When I went up to the rooftop on a sunny day to look at the sky, the reflection of the sun looked like a veil of light and the clouds looked like my dog, Ken. I had reached a dead end while brewing over a trial painting for over a year before I started work on this painting. That time was not a waste.  I imagined Ken’s dream world projected on the veil of light and its connection to the universe on the same plane.  I believe that my attempt to make different dimensions coexist succeed.

My beloved dog, Ken, died in the spring of 2020. My works heavily reference the sights that we came across in our daily walks and he was the inspiration for the canines I’ve painted throughout my career. Without him beside me, the walks through my neighborhood became difficult. It took time, but eventually I saw the grasses and wildflowers that had come up around our streets, weeds and a nuisance to some, but beautiful all the same. Soon after, I was able to think back on how he loved to run and play there, romping in those verdant, tiny oases, and I was inspired to set that feeling onto canvas – to embrace the beauty in the world that we too often overlook as ‘common’ and celebrate every moment of the brief time we’re given.

The heat of a Japanese summer lingers well into September, oftentimes distracting us that nature is busy preparing the world for winter. Even as we happily stroll on a hot day during our summer holiday, baring our arms against the heat, portents of the transition are everywhere. In this piece a premonition of death is represented by the presence of spider lilies and our vulnerability is displayed in inverted figures. Despite such grim moments, or perhaps because of them, we should live passionately and celebrate life in all of its forms.

A majestic, giant tree stretches forth its branches in communion with the cosmos. Far above it, space wheels in its infinity and the tree is bathed in the light of stars that are millions of light years away. This is a familiar sight in a park that I have explored countless times, and yet it can still spark a feeling of being connected to something beyond the world I know in my mundane, daily life.

In this canvas I wanted to join the past, present, and my imagination of the future in Tokyo. The sepia-tones represent the 1950’s where the central table figure is a prelude to a modern café. The overscaled moon is my feeling that the moonlight can sometimes become its own reality and move closer to us without actually altering its physical distance. There is also the beautiful Rainbow Bridge, which has become a launching point for vessels leaving our world to travel to the cities mankind has built in the vastness of space.

Construction and industry are common sights in the bay area of Tokyo, it’s almost impossible to see a glimpse of the water without the eye passing over a crane busy at work moving material or cargo. I was inspired by the lines of them framing the cargo docks. To my imagination they seemed like giraffes standing together, all looking at the sky and I asked of myself, ‘what would such giraffes look at, what holds their attention in the sky?’ These artificial giraffes are like humanity, something belonging to nature but somehow unnatural all at once, but still nurtured and protected by our beautiful planet. Our home. In this painting, it is my wish that their – and our – dreamed futures will always be bright and full of hope.

I enjoy the view of Gate Bridge from my studio and this view fluctuates hour by hour, with colors shifting and flowing and the light just as mercurial as the weather. Full moon nights are fantastical, the light reflecting from the sea and shining back up into the bright night sky. This view brought the sudden inspiration – the bright night sky being opened up, spilling forth a Balinese vista in a flood of daylight.

I first became infatuated with lotuses in 2018 and featured them in many of my works. Everything of the plant captivated me – the large flowers first drew me in and then the leathery leaves dancing in the wind, nodding above the mud and water, captured my imagination. I sketched at the Sinobazu Pond, a famous location for lotus-viewing, in Tokyo and I tried to visualize myself as a lotus with my face turned to the sky. From there I thought of what the sky looks like from earth and how the sky might appear from space. These spaces are literally far apart from each other, but perhaps, they are also closely bound and unified.

My inspiration was the beauty of our blue planet and the infinite reaches of space. My fascination with the grace of lotus leaves swaying in the wind excited my imagination of scenery that merged the natural with the man-made, presenting a harmony between nature and man. The fish swimming through space, journeying towards Jupiter, echoed the future of humanity while life itself was represented by the spherical nature of the bubbles.

I completed a series of works in 2018 featuring the earth and the cosmos. I drew inspiration from the imagery of classic films and “The Blue Danube”, a waltz by Johann Strauss II. My vision was of a silent, tranquil world illuminated by a full moon with Tokyo Tower standing as a splash of bright color against the muted pallet of night.

I wanted to paint the trajectory of a life, shown in the future of an imagined girl. Each scene is a moment of time taken from the day to day life so many of us take for granted, presenting a collage made from the ordinary extraordinary gift of life.

The dynamic form in this work was born of paper craft. When I placed the sites and buildings from my daily walks in different positions, I felt that the familiar vistas began to morph and gain new dimensions. I saw another Tokyo beneath the solid ground and imagined a great sea out of sky and space that I populated with graceful fish who freely journey across my canvas. My paintings fill me with a deep peace and a sense of accomplishment that turns my fears and worries into small, weak things that are unable to break my peace. I am very proud of this piece in particular as it wont the New Face Award in the 42nd Japan Naïve Art Exhibition.

When I went up to the rooftop on a sunny day to look at the sky, the reflection of the sun looked like a veil of light and the clouds looked like my dog, Ken. I had reached a dead end while brewing over a trial painting for over a year before I started work on this painting. That time was not a waste.  I imagined Ken’s dream world projected on the veil of light and its connection to the universe on the same plane.  I believe that my attempt to make different dimensions coexist succeed.

My beloved dog, Ken, died in the spring of 2020. My works heavily reference the sights that we came across in our daily walks and he was the inspiration for the canines I’ve painted throughout my career. Without him beside me, the walks through my neighborhood became difficult. It took time, but eventually I saw the grasses and wildflowers that had come up around our streets, weeds and a nuisance to some, but beautiful all the same. Soon after, I was able to think back on how he loved to run and play there, romping in those verdant, tiny oases, and I was inspired to set that feeling onto canvas – to embrace the beauty in the world that we too often overlook as ‘common’ and celebrate every moment of the brief time we’re given.

The heat of a Japanese summer lingers well into September, oftentimes distracting us that nature is busy preparing the world for winter. Even as we happily stroll on a hot day during our summer holiday, baring our arms against the heat, portents of the transition are everywhere. In this piece a premonition of death is represented by the presence of spider lilies and our vulnerability is displayed in inverted figures. Despite such grim moments, or perhaps because of them, we should live passionately and celebrate life in all of its forms.

A majestic, giant tree stretches forth its branches in communion with the cosmos. Far above it, space wheels in its infinity and the tree is bathed in the light of stars that are millions of light years away. This is a familiar sight in a park that I have explored countless times, and yet it can still spark a feeling of being connected to something beyond the world I know in my mundane, daily life.

In this canvas I wanted to join the past, present, and my imagination of the future in Tokyo. The sepia-tones represent the 1950’s where the central table figure is a prelude to a modern café. The overscaled moon is my feeling that the moonlight can sometimes become its own reality and move closer to us without actually altering its physical distance. There is also the beautiful Rainbow Bridge, which has become a launching point for vessels leaving our world to travel to the cities mankind has built in the vastness of space.

Construction and industry are common sights in the bay area of Tokyo, it’s almost impossible to see a glimpse of the water without the eye passing over a crane busy at work moving material or cargo. I was inspired by the lines of them framing the cargo docks. To my imagination they seemed like giraffes standing together, all looking at the sky and I asked of myself, ‘what would such giraffes look at, what holds their attention in the sky?’ These artificial giraffes are like humanity, something belonging to nature but somehow unnatural all at once, but still nurtured and protected by our beautiful planet. Our home. In this painting, it is my wish that their – and our – dreamed futures will always be bright and full of hope.

I enjoy the view of Gate Bridge from my studio and this view fluctuates hour by hour, with colors shifting and flowing and the light just as mercurial as the weather. Full moon nights are fantastical, the light reflecting from the sea and shining back up into the bright night sky. This view brought the sudden inspiration – the bright night sky being opened up, spilling forth a Balinese vista in a flood of daylight.

I first became infatuated with lotuses in 2018 and featured them in many of my works. Everything of the plant captivated me – the large flowers first drew me in and then the leathery leaves dancing in the wind, nodding above the mud and water, captured my imagination. I sketched at the Sinobazu Pond, a famous location for lotus-viewing, in Tokyo and I tried to visualize myself as a lotus with my face turned to the sky. From there I thought of what the sky looks like from earth and how the sky might appear from space. These spaces are literally far apart from each other, but perhaps, they are also closely bound and unified.

My inspiration was the beauty of our blue planet and the infinite reaches of space. My fascination with the grace of lotus leaves swaying in the wind excited my imagination of scenery that merged the natural with the man-made, presenting a harmony between nature and man. The fish swimming through space, journeying towards Jupiter, echoed the future of humanity while life itself was represented by the spherical nature of the bubbles.

I completed a series of works in 2018 featuring the earth and the cosmos. I drew inspiration from the imagery of classic films and “The Blue Danube”, a waltz by Johann Strauss II. My vision was of a silent, tranquil world illuminated by a full moon with Tokyo Tower standing as a splash of bright color against the muted pallet of night.

I wanted to paint the trajectory of a life, shown in the future of an imagined girl. Each scene is a moment of time taken from the day to day life so many of us take for granted, presenting a collage made from the ordinary extraordinary gift of life.

The dynamic form in this work was born of paper craft. When I placed the sites and buildings from my daily walks in different positions, I felt that the familiar vistas began to morph and gain new dimensions. I saw another Tokyo beneath the solid ground and imagined a great sea out of sky and space that I populated with graceful fish who freely journey across my canvas. My paintings fill me with a deep peace and a sense of accomplishment that turns my fears and worries into small, weak things that are unable to break my peace. I am very proud of this piece in particular as it wont the New Face Award in the 42nd Japan Naïve Art Exhibition.