Commissioned Pieces V—Faith & Haiga

Painted

Side by Side

This is actually a continuation of the post earlier. The same lovely gentleman who upon commissioning portraits of one of his granddaughter, reached out months later about his other younger one. The photos I received of her were adorable, and had a hard time narrowing down to which two to paint, but somehow I managed. That said, I also had to request for extra time to complete the paintings even prior to accepting the request, as my situation had changed since I shipped off the portraits he had commissioned earlier. Was very very lucky that he had faith in me and gave me more than a reasonable timeframe to complete the piece—and did I take my time.

It's not easy to have people have faith in you, especially if it is coming from someone who requested a one-of-a-kind piece that hasn't even been created yet. They can tell you all samples of your work they liked and have an idea of what they want, but for them to trust you enough with not only creative approaches but with a very loosely set timeframe, is a big ask. I wanted plenty of time to make sure that I was in the right mindset/space to be able to capture that sweet quality his little granddaughter had—and still does of course. I also debated for the longest time if I was going to paint some flowers in the background of the painting where she is sitting with a mirror in her hand, which was in the original photo provided to me. After going back and forth many times in my mind, decided against it and when I told that to "client" I was happy to hear that he felt the same—again, that's having faith in me, my decision to give it what I thought was needed white space and continuity of all 4 pieces that he commissioned.

He also mentioned that my pieces have the simplicity of haiga which is why he loved my work. From Wikipedia: hagia is a style of Japanese painting that incorporates the aesthetics of haikai. Haiga are typically painted by haiku poets (haijin), and often accompanied by a haiku poem. like the poetic form it accompanied, haiga was based on simple, yet often profound, observations of the everyday world.

To have him say that meant the world to me, as he got exactly what I wanted to convey all along—simplicity, calmness, joy, with a light poetic touch. and this is also about me being grateful and having faith in my clients/people who I am connected to.

Commissioned Pieces IV—En

Painted—Hot Cocoa

Sketched

Traced

Blotted—Waiting to be Fully Dried

En, the Japanese for destiny/fate. If you ask me what am most grateful for in life, I would answer without any hesitation, that I truly have the best en. A message came in via my website to me 2 years ago, asking for a commission portrait of the sender's lovely granddaughter and mentioned that we have met, both grandfather, granddaughter and I way back in Spring 2016 at Jalk Coffee, where I was holding my exhibition. She was 12 at the time, and now is turning 17, and I have since relocated back to Vancouver, moved three times, still trying to settle back into my hometown. Who would have believe this? An almost 80 year-old gentleman, who English is not his first language, searched the internet for me, reached out in a wonderfully written message in English, and asked for me to paint a portrait of his granddaughter? I really was too much—meaning, I was beyond humbled and delighted for someone to remember me from just one encounter and then to find me 5 years later.

We corresponded over the course of a week and then longer to update each other on preferences, progress, details, and most importantly, things that have nothing to do with the commission itself—about how are we doing and what has been happening in our daily lives across the globe. During this process, it was decided that instead of 1 portrait, 2 would be commissioned, since we both or his family can't decide which sketches would be "the one" that would be her birthday present. She would in the end choose which one she would like as her present, and he would keep the other. To me, one is of her "now" a young girl in summer, enjoying an iced coffee, and one is of her "future" a young lady in thought, enjoying a hot chocolate. Both the same and different at the same time—but still very her.

After having them safely shipped off to Tokyo, I heard that the girl, now a young lady, would be spending time here in Vancouver to study English. I have since met her a number of times, and ended up meeting both her parents as well, enjoying great food, stories, and laughs together. Of course, all this was reported to her grandfather, who happily took great time and effort to write back to me. Every word of his correspondence was as sincere as sincere can get. she did return to Japan the following spring, and we all promised each other that when I do go Tokyo again, we would all visit Jalk Coffee, where our meeting filled with en first happened and hopefully not end there. Side note, we are still in touch!

Commissioned Pieces III—Zen

bubbles—hearts on canvas II, In Progress

bubbles—hearts on canvas II, In Detail

bubbles—hearts. I only intended to paint bubbles—hearts for my first show back in Vancouver at the beginning of 2017.  Did one on canvas and one on watercolour paper, both being small pieces (8" x 8" and 8" x 12"). They found new homes, and that was supposed to be it. Then, a couple of years ago, a dear friend reached out to me asking for a larger one for her home. Since it'll be travelling all the way back to Japan, we decided to go with a 16" x 16". Purely looking at the numbers/dimension, doubling of a 8" x 8" to the commissioned size seems to be an easy one, but in reality, painting bubbles, especially hearts, was very time consuming and took quite a bit of effort. of course, my habit of only painting when am happy/in a positive mind set/space, did not help. so, one of my conditions to accepted the commission was, are you fine with me taking my time and I will take my time.

Yes, I make it a "rule" to only paint when am ready to, which means when am of positive energy because I truly believe that my energy gets transferred to the pieces I paint while am painting them. Why would I want to spread negative vibes around, especially with this piece which is composed solely of layers and layers hearts? My goal is for whoever has a piece of my work, that it brings them joy and hopefully, some zen/calmness in life. Modern day life has lots of stressors and do not need to be an amplifier of that. I much rather my work warms the soul, well, at least that's the goal......

Note: all photos were taken under natural sunlight with shadows. When seeing the progress photos, does it seem like the love/hearts/feelings are growing/multiplying on you?

Comissioned Pieces II—Resonate

Initial Sketch

Trace

Blotted Outlines

An unexpected request came in from a dear friend of many years. A portrait of his adorable little girl, who unfortunately I have yet to meet, as they live elsewhere across the globe. He was in town for a short while and we met up during his stay. Of the photos he sent, decided to sketch and paint this one, which I thought was especially cute. The reason for commissioning the piece was personal and unique, which is not for me to share, but what I can say is that it resonated with me and opened up a new way to look at things. Hence, I wanted to do it justice. painting long wavy hair is not a specialty of mine and did struggle a bit with it.

I couldn't get good photos of the finished piece nor its progress, as the weather was not great while I was working on it. It's been a number of years since I shipped off the painting, his little girl isn't so little anymore. I hope that it still captured that very special moment and embodied the meaning of it being commissioned in the first place. It really is a honour and blessing to be able to do what I do and then share it with you lot—though with significant time delay! And oh, don’t you just love that little teddy bear?

Commissioned Pieces I—Process & Joy

It’s been 2 1/2 years since my last post. Lots have happened during this time, and am taking it slow to get back into posting—it’s like am waking up from a long hibernation. Will write about my reflections, so to say……

Sketched

Blotted

Painted

Completed—signed and framed

Commissioned Pieces I: am going to share with you some stories about the commissioned pieces that I have done over the past few years that I have to put down in words. For me, commissioning a piece is always very special, be it me asking for one, or being asked of one. For portraits that I do, I would always ask for a number of photos if possible that they particularly like of themselves or of the person they are asking to be painted. for there, I would come up with a sketch, sometimes two, and show it to the client, for a lack of a better word. once approved, the outlines are traced and traced again in ink to create the blotted lines, and once dried, painted in.

The correspondence/conversations and photo updates that fall in between are not short or few. I want to make sure that I get things right and have the person to be a part of the journey, since it's my piece as much as theirs. please swipe to see the progress of it.

This one was painted in my temporary home, and painting it brought me so much joy. Not only because it was requested by a person who valued art and anything beautiful—meaning made with love and craftsmanship, but his massive support of it. it also we have met up for coffees before and even after the piece was completed, and continue to do so. Our conversations covers so many aspects, and always full of good laughs.

It's a rare one, where I painted some leaves in the background, which I normally wouldn't do. However, it just felt right. I loved the original photo of him, very natural and humbled, and was very happy with my take on it. glad that his was too!

Beauty Treatment - Yomogi Steam

I want to share today a commissioned piece that I painted for a yomogi steam salon in Japan.  The beauty treatment originates in Korea, but it's gaining popularity in Japan and other parts of Asia.  It involves the steaming of yomogi under a chair which the person receiving the treatment sits on while wearing an oversized cape to trap all the goodness of the steam in.  A detox and beauty within treatment that has been gathering many fans.

Yomogi, is Japanese mugwort, a herb that can be eaten (especially when made into a delicious rice cake dessert--Google yomogi mochi, or kusamochi and you would know what I mean), drank, or used for steaming.  It is known for its detoxing, healing, warming properties, and for ladies, to help alleviate the bloating, menstrual craps and more.  Hence, when pregnant or nursing the herb should be avoided.

Self-care has always been the core of my work, may it be writing and illustrating books like How To Take a Wa Style Bath and My Little Book of Happiness, which are about taking care of oneself, or painting my bubbles series, as it brings a sense of zen to both the painter (me) and the viewer (you).  So, I was extremely delighted when I was asked to illustrate this piece for a new yomogi salon.  It really shows how lucky I am to have these wonderful opportunities!

Commissioned Pieces

This is the first blotted line drawing I've done since relocating back to Vancouver and it's a commissioned piece. I usually don't post about personally commissioned & customized work, but thought it is time to share, especially when it was requested by someone who is a major supporter of my art. I just love working with others to come up with a piece that they would have and love. I think that was why I liked fashion styling too--it is a true collaboration between the photographer, hair & makeup artist(s), model(s), the client, and me. Am an extremely fortunate person to have gathered the love and support that I have. So, thank you everyone and am looking forward to creating more commissioned pieces with others!!

This image includes all the steps to my blotted line drawings:

1. Sketching
2. Blotting
3. Painting
4. Signing--major one, if it's not good enough, will not sign and I would redo the entire process over again
5. Framing--if being sent out (with lots of love) to the paintings new home

And if it was a work that needs to be delivered digitally as well:

6. Scanning
7. Digital touching up