Ajisai Tea Ceremony and Exhibition at Shirotori garden.

This upcoming weakend (June 16 & 17) I will be speaking and exhibiting my award winning painting 'Treasures of Tranquility as well as my calligraphy, at the Ajisai (Hydrangea) Tea Ceremony at the Shirotori garden in Nagoya. 

At this wonderful event, that is held every June during the hydrangea-blooming season, non Japanese residents perform tea ceremony, give speeches, and display their Japanese arts and crafts. Tea ceremonies are held apx every 45 minutes on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm. Entrance to the garden is ¥300 and tickets for tea and sweets are ¥500. English guided tours of the garden will also be available on both days at 11 am and 1pm. All ages welcome! No reservations. Purchase tickets for tea when you arrive on site. (This event attracts a lot of people so please understand there may be wait times to get into a ceremony)

Shirotori Garden〒456-0036 Aichi-ken, Nagoya-shi, Atsuta-ku, Atsuta Nishimachi, 2−２−５052-681-8928https://goo.gl/maps/EjDdJmMX8g22

`Treasures of Tranquility` awarded Foreign Minister Award at Toyota Museum.

Last month my artwork `Treasures of Tranquility` was awarded the prestigious Foreign Minister award during the Global Artists Exhibition at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. I was told that I am one of the first foreign artists to have been awarded this honour which made it even more special!

It is always a little scary introducing your work to a new public and even more so when that public comes from a completely different background and culture. `Treasures of Tranquility` was one of the first Japan inspired pieces I created and this was the first time it was on display. I am very happy that the work was received so well!

The Global Artists Exhibition was a very special event to be a part of. With over 70 artists from 12 different countries there was a lot of variety in subject matter, styles and materials which was very inspiring. But the best thing about exhibitions like these is that you get to see artists that come from a completely different background. This year there was a wonderful group of artists from Nepal as well as people from India, New Zealand, Ireland, the US and of course a large group of Japanese artists as well. 

Two newspapers printed an article about the exhibition, both of them wrote about my piece because of the award and one of them even used a picture that showed my piece! The articles are all in Japanese, of course but Google translate has come in handy :) 

The exhibition was held at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, a beautiful, contemporary museum with a wonderful mirror garden. It was an amazing experience to see my work in such a beautiful space. The architecture of the museum is really awesome so after the exhibition I took the opportunity to take some `glamour` shots of my piece outside.