Working Method

Taking tea.

Happo-en Garden Tokyo.

I accidentally found this beautiful tea garden named “Happo-en” or The Garden of Eight Views.

The formal and constrained stand silently next to the exuberance of nature and the serenity of the Tea House makes the adjacent chaos of Tokyo seem a world away.

Kamo Blues

Gion. Kyoto

I crossed the Kawagama, the major river that separates the Geisha area of Gion from the commercial world of Kawaramachi, the water is many shades of blue and green and the banks are dotted incongruously with concrete blocks.

Turning into the dark alleyways of Pontacho I become disorientated and find myself facing the river once again, seeing light through dark filters.

Fenced in Beautifully

Ginkakuji Kyoto

Sometimes the smallest detail can set of a whole new exploration of texture an mark making. The formal designs of Ginkakuji, or The Silver Pavillion grounds, with their meticulously raked gravel evoke feelings of a calm and constrained environment.

Nature will always however find a way, as I was leaving this rarefied atmosphere my eye was caught by the bamboo that had been used for the fencing. Layers upon layers of subtle texture.