When I first arrived in Tokyo, I was experiencing bouts of mild vertigo, which I now attribute to anxiety. Anxiety about not understanding and not being understood, fear of the unknown, whatever. Around the time leading up to and after my exhibition, I would lie in my bed exhausted, excited, yet unable to sleep. I swore the bed was moving under me, but I checked the Earthquake site for Japan the next morning and there had been no activity recorded for the Tokyo area. My senses were hyperactive, feeling my own blood throb inside. I only had to lie there […]

I have always noticed manhole covers and in Japan, they are truly remarkable. Each municipality, town, village has its own personalized variation. Here are a few and some beautiful sidewalk tiles in Kudanshita, Tokyo.

One of the bonuses of sitting my show, other than meeting new people and getting a chance to see people that I have already met once more is to practice my Japanese. I feel like I have learned more in a few afternoons at the gallery than going to class. Just hanging out at Tokyo Studio, there is always something going on and someone ready to engage however we can -like Yoichiro-san feeding his bird-friends or Shinesuke arriving on his motorcycle. I’ll continue to add photos of daily activities at the gallery. Next week, Sekine-san will bring a group from […]

The show is up! The suzuri, or the inking stone as it is known in English is the work that draws the most attention. It is made of paper – kozo fibre covering a structure sculpted from styrofoam. The surface of the paper has a thin covering of beeswax to protect it from the sumi (ink) that fills the bowl. One of the things I had not foreseen while planning this work is the strong odour of the sumi (ink) and everyone in Japan has some memory of that odour deep inside them from calligraphy practice at school. I love […]

Sitting the gallery as I have just found out today, is a very good way to work on my Japanese. Not a lot of people in Japan speak English, so I’ve become very good at gestures and using the few words I do know. When I knew I was coming to Japan, I signed up for a beginners course at the Canadian Japanese Cultural Centre in Montreal. I was away for an exhibition in Bogota and missed one lesson near the beginning unfortunately and then another because of illness, so I never really felt like I was able to keep […]

The race is on. Which will be ready first – the gallery or my work? Little more than 2 and a half months ago, it was decided that a gallery would be built and that I would make its first exhibition. In one week today, it all begins. Here are some photos of where we are today. We both feel that everything is completely on schedule. The garage is now a beautiful, white space and  I am once again, making art on the kitchen table – still the best place for mixing stuff up. Monday, the windows and the doors […]

There is definitely something special going on about feet here. Everyone removes their shoes before entering their home. That is a given and I understand it. No problem. There are special slippers to put on for the toilet and at the onsen or public bath it is barefeet only, entirely naked only in fact. So, it would appear that you have to make at least a few social blunders in Japan. Mine concerned my first encounter with toilet slippers. It happened in a small family restaurant in Hakone, near Mount Fuji. When you first walk into a restaurant, or public […]

Yayoi Kusama is a well-known and loved Japanese artist. Her work has been exhibited around the world and the dot continues to be a central theme. As far as the ubiquitous polka-dot and Yayoi Kusama’s dot obsession, it is one of those chicken or egg coming first questions. You can’t deny that there are really a lot of polka-dots in Japan. Once you start noticing them, you see them everywhere. The water drop or mizu tama in Japanese is the origin of the pattern here. I have always loved polka-dots. To me they say, let’s have fun, clothes don’t have […]