Patrick Gannon--SCBWI Presentation

Patrick Gannon gave a presentation about cut paper art. It was fantastic! And fun! We got a chance to make one ourselves. I did mine at home. I like doing it.

Check out his beautiful art at his website here. His art has appeared in Cricket Magazine, TIME Asia, and other publications.

In Tokyo until December 14th

Big Sister finished exams and had a day off today. (She's in high school.) We went to this exhibition at The National Center of Art, Tokyo. It is located in Roppongi. This is a free handbill. There was a shop at the exit of the exhibition. We bought postcards and bookmarks. We also bought a package of New Year's money envelopes. They have different Picasso paintings on them. There was also a shop downstairs. There were several coffee shops. It was an interesting building. Check the website.

It was nice to see some of his work again. Little Brother went with us when we went 10 years ago. He was only two, but he enjoyed it. He picked out several postcards to buy.

He was quite heavy as I remember. I had to hold him up so he could see the paintings and drawings. You're never too young to enjoy art!

High School Art Project

Big Sister brought this home after the holidays. It is a paper mache replica of a bottle of glue. She made it in her high school art class.

Ashes and Snow, The Nomadic Museum

We went to the photo exhibition called Ashes and Snow in Odaiba, Tokyo today.

It is called The Nomadic Museum because it will move from city to city.

The whole building will travel with the exhibition. It was designed by Shigeru Ban. It is made out of old train cars.

The people with the umbrellas are walking toward the entrance. The windows on the right are plastic. That is where the shop is located.

Here is the ticket office.

You walk into the exhibition to the left of the white curtains.

This wall is covered in old tea bag paper. When you enter the exhibition, the first thing you see as you turn the corner is an amber sheet draped from the ceiling to the floor. It is made of tea bags, too. The ceilings are really high. There are huge pillars. They are made out of rolled paper!

Cameras are not allowed in exhibitions, but you can see the photos on the website for Ashes and Snow. There, you can also see how the photos were displayed. It was a very nice atmosphere. There were wooden plank pathways with river rocks from Africa along the sides. Nice music playing, amber lights. For us today, we had a little thunder and lots of rain on the tin roof.

There was a shop located at the exit. Here is the book we bought. The paper is all handmade.

The bag was made out of recycled paper. It had this stamp on it.

Kateigaho, Japan's Arts & Culture Magazine

Our summer issue of the International Edition of Kateigaho, Japan's Arts & Culture magazine arrived today. It is not a children's magazine, but it is a great resource with wonderful photographs and articles. There is also a Japanese version of the magazine. The international edition is the same magazine translated into English. The summer issue has articles and photos of Japanese textiles, lilies, Kabuki, Tsukiji fish market, jewelry, World Heritage sites in China, arts and artists. Gregory Colbert's exhibition, Ashes and Snow, is in Tokyo. We want to go!

Check out the Kateigaho website . They sell individual issues or subscriptions. They have also posted some articles and photos on their website.

The Mural at the American School in Japan

The original tile mosaic (they call it a mural) was made in 1963 by Pearl Mok. It was on an outside wall of the school's old theater. The theater was rebuilt and reopened in August 2006. The students, faculty, parents and alumni reconstructed the mural and had it placed on a front wall of the new Ricketson Theater. The mural now faces the street. Some tiles were replaced. The old tiles were made into keychains. They were given as gifts when people made donations to the school.