Category: JK journey
Spirited Away in YAMAGATA, Japan
Driving back home, Satoshi made a turn to a deserted magical world.
It was drizzling and it seems like we are the only wandering souls around.
Stumbled upon the oldest pachinko parlor and this 100 year old japanese inn.
We took a peek but we couldn’t get in as it was closed.
Hungry like pigs, we discovered this empty cafe and devoured all the fish and potatoes that we can eat.
The wind with no face whispered that we need to return home before sunset,
lest we forget our names and be trapped in this world.
Now safely home, we watch Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki.
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Images shot in Notoya ryokan in Ginzan onsen, Yamagata prefecture
(where part of the Ghibli film “Spirited Away” was inspired from)
FOLLOW YOUR ART: questioning the process
I told my painter friend about my learning process; how i look at an image and imagine the layers of colors underneath. He immediately said creating layers of colors is not the way to do it (not his exact words but something like it) and that before i put on the paint, it should have been mixed (with other colors) perfectly, the way you want (for example) the skin to be. You don’t put on one color and just cover it if you make a mistake. You have to know exactly what colors should go with what, before brushing it onto the canvas. He said watercolor strokes should flow like water, because my watercolor tubes (gouache) i use it like oil paint or acrylic perhaps. I’m not using it for its purpose, i’m using it the way i want it to be.
I felt somewhat taken aback by his reaction, i thought he would appreciate my progress. I didn’t know i would get a little bit of scolding, well it wasn’t exactly like that, but that was what it felt to me at that moment. He hasn’t seen my works in progress, so hopefully he’ll change his point of view when he sees it.
It got me thinking, is my process a mistake even if i get a result that i’m proud of? It’s like getting the right answer to a mathematical problem, but then you should be ready to explain how you got the solution. I’m bad in mathematics so perhaps that’s not a good analogy 😉 I feel, i may be painting the wrong way but i’m enjoying so much the process. I love how excited i am waking up to paint, and staying in my atelier all day long. Isn’t this more important? I honestly felt a bit bad, like he popped the bubble for me. Or maybe i am romanticizing about things again. Or perhaps i am high on my “treading-the-fulltime-artist-path” that i don’t want to accept that my process is not really the way to go.
In my creative life, i can say that a lot of the things i do, i learned on my own. I dunno if that’s good but that’s how it is for me. But then again, perhaps, to really further improve, i should just learn from the masters.
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Related Readings:
BASQUIAT – https://theartofeveryday.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/getting-to-know-jean-michel-basquiat/
SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST – https://theartofeveryday.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/follow-your-art-opening-thyself/
DISCOVERING PAINTING – https://theartofeveryday.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/following-my-heart-discovering-painting/
BECOMING A FULL-TIME ARTIST – https://theartofeveryday.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/independence-day/
ART PORTFOLIO – http://jazelkristin.wordpress.com/
Nirvana in GUNMA, Japan
Today, we’re heading to Onsen paradise – GUNMA.
Honestly, I’m not too keen to be naked in front of strangers in a natural hot spring, but Gunma is famous for that, so might as well try it, right? Right!
I woke up extra early and found Naomi and Satoshi in the kitchen preparing some oniguri for our roadtrip. I really wish to recreate this dish at home. It’s so simple and yummy to eat, everything in one bite! It’s also good to bring on the road as you don’t need utensils to consume it.
We passed nearby towns before arriving in Gunma. We also have Toto, their cutie pie doggy, with us.
Visual Feast in SAITAMA, Japan
It was raining when I arrived in Tokorozawa in Saitama. Naomi was there to welcome me and my gawd, she still looks the same 🙂 She promised to impress me with her driving, hehe. We first drove to the library to borrow a travel book about another place where they plan to bring me, but we didn’t find any. We then drove to a small park to show me some cherryblossoms, but it was raining quite hard and so we drove back home to see Satoshi. So far, driving skills of Naomi is a 9! Haha, 1 step closer to perfection!!!
I met Naomi and her husband Satoshi, who is a children’s book illustrator, during my artist residency in Paris. I am so excited to stay with them and experience what is like to live in a Japanese house 😀 Though, Naomi asked me not to post too much images of her home, so I will just share with you some detail shots during my stay 😉
We went to the supermarket to buy dinner… I love going to groceries and supermarkets to check out the local products and not to mention, look at interesting packaging! First stop was the seafood supermarket.
J A Z E L K R I S T I N 