Tony Guppy Special @ KAMOME

トニーさんは、トリニダード・トバゴのスチールパン奏者。楽しくて暖かい人柄がそのまま音楽に出ていて、聴いている人を幸せにしてくれます。トニーとはブルースアレイで１年ちょっとぶりの再会！今回は彼の音楽を聴きながら描けることになり、とてもハッピー！
セッティングをして、音楽は始まって、さあ描こう！というときに「ふ、筆がない！」と初めて気づくケイコと私。ということは、手で描きなさいってことね、と今回は指を筆代わりに描きました（普段も結局勢いあまって手で描くことが多いのだけど）。ちょうど最後の3曲ほどを残すところで描き終わり、あとは踊りまくり！日本人でNo.1と言われているスチールパン奏者の伊沢陽一さんと高橋ゲタ夫さん(b)、羽仁知治さん(p)、ジーン重村さん(d)の息はぴったり合って、本当にたのしいグルービーな音楽にはお客さんも大喜びで、お店中が一体となったパーティのようでした！

Tony is a very talented steelpan player from Trinidad and Tobago. I met him over a year ago and we had a happy reunion at Blues Alley. Keiko and I were thrilled to be invited not only to hear his music, but also to paint to it!
It wasn't until we were all set up, the show had started and we were about to paint that we realized I had forgotten all my paint brushes! Eek! We quickly decided that tonight, we were meant to paint with our fingers, so that's what we did :)
There was another amazing steelpan player besides Tony, this one a Japanese fellow. Them and the rest of the guys on stage totally brought the house down with their groovy stuff. Thanks so much for such a fun night, Tony!
Tony has invited us back to do it again, this time at B-Flat in Akasaka, in November.

HIRO again @ Blues Alley Tokyo

Had another chance to paint to Hiro's music, this time with Keiko. Hiro has created new songs (Port is my favorite) and it was such a treat to get to hear them again! Painting alone is great fun, but doing it with a partner adds a different kind of energy and I love finding out what comes out of it. Many more guests tonight including Tony Guppy, TOKU, and Shanti. The core quartet was once again amazing and I got a bit carried away with the paint. I hope the owner of Blues Alley doesn't notice the splashes (tiny--really!) I got on their curtain!

またひろくんのライブで描かせてもらいました。メンバーの4人組は最高です！今年のツアーの最終日だということもあり、トニー・グッピー、TOKU、シャンティ、元晴さんなどのたくさんのゲストいっぱいでのりのりのライブでした。あまりにのりのりで絵の具をのせまくり。ブルースアレイさん、カーテンに飛び散った絵の具、ごめんなさい！というか気づきませんように！
ひろくん、これからも応援してます♪
素敵な音楽をありがとう！（とくに新曲の「ポート」いいですね～♪）

Motion Blue Yokohama

西藤大信さんがHiro Jazz Tourで横浜のモーションブルーでライブ。いつもながらすばらしいミュージシャンのグループで、しかもゲストにKAZZさん！とてもハッピーな気持ちでステージ横で描かせていただきました。ステージの反対側にはブッチャーさん！再会できてうれしかった～。

Painted at an awesome gig by Hironobu Saito and his crew, on their annual Hiro Jazz Tour, at Motion Blue Yokohama. I had promised Hiro that I would only paint during the first set and listen during the second, but I couldn't stop! Ended up painting till the very last song. Thanks for the great music as always, Hiro!

Steve's groovy music

Had the honor of painting to the music of an awesome guitarist Steve Fell, who happens to be my best friend's husband :) and his side-kick Haru-san. Was great to see you guys back in Tokyo!

夏に来日した大学時代からの親友としこのだんなさん、スティーブ・フェルと彼がよく一緒に演奏するハルさんの気持ちのいい音楽にのせてケイコと描きました♪

Brian Eno on paper

My painting partner Keiko and I painted to Brian Eno. Love his stuff!

Live painting on the beach, July 28th

Painted at Current, a beach house in Kamakura while listening to beautiful music by beautiful people including Yukalicious, KAZZ, Hironobu Saito, Keison and Shanti against the backdrop of the sound of breaking waves. The added *HUGE* bonus was a chance to see Denjiro Sato's awe-inspiring surf video MANA for the second time! What a treat!!　

Check out Shanti's blog about the event here. (Sorry it's in Japanese but you can view photos!)

鎌倉由比ガ浜の海の家、『カレント』でライブペインティングをさせていただきました。ユカリシャス、KAZZ、西藤大信、Keison、シャンティと、人柄も音楽もとても素敵なミュージシャンたちの音楽を聴きながら、波の音を聴きながら。。　そして 佐藤傅次郎さんの映像、MANAをまた観ることができたのが、この上なく嬉しかったです！！（そしてまた観たい）　ブッチャーさん、ありがとうっ！

詳しくはシャンティのブログを見てね。

turtle with a blue hat

a goldfish I got at a matsuri

dizzy

it's a deer

Another froggie

爬虫類が好き。とくにカエルとヤモリとカメ。どこか顔が似てるし。
前に「ワサビ」っていう名前のカメを飼っていました。カメってくしゃみやあくびをするの、知ってました？その姿がたまらなくかわいいんです。

Emigon loves reptiles. Frogs, geckos and turtles, especially.
She used to have a turtle named Wasabi. Did you know that turtles yawn and sneeze? They're so adorable when they do.

Peacock

At least that's what Emigon says this bird is. She likes it because it's blue.

A snail came for a visit

Emigon loves snails, too! She likes to collect them and line them up along the handle bars of her bicycle. She gets a kick out of touching their eyeballs and watching them pull back and stick back out again. She found a teeny-tiny baby snail last night in the bathroom. Its house was the size of a sesame seed. She couldn't figure out how it kept from falling as it crawled down the wall. She let the snail climb up onto her toothbrush and took it outside where it could safely hang out on a neighbor's plant.

Froggie

Emigon loves frogs. She doesn't understand why some people don't like them or are even scared of them. She used to find lots of them in her yard when she lived in Kugenuma.

Tombou

Emigon's work --butterfly

I've decided to hire another inner artist. Her name is Emigon. She's about 8 years old. She likes to draw bugs and animals. I'll be showing a series of her work for a while :)

Another Thursday afternoon

Taking a break from work to doodle.

Thursday in Asakusa

This is how I was feeling that day.

Drum Art Part Two

Went to do another round of drum art, this time with my friend Kei who's studying to become an art therapist. What fun. In contrast to the last time, where I sat literally inches away from the drum as it was being played, I sat a few seats away this time. It think the difference shows in the images-- bit calmer and less wild, don't you agree?
There were a few more participants this time and the energy in the room during the 10 or so minutes of work was pretty intense. Very exciting.

「ドラム・アート」（と私が勝手に名づけてますが）の第二弾に行ってきました。今回はアートセラピーの勉強をしているお友達のケイちゃんと。前回は太鼓をたたくアキさんの真横に座って絵を描いたのですが、今回は少し離れていました。違いが絵に表れていると思うのですが、いかがでしょう？
参加者ももう少し多く、絵を描いている最中の部屋の空気はとにかく熱かったです！

Timid girls

昨夜またドクタースケッチーに行ってきました。今回のモデルは「小心ズ」。ちょっと（かなり）変わってるけど、そしてほとんど脱がないとのことだったので「つまんないかも。。」なんて思ってたけど、おかしいポーズやいっちゃってる顔など、以外と描きがいがあり、かなり楽しかったです。

Went to another night of Dr. Sketchy's. These are a couple of the five-minute sketches. The models, who curiously call themselves the Shoshins (shoshin means "timid" in Japanese), are a couple of odd-ball pantomiming maids who do seem a bit shy but are courageous enough to get up there and share their eccentric routines. Great fun!