N's PAINT WORLD

A few pop-up cards, after David A. Carter, I had been working on. I wanted TIME for Christmas but Santa forgot.

Done with the fifty Christmas / New Year cards. Discontent with the rather plain potato-printed cards from last year, I decided to try woodblock printing this year. It went alright. All you need to do is find a piece of wood, carve it (those small sets for children help a lot), get your cards and paint ready, and get on with the printing, without forgetting to wipe the woodblock from time to time. A few pics, in great disorder.

A tree (acrylics on canvas). I would really like to find time to paint again. I guess for now I take pictures instead.

A li'l' thank-you card for the one I got from some great kids from a kindergarten in Wakayama. No computer needed : some color pencils, a black felt-tip pen and a few minutes are all it takes.

Another cut painted paper light work — an old-fashioned sort of robot — quickly done in class for the example's sake. We used the scraps from last time . Nothing much to say about it !

Since there has been a death in my Japanese family-in-law, I am not supposed to send New-Year cards this time. Still, I thought I would send Christmas cards, and made one the other day, using the same — quite fun, I have to say — technique as last year : potato printing . Yes, just like when you were in kindergarten. The basics are similar to normal printing, stamping or seals. That is pretty easy too : 1) take a potato 2) cut it in half 3) carve it with whatever you see fit (a cutter this time) and be careful to do it in "negative" as well as not to cut yourself right 4) spread paint on whichever surface 5) dip the potato in it 6) potato-print on a card (hand-made Japanese paper is great for that) 7) all done I wish I could have shown you what the carved potato halves looked like, but it seems my wife has thrown them away already. Never mind. Have fun. A merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all.

An old video found while searching for something else. Happens a lot. Couleurs & Cie / Colors & Co. Exhibition at morioka shoten (Tokyo) 2007-12

'Tis quite easy to make cut painted paper pictures : 1) you paint 2) you cut 3) you paste 4) all done These animals were made, as said before, after Eric Carle — can't remember the name of the books. I picked in three different ones. Mediocre and rough craftmanship, since it was only meant as a guide for a kid.

Time-killer & gift-making. Long time no see. Some time ago, I made a few abstract bookmarks with cut painted papers. Here are two of them. I don't think I have them anymore : birthday presents, I assume. My memory doesn't work too well these days. Recently, I've been making animals with the same technique, after Eric Carle, for the summer assignment of one of the Japanese children students of mine. I'll post them here some day soon. I hope all is well.

A few months ago, I created an on-line bookstore specialized in visual — photography, illustrated & fine-arts — second-hand and rare Japanese books : A Japanese Book / Un livre japonais Come and say hello. There is also a more specific blog page , where you can leave comments. Cheers.

Exposition d'une sélection de tableaux peints chez Morioka Shoten, du 10 au 15 décembre 2007, 日本103-0025東京都中央区日本橋茅場町2-17-13 第2井上ビル305号 森岡書店 JAPAN, 103-0025, TOKYO, Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi, Kayabacho, 2-17-13, Dai-2 Inoue Building, 305. Chaque jour, de 13 à 19h, entrée libre. Dans le même temps, projection du long-métrage Lumière et Cie de Sarah Moon. Renseignements complémentaires sur le site http://www.moriokashoten.com Salutations ! Greetings ! Exhibition of selected paintings at Morioka Shoten, from 2007, december 10 to 15, 日本103-0025東京都中央区日本橋茅場町2-17-13 第2井上ビル305号 森岡書店 JAPAN, 103-0025, TOKYO, Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi, Kayabacho, 2-17-13, Dai-2 Inoue Building, 305. Everyday, P.M. 1:00-7:00, free entrance. In the same while, Sarah Moon's movie Lumière & Cie will be screened. Further information on the webpage http://www.moriokashoten.com ぜひ遊びに来て下さい！