I make things out of paper.

Nameless

2012-01-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well, it's done. And what I've learned about myself is that I eventually will fall back into working with bright cartoon-y colours. This drawing is still nameless - I look at it every day though.

I have about 3 months until I submit my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project!

Wednesday Night Doodle

2011-11-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Encyclopedia of Inner Life

I'm slowly filling the pages of my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project. This is the second time I've done this project. The first time I found myself rushing at the very last minute to put stuff down and not think about whether it was "good" or "bad." This time I'm thinking about it a little differently, as a place where I can turn off my brain and let the materials go to work. And find out what I think is "good."

I just finished page 4. I have 26 pages to go...

I'm addicted to Work of Art, season 2 (a reality art show). The artist Sucklord just said this, which I think I can relate to:

"I spent my whole life developing myself to being who I am, and now at this stage of the game to push myself into directions that I wouldn't otherwise go into was interesting, but at the end of the day confirm for me that the voice that I have is the voice that I should continue with."

I don't know if I can say the same for myself and taiko, but that's what makes taiko special for me - in a different way from art.

Sketchbook Project 2012: Encyclopedia of Bachi (Drumsticks)

2011-11-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

BACHI is the name for the straight wooden sticks used to play taiko drums and also the plectum for stringed instruments like shamisen and biwa. "Bachi" is also loosely defined as "What goes around, comes around." Drumsticks made their first notable appearance in Asia in the 7th Century. Drumstick is the leg of a bird. Andrew J gave me the word drumstick. He is a thoughtful and talented taiko player.

Also, a doodle that came out as I was watching the the tv medical drama, House.

Sketchbook Project 2012: Encyclopedia of Mari

2011-10-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

MARI is a Japanese girls' name. Mari is also a girls' name in the Breton, Estonian, Hungarian, Finnish, Welsh, Swedish and Norwegian languages. MARI can be written in the Japanese kanji charaters to mean "truth," "long distance," or "jasmin." In Hebrew, MARI means "uncertain" or "bitter." It is the Welsh form of "Mary." MARI is also a decorative colourful Japanese ball (temari).

MARI is a taiko player that I know who lives in Los Angeles. Whenever I see her, she is smiling and seems to enjoy her life. She makes me smile too.

Art Exchange 2

2011-09-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

I got a package in the mail yesterday. It was from Megan - our art exchange! She sent back my original doodle and scraps of paper. (I added the stripe before remember to take a photo.)

Going to send this back. So I just finished step 3 (Yurika - Megan - Yurika).

In other news, I just received my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2012! I have until January to fill it up and send it back where it will become part of a traveling exhibit of hundreds of other such sketchbooks. Better get to work.

Wish Tree

2011-09-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

My birthday is coming up so I asked Adam if he'd like to go look at some art with me again. We went to nearby Villa Montalvo because I heard there was an outdoor sculpture display there. One of the installations was Yoko Ono's Wish Tree. It is her dream that every city have a tree like this where people could write down their wishes.

Yoko Ono's Wish Tree

There were many general well-wishes for the universe...

"I wish will be peace in all the world."

... and some more personal wishes.

"I wish I was pretty and my crush would like me."

Here is my wish. (I know my grammar is a little weird.)

"I wish everywhere there was fun art like this."

Art Exchange

2011-08-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

My creative friend Megan gave me some scraps to make something out of. I gave her a doodle and paper. It's the eve of Taiko Conference and my brain is full from planning... I just made this. I wonder what she made. We trade this weekend. Then we trade again and again. I love this idea.

I'm talking on a panel discussion called "Tradition and Innovation: Keeping the Faith, Exploring New Worlds." More on that later...

And this is just something I saw in Mendocino and really liked.

A moment for art

2011-07-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

These moments are precious. To make, just because.

I cut off the leaves to press.

And wanted the twig to look less lonely.

I'm still making things with paper...

2011-06-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

...Well, refurbishing with paper.

Before...

After...

This is as close to fashion design as I'll get.

Colour

2011-05-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

This pencil drawing has been staring me for weeks saying, "Finish me!" But I didn't feel like it. The technical patience required in using graphite doesn't appeal to my need for instant gratification or need for kinesthetic pleasure in creating.

But I finally dutifully got back to work. While listening to random music popping up on my iTunes, I came across the song, Ao no Yukue (The Blue Beyond) by Kodo. Along with taiko, it features Yoko Fujimoto singing and steel drums. A fantastic song!

Anyway, it made me think about different aspects of music and how I see them in my mind. For example, pure rhythm is like a line drawing to me. Taiko can sometimes be this. Add dynamics (soft and loud parts), and you have gradients and shadows. Add different instruments and timbres and suddenly there's colour. I decided I wanted to have that growing out of this monochromatic plant thing I have going.

I'm curious to see what I'll do with it next. I never really know how things will turn out.

Don't forget your mother!

2011-04-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day is coming up.

Pick up a flower or two at Nikkei Traditions in SJ Japantown. Your mom wants one. :)

Pencils Teach Patience

2011-03-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

This is a drawing I've been working on for a while. Sometimes, I need to doodle and I tend to doodle with the same motifs but this time I decided to flesh it out with graphite. Not with pen and ink and watercolour pencils as I usually do. This is taking much more time...

As an artist, I'm discovering that my patience is short - I like the instant gratification of completing cards. Even though I make a lot of them, I get a boost of satisfaction after each one is finished, and that does not take as long as working on something like this.

I'll post again when I finish...

Japanese Paper - An Obsession

2011-02-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

I wish I had photos of the little boxes I used to make when I was going through my angsty teenage years. I used to make dozens of little jewelry box-sized boxes covered with Japanese paper - starting each one from a piece of cardboard, painstakingly measuring them to make sure the top would fit over the bottom. For what purpose, I couldn't tell you now. I just enjoyed it.

I think this is how my love affair with washi paper began...

Nowadays, I'm lucky enough to live in a city that has stores with a pretty wide selection of papers to choose from. Nevertheless, I don't spend a lot of time in them. Because of my obsession, I can't bare to throw any scraps away so they get cut down from big projects like the book-binding and decoupage, down to card fronts, then to strips and dots and other bits.

My friends laugh at how I have to sort all the little scraps...

But they are all like jewels to me...

And can be used in lots other of projects.

Japan

2011-01-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

Before the holidays I was in Japan for 3 weeks with San Jose Taiko. I'm still thinking about everything I saw there - it's been 12 years since I was there last.

Lately I've been thinking about how my artistic sensibilities are influenced by Japanese aesthetics, and exactly what that means. I think part of it can be described by this passage that I scribbled in a notebook some years ago from a book on Japanese art and craft (unfortunately I didn't write down the name of the book):

Japanese forms are gentle and susceptible to change, and have a fragility that evaporates into the atmosphere. This holds true for all materials, not only paper, fiber, wood, or earth, which are frail in appearance. Materials such as stone and metal, perceived to be permanent are also soft; they change, disintegrate and disappear with the passage of time.

[Japanese forms are] a true balance between function, the potentials of materials, the context within which an object is used, and beauty.

Another Found Drawing

2010-11-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

My brother sent me these photos. I didn't know this was hanging in his house in Montreal. I drew it for him many many many years ago. My signature doesn't even look like that anymore. My brother used to play the trumpet in the band, and I played percussion. Does it remind him of us?

(There's a little bit of a reflection on the drummer's face.)

If you have any of my art hanging in your house, send me a photo! It makes me feel good to know it's being appreciated.

I like pencils after all

2010-11-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished a commissioned for a realistic graphite drawing. It made me feel nervous and excited at the same time. I haven't done this type of work in years - the drawings I do now are much more abstract, stylized, and based off colour and shapes. But I was feeling up to the challenge...

This type of drawing takes a lot of patience and looking. Looking and looking... and understanding how pencils work. I found an online tutorial on how to draw hair - the mane was the hardest part. There is so much more to learn about pencils! So much that you can do with them.

Mustang (18"x24")

I took a long time to choose the picture I drew from - I really liked this perspective. It makes you wonder what the horse is thinking...

Going way back...

2010-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a commission right now, a graphite work. I haven't worked with pencils in a long time, probably not since university. I'm enjoying going back to those days though, and rediscovering what I can do with them - looking at shadows and light. There is a simple joy in watching the forms emerge on a blank white page. These drawings I did in high school and in university, some 15-20 years ago.

Going back, I also found something I wrote in my first year on the JET program, I think.

What Money Can Buy...

Buy a house
Buy a house for abused women
Buy a center for homeless youth
Travel
Go to grad school and then what?
Will anyone take me seriously?
Buy mom a house
Send Satoko-obachan to Rome
Send mom to Banff
Send Davy to India
You must see the rest of the world
Study music therapy
Go to Australia and hang out at the beach
Richard has a house that once was home to 10 people
Davy tries to help the crack-addicted prostitutes by sparing a precious cigarette
He thinks about them everyday
Everyday I have to fight off the food
The squeegie kids are so skinny but they don't look glamorous
I miss Neil, my friend
Buy a cafe for Alka

I did go to Australia and hang out at the beach. Alka now has a cafe! Wonderful! I didn't send my auntie Satoko to Rome before she passed away.

Past, present and future mixing. I love that.

I like this.

2010-10-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

"It's that type of voice, it's that type of over-the-top gorgeously annoying... a lot of those maybe rococo sensibilities do still have a problem playing themselves out in a puritan culture. I'm not a puritan, so I don't see serious intellectual discourse and surface decoration as being these mutually exclusive areas of discussion. If anything, I'm actually interested in their mutual contamination."
- Lari Pittman

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-09-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, Adam took me to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. I have lived in this area for almost 10 years and I had never been there. It was fun to talk about what we liked and didn't like over lunch. The Bravo television show, "Work of Art" has spurred an art interest in him. What did you think of this show?

It feels so good to be surround by art. One day I want to make something big, really big, like a huge Calder sculpture.

For now I'm happy to play with my scraps. I find pleasure in playing with repetition and variation. It's like playing a song. Or watching flowers grow?

Fun or Not Fun?

2010-08-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

It was one of those silly conversations that started in my head while repairing taiko bags this weekend. "What is the dichotomy that guides my daily behaviour?" Some of my friends' emerged immediately: Right or Not Right; Good or Not Good; Supposed To or Not Supposed To. Adam's is Food or Not Food.

Mine is Fun or Not Fun.

I don't know how I got to be this way. But it drives me more easily than obligation, money or status.

Artists Talk

2010-08-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

These quotes are from the documentary "Art City" made by Chris Maybach.

My art is quite different to both of these artists and I don't know that I related to everything that they said. I just thought they were interesting...

"All of my work is above the line. I don't paint anything depressing. To live above the line you have to think, 'I want to be good. I want to be good every minute.' And you only pay attention to things that you like. And when you go to the museum you only look at thee paintings you like. You don't look at the ones you don't like and stop and criticize and all that. People think that they have to understand art but that's not right. Understanding is the mind contradiction and correction and that's all below the line." - Agnes Martin

"Some people characterize my work as visual poetry. And when it comes, 'Well, is it painting? Is it drawing? Is it sculpture? Is it big? It is small?' They kind of bore me. Why can't someone just make something? Doesn't matter if it's on paper or concrete or what have you - the fact that something is made, where there had been nothing before." - Richard Tuttle

Summer = Taiko

2010-07-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

My life is all about taiko right now. I can barely eke out enough time to put glue on paper, just to calm my hands.

Here are some taiko drawings I've done in the past:

You can see a few more on the San Jose Taiko KIDSWEB page. I do also do Taiko Portraits. Just send me an email if you'd like to know more.

Taro Leaves

2010-06-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Before death -
A cool wind.

No parting regrets -
Evening potato leaves,
Fluttering in the wind.

- Taneda Santoka

I just got back from a tour in Hawaii, where I spent a few days on a taro farm. The leaves fascinated me - I watched them bobbing and waving in the wind for some time, wondering if there was a Hawaiian proverb about the character of a person who saw the leaves as nodding or waving, or shaking heads...

This morning, I came across the poem above and learned about Taneda Santoka, who was a nonconformist alchoholic monk poet. His life was kind of tragic, but and before he died he wrote this. So peaceful.

Thank you mom.

2010-05-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late for Mother's Day.

I have to thank my mother though - she always made art and music a priority in our house.

Did you know that my name means "lily fragrance?" The story is this: When I was born, my mother's oldest sister brought a bouquet of white lilies to the hospital, the scent of which inspired my name. If this hadn't happened my name might have been Midori, which means "green."

Anyway, my mom didn't paint these flowers with me or my name in mind. She just likes flowers. After many many years, I finally really like my name.

Grains of Creativity

2010-05-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

I watched the series "Craft in America" from Netflix. Brilliant! Watch it. I wish I remembered which artist said this, but I scribbled this down:

"Our human species is very amazing. We have these two potentials between creating and destruction. If all creative people stopped making art, I really think we'd perish as a species. I'm not going to make the ear that saves the world, I'm not going to make the teapot that saves the world. But you know, Ghandi said, 'You drop enough grains into the mightiest machine - grains of sand - and you'll stop that machine.' So I figured, ok. This is my contribution to man's collective creativity."

My house is full of tiny grains of creativity.

I also like this:

"Develop an infallible technique. And then place yourself at the mercy of inspiration."

Memory

2010-04-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

When I was in kindergarten, my auntie gave me this necklace.

(Here I am, wearing it happily...)

When she died in 2005, I missed her a lot. So I put this necklace in a shadow box by my door where I see it everyday.

I see that scrapbooking has become an obsession for some people but I could never make myself follow that trend, even though there is a multitude of materials and tools that are out there.

I prefer to scrounge around in my dusty boxes of memory for my inspiration and sort through cast-off paper and fabric scraps for materials. I got this tendency from my mom. The scrounging and the sentimentality.

Each tiny object is connected to a flood of memories - a trip to Bali, getting engaged in Darwin, a dear missed friend and hours spent at a bar in Guerneville getting over reverse culture shock...

These little pieces were art made by someone, somewhere, like me. An artist hoping that their work would be made special in its association and connection to memory and other people.

Sustaining a Life as an Artist

2010-03-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to figure out how to write this blogpost about a panel I went to last weekend. You could read about it on my writer-friend Nicole's blog. She was the who told me about it.

It was at the CIIS (California Institute of Integral Studies) in San Francisco. The panel included artists, writers and dancers discussing "Sustaining a Life as an Artist," which has been on my mind a lot as I struggle to make ends meet this year. I also discovered a program there called Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Studies. Wow! A program designed for artists who have more than one focus - dancer/writer, actor/sculptor, taiko player/artist?

I like to start my blogs with a picture, my picture usually drives the words. But here I have a jumbled mess of ideas all intersecting and spinning off in different directions.

One thing stood out. I wish I could remember who said this:

"What would it mean if we could all let go of the notion of 'If only we all did ..." - then maybe we would truly embracing diversity."

This was the first time I had heard people talking about artists living hybrid lives ("more often than not, the artist assumes multiple roles as she builds a life for herself..."). The past years I've been struggling so hard to define myself, narrow it down, find the words to say exactly what it is that I do. But what became clear is that what I "do" is ART, both through taiko and visual art. And that could be enough definition for me.

Someone else said this: "Language can be both a barrier, or a swinging door to direct experience." What I loved about this day, being surrounded by artists, is that I could see how the language being exchanged in the room was the swinging door to possibility and ideas... And not necessarily a constant struggle to define everything for fear of being misunderstood/feeling of progress/efficiency - which is so much of my regular life.

Incubation Time...

2010-03-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

...is what winter is for me. I'm still creating, but it's happening on the inside.

Adam says he can see the little hamster on a wheel running inside my head.

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.

2010-02-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.

(- Pablo Neruda, part of Every Day You Play in Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair)

Grumpy Days

2010-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

"In the recovery of a blocked artist, anger is a sign of health."
- Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

Anyway, I've haven't been producing art lately. Mostly due to lack of time or energy. And this can create grumpiness and resentment.

I'm sharing these old drawings, though it's kind of embarassing to - they were from angsty days. They're kind of mean and I feel a little bad about them. (I think it's funny now that people call me "The Happy-Go-Lucky-Canadian".) I'm trying to make my grumpiness productive, because I have a goal! It's to produce every Thursday morning, my precious art time.

I don't have any recent grumpy drawings, I'm trying to turn the grump into happy.

Growing Up

2010-01-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

Thursday mornings are precious now. They are art production days. If I don't designate this time, my free hours have a tendency to become art incubation/research/materials management/marketing time. Which is all necessary too, but I need to produce. No more just talk about it. Part of the creative process is creating!

I've had the parts of this piece floating around for ages... It's funny how the pieces just make themselves, if you let them. At first it the strings were "hanging" in my mind, but then I stepped around to the other side and saw that they were "growing." After that I just knew what to do.

Yes, that's me taking the photo in the glass. Growing up. Or at least thinking about it.

I Like Dots

2010-01-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

Adam calls me the "dot girl." I like dots and circles.

They're everywhere! I went to visit the artichokes yesterday and realized that I've been through at least a whole cycle of their lives now - growth, blooming and dying. I started to look around for other things to look at (I know that sounds strange).

Dots!

Out of curiosity, I found this Doodle Decoder which ways:

FLOWERS & CURVES

Peace, love and understanding are part of flower power, right? Friendly, sociable people often draw these things. Koren also notes that they're "motifs used extensively by social workers." Ever thought about being a counselor?

Interesting...

"You and Me" (circa 2002)
Oil, 30"x36"

Warming Up

2009-12-31T14:49:00.001-08:00

It always take time for me to get warmed up, whether it's when I'm playing taiko or creating art.

I finally finished my Sketchbook today! I'm so happy. But looking through it, I can see that I started to like the drawings about halfway into it when they started to draw themselves. I admit, I did have help for those ones - Adam provided some doodles and lines as my "launchpad."

It always takes time to get used to the feel of the pens and pencils because they respond to each type of paper differently. It also takes time to let go and just draw and not think about what other people will "see" in the end. This is what the sketchbook is for! It is for failure. And getting warmed up.

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

Failure isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fear of failure is worse.

Sick

2009-12-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

And have really nothing to say. My body and brain are tired with just enough energy for doodling with pens.

Halfway through the sketchbook with less than 2 weeks to go. What should I draw next?

Chance as a Working Process

2009-12-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

I've been reading about "Chance as a working process." Try this sometime... Draw a picture of yourself or someone else, but don't look at your picture as you are drawing it. You might want to put another piece of paper on top of your drawing hand. Concentrate on the major lines of the face and really look at the features - the eyes, nose, lips, ears.

Ok, I didn't do this drawing entirely like this, but once I got the Chance Outline down, I filled in with what I know, which is shading and defining the texture and lines.

Try this with taiko too... Have someone give you your first 8 counts of your solo and then let go... After you have that "launch pad," fill in the rest with what your body does with that.

I'm still working on the Sketchbook Project. Only one month left!

Giving it time

2009-11-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

I did these paintings year ago. I didn't like them at the time, they went up on the shelf where I hardly ever look.

But I looked at them today and feel totally differently about them. What's changed? My instinct is to say, "I painted these? I was a different person then. So interesting...

Sunflower

2009-11-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is a commission I finished recently.

When I sat down to work on it, at first I almost gave in and went back to watching movies. The winter blahs were taking over. But I made myself start at least sketching out the lines, looking at my potted sunflower, and the rest drew itself.

The words are from Megan. Thank you Megan!

Sun Motifs

2009-11-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

Doodles in my sketchbook...

A Good Day

2009-10-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

I've been drawing lots of sun motifs lately. I need sunshine. Where I grew up, you can go weeks and weeks in grey blah-ness. I have SAD, I don't like grey. One day soon, I'll talk more about this.

Today was a good day. It was sunny and warm. Walking home from work I saw this scene. I don't know why, but I was captivated by the man fixing the Buddhist Church parking lot sign. It reminded me of my trip to Boracay, in the Philippines when I visited an artist's studio there ten years ago. It was basically a shack, without even 4 walls. But every morning the artist was out sweeping the yard out in front, and his works laid out carefully for passers by to see.

Adam and I were talking about memory last night - what things we remember, and what things we don't. I remember scenes that made me change who I am, decide things, come to realizations. (I'm terrible at remembering movies or tv shows, although that means I can watch the same ones over and over again!)

I remember thinking that I really admired how much care he took of his space, no matter how bare and simple.

This is my space. Quite simple too... Full of lots of little bits, mostly paper. I'm trying to appreciate where I live, even if the sun doesn't always get in.

Never stop creating...

2009-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

...even when you're too tired to think. Your brain will keep on working on it, and file the ideas away somewhere...

The 10,000 Project

2009-10-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is where i sit every day to drink coffee read pull pencil lines across paper make grocery shopping lists mend holes in tshirts write birthday messages look at the curtain while peeling a pink grapefruit and think about how much i really like you.

www.arthousecoop.com/users/yuchiba

Artists I Like Right Now

2009-09-03T07:30:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a break from talking about my art and taiko. It's important to see what else is going on out there, I truly believe that.

I'm really interested in two artists right now, that other people have introduced me to. One is Henry Evans, a botanical printmaker. I love how expressive and how simple his work is.

I love what he has to say about choosing subjects:

"Within any given range of subject matter, the artist can usually find, as I have, an enormous assortment of individual subjects to draw. For reasons not too easy to explain, some subjects are more appealing to the public than others. Equally mysteriously, when an artist is drawn to a subject, and perhaps puts more of himself into it, the public tends to respond more deeply, more enthusiastically. Some sort of mutual-encouragement syndrome seems to develop. When you manage to convey your all-too-human feeling in a work of art, certain people who see it will vicariously experience some of the intensity of your involvment and will become absorbed by, and possessive of, what you have done. When this is combined with a very familiar or sentimentally loaded subject, the response is even stronger and the desire to possess the picture seems to increase."

I understand this, but only through experience. The less I worry about what I think others would like to see and just think about what I want to happen in my art, the more people seem to respond to it.

Also, talking about the process of cutting and fitting blocks:

"I sometimes look at the work of other artist in galleries, museums, and friends' homes. Much of it seems intentionally casual, and I confess I am sometimes a little envious of the happy carelessness of other artists. I am quite convinced that there is some virtue in "good clean work," but I'm not sure I could tell you exactly what it is. The artist must listen to the voice inside him. Mine seems to abhor carelessness. The voice is always there, so I guess that's the way it has to be."

(From Henry Evans Botanical Prints: With Exerpts From the Artist's Notebooks, 1977 - Thank you Megan!)

The other artist that I like instinctually, but have to find out more about is Rex Ray.

Do investigations into other people's work, to find out more about your own.

"Go deep into something..."

2009-08-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

"Go deep into something." is what Shoji Kameda of On Ensemble said at Stanford last year. (Do you remember this, Shoji?) It was a forum on composition at the Collegiate Taiko Invitational with Roy Hirabayashi, Kenny Endo and Shoji. I was taking scratchy notes on the back of a handout. I keep this nearby so I can look at it from time to time - I love it.

These were Shoji's Guidelines for Composing:

1. Start with where you are, and with what you have. ("You may have great music in you, but it's underneath a bunch of crud.")

2. Be a sponge.

3. Never stop improving.

4. Don't get precious about your work or art form.

5. Find your voice. Be inspired by, not a derivative of. ("Is this musical idea really working, or is it just me showing off?")

I think all these things apply to creating art too.

I opened up my sketchbook this afternoon, stared at the blank pages wondering about the theme I'm supposed to follow... This is what came out. I'm not being precious. And I am trying to get at what's under all the crud.

My Canvas Project submission is now showing at the Atlanta Airport. It's the green one in the right frame - top row, second from the right. It's so small, but it's me showing. I don't do that, ever. Amongst cool art from all over the world. So different and interesting.

The Sketchbook Project

2009-08-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Taiko Conference in LA. My brain is still mulling over a lot of different things. As usual, creativity is one of those things.

I found this bookmark that I made, in one of my old notebooks. It reads "Only a food imitates. It is better to do bad work of one's own." - George Bizet

Do I really believe this now?

Psycho Daiko is the second taiko group I belonged to, when I was teaching in Japan. I wrote 2 songs for this group (called "Yaki Neko" and "Sakana Milkshake"!). I didn't think about how "good" they were as compositions at the time. We played them and enjoyed them and the audience enjoyed us. That was enough.

I haven't written anything for many years.

I want to, and have many ideas. But I need to start somewhere...

As usual, my art is following along the same themes. I have many many ideas. But where to start?

A sketchbook.

I'm starting on my new arthouse project tonight - the Sketchbook Project. I'm going to try to post something each week, even if it's bad. It'll be bad work of my own.

Distractions

2009-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

I finally updated my etsy store!

I haven't felt much like writing lately. Things go like that... It's always about finding balance and the right rhythm of life because I always do too much of one thing and not enough of the other.

My university major was in psychology, so I can't help but psychologize. Psychology is so interesting! If you get a chance, read Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia." (Here's a clip on PBS where he explores themes from the book.) Or anything else by Oliver Sacks for that matter. He's kind of my hero.

My own narrative, is always accompanied by a meta analysis of the narrative from physiological and sociological perspectives. My brain has too much space devoted to figuring out how people think. No wonder I'm happiest when I'm playing taiko or playing with paper - the simplicity of "don" and "blue looks nice with yellow" is grand.

When I was young and things got hard at home (my parents are socially challenged non-traditional first generation arranged-marriage Japanese who moved to Canada without money later in life), I could never understand why my mother would just start singing or fall back into drawing flowers when she couldn't answer my questions. I get it now. Not only do Japanese of her generation not talk about anything, but after years of grating tension without resolve - it really was the best option. That and religion...

It's an escape.

For some people it's tv or sports. Mine is cutting out dots.

The Canvas Project

2009-07-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Imitate

My most recent project is working on 5 mini canvases (3" x 3") from the Art House Coop. (Click on the link to see my portfolio.) Hopefully one of my canvases will be displayed amongst hundreds of other artists' works at the Atlanta Airport from the end of July through the beginning of September. If you happen to be there, look out of me!

The project's instructions were to make anything, based on 5 words that were chosen randomly for me.

Argentum

Wild

Savant

Shimmer

Honestly, I sat on these for about 3 months totally stuck on the concept. Then it hit me - I should do them the way I always do my art. My art is based on plants, people, bright colours, and layering paper. After that, the rest came quickly.

Am I happy with them? Yes. Because I made them without overthinking, they are a good representation of what I do. And this is significant for me! I've spent such a long time trying to figure out what is me.

My favourite one is Savant. I like to think of people as having a garden in their minds. Some have very simple straight connecting branches that rarely change. While others have a constantly growing tangled mess, which yield some thorns and some flowers.

Finding Balance

2009-06-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

I play taiko AND make things out of paper. Lately, I've been mostly on taiko and finding my balance tipping... Makes me tippy, whatever that means.

Back to art!

Don't forget your mothers!

2009-05-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

My mom is kooky, but I love her. For all of you who grew up having to navigate through two cultures at once, check out My Mom is a Fob. You will cry with laughter.

A lot of my art style comes from mom. She used to drive me crazy because she couldn't throw anything away in her insistence it could be repurposed. And more than large expensive things, she could always find pleasure in small things. Flowers, especially.

"Now we see young green
and buds of magnoria and other flowers.
pray for the pig desease problem.quickly.
see you soon.!!!!"

Happy Mother's Day! I miss you.

An Average Yurika

2009-04-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people ask me how I stay inspired and motivated to keep on creating. Part of it is that I can't help it. Part of it is that I'm selfish and somewhat lazy...

When I'm not in the mood to create, I don't. I used to get frustrated that ideas wouldn't come to me when I wanted them to, but now I go and do something else and consider that time "incubation time." My brain is working on the problem, indirectly and at some point something inevitably comes of it.

I also like to work while I can watch a movie or listen to music or talk on the phone. Somehow, distracting my conscious mind from the art project makes my hands do the work on their own. For the times when I get really stuck, I have a note stuck to my lamp that says, "WHEN STUCK, GO BACK TO MATERIALS." I have been collecting materials for many years (yes, many people would call it bins of junk) and when I go and look at them, I usually get an idea.

I've been making cards for many many years. And I think that over the years it's really been about finding out what my style is, finding out more about ME though creating. I know what I like to make, I know what my body is good at making. I know what I can't do, so I don't force those things, though I am always trying to learn at the same time.

It's really the same with taiko, especially when it comes to soloing. There are still rules to follow and I know what they are and am continually trying to improve. BUT, there comes a point when you need to know who you are musically, to develop beyond...

So I keep plugging away, chugging away, gluing and playing and trying to enjoy the ride.

"Sculpture is like farming. If you keep at it, you can get quite a lot done." - Ruth Asawa

Learning and Relearning from Myself

2009-04-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in "The Canvas Project: Volume 2" put on by the Art House Gallery. I'm trying to figure out what my style is.

Looking through old sketchbooks...

"Creativity... is starting with something that moves you aesthetically, a visual attraction and deciding to capture something about it and then allowing yourself to take chances with the medium and style pushing together what feels good and right and trying new things that feel different and scary and taking into consideration the dissonances unil you decide on something that you like and decide that is what defines your style and not caring that other people may not understand or like your style. Creativity = liberation!"

Sometimes I am amazed at how forgetful I am. I've already been through this before!

You can inspire yourself.

This is Not a Valentine's Day Post

2009-02-11T21:53:00.001-08:00

Yes it is. I'm a sappy sucker for romance.

Probably because I learned everything I knew about "love" from tv and movies. My parents had an arranged marriage and never showed each other affection. I doubted that they even liked each other for a long long time.

For a short while, I lived up in Guerneville, California - a quirky resort town deep in the redwoods. I worked at a pizzeria called Main St. Station, where they played live jazz music every night. One of their regular musicians, Niles, was a tree cutter by day and double-bassist by night. His girlfriend Tamara would come and listen, almost everytime he played. I was inspired, watching their passion fuel the music and the music fuel their passion...

I hope they are still there, together.

In Japan, PDA (public displays of affection) are not so common - at least when I was there. Friends - even family - don't hug after a long time of not seeing each other. And you never see an older couple touching. Maybe that's why I really don't mind PDA, I think it's rather great. Heck, I think we all need to see it. Young, old, gay, straight, mixed race couples... It happens.

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquestionable." - Bruce Lee

My Mother, Guest Artist

2009-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

"From Alice, California mini avocado," Reiko Chiba, January 19, 2009

Ten years ago, I wrote this in my notebook...

Mom's Dream: Mom wanted to be an artist up until she was in grade 3. As a child, she and her sisters would often sit on the verandah and draw pictures of little girls in dresses - much like themselves - to send to their father who was far away in China.

In grade 3, the education system in Japan changed. There was a profound insecurity about the Japanese way of doing things. Teachers and students believed that the educations sytem was flawed and made deliberate efforts to learn from other countries. Before, art class had consisted of drawing and colouring, then after the war elementary school students suddenly lost their outlet for creative expression.

To my mother, who loved to draw, this meant giving up her own scribbling in favour of learning from others. She'd spend hours copying works of art from art books and became quite good at it. But through this development of skill, she lost her interest in becoming an artist.

At the time, I was reading a book called, "Finding Your Perfect Work." It made me curious about other people's dreams, so I interviewed my mother. She paints beautiful watercolours and used to tell me when I was little that she once wanted to be an artist. I needed to find out more.

It made me curious about my own dreams, though they seem to change daily still...

("Wagamama," 2000)

"When I get goosebumps from an idea or possibility, I know I better proceed that way."
- Rusty Berkus, poet

Yellow Flowers

2009-01-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

We are dust and to dust return.

In the end we're

neither air, nor fire, nor water.

just

dirt,

neither more nor less, just dirt

and maybe

some yellow flowers.

(From "Ode to Some Yellow Flowers," by Pablo Neruda)

Winter

2008-12-09T08:59:00.001-08:00

It's December and sunny in California. But that doesn't matter, I still want to hibernate...

I walked down 7th street the other day and saw the pomegranates squished on the pavement. Splat. That's how I've been feeling lately. My body is unreliable.

My friend Laura reminded me years ago, that the fruit falls off for a reason. And that it's not a waste... It's to rot, then nourish the roots of the tree so that it can live through the winter and get on with its cycle.

And do the same thing again next year, hopefully a little taller and a little stronger.

Ode to Tomatoes

2008-11-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Pablo Neruda is one of my favourite poets. He wrote lots of odes to vegetables! (Even one about artichokes.) Here's an excerpt from "Ode to Tomatoes."

the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

And his Love poetry! Oy, if you have time, read his love sonnets sometime...

(From "Love Sonnet LXXIX")

Home

2008-11-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Home is on my mind a lot lately.

Like, where is my home? I haven't lived in Toronto since 1995. I haven't lived in any one place for more than 3 years at a time, really.

When I lived in Japan, I thought it was so weird that people put so much into their cars - decorations, slipper trays, fancy cup holders. But then I realized that it was because in most households in Japan, there is no privacy. People make their cars their "home."

I think I do that with my art space...

Although there's been times when that home was a sarong, some pencil crayons and glue.

1. My first place in Toronto, when I was a U of T student.
2. Suisan Fisheries School, Tokushima, Japan
3. Tokushimakita High School, Tokushima, Japan (Look for the stuffed moose and beaver.)
4. Housesitting, Melbourne, Australia (Oh, Canadian flag here too!)
5. Campground, Darwin, Australia
6. Takoma Park, Maryland
7. Cabin in the mountains, Guerneville, California
8. Sebastopol, California (I shared this space with a writer. It was across the street from the cemetary.)

I like that my current home has sunshine and taiko. I might stay here awhile.

Artichoke Way

2008-09-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I wandered down 7th Street, which I call Artichoke Way. The artichokes are all dry and brown now, but still gorgeous and interesting...

Hmmm. Still made me feel a little sad.

But as I stood there looking, a man came out of the house beside the artichokes. He was carrying a guitar and was saying something to me - I couldn't hear him at first because I was listening to music (maybe Tears for Fears?). He said, "Hey! Do you want to see the baby artichokes?"

On his porch he had about 20 cups of little baby artichoke sprouts!

I thanked him for planting the artichokes and he went back inside. I don't know why, but that made my day.

The next week I went down 7th St. again to look at the artichokes and saw something I never noticed before - a pomegranate tree. How did I miss that? Pomegranates are also wacky! I love them, their little crowns on the bottom.

You just never know what is right in front of you, if you really keep your eyes open.

Always trying to keep my eyes open. Always trying to make time for friendship.

I have one Follower! I'm thrilled.

"I have been a..."

2008-08-18T20:53:00.000-07:00

In 2003 I took a writing workshop with Diane Di Prima. She wanted us to practice "holding paradox." We would free write for 5 minutes and then sit silently for 5 minutes.

One of the 5 minute exercises was to finish the sentence, "I have been a..."

This is what I wrote:

I have been a...

Dancing dirty vacuum sucking in oily foul air
Dancing munchkin happy about nothing
Bottled up bursting acid
Snail watching the world can't move fast enough
Hysteric
Car wreck
Damp dirty towel
Blubbering crybaby
Sourpuss
Black plastic vase - aren't my flowers pretty though?
Orange sweet fruit only fruit
Black dot, a bullet ordering all and every list
Lonely raven perched up the top of the watchtower tree
Fluid disappearing stream
Major chord then a dissonant one (on purpose)
A multipurpose room
Hole-y socks
Poisonous mushroom
Dried squid sweet but tough on your teeth
Button, not a buttonhole
Fruit rollup stuck to the floor
Major catastrophe report
Empty empty vast empty dark room
Set of spikes ready to strike poke make you bleed
Warm cornbread cupcake sweet and grainy
Little apple, not the big beautiful juicy one on the branch
Set of ribbons pink and curling to the floor
Metal ball on a string swinging in perfect time, one of many
Cat my eyes go up my paws together I hate it when my fur isn't going all the same way
Sticky candy
Dirty comb
Toilet paper holder
Set of dendrites twitching feeling conveying firing
Soft velvety leather, so warm and smooth
A wind-whipped sprout so happy to be at the beach

The bottle one caught my eye today. Over the years I've drawn bottles. Lots of bottles and vessels. I didn't realize I was doing that until starting this blog and going back through sketchbooks. A metaphor for my life? Or just that bottles are always in front of me when I feel like drawing... No more bottles for me. I prefer to be the wind-whipped sprout at the beach.

Portraits

2008-07-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

PJ, 1993

Wendy, circa 2001

Waggie, 2002

Mikiko-obachan, 2002

Self Portrait, 2001

Self Portrait, circa 1996

Mom, circa 1996

Jeremy, 2002

Artichokes on 7th St.

2008-07-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Where I come from, crazy giant plants do not grow on the street. I used to walk neighborhoods a lot though, back home, in Japan, in Oz. Looking looking looking. I started to walk again, around Japantown and found it is an amazing neighborhood. Everyday I see something *special* - one day it was a tiny elderly lady staring up into a tree, another day it was a possum waddling through rose bushes.

My favourite find were these artichoke plants, growing wild on the side of the road. They just grow here! I find that wacky. I'm from Toronto, a bustling city with a short growing season. Sure, it's green but trees and nice gardens kind of green. Tulips, sure. Artichoke plants - no way!

Somehow they speak to me...

I also found some giant globe artichokes on the way to Reno. Yumi was my model to show how big they were.

Yes, I do love to eat them too!

"Artichokes on 7th Street" 2008

Streetpainting

2008-06-14T08:42:00.001-07:00

The summer is in full swing! It's been busy already... In June, Arn, Spence and I participated in the San Rafael Streetpainting festival. This was my 6th festival. Two days of drawing in the hot sun. I love it. It is a great festival put on by Youth in Arts - it's all to raise money for kids to do art.

Click to see more pictures from this year and last year.

Art For Sale

2008-06-05T13:43:00.001-07:00

On Friday, June 20th, San Jose Taiko will be holding their 35th Anniversary Benefit Dinner. There are still tickets left! It will be an evening of delicious food (I was there when we decided on the menu), some taiko (both a performance and hands-on activities), and a silent auction. All to raise money for a great cause - to help San Jose Taiko maintain and expand its public workshops, school outreach, public performances, and artistic residencies.

I'm going to donate a few things...

A stationary set (everything handmade), which includes a handbound journal, cards, bookmarks and washi magnets.

And a watercolour version of the "I Love Taiko Girl" that's on the SJT kidsweb page. This drawing was inspired by one of the JT kids. I saw a photo of her grinning her head off at the JT recital, I could tell how much she really did love taiko!

Come to the dinner!

Maboron

2008-05-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

I just have to share this awesome poem...

I drew this while listening to a Kodo song called "Maboron" featuring the men of Kodo singing. It's a beautiful song. These are the words translated into English.

Journals

2008-04-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

In my twenties I filled many pages of notebooks. A lot of angst in there. Nowadays I still journal from time to time, but nowhere near as often. I did figure out that I wrote mostly when I was troubled and unhappy, so I guess I am pretty happy these days. Sometimes I regret that I don't have as much creative "juice" as I did then, but I really don't care to go back to those days. I still have things and people to inspire me. It's a different kind of inspiration now.

People inspire me. People are so interesting! I like to draw people in my life. I really enjoy looking at faces. (Your face might end up in my notebook...)Also liked to draw things and words together. A tree up in Armstrong Redwoods, where I lived when I first moved to California (up in the mountains) With words from one of my favourite poets... Words I needed in those days.

Stand tall
Let your
Self
Be your
Sheild.
Never look back,
There is
Nothing
Worse than that.
Stumble, if you must.
Crawl on
Knees and Wings,
But
Always Continue forward.

Your eyes told me of your hidden pain,
I hope you don't mind.
Don't worry, though,
We all have them.
Mine is here,
On this page,
Between these lines,
On the
Other side
Of
This
Black ink.

(Untitled Poem, by David Wagner)

Influences

2008-04-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Wassily Kandinsky said "Music is the ultimate teacher."

The first time I saw a Kandinsky painting was like the first time I saw taiko. I said, "I want to do that." I was surprised to find out later that Kandinsky started out as a musician and that his decision to pursue art full-time developed gradually.

I don't know if I could choose to do just music or art. For me they are interconnected. Especially with taiko and the visual aspect of the performance. I enjoy choreography and making shapes with the body. The making of art involves falling into rhythms with my hands. Folding, cutting, drawing. It's visual but also very kinesthetic.

Some people suggested that Kandinsky had synesthesia. His paintings were often named after musical concepts, like "Improvisation" or "Composition." I don't think I'm synesthetic, but have always found the concept fascinating. (Since I was little I've always thought that numbers and colours were connected.)

In The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard Cytowic says, "Cross-modal associations are a normal part of our thinking although they occur at an unconscious level. In synesthetes, it is as if these associations poke through to awareness, like the sun poking through dark clouds so we can see it and feel its warmth."

He also says, "Not everything we are capable of knowing and doing is accessible to or expressible in language. This means that some of our personal knowledge is off limits even to our own inner thoughts. Perhaps this is why humans are so often at odds with themselves, because there is more going on in our minds than we can ever consciously know."

I know about being at odds with myself!

These days I am trying to bypass the thinking part when in creative mode. I think this is sometimes where people go wrong in their art-making (can I say wrong? It's probably not pc.) Just because something is yellow doesn't mean it goes well with something else that is yellow.

Bypassing the thinking in taiko is a little harder, but also a goal.

I'll stop here before I have to get into the discussion about aesthetics... Yes, it is subjective.

I haven't done any tributes to Kandinsky. I just like his paintings.

Inspired by Sushi

2008-03-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

I love sushi. Everything about it. The colors, flavours, textures... The reason I couldn't give up fish when I decided to become a semi-vegetarian. I used to draw sushi a lot. I even used to draw myself as sushi. An old boyfriend who also shared my sushi passion, used to call me ebi, which means "shrimp". (He was very tall.)

I've worked in sushi restaurants for a long time - to support my taiko and sushi addictions. Sushi and fish still work their way into my cards...

What will I be when I grow up?

2008-03-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

I still ask myself that question.

I took an aptitude test when I was really lost (right after my 3 year stint in Japan) to help me discover where I should begin. It took several hours. Afterwards, I got a computer printout with my top 35 job suggestions. Here are some of my favourites:

1. Archivist
2. Psychologist
3. University and College Teacher
8. Martial Arts Fighter
10. Rodeo Performer
12. Professional Ice Skater
14. Automobile Racer
21. Orchestra Manager
22. Choreographer
23. Choral Director
24. Clown
30. Book Illustrator
33. Beekeeper
35. Dairy Worker

I guess I'm kind of on the right track...

How long does it take to make a card?

2008-03-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

People often ask, "How long does it take to make a card?"

That's a hard question to answer. Rarely do I start making one card and finish it and that's it. I usually work them in batches - sometimes up to 100 at once. Some cards take a loooong time, if you consider how I acquire the materials to make them.

I started making "Kitte Kimono" cards years ago when I found I had inadvertently started a stamp collection from all the letters I sent and received in Japan. I love Japanese stamps, but do not consider myself a collector. My interest is purely aesthetic. I also love that these stamps came from somewhere far away, some time long ago and was the link between people.

When friends and acquaintences found out that I make these cards, they started giving me more stamps. Some are very old. I imagine they came on letters from Japan, like the ones my grandmother used to send to my mother in the days before email and when phone calls were only for emergencies. This was the only connection between them. Letter-writing used to be an artform, not to be taken lightly. People used to think carefully before they would write things down, penmanship was valued. As much as I love the convenience of email, I miss getting letters from friends.

Anyway, back to cards... Each card is unique, each stamp chosen carefully. And I haven't even talked about the "kimono" part of the card - each stamp is mounted on silk fabric from vintage kimono from Japan... Maybe an even longer story there.

Maybe it is a lot of work for just a card. But someone will buy this card to send a message to someone else, and that makes me happy.

It's SPRING!

2008-02-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those February days where you could be outside in a t-shirt and think about putting the winter coat away... The air smells great and you want to take a nap under a tree in a park somewhere.

Didn't do any of those things. Maybe tomorrow.

Art in the Family

2008-02-03T22:39:00.002-08:00

Both of my grandfathers, Seiki Shuto (top) and Akira Chiba were artists. It is rumoured that neither cared for the other's art. My grandmother Yuki Shuto was a busybody who kept the house in order. My mother says I'm just like her, but I don't see it...

I'm a combination of my mother and father, both also artists. My mother is a watercolorist who cannot keep to a daily routine. My father (who dabbled in pastels but is primarfily a flutemaker) keeps to the exact routine week in and week out. They are both fighting inside me every day.

I own only one small painting by Seiki-ojiichan. This is of "akebi" a wild Japanese fruit. Painted on October 1st, Showa 38 (1963).

This is my hibiscus. Drawn on July 30th, 2000.

Happy Year of the Rat

2008-01-30T22:26:00.001-08:00

Taiko makes me tired. Winter makes me want to crawl into a hole and burrow in my papers.

Why I Make Art

2008-01-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

I make art for the same reasons I play taiko. I can't help it.

So I found out that people are making my art into clothing. Emi thought I would be mad, but I was delighted! (I make stuff out of other people's art all of the time.)

Why I make cards...

When I first moved to Japan, I lived in a tiny fishing village. I was 22 and terribly lonely. It was the first time that I lived alone, and I discovered that mail became my obsession (this was the days before email - yes, I'm that old). Every day I would check the mailbox for a precious letter, a message from home, a reminder from the universe that I was still alive!

I love to send mail. I love everything about mail. Stamps, envelopes, putting pen to paper, cards. (Actually my obsession with envelopes started really early, but that's a story for another day.)

I make art so that I can send mail.

Testing my new scanner...

2008-01-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

Why is it that in order to be an artist you have to spend so much time in front of a computer?

Arn and I have been talking about joining forces - we need each other. He's the technician and I'm the designer. I give up too easily when I can't figure out how to do something. He needs an idea to get started. I suggested the name "Arnika"? Maybe not.

I make origami cards

2007-12-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

I have always folded paper cranes. My friend Chrisy (that I've known since I was 12) once told me that what she has in her mind when she thinks of me is the way that I fold paper, the way I use my fingers to crease the folds.

I'm working on a card order for a friend up in Guerneville who wants my Peace Crane cards. This is what I have on the card insert:

Every year children in Japan fold thousands of origami cranes in the memory of Sadako Sasaki, a little girl who died after the bombing of Hiroshima. While in the hospital, she decided that folding 1000 cranes would help her recovery, but only made it to 644. Her friends completed the task and erected a statue of her to wish for peace throughout the world.

I grew up folding cranes and have made these cards with this story in mind.

Each card is marked with a number - they are part of the series that I'm in now. I'm up to 413.

I'm working on getting an Etsy store, but I need a good name. I have some friends working on that...

I make things out of paper, wood, stamps, fabric, and repurposed materials of all kinds.

2007-12-02T17:04:00.000-08:00