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Showing posts from May, 2008

Upcoming Exhibition

Solo Show : It's official: I will have a solo exhibiton in mid-August! Thanks for all your well wishes in my previous post. I met with the non-profit gallery owner of Re-bridge last Sunday. She is very kind and patient. The meeting was in Japanese and I know I am socially clumsy in that language. Her first name was so easy to remember; I started to call her by her first name when I remembered the Japanese custom is to use the person's last name. So I quickly looked down at the business card she had given me to get her last name. That of course was in Kanji so two more seconds of delay. I finally addressed her by her last name. She chuckled and said it was fine to call her by her first name. After talking about my art and portfolio, we discussed the gallery's terms of use. Once the business arrangements were completed, she explained her reason for opening this non-profit gallery. There are three well-known exhibition spaces in Sendai. The starting rental pri

Sale and Preparing an Artist Portfolio

Gallery Juana Etsy shop . Have you heard of ACEO's? ACEO stands for 'Art Cards, Editions and Originals'. They are small artworks. The only rule is that they measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches. They are small, affordable examples of an artists' work. I started doing small art pieces at the end of 2007. ACEO's are a great way to start or add to an art collection. Their size make them perfect to display just about anywhere. My latest small aceo is my interpretation of Eternity. I have been wanting to work on my own Enso. What is Enso? Summed up by Wikipedia: "... a Japanese word meaning "circle" and a concept strongly associated with Zen. Ensō is perhaps the most common subject of Japanese calligraphy, symbolizing enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and the void; it is also an expression of the moment." Meaning of the Kanji: Autumn wind (upper left), Night (lower left) and Bright (inner circle). Portfolio Review: Since moving

Blind Female Shamans of Aomori

This past weekend I learned about Osorezan ("Dread Mountain") in Aomori on Northern Honshu island. Founded in 862 A.D., this sacred mountain is famous for Itako , female Shamans, who undergo rigorous training , before gaining the title and practice of Itako. In July and October, there are special festivals where the Itako communicate with the Dead. Osorezan Bodaiji Temple, located on Osorezan, is one of the three most sacred places in Japan. Blind shamans are predominant throughout Japan's northeastern prefectures, including Tochigi and Ibaragi prefectures. The names for these shamans vary depending on the region. The Life of a Shamaness includes two very interesting short memoirs of two female Shamans. My latest painting is Maya II

Monthly Update for May

What have I been up to? For the last couple of months I have been working solely on ACEOs . Aceo stands for art, card, editions, originals. These are small paintings which must be 2.5 x 3.5. At first, it was difficult to imagine painting on such a small support, but now I like the small size. What's in the Works: I also am preparing digital pics of my art for prints. I need at least 18 pics. These prints will be small, aceo size, 2.5 x 3.5. What's New: Since last week, I have begun painting larger portraits again. This morning I worked on two sketches. I finished one painting based on one of these sketches. I named her Maya. I really like this image, so I will do a series of her. Visit my Gallery Juana.etsy.com shop to view Maya and more of my art. I joined the Diary 2009 Project . The coordinator is looking for " 365 artists and crafters around the world. It is free participation and free publicity for you. " Visit her site for more information.

The Dream Chronicles and Presence

I often dream through my conflicts. These dreams sometimes follow a theme or appear in sequence. I work out my questions through my dreams. Sometimes, I haven't even admited the question. This is the first entry in what I will call "The Dream Chronicles." After finding out that my father was terminally ill with cancer in the summer of 2006, I started having ghost dreams. I've had these dreams since the end of 2006 to until recently, April 2008. These dreams have been very real and tactile. The first Ghost dream My husband and I had been asleep for sometime. He was on my left and my cat was between us. I heard a noise which partially brought me out of my deep sleep. My husband was getting back into bed. At this point, he kicked the top of my left foot. I felt the warmth and solidness of his foot. Now I was slowly waking up. Peeved that he had kicked me, I opened my eyes and saw that he was on his side with his feet facing away from me. He was in a deep sle

Going Digital

I love my Canon G9 digital camera. I still have much to improve on my phototography skills. Robert Socha's Photography blog has some good tips for taking good photos. I have bookmarked it for future study. In the meantime, I am enjoying the learning process. Here is one photo (low resolution for the internet) from my recent walks. I have prints available in my Gallery Juana shop soon.

Sunday

I live on a busy city street. There is always an old building being demolished or a new building being built. Caddy-corner to my apartment, there is a gas station . All day I hear the gas station clerks yelling "Orai, orai!" In addition, the city is constructing the new subway just outside my Apartment building. Even with the windows closed, I hear all this noise pollution. But on Sundays, it is quiet. I usually work on Sundays, so I never get to enjoy the lazy, quiet Sunday feeling. Today, I woke up late and enjoyed the quietness of the day. I spent the morning looking at sleeping cat photos on flickr. I love cats and my cat, Sputnik, is my constant companion. She sleeps on my lap when I am at the computer. Someday I will get that perfect photo of her. In the meantime, here are a couple of my favorites from aswiebe and sara .

Golden Week and Proverbs

I will have five glorious days off thanks to the consecutive National Holidays which make up "Golden Week." If I go anywhere, travelling will be limited to local areas. I mostly look forward to working all day on my Art! Most people in Japan will be travelling to their hometown or somewhere for a short vacation. Roads will be jammed with traffic. Hotel prices are higher, and they are probably already fully booked. Japan Today reported that in 1.5 million people visited the new Tokyo Midtown shopping /office complex in Roppongi during Golden Week 2007. Long waits and patience are expected if you are going to travel during Golden Week. The Japan Times reported that Narita airport’s operating company expects to have 970,000 travelling between April 24 to May 7. I love proverbs. I have this small ink painting with caligraphy in my Gallery Juana etsy shop. A group of monks are on their long pilgrimage or journey. Proverb: Read as follows: Ame futte ji katamaru L