My Christmas Tree

My friend from kindergarten came here to visit me for Christmas. We went to Borough Market in London on Christmas Eve, where I got my tree!




Brussels sprout
This year I spent Christmas with my classmates. We cooked together, decorated our house and invited our friends. I will remember this for ever.
Now, Christmas is over and I've started to eat my tree.

Merry Christmas!

This must be a Christmas tree for Crossbills.
I made this Christmas card inspired by the Christmas Tree Game in The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson.



最後の授業でクリスマス・カード交換をした。それぞれ一枚ずつオリジナルのカードをつくり、代わりにくじで当たったカードを受け取る。クラスの思い出に、クラスメート誰かのオリジナル作品が一枚もらえるという、素敵な企画だった。

Have a happy Christmas!

Peck, peck, peck!

Sometimes it is nice to have deadline. It makes me work with concentration and finish it.



I finally printed the chicken's feeding scene properly for my entry for the V&A Illustration Awards 2012.



And I curved this duck in one morning!

Postcard to Japan

After our TAYORI exhibition, we got in contact with Mr. Katagiri who were organizing a similar project called "Postcards to Japan." I sent this postcard of Brent and it is now exhibited at an art space in Iwate Museum of Art.



◇◆◇ POSTCARDS TO JAPAN展 ◇◆◇
岩手とスコットランド在住の彫刻家ケイト・トムソンさんと片桐宏典さんの企画による、東日本大地震の復興を願ったポストカード展。世界各地のアーティストのハガキサイズの作品が展示されている。
わたしの作品もどこかにあるはずですので、機会がありましたらご覧ください。
会期：2011年12月18日(日)〜 2012年2月26日(日)
場所：岩手県立美術館　アートスペース
主催：浮島彫刻スタジオ

今月今夜

"There is a time, between night and day, when landscapes sleep. Only the earliest riser sees that hour."
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippan Pearce



冬至に向かって朝がどんどん遅くなる。7時、そろそろ朝だろうとブラインドを開けると、窓の外には半月があった。2年前に見上げた月は、今年も空に輝いている。太陽暦では、今月今夜のこの月はいつも同じではない。

Little Brown

I finally came to the point to put up all my images into pages. My final project is a story about Little Brown, a Moorhen juvenile, who helps his parents for their second breeding.





Before the summer, I wouldn't imagine me working in such a graphic way. But now I feel linocut became my medum.

after the crit

The last Thursday was the final critique and the last class. I feel really sad to face the fact that we are almost at the end of this MA course.
I am so glad that I came here. I've learned a lot from all the tutors, classmates and all the books that I saw in the studio. And more than that I had a great time during this course!
We still have a month for the submission and two months for the graduation exhibition. Everybody's works are amazing so I am very much looking forward to the show. It will be amazing! But at the same time, I know that is going to be the real end...
Let's not think about that and keep working hard!



I gave myself a day off and went to Saffron Walden yesterday. After concentrating on creating final images for a few months, it was nice to go back to observation drawing.

Blackberry pattern

My ideas for the endpapers. It requires a lot of thinking to make textile design with the repetition of a pattern.
How about having a curtain or wrapping paper with these?



All afternoon and evening I was working in Photoshop using my friend's pen tablet, which was amazingly comfortable and friendly to my hands and fingers!
It became one of the things that I would love to buy once I get a book deal...I am just dreaming!

Paper Bird

It's only a paper bird, hanging over a baby cot...



今年は18日に毎年恒例の行徳でカワウをカウントするイベントCCC（Christmas Cormorant Count）が開かれるようだ。面識のない後輩から「今年度のCCCに参加できるでしょうか」というメールをもらったときは、忘れずに誘ってくれたことがうれしかった反面、不参加と即答せざるを得ない寂しさがあった。
イラストレーターの世界は、限りなく個人作業で、ときどき野生動物系の仲間の熱い雰囲気が懐かしくなる。
CCCのためにPaper Birdのカワウバージョンをデザインした。今日、無事に刷り上がったらしい。 CCCに参加される方、お楽しみに！



水鶏堂のPaper Bird
This is my new product series called "Paper Bird". It is a very simple bird mobile but I hope to show the different birds' flying formation. Someday I would love to make several bird species and make them into a craft book and/or a guide book of flying birds.



アオバト・モビール (Japanese Green Pigeon)



まだ製品化はしていないシロカツオドリ。(Gannet)

Student life

December is just around the corner and we only have two more classes. And that is going to be the end of my student life.
My mother used to say that I should definitely go to university not because that it would give me enough knowledge nor a chance to get a nice job, but because the days I could spend as a university student would be the best time in my life. Now, I am really grateful that I could have one year and a half extra student life in England.



In the final stage of the MA course, we are far too busy and stressed with works to enjoy the rest of the days. The end always comes too quickly.

いのちの共生を未来へ

アップロードが大変遅くなってしまいましたが・・・
昨年のCOP10から関わらせていただいている「想いでつなごう　おりがみプロジェクト」の冊子が先月できあがった。



The booklet for the COP10 Let's Origami Project, which I was working on this spring, has finally printed.

It's supper time!

I started to work on the other project as well. The idea is from my Japanese friend and it is a very simple baby story about feeding birds.



I wanted to try in different media but my professor said that I should develop my lino world. So I am still carving and carving!

Poppy Day

There were two minutes of silence in the printmaking room yesterday and I learned that it was the Remembrence Day. And that was the reason why a lot of people were waring a poppy flower badge. It reminded me of the August before I came here. I was researching in the middle of a paddy field or a wheat field on the atomic-bomb day in Saitama prefecture and there was an announcement from the speakers in the town asking people for a minute of silence. In Japan, November the 11th is just the day for Pocky...



A sketch of Poppy flowers from this summer. I wanted to sit in a poppy field but I missed the opportunity...
戦地にはきまってポピーがたくさん咲いたという。激戦で土地が"耕され"、地中深くで休眠していたポピーが地表に出て花を咲かせるからのようだ。

Kruk! Kruk!

This Thursday we will have a middle crit. That means the final project is supposed to be half way done...time really flew.



And making a page takes so long. Every time I print something, I have something wrong. So I feel like reprinting the same images again and again and do not have any progress. I wish I could have longer and weekend open access to the printmaking studio!

遊び心

プロントメイキングのプロセスは遊び心をかき立てる。残ったインクでつい何かしてみたくなるのだ。



My mini monoprint of acorns from the leftover ink.



It was supposed to be a Barn Owl.
I found it very fun to play around with printmaking process. But I have to think that I will not be able to use that uni studio with press and everything after I graduate. So I started to try mini printmaking at home with a cutting board and butter knives. I might buy a nice roller...should I or should I not...?

Ghost

Halloween is coming! We carved a pumpkin, roasted the seeds and baked a pumpkin pie using the pumpkin filling imported from USA by my friend's friend. I heard that children come and say trick or treat only to the house with lighted pumpkin. We are planning to put ours up somewhere outside the gate on Monday. But I doubt if anybody will come because our gate sets back far from the street.



Ghost images from my moorhen stamps.




When I was working in the printmaking studio with my stamps, I was told that I should to try getting the ghost images by putting tissue paper on the ink left on the surface and rubbing the images with my finger or wooden spoon.
It was something I would never think of! It's nice to work with people from different major

Raptor Foundation

Last Thursday, we finally got three huge boxes of the art materials that we ordered in bulk with classmates! Now I have loads of linos to carve.
I wonder why they made the lino in dark colour. I found carving a lino is much more difficult than carving a rubber stump. And it is not only because the lino is harder than the rubber, its dark colour makes it difficult to see the line, which I draw on. I suppose they could dye the lino in any colour!



ハリー・ポッター？？
I was told to try drawing children with linocut so I did!
A boy and a Barn Owl from the visit to the Raptor Foundation.
ケンブリッジシャー州にある猛禽類の保護センター。一度訪れた印象では、鷹匠の技術や文化を現代のニーズに合わせて残した施設という雰囲気だった。野生復帰を目指したリハビリ活動も行っているということだが、海外産の猛禽類やハイブリッドも含めたタカ類の展示、日に2−3回の鷹匠式のフライング・ショーが訪問者にとっては目玉になる。

アクロバティックに飛び交い、ホバリングをしてみせるチョウゲンボウのショーを見ながら、農工大のRCP（リハビリケージ・プロジェクト）に初期にやってきたチョウゲンボウのアグリやバイオを思い出した。RCPでは、傷病猛禽の飛翔訓練のために鷹匠技術を応用していたからだ。あの小屋を出た鳥たちのうち何羽がいまも空を飛んでいるのだろう。

Green Finch

I have loads of sketches from the summer and the birdwatching trips recently, which I want to finish and put up on this blog. I know one takes only a few minutes or so. But when I have this huge final project in front of me, I don't feel like doing anything else. This is very bad. I should do it for a change!



Days are getting shorter here and half past seven is still really dark. But at least we have very clear sky these days. I hope the sky above Bangkok becomes like this and dry everything up in stead of bringing another rain!

Decision

It is hard to decide which way to go. Choosing one means dropping the other one.





Above two are printed with my stamp pad. I love their soft touch but they are weak.





And those are printed with the printmaking inks at the studio. The bold touch is attractive but somehow the Moorhens do not nicely settle down in the background.
I wonder which one you prefer.

キビリュック

いろいろな方のおかげで、今年も地球の裏側から、作品だけジャパン・バード・フェスティバルに参加させていただけそうだ。

　

The Narcissus Flycatcher backpack that I designed.
ブログではもしかしたら初公開？　巨大黍団子のキビリュック。メジロリュック（予定）とともに各限定一名さまです。


◇◆◇ジャパン・バード・フェスティバル◇◆◇
日時：2011年10月22日（土）9:30 -16:00
10月23日（日）9:30 -15:00
会場：千葉県我孫子市　アビスタ・手賀沼親水広場（JR我孫子駅からシャトルバスまたは徒歩）
わたしは水の館前のワイバード ブースでグッズ販売、アビスタ一階のJBF2011 ワイルドライフアート展に２作品を出す予定です。


イギリスにいるからって忘れないで、ね。

Morecambe Bay

It was almost a month ago, I went to see the Morecambe Bay. I just wanted to see the enormous flat land and waders.



Humphrey Head
During this trip I really thought that I had been spoiled by all my friends from Cambridge RSPB group. They always kindly pick me up at my place, take me to nice sanctuary or birding spots and drive me safely back home.
Since Morecambe Bay is an enormous area which has a great tidal range and birds have wings to go anywhere along with the tide, it was difficult to get to the right place at the right moment to watch them.
On Sunday morning, I decided to walk toward Humphrey Head following the Cumbria Coastal Way and found myself standing in the mud! But it seemed to be the right way. With a kind gentleman who was also walking along the coastal way, we walked to the Humphrey Head in the mud.
Most of the time I was alone between the huge sky and huge mudflat.
There was a lovely wheatear hoping around but no waders...



Grange-over-sands
Walking back to the Grange-over-sands I finally saw a huge flock of waders and waterfowls such as Oystercatchers, Shellducks and Curlews.


Numbers of tiny dots on the huge mudflat was, I think, the true scene of Morecambe Bay.

Printmaking

I went down to the printmaking studio just to try printing my moorhen linocut with the ink and the press. That was my very first experience of working actually in the studio since I generally work at home.



It is very interesting to see how different the out come is! With the printmaking ink and press it became more like a graphic design.

夏のおもひで

It's the Autumnal Equinox Day and I looked back the long long summer. Now I can smell autumn in the wind, as I did when I came to Cambridge last year.
夏のスケッチブックから。



Wheatear (ハシグロヒタキ）



It was a summer with the sea, freezing in the wind!

Moorhen mother

Another moorhen!
Long summer is over and the new term has just started. Meeting new students reminded me the fact that I only have the final project to do. I wonder what will happen afterward with both hope and anxiety.

ニワトリ

動物を描いたとき、その個体に感情移入できるかどうかが、絵本の絵になり得るかを決める。最近、そんな気がしている。どうしても実際の生物に左右されがちなわたしに、リアルに描けない画材は、創造の自由を与えてくれる。

TAYORI

It seems that the charity exhibition, TAYORI - Postcards for Japan, was very successful!
Thank you so much for coming to the show. And thank you, Becky and others who organized this wonderful event. Well done everybody who participated in!



東日本大震災から半年。わたしが在籍するChildren's Book Illustrationコースの学生と卒業生、チューターで、地震と津波で被害にあった子どもたちを支援するためのチャリティ展覧会を開いた。ポストカードサイズの原画を展示・販売し、売り上げをTeachers For Japanという震災後に宮城県で教えていたALTが中心となって立ち上げたNPOに寄付をするというものだ。60人以上のアーティストが参加、127枚のポストカードが集まり、先週の月曜日に開かれた内覧会も大盛況だった。ケンブリッジからの気持ちばかりのお便りだ。

Linocut

Moorhen chicks.
Trying new media made me look at things differently especially when I have less freedom in drawing shapes and using colour.

In Her Prime

It's been a year since I came here in England! And I really think that this is my "prime time". I can say that last one was my best year in my life so far. I thank you all who have supported me in many ways and cheered me up.



One of my dreams to sketch in the heather field came true in Land's End. Heathers were so soft and nice to touch compared to spiky Gorse bush next to them.
嵐が丘や秘密の花園に出てくるヒースの荒野、プーさんがはちみつをとろうとして落ちた棘だらけ灌木、ハリエニシダ。話の中の世界が目の前にある。イギリスの風景って、僕たちからすれば、すべておとぎ話の世界だよね、と誰かが言っていた。当たり前ではあるけれど、イギリス人にとってはこれが日常で、作家はそれをあるがままお話に取り入れたに過ぎない。
でもやっぱりわたしは、イギリスに来て一年経った今も、お話の中に生きているような気分だ。



ミナックシアター
We watched a play, The prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Minack Theatre. It is an open theatre facing to the sea, made by a lady, Rowena Cade.
It was a wonderful evening although we were freezing. While we were watching the play, Gannets were flying behind and a seal popped up from the sea. As the play went on, the white clouds changed the colour into pink and then purple. By the time the play finished sky above us was full of stars!
Thank you so much, Hannah and her mother, for giving us the lift back to Penzance!

Nesting Moorhen

Nesting Moorhen and Purple loosestrife.
In some places they still have some chicks in the nest!
I spent whole morning trying to print it properly. It is so difficult to handle several layers of rubber stamps.




◇◆◇ Tayori - Postcard for Japan ◇◆◇
One of the members of our MA course came up with this wonderful idea of having a charity exhibition to raise funds in support of relief efforts in Japan, following the earthquake, tsunami! I posted two postcards so you may find mine as well.

Dates: 5th - 10th September 2011
Opening times: 8am – 5pm Monday – Saturday
Place: Michaelhouse Café
St. Michael's Church,Trinity Street, Cambridge CB2 1SU
01223 309 147

地の果て

We just wanted to see the Land's End.
The pink heather carpet ended at the sheer cliff and the blue sea stretched out in front of us. And this was the starting point of our wonderful hiking!



地の果ての守り神、ベニハシガラス　Red-billed Chough

Crossing the Sea

St. Michael's Mount
干潮時のみ本土とつながる陸繋島。そのせいか日本語で検索するとフランスのモン・サン・ミシェルとセント・マイケルズ・マウントそして江ノ島を比べているページがけっこう出てくる。江ノ島も橋をかけなければよかったのに。



When we decided to walk across, the tide was already quite high. We were stupidly wearing jeans and I had short legs.
But we made it.
Although our lower body got completely soaked and had to bask in the sun for a while, I still think that we had no choice but trying it.
It was just like Titty, Roger and Bridget crossing the Red Sea in the Secret Water! I hope I have a chance to visit the Hamford Water someday.

British Bird Fair

先週末ラットランドで開かれたBritish Birdwatching Fairに行ってきた。世界最大級のバードフェアは、東京／ジャパン・バードフェスティバルと似ているようでいて、ずいぶんと雰囲気が違った。一番の印象は、FestivalではなくてFairなのだということだ。良くも悪くも商業的、営利的で、世界各国からの旅行会社ブースがほとんどを占めている。そして大天幕ひとつがアーティスト用になっており、有名な野生動物画家のオリジナル、プリントがたくさん展示／販売されている。画家本人がその場にいることもあり、非常に刺激を受けた！　欲しい本もいっぱいいっぱいあったのだが・・・



Osprey
ラットランドは、1996年にミサゴをスコットランドから再導入したことでも有名なところだ。イングランドでは剥製やコレクションに卵や鳥捕獲したこと、生息環境が悪化したことにより、1847年を最後に繁殖しなくなってしまったらしい。
今年も一ペアがサンクチュアリ内で無事に繁殖したようで、わたしもしっかり姿を見ることができた。