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//

Inspiration and miracles are hidden in everyday life. If you look closely, you will realize that the world is full of beauty and things worth painting. In today’s rapidly changing society, I would like to continue to ask myself “Where is the meaning of painting by human hands?

When I paint animals, I do not just observe and copy them, but I try to extract their unique forms and express their human expressions and inner nature by once passing them through my own filter. I want to paint pictures that make you feel nostalgic, as if you have met them somewhere before and are reunited with old friends. I hope you will enjoy such a dialogue with them.   Yuji Kanamaru HP http://www.kanamaru.cc/yuji/

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.

As an animal painter, I continue to work mainly with acrylic gouache. I try to express the latent beauty and strength of natural objects. In addition to painting, I also work on murals, live painting and illustration.

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.

When I turn the calendar around, there is always a new landscape there. I am glad to go through several seasons, as if something I had forgotten comes back to my heart. There is light, shadow, and color in the wind that brushes my cheek. And I want to capture something like a fragrance in the landscape. I want to draw the heart of nature.   Mikiko Noji HP http://nojimikiko.jp/

I mainly create works using cats and people as motifs. I hope I could touch someone’s heartstrings by sublimating what I am attracted to and what I find fragile and beautiful into my works through my own filter.   Masaaki Hikita HP http://www.masaakihikida.com/

Animals are not only cute like pets, but their fur, size, gestures, colors, patterns, and bodies suited to their environment and abilities are very interesting. Sometimes I draw the beauty of the animals themselves in the foreground, sometimes I create stories by imagining the animals’ gestures and outfits, and sometimes I draw my own desires (anthropomorphism, etc.) that I think would be interesting if they were like this, which is not possible in reality. I am particularly fond of large, white animals, and I like to draw polar bears, white tigers, and other white variants. I hope to draw such a picture through animals.