Category Archive

Feeling queasy from too many dogs, too much walking and very little sleep … love, love, loving NYC but finding it hard to be witty and clever….so just enjoy these pictures, they’re worth a thousand words apparently anyway.

O Hai! Arare chan here… and I’m in NY!

After many, many, many hours on a plane, 8 movies, 6 airplane meals and very little sleep… I’m here!

innocentgirl is here with Beck Wheeler and Oslo Davis for ICON 5. Apparently it’s all about illustration and stuff.
innocentgirl has an entire bag dedicated to print promos and apparently a whole bunch of extremely awesome Jacky Winter promos are speeding their way to the hotel as I tap these keys. Will put some images of them up soon!

Today we walked to Central Park, met squirrels, ate a Sponge Bob Square pants ice cream, wandered the Met, spiralled the Guggenheim and went to an Irish pub.

Need sleep now…. zzzzzzz. Will update some more very soon!

I’ve been a little quiet on the posting front for a while, the reason for this is the flurry of activity that has surrounded the set up of a group exhibition I am in here in Melbourne.

“Maybe we have met before?” is a collection of recent illustrations and collaborations by recent illustrators and collaborators.; some of them had only met online, some have yet to meet at all. In most cases their art preceded themselves, like an avatar, floating in a virtual world.
We had met the art but who was the creator?
Come meet them….

I have some new works and some collaborative pieces, if you are in town head on down to Kick Gallery, 239 High St, Northcote
this coming Saturday the 10th of May, from 6 -9pm.

A collection of six collaborative works will also be shown featuring a string of characters that slowly multiplied as they were posted half way around the world and back to land at Kick. Four of the artists, including myself have done a mural in the back room of islands we inhabit in our minds…

Brooke Bobridge
Catherine Campbell
Coralie Kane
EvelineTarunadjaja
Sean Morris

A week of sleepless nights makes for a sleepy innocentgirl so I’ll shut up now and just let the pictures do the talking.
Here is a sneak peak…..

Ncha! Hi, Arare here in Japan.

Here is some of the stuff we have done so far and don’t forget to check our flickr page too:

Wednesday 21st : arrived. Meet little brother and Tomo… ah, good to be in Tokyo again.

Thursday 22nd : Wandered the streets of Shimokitazawa getting lost and found and going in circles. Eat Mister Donut and buy knick knacks. Got ready at around 6pm and head into Daikanyama for the opening of Chance 10 Gallery Lele where innocentgirl’s portfolio is on display.

Friday 23rd : Public holiday here in Japan so woke up late and wandered down the street for coffee with little brother. So funny when we took him to the station and there was the big brother waiting. Ha, ha, ha… surprises be of much goodness. Then it was all day shopping, eating Mister Donut, playing in game centre’s and exploring Shimo again. Gyoza restuarant dinner, drinking at an Okinawan bar and late night karaoke. Got home around 3pm climbed into the futon and went straight to sleep.

Saturday 24th : Woke up early again and the apartment was getting real squashy with four people. It was like playing human tetris! Big brother came with us to Roppongi to visit the Mori Arts Center. The exhibition “Roppongi Crossing 2007: Future Beats in Japanese Contemporary Art” was pure brilliance… lots of fun interactive stuff! We even went in a wind tunnel that replicated what Hurricane Katrina might have been like. Then it was off to Kawasaki to meet a friend of younger brother who has a new baby… I wanted to take the baby home but they wouldn’t let me… strange, ne? I was dragging my feet by this time…. so much walking and really cold as I was still wearing my summer yukata but then younger brother took us to an all night crepe place run by a really cute old lady with eyes that go in different directions. How clever!

Sunday 25th : The skylight above my futon is waking me up early every day and the novelty of this has begun to wear off now… but it’s and up and getting ready for the ‘freaks’ (what big brother calls them) at Harajuku. He, he… I even got a photo with them. The best part of all was the trip to Kiddyland where innocentgirl bought me a winter coat… so cozy now and I even have ear muffs! We also checked out Design Festa gallery and saw live painting and drank a really yukky coffee.

Monday 26th : innocentgirl and big brother take me to Akihabara where they visit a maid cafe. ‘They are such otaku sometimes!’. When I introduce myself to the maid’s they go crazy with love for me… we got a picture taken and we learned how to speak otaku… ‘moe, moe!’ Then we spend the afternoon eating bento in Inokashira Koen in Kichijoji, so lovely. On the way back we visit Nakano Broadway… more otaku stuff, innocentgirl looks for more Arare goods but can’t find any… ‘I’m really rare!” We decide to head to Chiba to visit Jun at his bar, Jun can’t believe its really me and has to pinch me to make sure… more surprises! We meet a real crazy plumber with a broken finger who keeps hugging big brother and looks drunk but he explains to us origin of otaku and for the first time I really understand it! We stay in a hotel… I am thankful our room doesn’t have a skylight.

Tuesday 27th : Big brother shoots lots of video’s in and around Chiba port… I don’t exactly know what it’s for but some kind of art project I suppose. innocentgirl and big brother talk alot about that kind of stuff. The train ride takes us past Tokyo Disneyland and back into Tokyo again. We head on in to see some exhibitions, the one in Daikanyama and another in Hatsudai at the ICC. This one is way cool!
Big brother is leaving tomorrow so he goes home to pack all his items while I head off to meet the Cotton’s or Martine’s bday party in Shinjuku. They all came as a surprise for Aunty Marty who turns 40 on Wednesday! Happy Birthday!
Meet big brother and little brother on the way back and have a drink at a bar called Ma and Ka’s…. big brother is still packing when we get back, he’s so funny how he’s always crazy rushing. He has to take a train at 5am!

Wednesday 28th : Wake up really late… yay! Sleep is good. innocentgirl catches up on emails and stuff while I go done to get a bento and coffee for lunch. It’s fun to just sit and listen to the Tokyo sounds outside, kids running home from school, neighbours talking and shop keepers spruiking. We have a nana nap together and then head on in to Shibuya for Tokyo Dr. Sketchy! Crazy fun but innocentgirl forgets I am in the bag and sits on my head while she draws…. I forgive her though when she tells me she won a prize for her sketch and my head doesn’t hurt ’cause its made of plastic anyhow. Tokyomade goodies were being handed out and we meet Deanne who runs the site. Very cool goodies… check it out!

Anyway that’s all for now… bye bye cha!

For anyone who knows me well I am an avid notetaker from way back, in fact some years back I found a note I had written when I was around 10 or so listing, in order of priority, what needed to be done on Christmas morning eg: open presents, wash hair, eat breakfast, put hair in rollers, etc, etc. As I read it I was giggling happily at my own ‘naivity and cuteness’ and then had one of those alarming shifts in perception and that ‘naivity and cuteness soon became ‘anal and uptight’…. thats when I put it back in the box I had found it in, closed the lid and was lost in contemplative, narcissistic thoughts for the rest of the day.
Nevertheless, I digress, I take notes, obscence amounts of notes. I have a notebook that is an A4 spiral book with sticky notes used as tags to the different ‘note subjects’ …. eg: things to do, website updates to do, client lists, etc (this book is completely seperate from a diary which also has notes…if not slightly more immediate ones.
Then there is the ‘idea’ notebook, full of thumbnail sketches, random quotes, hastily scribbled compostitions, lyrics of songs … anything that will recall the ‘idea’ back to me. I am currently blessed with so many ideas I don’t have time to complete them all, but am aware this will not last. This one is great for a rainy day… also very good for keeping the contiuity in my work and get an overview of what I am actually trying to say… if anything?
This week I have found the notes so entirely overwhelming that I have decided to randomly choose from my ‘to do’ list and not stop until I am done….. this has meant no time for blog posting (even though that is often a note in my diary) … I think what made me lose it completely was when I realized I had actually written a note in my diary saying ‘organize and rewrite all notes’ !?!
It’s a sickness…

Now to the topic at hand….. I received a beautiful package of goodies from an online buddy I met via my Flickr account. Johnny Siu is an artist/illustrator living in San Francisco. His sketches in particular are just wonderful… the linework is so sensitive. His fascination with thylacines, I have yet to enquire about how that came about, is particularly intriquing. He sent his recent publication ‘Melancholy’ which I saved up until coffee break time to sit and absorb in all its loveliness, as well as a beautiful sketch of his ‘Atticus’, a fridge magnet and some other smaller prints that I will now spend my spare time framing up and adorning my picture rails with.
Must make a note of that…..

My parental units and other authoritive figures used to say to me as I was growing up “Imitation is the highest form of flattery, take it as a compliment!”… that is all well and good but at what point should you consider hiring an IP lawyer?

The work in question is not my own but has had me thinking long and hard all week about what I would do should it ever happen to me. Should I just be flattered and carry on? Or should I fight the powers that be, in this case, (shiver) an advertising agency?

The work is in fact that of ‘Kozyndan‘, a panoramic from some years back… you can see here. The ‘inspired’ advertisment is from Sony promoting their new TV. You can watch the ad here here.

To me its obvious, in fact I am sure no one can deny the ad was inspired directly from the work, and then this from Kozyndan:
“To add insult to injury, someone representing Passion Pictures contacted us almost two years ago asking to see samples of our work (including this panoramic) as they were interested in working with us. We sent them samples and then heard nothing from them ever again. (It should be noted though, that the more likely culprit is the ad firm who hired Passion Pictures, Fallon)”.
Which, I am sure, slams the door on any doubts you may have had. The concept relating to the rabbits rolling into a wave has also obviously been ‘borrowed’ from their work “Uprisings” which is a homage to Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” , which, by the way, at 150 years old is free from copyright. I am a firm believer in that it is the arrangement and blend of images/sounds/food/whatever that you can make your own. You can’t claim to be the first person to draw a coloured bunny but you can be the first to blend it with a wave or have them take over New York city. What happens when that gets ripped off…. well, actually I don’t know…. who would I speak to? What would I do? Would it make a difference?
I really feel they should teach this stuff in school, intellectual property, creative commons, copyrights, trademarks, registrations, signing release forms, writing contracts, or at least spend some more time on ‘creative thinking‘ so that desperate advertising executives wouldn’t have to ‘borrow’ other peoples concepts at the 11th hour.

I am not going to further examine the issue as others have been much more eloquent, such as here. In fact so much has been written on the subject that if you google ’sony kozyndan’ it contines for well over 20 pages (of which I will now be included), I am beginning to believe that old adage again, imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery, especially when it leads to that other well known adage ‘Any publicity is good publicity”!
Kozyndan can has publicity!

BTW Kozyndan are speeding towards us as we speak, for this show at Outre Gallery. YAY!

The photos above are of two cute pieces I picked up off an illustrator friend of mine living in Tokyo. His name is Josh Mckibillo and I first met him in 2006 at my first Design Festa. He stopped by my booth and praised my work and then by some bizarre twist of fate we were in adjoining booths at the next Design Festa so we got even more time to get acquainted. We then met for a chat and a bowl of noodles in Ueno later that month and chatted about all things illustration and Japan.
I jumped with joy last week when my two large boxes from Japan arrived on my doorstep and I finally could unwrap all my goodies, these pictures amongst them, and set them up in my studio. They now have pride of place on my mantelpiece and question each other from each end of it with “nani?”…”nani?” (nani, means ‘what’ in Japanese). The birds themselves aren’t actually painted but cut out from a black, flocked sticker.

I am also delighted to see the plum blossoms in my backyard blooming and have now made it a ritual to feed seed and old bread to the birds that sit in the trees in my backyard. There is ’stumpy’ the Dove, he has a kind of club foot, and his other Dove buddies and a bunch of Minors as well as Blackbirds, Sparrows, Wattlebirds and Whiteye’s.

Then there is this awesome book I found while organizing all my reference material. I can’t remember where it came from exactly, probably borrowed from my parents, but it has these awesome swap cards of Australian birds in it and appears to be a promotion for Tuckfield’s Tea company. It even has a list of parks where you are most likely to see the different birds, although there is a fair chance some of them my be endangered by now… and the parks are probably some kind of awful ‘Caroline Springs’ development … but I cynically digress. The colours of the cards are brilliant, almost polaroid like in their intensity, and the illustrations of the flora so beautiful too. Antipodean love!

On the 25th of July last year, I wept for five hours on a plane back from Japan, the poor man next to me was forced to listen to my muffled sobs as I returned back to my home town after three years of living in the future. Why did I sob? Wish I could give a definitive answer but I am positive it would not make interesting reading and would be too self indulgent, even for me, to delve into. Rest assured though I don’t outwardly sob anymore, but am definitely always on the lookout for a new adventure…
One such adventure is now beginning to take shape, don’t quite know where it is leading yet but Melbourne is a great place for brewing stuff, for nesting, for hiding in caves and getting busy making stuff, there are some truly awesome things happening here and one is about to come up soon like The Melbourne Writers Festival…there are also several others but will keep them for another post.

So what brought all this on?

Two things contributed to my recent itchy feet, both are featured above : The first is a picture I found while heading back from a shopping expedition at the Victoria Markets, she was just laying there on the ground peeking out with her owl eyes to a horizon of her own invention, so I named her ‘Wanderlust’. Be happy to pass her on to her original owner if anyone knows who that might be BTW.
The second was, Owen and Sim, my partners in crime during my 3 years in Japan. Now married and living in the UK they set out this European summer for Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Thailand and tales of their travels got me searching websites for cheap tickets all of Saturday morning … escape was on my mind.

And with the media screaming about the lack of housing affordability and the median price for a first home at $420,000 here in Melbourne, there is even less incentive to curb the wanderlust I just can’t seem to shake.

Headed on down to ACMI today to see Tekkon Kinkreet, absolutely, breathtakingly, fantastically, awesomely good! I found myself a cozy little seat next to the most otaku looking dude I could find, turned off my phone and breathed in the musty smell of serious movie goers in a Melbourne winter. The two women next to me were discussing their schedule, they had seen two films and were off to three more after this one. I can only imagine the distorted sense of reality they would be walking around in later that evening.

Anyway on to what the topic the title of this entry suggests, I attended my second Dr. Sketchy a couple of weeks ago and found it just as awesome as the last. I feel right at home drawing to lounge and rock music and loved the casual banter of the model ‘Chikita Margarita’ this time, she was hilarious. The pics above are of her and a sketch for a new piece I am working on from the last session of ‘Miss Nic’ for her new tattoo.

Recently I was shopping in Minatour in the city for my younger brothers Birthday, when I spied a copy of ‘Maggie the Mechanic’ which is a collection of the first five years worth of “Locas” stories, more commonly known as ‘Love and Rockets’. These comics created by the Hernandez brothers, Gilbert and Jaime, came out in the early 80’s, perfectly timed with my puberty (blues) and were a definite influence on my drawing style, not only that, but the main protagonists ‘Maggie’ and ‘Hopey’ were people I wanted to know. Maggie, a Pro-solar mechanic, is seen zipping to work on a ‘Vespa-like’ scooter (which of course has no wheels but hovers) on the very first page, while Hopey is in a not so successful punk band and is a lesbian who sometimes sleeps with guys. The images in those pages were steampunk before I even knew what steampunk was.

My last three years in Japan, being surrounded by Manga, I think made me lose touch a little with my Western comic obsessions as a teen, it was good to be immersed amongst the super heroes again and once more stand amongst the long haired, long dark coated, Doc Martin crowd, if only for an hour. I have to thank Noodleboy for first introducing me to the ‘Love and Rockets’ series and the awesome work of ‘Mobieus’ but then what else are older siblings for if not to lead you on a path to dark, underground worlds and/or excessive drinking and smoking.
I had a crush on Rand Race along with Maggie and even took one of the comics in to my hairdresser where I patiently sat in my short tartan skirt, black t-shirt, leggings and Doc Martins while watching my long locks float to the floor with each snip… sayonara innocent childhood…konnichiwa angst teenager.

So, of course, I forked out the dough for the book and have been pouring over it and reminiscing ever since. I used to think how way it was, strange characters who seemed to be aliens in various scenes, dinosaurs, robots and wrestling chics and chics with antenna’s, all that stuff that comic geeks live for. I also realize now my love of dark lines, blocky colour and interesting perspective is not just from my years studying Ukiyo-e, I have to admit that in my formative years American pop culture was a formidable force in shaping my style.

There is an interesting interview here with Jaime, regarding his latest release ‘Dicks and Deedees’ published by Fantagraphics.

So, I would like to dedicate this post to the Hernandez Bros. and to Maggie and Hopey for allowing me to pass from child to adult with more than Dolly to lead my way… bless their little sexually confused, Doc Martin wearing souls.

Thanks Jeebuz for peeps like Keri Smith.

Through some utterly random surfing I found her site and (kaching) JACKPOT!… for artists and freelancers anywhere. You don’t just have to be a visual artist to get this one, musicians, photographers … anybody really. Keri has some great advice and ideas on her site and some awesome looking books which are now on my wishlist at Amazon…. (hint hint).
Now I’m off to draw in my journal.

Was at Tequp last night and doing a bit of surfing with my nerdy buddies (hence the previous ‘Hard Gay’ post) and thought I’d check to see if one of “the best jobs I have ever, ever had the pleasure of being invited to do” was online yet and yes, yes, yes, it was! Check it out here.
I was invited to do an image for the Fantasia Festival in late March early April and to be honest I couldn’t really say it was work, it was my absolute pleasure, my research involved looking back on past festival posters and movies and drawing, drawing, drawing. If only all my jobs could be this wonderfully fulfilling!

“Fantasia Festival (Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, Fant-Asia) is North America’s premiere (and largest) genre film festival.[citation needed] It usually takes place in the month of July, in the city of Montreal. It is a place where distributors come to pick up genre films from around the world for North American release, and where fans come from all over North America to see films that normally would not even be screened on the Art House or repertory circuit for fear of low turnout” Wikipedia

I am actually extremely tempted to head on over there….. should !? (Takes magic eight ball key ring from pocket and shakes…..)…..

Then later on last night I decided to head over to South Melbourne to check out ‘Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School’. Strangely enough I had heard about this while in Tokyo after randomly meeting an old high school friend of mine … but don’t get me started on coincidences again…. suffice to say I was not disappointed.
Dr. Sketchy began in New York and probably the best way to describe it is like a life drawing class with personality. The models at Melbourne’s classes are generally from burlesque troupes, and they are not naked, they wear some FABULOUS costumes! the model we had, had some pretty awesome tattoos, including some cute as a button bows around her ankles.

It’s all very decadent and so much fun! I forgot how lovely it was to draw from real life and under the pressure of time. The model decided for the second half of the session that she would choose her next tattoo from our sketches and/or there would also be a First Prize (her garter), Second Prize (’Cry Baby’ DVD starring Johnny Depp) and Third Prize (Plastic Medal), which she would choose at the end of the session.
Much pressure filled scritching of pencils later and the model stood up, stretched and began floating around us looking at our work (she was wearing platforms, she seriously floated). Although I seriously coveted the Johnny Depp DVD I was ecstatic when she chose my work for her next tattoo. Sweet!

Ahhh! Me be happy.

1 : Not so recent discovery…

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don’t love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

I actually did the ‘Sesame Street Personality” some time ago. I was a tad surprised to find out I was Bert, but then again not. Poppa is ‘Big Bird’ … not a surprise.

2 : Recent discovery.

::The Awesome artwork of Mikish::

Mikish is a most brilliant self taught artist I discovered while wandering the booths at the last Design Festa. I had the chance to meet up with her once more before I left Japan last weekend. She is around the same age and her work is at times the opposite of mine in that some of her pieces are an Eastern view of the West. She uses a Wacom tablet and Adobe Photoshop to create her prints. Her booth was very well organized (she’d done it before) and she had some real cool postcards and coin purses for sale. I hope to be doing some collaborating with little Miss. Mikish in the near future as I truly feel our work gels well together. BTW she is also a mad collector of Blythe dolls.

3 : Not so recent discovery.

This movie ‘Aachi and Ssipak’ blew me away when I first saw the trailer…. it was akin to the feeling I had when I saw Akira for the first time. I actually discovered it while working on an illustration for a film festival (yet to be released)…. don’t you hate those jobs where you are forced to watch cool animation and alternative films as research? he he he. The trailer itself is tiny and real slow to load so I can only imagine the intense experience it will be to see it on the big screen. That’s if it makes it to the antipodes?
Do yourself a favour and mark this one down as a must see….

4. Recent discovery.

Oppai Baka, direct translation “Boob Idiot” but sounds better if you say ‘Crazy for Boobs’. On recent jaunts around one of my favourite burbs of Tokes, Akihabara, I noticed some cardboard cutouts of women with very large breasts, the sign on them was inviting men to fondle their breasts (which were made of some sort of latex and covered by fabric) apparently they were advertising this game. (warning not safe for viewing at work).

Landed back in Melbourne yesterday morning. Been unpacking and napping.

Woke up this morning feeling the usual… “Did all that really happen?” and the altered sense of reality that accompanies most international travel. The weather is so, so chilly and just came to the realization that my last real winter was actually early in 2006 … absence has not made the heart grow fonder for the season however.

I decided a while back to post the last two weeks in review due to the lack of internet access while in Japan. I got tired of lugging my old G4 around town and plugging in at random, smoky internet cafes and as the clock ticked down to my departure all I wanted to do was unplug and experience.

Saturday 9th : Began painting the mural for the wall in the men’s toilet in Joint Bar in earnest…this coincided with the monthly Jam Session there. Kenji, a most excellent drummer, decided I should join in and made me honourable tweaker of the echo dial, DJ Andrea was born. Session ended with much praise from the audience and was asked for encore.
During my ‘live painting’ session I had several questions regarding why all my characters looked so lonely … I told those concerned it was more of a pensive or thoughtful expression I was going for. Should I swap professions and DJ instead?

Sunday 10th : Was planning on heading into Tokyo for my friend Darin’s Birthday party but a combination of no sleep and rain, rain, rain made me decide to head back to Joint during the day and put some more hours into the mural. Watching Japanese TV and eating a combinni (convenience store) lunch in the empty bar. Sunday afternoon became Sunday night and I moved outside for ‘live painting’ once more. A bunch of oyagi (old men) salary men came in around 9 pm, not your average customer at Joint Bar, I managed to capture their attention and sell them some badges. Much interest was made of my sketchbook and again some questions regarding why I like Japan so much… if only I could answer them. Spent around 10 hours painting altogether.

Monday 11th : More painting… or at least that’s what I think I did.

Tuesday 12th : Headed in to Tokyo to an exhibition at the Teien Art Museum in Meguro and sell one of my prints. Travelling on the familiar Sobu-sen into Tokyo I decide to put my folio holding a print for a friend/customer on the shelf above me…. don’t normally do this….. it wasn’t until a line change and two stops closer to Meguro that I realized I no longer had it. Sinking feeling… the guy at the station was not much help but handed me a card and pointed at a number I was supposed to call. I called and in my basic Japanese I explained what had happened, describe what it was, which car I was in and where its location…no small feat actually. Then my phone hung up… goddam prepaid phones in Japan! Frustration level : extreme. Due to the realization that I would most probably spend the rest of the day on this issue.
It was another hour searching for a convenience store and finding someone to help me work out how to add the new amount to my phone until I could call the ‘lost and found’ again. I was told he would call back but that no doubt it would not be until the trains final destination that he would know…. and he was right. The train reached Zushi and a station hand retrieved my folio.
If I was to retrieve the parcel today however I too would have to make the long and boring trip to Zushi (a small seaside town just past Kamakura) over an hour away. Two hours and 20 minutes later I was back in Shinjuku on the Yamanote sen and searching for yet another internet cafe as said (pain in ass) phone also does not have internet access or email functions meaning anybody who has tried to contact me regarding dates and times I can only check in these dark and smoky dens where I contemplate what the bodies who have sat in the chair before me have actually done in here, what that tissue box is for and why you need a ‘ladies only’ section.
Lucky I checked my 7 o’clock is now an 8 0′clock and I have decided to meet up with little bro as well.
Have an excellent time with the lovely Sarah who is even more gorgeous in real life as she is online and get a chance to catch up finally with Scott and Tomoko.
They give me way too many presents once again and I apologize profusely for not getting a chance to meet up with them in Kyoto. Head home on the last train and spend most of the ride squashed in the teeny connector between carriages rocking around and moshing against the huge rubber concertina like stuff with another guy who looks decidedly embarrassed by having to share the space with me and all my luggage. Have an immense urge to shout out “What is it all for!” just to see what peeps would do. Resist the urge but now regret that.

Wednesday 13th : After, once again, very little sleep get up way too early to head to the beach with the usual suspects, Jun, Kumi, Onnoman, Yuriwa, Teshi and TKR. The weather was just too lovely to resist! Later that night we headed off again to an Okinawan Restaurant, ate my new favourite food (mozuku) got happily and delightfully drunk on Awamori and then headed to a game centre for purikura and UFO catching fun. Realized I was really off my nut when someone asked me the time and I spilled my drink on my when I looked at my watch. Called Poppa around 2am very drunk.. he he he. Three hours of Karaoke… 5 am drive home in broad daylight. WTF is with the early sunrise here in Japan.

Thursday 14th : Decide to make another go of trying to head into Tokyo. After some very obsessive checking and re-checking of luggage I abandon the train and call Yonghow to find out which exit he wants to meet me at.
Finally meet up with Yonghow, a Singaporean (who I thought was Korean!) living and working in Tokes as an animator, he meets me at Ogikubo Station. He is working on ‘The Freedom Project‘ a film made for by the same animator as ‘Akira’, Katsuhiro Otomo.. he’s living my dream but made it sound like a nightmare with 18 hour days and being on call anytime. He is an incredibly sane and lovely guy even more so considering his work schedule and insane pressure of his job. Please take the time to read his blog its a great insight into what it’s like to work in animation in Japan.
Meet up with my friend Ange at Tokyo station where we have a long and strange conversation on our mobile phones about where we both are only to find we are on opposite ends of the same platform. Then its a long D and M session on the train to Kaihim Makuhari, I remember how cool it is to talk like this when you know most probably no-one around will be eaves dropping due to the fact they can’t understand a word we are saying. Ange has decided to leave the big smoke that is Tokyo as it is making her feel old, she’ll be gone in 6 weeks. We meet up with Yoshiko and Mayuko at an excellent all you can eat organic restaurant… I manage 3 plates and dessert as well. Nice.

Friday 15th : Finally get to see the exhibition at the Teien Art Gallery in Meguro. I will blog about this in a later post as it deserves more … granted it was a lovely experience and I wandered the space with a smile plastered all over my face. Then visit one Akihabara and rub shoulders with fellow otaku then its off to one of the coolest suburbs in Tokyo, Shimokitazawa, this place truly rocks but should not be entered unless you have money to burn. I didn’t. Then Akasaka to meet up with little bro again and surprise his ‘cute as a button’ girlfriend Tomoko. She’s working in a bar called ‘Drunk Bears’ which for some reason I keep referring to as ‘Drop Bears’ much to the amusement of little bro. I invite Nico, an old friend of mine and we eat and drink and talk about marriage and why not to do it. I spy a palm reader at the station and decide to hand over 3000 yen. I have always wanted to see one of these people ever since seeing the animation ‘Akira’… I am not one for believing in fate that much but some seriously creepy ‘coincidences’ have happened of late and I was armed with two fluent Japanese speaking guys who I trust. She gave me answers to my questions but all of them I pretty much had figured were things I should do anyhow…. it was less about what will happen in the future and more like my mother telling me what to do. She looked a little lost for words at times but I just kept asking questions and making sure I got my 3000 yens worth. I have taken more notice of my ‘omikuji‘ I since bought from the shrine, cause it was lucky.

Saturday 16th : Head off to Nishi-Funabashi it meet Mikish an artist I met at Design Festa. Turns out we are around the same age, her work is an eastern view of the west and mine a western view of the east. She it taking time off work and seems to be having a very Murakami Haruki time about it… nice. I will blog more about her soon as we have made some big plans together. Head to Yuzawaya for some extra bits and pieces while Scott enquires about framing his two prints I just handed over to him. This takes an abnormally long time … we seperate at Tsudanama station and I hope that it is not too long before I see him again. Head back to Chiba and buy 30,000 yen of children’s clothes for someone else’s children. Drag myself and packages back to Joint Bar where I put in a last session on the mural… can’t say I am real happy with it but have seriously learnt so much I from the experience I am glad I did it. Jun will write a little note saying it is unfinished and that it is done by an Australian artist, Jun is such a cutie but him and his family deserve a post all to themselves.

Sunday 17th : It’s a beautiful day, warm and humid, how the hell could one month have slipped by so fast? I ride Jun’s bike into the city. Have I done much, my bank account tells me I have but I ache for more time here. I head to old haunts, the coffee shop and then Chiba Shrine. The Shrine is crowded with new babies and parents, there appears to be a ceremony going on and there are lots of photos being taken of nicely dressed families. I throw money, ring bells, pray and write on charms and hang them with the hundreds of other wishes. I watch as two tiny girls light incense and try to grasp the smoke in their hands and direct it to their faces and bodies. The incense is thought to have healing powers. When they leave I do the same.
I head off to worship another God, consumerism, drop a bunch of cash at the 100 yen, Yodabashi (Nano for Poppa) and Village Vanguard, quite possibly the best store in the world. Take some final purikura and then it’s a sweaty ride home with my purchases and a rushed pack before I bundle myself into Jun’s car and head for the airport.
Jun hangs out with me and my immense amount of baggage, then Kumi arrives and later Onnoman and Mune. We drink some last beers together and recall all the new in jokes we made this time around.
This time I don’t cry all the way home on the plane but I feel something real weird, when the part of me in transit returns I might be able to describe it but right now weird is all I can say.

I have uploaded lots of new pics on Flickr so go ahead and check ‘em out.

I just spent a lovely slow, Saturday in Kichijoji. Meandering through shops, buying way too much stuff and then slowly making my way to meet my friend Martine for coffee. We headed off into Inokashira Park where we whiled away the beautiful late Spring day in slow contemplation and photo taking. There were people walking dogs, and even a women with a giant bunny.

The night before in a bar called Mikorin (where Martine had a photography exhibition in Feb this year) we had met a friend of hers who organized a meeting with an artist in the area. Her name is Kimico Yoshida and I feel so lucky to have met her.
Her family owns several cafes in the area and they all have that kind of meshed European/Japanese charm that only can be found here in Japan. Her work mirrors mine in that it is an Eastern view of the Western world. Her girls peer out from her canvases with big expressive eyes and they ache of the melancholy that I recently have been experiencing here. Her gorgeous studio sits above one of the cafes on the edge of the park, amongst a forest of truly enormous trees (think Hayao Miyazaki…. ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’). The studio is full of old dolls, teddies, rabbits and antiques and also has a tiny little balcony with flowers just like my grandma used to grow.

We sat and spoke in broken Japanese and English together as she showed as her work. We talked about Paris, about her life and about an upcoming exhibition. I managed to get a photo with her, although she was reluctant at first saying her hair was a mess and she had plaster all over her as she was mid-doll construction at the time.

When I left to descend the precariously steep steps back down to the cafe below she thanked me and held my hand in hers and ‘warm and fuzzy’ doesn’t do justice to the aura she gave out. She is just lovely and I hope that I will still be working away like she is when I am her age.

We then fell back into the busy park, watching the Swan boats and lovers and children play while the sun set.

So, so good…. thanks Aunty Marty!
Lots more photos on Flickr… and more posts about Kichijoji can be found on Martine’s blog.

“Phew”…… I can’t remember when I arrived or if I ever left this place. There may be no time difference between Japan and Australia there surely is a brain zone difference. I find I live in my own head here quite differently to how I do in Australia. I am having much trouble articulating the experience in English as I converse so much in Japanese here and I don’t just mean the language but also in the images in my mind. To be honest much will be lost in translation, describing how I feel in english just doesn’t do the experience justice. I suspect it might also be in the intonation.

I will however try to describe my Design Festa experience this year…. here goes….

I headed to Tokyo Big Sight with 10 kilo backpack and 18 kilo roller bag full of my works and items from Inage Kaigen in Chiba early Saturday morning. The trip was easier than I thought, as I dragged my items from the combinni (convenience store) where I had bought my breakfast, down towards TBS I was surrounded by fellow artists and designers also dragging their works, it was like some huge pilgrimage of followers to worship the God of Design Festa, and if you have ever seen TBS it could be mistaken for some kind of Mayan Temple or meeting place for Scientologists so that analogy fits quite well…. if I do say so myself.

At the risk of sounding a tad emo, it is not often I feel like I belong but I did feel like I did here. There is a vibe that surrounds this festival that is quite contagious and, I suspect, addictive. I just love being a part of it and as hard as it is to get prepared the minute its over I want to do it all over again.
It took me some time to set up my booth and it was around 12 until I was satisfied with it, by then visitors had started to flow through and by 1pm the place was packed. Over the weekend over 60,000 people attend Design Festa on average.

My brother Scott and his girlfriend Tomoko came in around 3pm although not before I small stone had begun to form in my bladder due to the copious amounts of green tea and coffee I had consumed all morning with no chance relieve myself. This year my booth was twice the size of last years and on a corner, I also managed to hire some table and chairs as well. Due to some performance artists opposite we would often have more than 50 people at one time in front of us staring at some dude making robot moves and pretending to be some kind of artificial intelligence controlled by another dude with a card board controller. I personally preferred last years “Salaryman holding Bananas” but what the hell.
I had quite a few people stop by and over the entire weekend I managed to sell around 30% of my small items and go through two boxes of business cards. I also have a keen buyer for at least two of my prints and will be meeting up with her later in the month.

I was in a booth right behind a guy who had stopped by my booth last year Josh McKible, he told Scott I had inspired his participation this year ;-), he is an illustrator who lives and works in Japan but most of his commissions come from overseas, thank Jeebuz for the internet I say! Check out his site here. He is a seriously awesome dude and am so happy to have met up with him again.
I also managed to hit the Carton Box booth again and grab their new CD, they remembered me! I asked them when their ‘next live’ was and …. it’s the 17th… the day I leave. Argghhh!

I am by now means disappointed by my efforts this year, to be honest it went better than expected. There are so many booths and so many levels to that place I am surprised I was able to catch that much attention. The real fun is actually in the collaboration and the people you meet and that was my true intention.

Before I left for Japan over a week ago I had got to a point in my work where I had had enough feedback to realize that it is useless for me to try to sell the Japanese their own culture back to them. I was right. 70% of the people who stopped and bought at my booth were foreigners and lets face it, I’m singing their song.

Any way I am still processing the experience so will leave further thoughts to further posts but suffice to say…. tanoshikatta desu!!!

Thanks to Scott, Tomoko, Akane, Akkun, Kumi and all the others who have helped me this week!!!
PS(Photos on Flickr too!)

Well, well, well… who’s lovely illo is that on the Portland Mercury you ask?
Well, it’s mine! A recent illo I did “Umeboshi Otaku” was chosen some weeks back… oh happy days!
So cool, so happy… now I wonder if the “Melbourne Weekly” might be interested?

… in other news I have three new works on show at Art Melbourne 07 at the Pharos Editions stand this weekend so if you’re in the neighborhood head on down and take a peek.

On Tuesday night I went to the opening of Noodleboy’s new work, ‘Field of Play’. As part of a selection of urban art being created down at Digital Harbour at the Docklands in Melbourne. ::Field of Play:: is a game that can be played both on site and online. This is not some giant public chessboard with parts missing… this is totally cool! First of the all the iconography is not immediately recognizable and also you don’t necessarily have to know the rules to play but, most of all, you can play from anywhere in the world at all.
All you need is an internet connection, computer, mobile phone then head to this address: http://fieldofplay.net/play-here/
Choose from a selection of three characters in orange, green and blue.

Here is a blurb from the handout:
“The line between the virtual and the real is no longer clear. We now live in a mixed reality of ubiquitous media that is embedded in the world around us. This is reflected in recent developments in gaming that situate play within urban spaces using mobile phones or take a crossmedia approach that blends online, public and mobile spaces.”

So far I am around 5th on the leader board… come on, let’s play!

digitalharbour.com.au | fieldofplay.net

::The suspension of disbelief::

Watching grown men put giant socks and shoes on a giant girl puppet who gets a shower from an elephant, licks icecreams with a giant tongue and whose arms can be used to swing small girls captivated me for the full 5:07 mins. So beautifully creepy, in such a “City of Lost Children” way. It even allowed my nipponophilic soul to fall in love with the european aesthetic once more. This post is for my bestest Francophile friend… you know who you are.

I am looking for freelance illustration work, have been for 8 months.
Just one thing ….”Will work for Money!”

Felt the urge to pass on a brilliant piece of writing I found on no.spec.com it applies not only to illustrators but to any artist so read on and laugh and give little nods of understanding as I did but then promise me never to take a ‘free’ job ever again!

“To those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world
Every day, there are more and more CL posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.
But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.
To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?
More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.
And this is not really a surprise.
In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.
So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?
Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)
Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?
If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane. If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.
But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?”

…. and there is more!

So I lied about posting more regularly! I have a good excuse though…..
Thursday night was the opening of “Rat Daughter, Chocolate Geisha; contemporary expressions of Japan by two Australian artists” (the other being Benedict Ernst) it was a brilliant opening night with a nice size crowd and quite a few sales too

Jo Maindonald (one of the director’s of Kazari Collector) made a wonderful speech and I would like to send big thanks to all involved; Alex, Robert, Tarun and of course the girls in the ‘oishii’ Cafe Kazari. Thanks must also go to my printer Brian Gilkes at Pharos Editions and the guys at Omnus Framing for completing everything so well and so quickly.

Days before the opening I went through my usual harrowing feelings of self doubt and stressing over the ’small stuff’ as I am want to do but this was very much the exhibition I HAD to have (these works have been itching to get out since early last year). And again I have to thank the staff at Kazari Collector for giving me this wonderful opportunity to showcase my work. The gallery itself is a wonderful open space and the manifesto behind it coincides nicely with my own ideas on display, design and, of course, Nipponophilic tendencies. The opening night was so busy (I nursed the same glass of wine all night) due to the constant barrage of lovely peeps curious to speak to me about my work, which I find surprising easy to do I left on a high and eager to get drawing again.

If you are in Melbourne, or will be between now and March 27th head on down to 450 Malvern Rd, Prahran for a look, if not I have uploaded some photos on my Flickr page and all the works can also be found on the Kazari website and my own very, very soon (slaps self on wrist).

Thanks everyone for coming down and showing your support, it means so much to me………
next stop is Art Melbourne ‘07 and then Design Festa in Japan!!!

In the long deep breath I took after handing over my works to the framers and saying goodbye to my Japanese housemate I have been feeling a little lost… intense periods of concentration and change seem to have that effect. Not wanting to stop creating though I decided to experiment with making some “anaglyph’s” from some of my sketches. Without the blue/red 3D glasses (as seen being modelled by ‘Sienna’ the 8 kilo kitty) you won’t be able to see the 3D effect here but you may remember it if you ever read 3D comics when you were younger… or was that just me and my nerdy ways?

Sienna “Hey person who feeds me, how’s about you take these off before I sumo your ass!”

Anyhoo, here’s some info on the process and some stuff you may need…
I downloaded the AnaglyphMaker v1 from Version Tracker and found it real easy to use. I ordered some glasses from Oz 3D Optics and then escaped into the world of cyan and magenta. Twas fun!

Hint: blacks recede while whites jump forward.

There is a handy description of how it all works here. As my images are not photographs I slightly adjusted their angles and perspectives using the free transform tool in Photoshop before loading them into the AnaglyphMaker. I have yet to venture into the world of colour with these, I am also real keen on getting some of my illustrations ‘lenticulated’. Especially after seeing an awesome image of a Gundam robot at the Gundam exhibition in Japan last year.

Must apologize for the lack of posting of late. Been madly completing a series of works for my new show at Kazari (opening March 1st). My works will be shown alongside those of Benedict Ernst, the title of our show is “Rat Daughter, Chocolate Geisha; contemporary expressions of Japan by two Australian artists” The prints are currently being framed as I write this… phew! More on this in posts to come.

A close friend of mine, Martine Cotton, actually just opened her own exhibition in Japan on Saturday night. The works look quite amazing, as do the flickr photos of the opening. “Monochromic’ is the name of the show and the pieces are a selection of black and white photographs she has taken over the years.

And yesterday…. Mayuko (our Japanese housemate) left us. She’s probably surfing off some beach in Byron Bay right now while I sit here and miss her smiley face around the pad. That’s right, my little piece of Japan is surfing her way up the east coast and heading back to the big, stinky, smoke that is Chiba, Japan. BTW I will also miss her most excellent cooking. I tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to stowaway in her surfboard cover whilst she was occupied with finding the end of the packing tape. Best of luck little Mayuko chan … ganbarre!

Wishing that you all get messages of love and lust from your nearest, dearest and possibly unknownest, and promise to update with a little more regularity from now on.

Bungalow 8 is a cafe/restaurant/bar on Brunswick St, Fitzroy. Formerly the ‘Hideout’, where my best friend once fell through the roof while retrieving supplies back in her days of waitressing, dreadlocks and Dr. Martens, it now has new owners.
A friend of mine ‘Keith’ discussed the possibility of an interactive, ‘live’ artwork in the space, as it is truly cavernous. There are two large television screens and a massive screen that could be used for projections, the idea was to hook up my laptop to a projector so people could watch my ‘work in progress’. Unfortunately the projector they had been using was stolen a month before… Plan B, an analog work? Why not!
Although intimidated by the sheer size of the place I opted to do an analog piece on MDF board, toying with the idea of something like this, and then realizing that would require an intense input of hours onsite, something I just can’t commit to as yet.
I opted instead for an work that is still interactive but doesn’t require me to be there on a full time basis, it relies solely on the input of customers at Bungalow 8. Basically the work consists of 12 squares of MDF, 30 x 30 cm in size, these are pieced together to make a work 90 cm high and 120 cm wide. Each week I will complete a piece of the puzzle, the first piece shown above, the following pieces decided on by anyone who feels inclined to suggest an ‘idea’ on the poster provided. It’s not that I am want for ideas, in fact quite the opposite, currently my head seems to be throwing out new images at an epileptic pace, it’s more that I want someone else to decide for once, kind of like art direction from complete strangers.

So head on down! They have a huge menu and an awesome selection of cakes as well as a ‘hotspot’ and some lovely red soft couches … go, eat, contemplate life, enjoy!
If you need more information please speak to Moura, Hannah or Jimmy at Bungalow 8 and they will be more than happy to direct you to the piece. Or if you are a hikikomori please just send me an email with your suggestion : innocentgirl@otoshimono.org

Over the next three months the piece will snake itself into creation and barring some expected, alcohol induced ‘obscene’ comments, I am quite looking forward to what will be suggested. I will be making regular updates here, including a break down of the process so keep on checking back and as I have written on the poster “Lets be making happy picture!”.