Paper tree for space solution

 

December!!!!  I am having a hard time recalling my life from September to now.  So many things happened to my family this year.  In the mean time, my boy is constantly growing healthily.   We are growing out of this tiny Japanese apartment.  I didn't want to give up a tree, but where can I put it in this mess? So I decided to be creative this year and use paper trick. That way, we can have a big tree in the house.  One great thing is that it would be a great art project to work on for my son.   I put up a foundation today, and I am planning on adding our handmade paper ornaments this week. 

Today, I am thankful for

not having time for myself these days:-)

I am happy, but I made myself very very tired physically. I have been sick for over a month. 

Time to have a meeting with myself again.
Last year, I made myself a Me Me notebook that was supposed to be dedicating only for my personal fun and projects.  I completely failed filling the notebook with wishes and plans.  Gradually having more and more notes about non-me things like my son, his education plan, travel shopping list etc..

 I'll make a brand new Me Me book soon. 

I WILL!

Watercolor experiment

Beautiful Sunday coloring.  One lesson I learned; coming up with color palette in advance. 

Coloring therapy completed.

I completed coloring the piece I draw for my project Thankful Basket. 

You can see the pen drawings of my first three pieces I posted before. 

I enjoyed the process, but I would use real paints next time. 

Thankful Basket#3

Pencil does smell good.

Finally grabbed pencil and drew. 

Coloring therapy- in progress.

So, I started coloring one of the works I've done for Thankful Basket project. 

I am still struggling with time and space issues, and I used color pencils coloring to keep things less complicated.  Turned out I didn't like the texture the pencils made on the papers, but it has been great to be in touch with colors.  I have to come up with a way to color on this not so good journal book though. Lesson learned. Always get good quality materials!!  

Thankful Basket #2

Summer vacation is over, and I am back to my normal schedule. Means much less time for myself.  I feel good I managed to work on this Thankful Basket project.  

I think I need some colors soon.  

Thankful Basket

 

 

I started a new little project named, Thankful Basket.  It is my gratitude journal, and I draw something dedicated to what I am grateful for.  It's been therapeutic, and also it is so helpful for drawing practice.  I'll post the work here, and I opened a new blog on Tumblr for the project. 

http://thankfulbasket.tumblr.com/

You can check out through hashtag #thankfulbasket on Twitter and Instagram as well.

Thank you, California.

I had a month long vacation in California. It had been 4 years since I left the land of sunshine.  It was a perfect timing to reflect about the last 4 years, and the gorgeous weather made it easy to do that.  One of my dreams was to show my son Monterey Bay Aquarium and Big Sur.  It came true, and it was perfect. 

I had been feeling that something has to be done before I took this trip.  Time to shift some more energy toward myself instead of using 100% of that toward my son.  My main focus of life right now are my son, my art, and exercises.   It is still a challenge to figure out how to use my time for all the things I would like to achieve, but my attitude toward the challenge has been transformed to be more positive after the trip.  The big sky and ocean always help me feel better.  Now back to busy crowded Tokyo, I am excited to tackle with my challenges. 

Thank You, Dear.

I managed to create a Thank You card for my friend in London.  She sent me wonderful books for my son.   One of the books is the famous Goodnight Moon, and she told me that the pictures I shared online inspired her to ship those books for my son.  I used to make cards, photo albums, and funny little art objects for my friends.  It was my motivations and inspirations to make something.  I guess that is the biggest and strongest force for my creations.  It is fun and happy.  Thank you, my friend, for wonderful gifts and inspirations. 

Camellia Party

We walked through the showers of cherry blossom petals and ended up in camellia party.  

Special spring gift

Long awaited spring arrived, and it's been great so far.  Activities were limited with one a year-old last year.  We have more freedom and independence now.  New fun and joy to celebrate.

One of them is a lovely gift from my son.  He picked up a fallen bloom and handed it to me under gorgeous cherry blossoms.  

All the selfless stressful days are paid off :-) 

This is the season I get inspiration and energy from Tokyo's famous urban gardens. Last year, I drew Tokyo Urban Garden inspired by blossoms of colorful flowers in the neighborhood. 

It's here again.  It's been a year since then... my boy will be three this summer!  Time flies. 

Tuesday Doodles

I needed some time off today.  So I set up a space and started drawing after feeding my boy lunch.  It was about an hour, but it was enough ME time to refresh my mind. 
These are the images I uploaded on my Instagram page.  I'm pretty active on Instagram, so please follow me, yukamilafotos (http://instagram.com/yukamilafotos)!

Good Night Moon

I have been slowly working on a project.   I would like to share them once they are all done, but I couldn't stop myself from sharing a part of it.  I enjoy receiving some reactions from people! Receiving some compliments helps me so much when I struggle making more time for projects.

The first image is just a part of a piece I worked on.  I thought moon came out nice, and I added the line, GOOD NIGHT MOON, using Studio Design app on my phone. 
Do you like it?

My zen meditation with lotus flowers.

Working on this in the middle of the night had been my meditation.  Some things has been bothering me.  It is much better than getting helps from chocolates. OM. 

When I was 15.

 

I found this from my grandfather's study the other day.  He passed away right after I did this drawing.  I have no idea how this work ended up in his study, but it had been on the wall for more than 15 years.  My grandmother didn't want to organize her husband's belongings after he passed away.  

I remembered that I got some kind of prize for this drawing at my school, and it was more psychedelic and fun drawing in my memory. It looks so...difficult to me now.  This time of me was struggling alone. Fifteen! Who doesn't struggle?:-)  Probably this was the hardest and the loneliest time of my life.   I wish I could have gave 15-year old me a big hug, and I feel grateful that I am safe, healthy and happy mama now. 

Tokyo Urban Garden

It's done.  My brother asked me who is the creepy guy in the back.  He is the keeper of my favorite urban garden.  He lives in such a rundown house near the train tracks and decorates it with colorful flowers year-round.  I guess it's the beauty of city life. You easily find someone doing something interesting. 

Work In Progress: Tokyo Urban Garden

This piece is almost finished. Finally! I have been working on this since last year. And guess what! I don't like this piece!  I didn't like it anymore once I finished the first half of it, and it has been a painful process to tackle with my frustration with my skills and impatient personality.

Hey, but I am a mother now, and I should show a good example for my son.  I will finish it and think about how to continue developing this theme.  My inspiration is coming from living, again, in this neighborhood where I grew up.  Compared to my life in beautiful scenic California, this town looked so gray and dull when I came back.  I desperately tried to find beauty in this urban bed town, and all I got were the flowers and the colors some neighbors are displaying on their doorsteps.

Tokyo's famous street garden.

I think my idea is good, but I am having a hard time drawing what is in my imagination.  I am excited to keep working on this concept and how I can come up with better versions of it.

Inspiring start of 2014

My new year starts with many inspirations and new thoughts.   One of my new year resolutions is making more actions than spending time planning, thinking, and worrying. Oh, and whining and complaining in my head.

First thing first, I have been focusing on assisting my son who's in the first stage of figuring out about himself and the world.  So called Terrible Two:-) I used to be able to make some time for working out, drawing, or working on the computer.  I don't have that time anymore unless I wake up really early.  Now he demands me to take him to bed every night, so my precious night hours have been significantly reduced.  I fought about this issue so hard, but I decided to just focus on one thing at a time and set my priority on enjoying time with my son as much as possible.  I realized that this is the final year that I can spend all day long with my son.  So much to teach and give. 

Once I set my focus though, I have been feeling much inspired and creative.  I have so much new ideas for drawings now, and I enjoy planning on it whenever and wherever I can.  That lead me to finally start experimenting with gouache.  I love watercolor, but I enjoy the feel gouache creates as well.  Also about this blog, I would like to write more about myself instead of just presenting my works.  It would be a very slow process for awhile, but I think the important thing is making an action.  In a way, it is time for me to come out of the closet.  Show me, reveal me, and see how it goes.