artist

Sachiko's Baskets

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I have had the privilege to know an amazing lady called Sachiko for well over 10 years who was one of my first English students while I was working in Japan. Since I have known her, she has never stopped being active, traveling the world, learning new skills and challenging herself much more than people half her age. I was lucky to meet her this time with my family while on Japan to catch up and show her how much my son has grown since last we met.

 

 

Saga Castle (Sachiko in the left)

Saga Castle (Sachiko in the left)

Sachiko has been busy making baskets since last we met. Each take a couple of days and involve woven string, lacquer and a lot of patience. Each of her pieces have completely different sizes, shapes and patterns of weave. I thought this basket would look good with flowers in but we will try to use it for shopping in the weekly market.

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We were lucky to receive a basket from Sachiko and  after getting it back home in one piece, really wanted to give a way to show her craftsmanship to the world.

Dancing with the devil

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It's not often you get to take photos with a talented performance artist and an assistant. 

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Daniel Blasco Marcos is a talented diabolo performer and stage artist with a lot of skill for juggling. Even though the weather wasn't great we worked to get some shots that might show case his talents.

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Behind the scenes. It may look like I'm just lazing around on the floor but diabolo photography is hard work!! 

Behind the scenes. It may look like I'm just lazing around on the floor but diabolo photography is hard work!! 

 This has to be one of the first times I wished I could do video as still photography doesn't quite capture the art and finesse of Daniel's tricks.

 

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Day 181

Cats eyes

Cats eyes

I was asked to take photos of Shizuka's ceramic art works yesterday and was fortunate to get her to pose with one. Shizuka is an artist from Japan working in Frankfurt with an amazing imagination and vision for creating art that you wouldn't particularly expect from such a quiet modest person.