I actually need to get working on other things, but I thought I'd get this up. Need to balance creating with promotion. Doing the illustration friday makes me do both. I'm teaching tomorrow. I wish I wasn't. I'd rather be drawing, sketching, or working on my craft. As soon as I finish I'm zooming back home to finish up some roughs for the Tom and Jerry book. All struggling artists go through this, I know. Having to work at something they don't wanna do in order to do something they do wanna do. But sometimes it eats at my soul. Deprives me of the energy I need to do my best. What do you do? You have to find your fuel. My fuel is a mixture of fear, anger, hope, pride, and desire. Fear of mediocrity, anger at my own complacency, hope that I will be discovered, pride in what I've accomplished so far, and desir...

Before there was GON, there was FLASH

Hello, Nipponophiles! Yes, that's what they used to call us back in the day. Which "day" are you talking about, you might ask. I'm talking about when anime fans were such a minority that Prisoner fans used to give us a hard time. Nowadays, most Japan-o-fans are happy to be called "otaku". Well here on ARTokyo, I've decided to talk about what it was like to be an old-school otaku. Well, I used to be old-school, but now I'm just old. I guess that makes me an "ota-oji", as in "oji-san" as in old dude. Now this old dude is gonna tell you about a favorite manga of mine by Masashi Tanaka. Learn all about him in this informative wiki article . Tanaka is best known for GON , a comic masterpiece about a little dinosaur, which was one of the first manga to successfully crossover to the Western world if only because it didn't need any translation. There were no words! Console gamers might know Gon from his appearance in Tekken 3,...

patokon blog

Search This Blog