Tanabata #1

In this picture I drew the Milky Way over the sea. In Japan, you can often see large rocks rising up from the sea which have a mysterious energy to them.

What is Tanabata?

This is a festival held in Japan in July. During the festival, people write their wishes on small strips of paper tied to bamboo leaves which decorate shops and houses. On the 7th July, the romantic Tanabata legend tells of the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi who can only meet for one day in the year as the Milky Way comes into clearer view.

Check out this link to find out more about the Tanabata festival

Miminashi Hoichi #3

This picture was developed from my previous work "Miminashi Hoichi #2". This piece is designed in a way that it can be used as fashion. 

Miminashi Hoichi #2

This is a picture I developed from the first in the series of drawings entitled Miminashi Hoichi. In the first picture I draw a face covered in Kanji characters. In this picture, I took the kanji script and changed it to roman alphabet but kept the same brsh stroke kanji style.

Miminashi Hoichi #1

This picture entitled "Miminashi Hoichi 1" was inspired from one of the scenes from the play "Miminashi Hoichi". In Japanese ghost stories, ghosts don't attack the living but haunt them for a long time making their lives miserable.

"Miminashi Hoichi" is a ghost story set in the Amidato temple in Shimonoseki city in Yamaguchi prefecture. This type of ghost story is called "Kaidan" in Japanese. The Greek Author Koizumi Yakumo (his Japanese name) turned this traditional story into a short story.

You can read more about the story of Miminashi Hoichi here.

Japanese Art: Wheel Tracks #3

This picture shows a "tenugui" or headscalf or handtowel with a pattern developed from my previous wheel track painting. These tenugui were traditionally used to wipe the hands and face dry. These are worn in festivals and recently have become popular as souvenir gifts with various patterns printed on them. 

Tenugui photo - Here is an example of how tenugui are used in traditional festival dances. Click the link to see the works of Keisuke Serizawa, a skilled pattern designer and cloth dyer.