Ayaka Umeda pursues new pictorial expression using the traditional dyeing technique of wax dyeing. Wax dyeing is a pattern-dyeing technique in which heated wax is dipped into a brush and allowed to permeate the cloth, thus preventing the dye from entering the permeated area. The reason why Umeda expresses herself through dyeing is because she feels the possibility of expressing a world beyond her imagination. The dye particles that move on the water cannot be completely controlled. Unlike painting, dyeing is said to be something you “become” rather than something you “do,” and it sometimes creates a world that no one could have imagined. Umeda expresses various themes with wax dyeing based on the nature around her which she has been familiar with since her childhood, out of her urge to see the new world created by dyeing. Ayaka Umeda HP https://ayakaumeda-art.com//

It is said that the movement of the moon is linked to the ebb and flow of the tides, affecting everything from the birth of new life to the internal cycles of animals. I chose the moon as a symbol of the source of life. Everyone has a memory of a night when they looked up at the moon. I hope to express the nostalgia that we all have. Tomoharu Okamura HP TOP  

I continue to paint water as a motif. This is because I am fascinated by the mystery and power of life-giving water. In my paintings, both the rich curves and the legal straight lines created by nature are equally encompassed in one organic world. Flowers, goldfish, and seaweed are also depicted as happy symbols around water, and I want to infuse my work with the aesthetic and fundamental sense of color that they reflect in the water. Kaoru Kan HP https://www.kaorukan.com/

I draw the forms of living creatures by utilizing the material characteristics of pigments such as iwa-enogu (mineral pigments) used in Japanese-style painting. I respect the life force, richness, and scale, including the flow of time, that is inherent in living things, and I want to accumulate a dense sense of life in my paintings. I paint with these thoughts as the axis of my work. Primitive materials such as mineral pigments are also rich in time. It is an irreplaceable stimulus for me to mix and reconcile the material and the spirit in one place, the painting.

Bridley, a tin bird, was born as a symbol of time while drawing many old toys. He can’t fly no matter how much he winds the spring, but he is good at jumping. Until the spring gets rusty and stops working. Kenji Shimizu HP http://www.kenji-shimizu.com/indexpage.html

It depicts the breath of life, interwoven with small animals and plants living in the wind and the big nature. I hope it will spread your imagination as fresh and clean as the latter. Kazuyuki Sudo HP http://sutooo.net/

I believe that realism is the key to good drawing. How realistic can you draw? This is due to the fact that since I was a child I have always thought that a picture that looks like a photograph is a good picture, and even now I am practicing to improve my realism in terms of technique. However, I don’t think it is necessarily true that a good picture with high realism is a good picture. If realism were everything, there would be nothing better than photography. I think a good picture is one that stirs the imagination of the viewer. I think people are creatures that want to have their imagination stimulated. Because we know that our life can be changed depending on our imagination. My imagination has been nurtured by my paintings, so I want to become a painter whose paintings can stimulate someone’s creativity. I believe that in order to express imagination clearly, it is important to have a solid basic technique. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to f

I believe that art is free for both the artist and the viewer. I would be happy if the world I want to express matches the world of someone who sees my work. I want to keep drawing my dream in the reality of creation.

No matter how happy or sad we are, no matter what the weather is like, the four seasons always come and go, and the greenery of the trees and plants remind us of the seasons with their gentle flowers. I am always grateful for the unchanging nature of the seasons, which gives me strength and kindness.