excess wood
木を使って物を作っていると、どうしても余り材がでてくる。そんな余材も無駄にしたくないので小さい木片にも絵の具をつけてみる。
日本での展覧会のために作品を送り出した後のやけに広く感じる仕事場で小さな作品に向かいながら、ゆっくりと筆を動かしていると実に気持ちが落ち着いてくる。
You can't avoid generating remnants of wooden pieces when you work with wood. Since I don't want to waist those excess, I often paint on those small pieces of wood as well. It is indeed very calming to face a very small piece of work, in a studio that feels much bigger after shipping those paintings for the shows in Japan.
日本での展覧会のために作品を送り出した後のやけに広く感じる仕事場で小さな作品に向かいながら、ゆっくりと筆を動かしていると実に気持ちが落ち着いてくる。
You can't avoid generating remnants of wooden pieces when you work with wood. Since I don't want to waist those excess, I often paint on those small pieces of wood as well. It is indeed very calming to face a very small piece of work, in a studio that feels much bigger after shipping those paintings for the shows in Japan.
Oscillating impression
制作をはじめて早い時期に基本的な色を選び、点を打ち始める場所を決める。その時点では漠然としたイメージがあるだけである。 時間とともに点の数が増え、形が進み、作品が動く。 進行中の作品は筆を加えているときに限らず、眺めている時でも動いている。 そうやって動いてきたイメージが固まって来た時に、その作品は完成に近づく。 ただ、完全にイメージがハッキリと固まることはないような気がする。
一つの作品が終わり、もう自分で筆を加えることは無いと決めた後でも、やはりイメージはゆらゆらと動き続けているように感じる。
The basic color and the area to begin placing the dots are chosen in the early stage of a painting. At that stage, the image of the painting is vague. As the painting progresses, the number of the dots increases, the forms shift, and the impression moves on. The impression keeps moving not only when the paint is being added on, but while it’s being looked at.
As the impression starts to form a firmer image, it suggests the end of the painting is approaching.
Yet, it seems that the impression would never get fixed, even after I decide not to add any more touches to the painting. It feels as if the impression keeps oscillating.
一つの作品が終わり、もう自分で筆を加えることは無いと決めた後でも、やはりイメージはゆらゆらと動き続けているように感じる。
The basic color and the area to begin placing the dots are chosen in the early stage of a painting. At that stage, the image of the painting is vague. As the painting progresses, the number of the dots increases, the forms shift, and the impression moves on. The impression keeps moving not only when the paint is being added on, but while it’s being looked at.
As the impression starts to form a firmer image, it suggests the end of the painting is approaching.
Yet, it seems that the impression would never get fixed, even after I decide not to add any more touches to the painting. It feels as if the impression keeps oscillating.
Aging brain
先日のニューヨークタイムスに脳と年齢の関係について面白い記事が載っていた。年を取ることで記憶力はたしかに減退していくのだが、注意力の幅は広がっていくらしい。経験を積むことにより確実に多雑のデータが脳に蓄積されているわけで、それらのデータをもとに状況に合った判断が若い脳よりもしやすくなるという。記憶力の減退も、ある意味で必要のないことはいつまでも覚えていなくても良いという判断をしながら積極的に記憶しないのかもしれない。
忘れてしまうということも、ひとつの知恵ということなのだろうか。
最近は物忘れが多くなってきているように感じるが、これも脳が成長していると思えば気が楽である。
There was an interesting article in the New York Times about brain and ageing. It said human brain as it gets older, loses some function on memory, but it broadens its attention span. And it gets wiser with age. A large number of data from accumulated experiences are stored in older brain and it's supposed to help making right decisions. In that process, it may chose not to remember everything that comes into your brain. In a way, forgetting might be a form of wisdom.
It seems that I tend to forget things easily lately. But it's comforting to think this is a part of growing process of the brain.
忘れてしまうということも、ひとつの知恵ということなのだろうか。
最近は物忘れが多くなってきているように感じるが、これも脳が成長していると思えば気が楽である。
There was an interesting article in the New York Times about brain and ageing. It said human brain as it gets older, loses some function on memory, but it broadens its attention span. And it gets wiser with age. A large number of data from accumulated experiences are stored in older brain and it's supposed to help making right decisions. In that process, it may chose not to remember everything that comes into your brain. In a way, forgetting might be a form of wisdom.
It seems that I tend to forget things easily lately. But it's comforting to think this is a part of growing process of the brain.
Searching
作品が終わりに近づいてくるにつれて、筆の速度が一段と遅くなる。
しかし良い名前を見つけるまでは終われない。
壁にかけた作品を横目でみながら、木を切ったり額を作ったり、ほかの作業をしながら名前を探すのも悪くない。
The speed of painting gets even slower as the end of a painting gets close.
But it can't not be finished without finding a proper name.
It's not a bad idea to do other things like cutting woods or making a frame, while keep watching the painting on a wall from a corner of my eyes in search of a name that fits.
しかし良い名前を見つけるまでは終われない。
壁にかけた作品を横目でみながら、木を切ったり額を作ったり、ほかの作業をしながら名前を探すのも悪くない。
The speed of painting gets even slower as the end of a painting gets close.
But it can't not be finished without finding a proper name.
It's not a bad idea to do other things like cutting woods or making a frame, while keep watching the painting on a wall from a corner of my eyes in search of a name that fits.
speed of changes
春になり木の芽がふきはじめ、クロッカスの青、レンギョウの黄色、木瓜の薄桃色、スミレの青紫色など、景色の中の色彩が日に日に増えてくるのを見ていると、あらためて冬の景色というのはモノトーンだったんだなとつくづく思う。季節ごとの景色にそれぞれの美しさがあると思うのだが、やはり春の色の豊かさとその変化の速さは心地よい刺激である。そして、そんな環境の変化はパレットの色にも影響してくる。 長い冬をとおして制作を続けてきた作品たちも、変化の速度が増してくるようである。
With all the new colors like fresh green leaves, blue crocuses, yellow forsythias, pink quinces, and purple violets, you realize how monotone it was during a winter. Even though each season has it’s own beauty, the richness of colors and it’s fleeting nature of spring gives you a pleasant stimulation. And such a change of the environment must affect the colors on a pallet as well. It might increase the speed of changes on those paintings I have been working through a long winter.
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With all the new colors like fresh green leaves, blue crocuses, yellow forsythias, pink quinces, and purple violets, you realize how monotone it was during a winter. Even though each season has it’s own beauty, the richness of colors and it’s fleeting nature of spring gives you a pleasant stimulation. And such a change of the environment must affect the colors on a pallet as well. It might increase the speed of changes on those paintings I have been working through a long winter.
