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.