Thinking back 2012 〜大晦日によせて〜

2012 was a fuzzy year for me. I finished my MA and started my career as a freelancer. In someway it meant to become a non-person without any title. I didn't do any big works and I feel like I haven't progressed enough for the result to be shown.
But it was surely a wonderful year. I began to see who I am and where I should be heading for. And I needed this time and will need a little more to figure out where and how to start.



2012年、あんたは何をやっていたんだ、と言われると、答えに窮してしまいそうですが･･････みなさんのおかげで、なんとか日々生きています！　この秋はバードウォッチング旅行専門の(株）ワイバードのホームページデザインをやらせていただきました。
地道に一歩ずつ、やりたい事ができるように、精進していきたいと思います。本年はいろいろとお世話になりました。
This is something what I was working on this autumn, YBIRD travel agency's top page design!

Young探鳥会

久しぶりに一時帰国し、何もかもが新鮮に感じたのは束の間。気づけば日本の生活に慣れて、2年間のイギリス暮らしは、心地良い夢か何かだったような気がしていた。
そしてまたケンブリッジに戻ってきたいま、今度は日本滞在が夢だったような気がしている。ナルニア国とロンドンを行き来する子どもたちが味わっているのは、こんな気分だろうか。



15日に井の頭公園で行われたYoung探鳥会に参加した。本当に大勢の参加者にびっくり！　そしてキクイタダキやヒガラ、イカルと今年の冬鳥の多さにも、改めてびっくり！
オシドリが長いことポーズをとってくれたのでスケッチできた。



そして翌週のYoung探鳥会交流会では、2年間イギリスで体験したこと、学んだこと、留学について、絵本づくりについてのお話をわたしが発表させていただいた。見事に風邪を引いて声が出ず、お聞き苦しかったと思いますが、集まってくださったみなさま、ありがとうございました！
I made a presentation about my experience in Britain for young bird watchers in Japan. I talked about public footpath, a walk in fresh air with green wellies, rivers without fences or concrete bank, dark night and big sky, gardens performing as green corridors, tradition of field sketch, living in a hundred years old house...all those things that I love about being here.

Sketching

The Thai trip was very special to me because I could spent several days with Ajaan Kamol Komolphalin and sketch birds, animals, plants and scenery.



The second trip we had during my stay in Thailand was to Mae Wong Natinal Park and we spent two nights at Chong Yen.



Chong Yen



Large Indian Civet came out to feed on the leftover rice at night. I had no idea what kind of animal it was when I sketched this.



Every time it came out for a few minutes, I could only observe some part of it. But by watching it several times, I gradually understood its complete picture!

Merry Christmas!

Wish you a happy Christmas!



I am glad to be safely back in Cambridge just in time for Christmas. I will have a proper British Christmas thanks to my landlady and I am very much looking forward to it!

Street sellers

I love Thai streets full of people who have nothing yet are living day to day strongly.



A lady selling flowers under the BTS sky train in Bangkok.



The Sate restaurant that my friend recommended. We had a catfish!



Pa tong ko. The best way to start a morning in Thailand. All pa tong ko sellers have their own way of making the fried dough. This person made the metal cutting tool by himself.



A huge market exists behind a street.

Painted Stork

Aj Kamol spotted five painted storks during their migration journey along the road. We were lucky to be able to stop the car at the road side and draw them for a while.



インドトキコウ
When I saw this bird, I immediately thought that this is THE bird for printmaking. I still want to carve a rubber stamp of it but I did some monoprints for now using leftover inks.

Oil inks

I couldn't help buying some oil ink tubes for printmaking. Although I found it ok to use water soluble ones, oil inks are actually much nicer. The biggest difference is, I think, the time that inks remain wet without drying up. With the water soluble inks I have to clean stamps several times.





A girl from a sketch that I made while I was waiting at the Suvarnabhumi airport.

アオバトのなる木

On the way to the nature reserve, we found a group of green pigeons on a tree. Nine of them were orange-breasted green pigeons and a male pompadour pigeon was mixed in as well as a white-throated kingfisher. What a popular tree it was! Aj Kamol was quite surprised to see the orange-breasted pigeons here.
ムネアカアオバトの群れとハイビタイアオバト



Pompadour pigeon has red coverts.



We spent hours drawing pigeons and ended up not going to the nature reserve.



Vinous-breasted Starling （シロガシラムクドリ）
山の上より、むしろ低地のほうがたくさんの鳥が見られる気がした。



White-throated Kingfisher （アオショウビン）

Kaeng Krachan

I spent a week or so in Thailand. This trip was very special to me. I went on two birdwatching trips with Aj Kamol Komolphalin and lovely birdwatching friends of mine. More than ten years have passed since I first joined Aj Kamol's birdwatching tour and was so impressed by him as a bird leader and as an artist. This time I could sketch birds all the time next to him! Slowly, I am getting a little bit closer to him.



Red-beareded Bee-eater （ムネアカハチクイ）



Dark-sided Flycatcher （サメビタキ）



I was drawing this and missed the great hornbill. But these days I prefer to observe a bird long enough to draw than to have a brief look at a rare bird. So I pretended that I didn't mind...



Flavescent Bulbul was bathing with morning dew on a fern. （カオジロヒヨドリ）



Vernal Hanging Parrot　（ミドリサトウチョウ）