Alone in Kyoto “Alone in Kyoto” Neocolor II and Luminance on Arches Aquarelle smooth. 23.5 x 28.5 cm. April 2024. Last time I traveled to Kyoto I was not in a good mood during my first evening there. No doubt I was worn out from lack of sleep and two long-haul flights. I felt that I had made a mistake in coming back. I trudged around for a while in a black mood then gave up on finding inspiration and returned to my hotel room. Looking back at my (very few) photo images from that first evening, I wondered if I could communicate my sense of doubt in a drawing. In my journal I had written “worst ..read more

Downtown “Downtown” Coloured pencils on Arches Aquarelle smooth paper, 30 x 21 cm. Drawn in March 2024. On my way to Lawson to buy takeaway dinner one evening in Kyoto, a marching band of lights caught my attention. It was headed up by blue fairy lights. A Japanese lantern fell in behind. To the rear, neon signs and street lamps formed an abstract cohort, dazzling and reflecting all the way down to Shijo-dori. What a colourful cacophony. I thought there might be a drawing in it so I took a few photos. This is the source photo for the drawing “Downtown”. During the last fortnight as I worked on ..read more

Kyoto Twilight “Kyoto Twilight” a drawing in Neocolor crayons and coloured pencils on Arches Aquarelle smooth, 46 x 30.5 cm. Drawn in January 2024. It was November 2005. Having used a film camera for decades, this was my first trip to Japan with a digital camera…a Nikon D70 if I remember correctly. I wandered around Pontocho in Kyoto just as the light was morphing from daylight into evening – which is my favourite time. Lanterns and neon lights were popping on as the sky, not to be outdone, radiated its own quiet glow. I captured the moment with my camera. Back in 2006 I used the same source p ..read more

Pontocho Perfect “Pontocho Perfect” coloured pencils, 46.5 x 27 cm. Drawn in December 2023 Pontocho, a narrow lane in downtown Kyoto, reminds me of a Venetian calle. It has the same kind of intimate claustrophobic walking space as that of a calle – squished between buildings – a tight fit. You may enter Pontocho from either Shijo Street at its southern end or Sanjo Street at its north. As soon as you turn into Pontocho you enter another world. Pontocho is known and loved for its lively atmosphere, enormous variety of bars and restaurants – mmmm – the aromas as you pass by them! When it is quie ..read more

Glowing in Kyoto “Glowing in Kyoto” a new drawing from a 2014 photo. 34 x 34 cm. Drawn November 2023. Time stands still – are we in the twenty-first century? Katsutomo-san approaches her okiya, key-in-hand, on a Gion street, while the always-present lanterns bob and glow. As I continue to have an emotional pull toward lanterns, wooden tea-houses and geisha, I am unearthing my twenty year cache of Kyoto photos in order to mine them for possible new drawings. “Glowing in Kyoto”, just completed, is drawn from a photo I took on a summer afternoon in 2014. I made a drawing from this same image back ..read more

Glowing in Gion “Glowing in Gion” 34 x 34 cm. Drawn November 2023. Time stands still – are we in the twenty-first century? Katsutomo-san approaches her okiya, key-in-hand, on a Gion street, while the always-present lanterns bob and glow. Because I still have an emotional pull toward lanterns, wooden tea-houses and geisha, I have decided to unearth my twenty year cache of Kyoto photos to mine for new drawings. “Glowing in Gion“, just completed, is drawn from a photo I took on a summer afternoon in 2014. Honestly, in this time of ever bigger unsolvable world problems, I find solace in subject ma ..read more

Candid Kyoto On Sunday evening I departed Perth, Australia. In the late morning I arrived in Kyoto, Japan. For four days I walked and photographed. Monday Geiko (and maiko hidden behind her) waiting for the light to change at the pedestrian crossing on Shijo-dori.Streetscape at northern end of Pontocho.Entrance to a restaurant in Miyagawa-cho.Maiko and small children at dusk in Miyagawa-cho.A wave and a smile in Miyagawa-cho.Elegance personified.Two young women in Kyoto.Fairy lights, neon and lantern outside a convenience store.Maiko on Shijo-dori followed closely by Wile E Coyote! Tuesday The ..read more

Gion Kouta “Gion Kouta” coloured pencils on Arches Aquarelle smooth, 40 x 22.5 cm. October 2023 “Gion kouta” is the name of a hauntingly beautiful dance performed by maiko and geiko. The kouta (song) lyrics wistfully describe timeless Kyoto; its romantic changing seasons, fleeting beauty and ephemeral geisha. I give this drawing the title “Gion Kouta” as, to me, it has all the romance of the song. Maiko (with accompanying shikomi) hurry through drizzle under their paper wagasa (umbrellas). Ichiriki-tei (the most famous tea-house in all of Japan) is on the left; lanterns and street lamps glow a ..read more

My Kyoto Story “My Kyoto Story” coloured pencil drawing, 30.2 x 30.5 cm. September 2023 While working on “My Kyoto Story” I mentally drew myself into this atmospheric evening scene. As I drew I reflected on past trips and how I am missing Kyoto in particular, and Japan in general. I recently watched a 2023 film called “Past Lives” (written and directed by Celine Song). It is a South Korean/American story set in both Seoul and New York. In this film Seoul and New York are given equal importance to the characters. These two cities are so deeply observed and felt that watching them on the big scr ..read more

Christmas in July “Christmas in July” coloured pencils, 20.5 x 23.5 cm. Drawn in August 2023. On a cold July day a Scarlet Robin alights on a branch of a silver birch tree. What a contrast his bright feathers make to the bleak winter tones surrounding him. I am reminded of a shiny bauble in a Christmas tree – establishing with his radiant presence a feeling that all is, after all, well ..read more