3.21.15

I can't believe it's already almost April! My time here in Tokyo has flown by too quickly.  It's been okay juggling working on some art on top of going to a very intensive language school, and I recently just finished a project that was a little bit different than anything else I've ever worked on.

As many of my friends know, I am very passionate about Japanese music.  Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to see one of my favorite bands live.  The reason behind why I'm so passionate about their music is a bit personal, but in short, I just felt like since they've done so much for me, I should do something nice for them.  

So, I decided to make each of the members a painting.  At shows, bands will always have boxes where people leave thank you letters, etc. for the band members.  It sounds a bit strange, maybe, but in Japan it's very common at shows.  This was a fun project for me because I've never done something like this before.  Having to make five separate paintings that I knew I was going to give away was an interesting experience, because you have to be extra extra careful that everything comes out neatly (I'm usually very careful anyway.  I never photoshop any of my images except for color correction and editing out little dust bits).

And painting them wasn't all I had to do.  I also had to figure out a way to package them as to keep them safe, as well as keeping them looking presentable.  This was fun for me because I feel like it's also good practice for myself as an artist to practice good packaging.

I made five envelopes out of this paper I found at a really great art store here.  I also wrote each of the members a letter (In my limited Japanese haha.  One of them had a spelling error... Sorry!), and put my business card inside.  I'm not expecting anything out of this, and I never was, since they're very popular within their genre.  But it was still fun and exciting to create nonetheless.  I put each of the envelopes inside of these clear plastic sleeves that fit them perfectly that I also found in that art store.  They weren't very flimsy, so I think they should have made it to their destination safely.  

 It was really a big relief to complete and it's a bit nerve wracking sending art away without knowing anything else after that.  It made me excited for the next time I send out postcards to clients actually, because now I have a bit more knowledge in the best ways to present my works when they're being sent away.  I also love making pieces inspired by music, and each painting was after one of their songs.

When I return home, I think I may turn all of these pieces into big paintings.  They were fun to create and I think they look nice together.  I'm gonna use them as a jumping off point for some later projects later in the year.

Now that this is completed, it's time to start thinking of what to do next.