Capricious bird

Waxwing perch-gleaning and hang-gleaning the rowan berries.
枝上ー摘みとりとぶらさがり−摘みとりでセイヨウナナカマドの実を食べるキレンジャク。

I had this image in my mind from last winter and finally I got a chance to make it.
This winter I didn't see any waxwings nor hear anybody spotting them.
But I love that they are capricious and unpredictable. They decide their way and place to stay based on the availability of berries.

ひみつの海

I had a very special day trip to the Secret Water. Hamford Water National Nature Reserve is the area where the Arthur Ransome's eighth book, "Secret Water", is based on. I've read the book and gazed on the map on the end paper for so many times since I was a child. I even copied the map by myself. And yesterday, I was actually standing there!

アーサー・ランサム全集の「ひみつの海」の舞台になったエセックス州ハリッジ近くのWalton-on-the Naze自然保護区を訪ねて来た。火打ち石島につながる外海に面した半島をバードウォッチングをしながら歩き、アマゾン水路やマゼラン海峡、ツバメ島を眺めた。Kirbyle Sokenの集落から伸びるIsland Laneをたどると、道は紅海の真ん中へと続いていた。満潮を少し過ぎた頃に着いたので、渡渉路は完全に水の中で、ティティとロジャ、ブリジットが立ち往生して捉まっていたであろう杭にニシセグロカモメがとまっていた。


We walked on the Naze watching birds. There were many waders: Avocets, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones, Black-tailed Godwets, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Peewit(Lapwing), of course!



It was amazing to know that we could actually point out most of the places mentioned in the story. And I noticed that it was the sense of place and reality that made me love his works. Their adventures are not something only happen in the book but we can try it in real world. We can drive (walk?) across the Red Sea when the tide is low and stay in a cottage on the Swallows Island, for example. It will be wonderful to read the book with children and spend a holiday there.

doodling

I know that I need to start something...some kind of jobs. I am not a student anymore and have no excuse to spend all day doodling for nothing.
But after having this luxury of doing only what I want, drawing, painting, traveling and birdwatching for a year and a half, I am still in a dream and do not want to wake up...not yet.
学生生活もとうとう終わり、真っ白な現実が目にしみる。帰国はもう少し先になりますが、何かイラストのお仕事あったらください！　小さいのから大きいのまで大歓迎です。

Yesterday, my friend kindly took me to the east coast of Norfolk for birdwatching.



ムラサキハマシギ Purple Sandpiper
East Angliaで常に見られるのはローストフトの海岸だけだというハマシギ顔のキョウジョシギ。藻類の付着する岩場で採食していた。図らずもイギリスの東の果てNess Pointも制覇してしまった。



Nesting Kittiwakes ミツユビカモメ棚
Now I'm not under pressure to have something done and I can finish my sketches from the field and doodle randomly. I feel so lucky to have this time!

イタリアの夢

Lovely sunshine is coming through my window.
A sunny day in Cambridge just like in Italy.
Bologna Children's Book Fair started today and I am dreaming of Italia. I wonder what my Little Brown is doing over there.



Sketches of Venice from last year that I missed the chance to upload.
I always dream about living by the river or canal and going out by boat. Although now after hearing about the flood in Bangkok last October, I know that it is not always fancy and comes with danger of being flooded. But it is still amazing and exciting idea to live on the water.



Remember last year? We were by the Piazza San Marco doing nothing but sitting and sketching in the sun.

Today, last year

A year has passed since the earthquake in Japan and I still do not know anything about it other than what I read and heard through media and from my friends. And I still haven't been able to do anything for that.
That morning, I opened my mail box and found everybody saying "I am safe and all right!" I thought there must had been something wrong then.
Soon I found out about the earthquake and that I could not contact my mother. But since I knew that I couldn't do anything from here, I went out to watch birds with my friend. I'm still glad I went out instead of staying at home and worrying too much but didn't imagine how big it was...



Oystercatchers ミヤコドリ
I visited Tollesbury again with RSPB Cambridge group yesterday. It was amazingly warm and even I, who have been freezing all the time since summer, felt hot after walking 8 km around the Tollesbury Wick Marshes. Spring is definitely coming.

Hall 25, B/69

At the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2012, our MA course is going to have our own stand this year!



Cambridge School of Art @Hall 25, B/69
今年初めての試みとして、わたしが所属するケンブリッジ・スクール・オブ・アートの修士のコースで、イラストレーター団体としてボローニャ・ブックフェアにてスタンドを出すことになった。在学生と卒業生70人の絵本のアイディアやポートフォリオを展示する。一般公開されているブックフェアではないですが、出版関係の方でフェアにいらっしゃるご予定があれば、ぜひ閲覧のアポイントを取りお立ち寄りください。



This year I can not go to Bologna myself, but at least my portfolio will go! Thanks to the committee members, the catalogue and huge A2 portfolio seemed to be ready now. Yesterday, I was excited to find them in our studio!