Travel I – Japan

Hello, Internet!

2014 is officially over, and as the new year begins I’m facing a big international trip with a friend to the land of zen, shinto, tea ceremonies, and giant robots fighting monsters – if you don’t get the idea, I’m talking about Japan! Going back to a young age, a lot of my earliest influences in art came in the form of anime and manga. Akira Toriyama, Yoshitaka Amano and Hayao Miyazaki captured my imagination with their illustrations. Young me must have reasoned that any culture that produced such elegant art – and also held comics elevated to the level of art form – must be something to see in person. I’ve been reading Kirainet’s book “A Geek In Japan” and I can’t say enough great things about it if you’re interested in modern Japanese culture. I’ve been finding invaluable info towards helping us plan our trip. And it’s full of tons of RAD color photos!

It’s also in the spirit of this time of year to look back at what we’ve accomplished in the past 365 days. One of my favorite art memories from the past year was working on the mural in Long Beach, CA. 

Last summer I caved to peer pressure and started an Instagram account for day-to-day art and randomness. 

I also participated in “SPARK! Art from Writing: Writing from Art” for my second round, and the community’s 23rd round so far. I love joining creative projects with deadlines, they keep me on my toes! I’ve enjoyed the process and idea behind “SPARK!” quite a lot and if you love art and writing, you should give it a shot.

In addition to looking back, there is so much to look forward to! My next deadline will be for Avari Magazine‘s premiere issue in February. This is a very special project brought to my attention by Art Whims Photography in the Pacific Northwest. I hope my year in the Costume Design program at WSU shows in my submission. 🙂 For the future of my website and blog, I’d love to do more informative, in-depth posts about art, traveling, and any other events or topics that seem appropriate for my public domain. I have had a hard time figuring out where to start when it comes to blogging, but I enjoy it and I’d love to be more interactive with folks via WordPress and other networking platforms. 

Until next time,
– JT