Trip to Japan!!!!

 I am super duper excited about my trip to Japan which will be in July with my wonderful partner. It will be my second time there and I know for a fact that as soon I get back home I am going to start planning to go over again!!! (I am super obsessed)
So far, the plan is to land in Tokyo, go to the Island of cats for my birthdya which will be the third day in. (It is an island covered in cats!!!!) stay there for a week, go to Kyoto and stay in a traditional house for a week, head over to Naoshima for some robot fun times for another week, then head over to Osaka to see the wonderful water and temples for a week and then spend one last week in Tokyo again. 
WHAT A PLAN!!!
My partner is really into Japanese robot anime and action figures so we will be doing a lot of searching in Tokyo for some little friends to take home with us. 
I love Studio Ghibli so we are definatly going to go to the Ghibli museum for a looksy. I also loooooove kupi dolls and i have heard there is a super cool historical museum full of dolls which I am super keen about seeing too.

I plan to do at least one highly rendered sketch a day in my scrap book which i will be bringing and i plan to take a photo of the sketches with a Japanese background to post on my blog so watch for those! 

 
These are traditional wooden Geisha dolls from Japan. My aunt gave me two when I was just a little girl and I still love them and cherish them. Aren't they cool!

Small collaboration exhibition

To start off the curatorial side of my career, I have come up with a concept for a very small exhibition to develop which focuses on collaborations with illustrators/designers and writers who are Melbourne based.

The idea that is forming is also to involve a zeen  format which is such a wonderful concept in its own right. Each illustrator/designer will find a collaborating partner in the field of creative writing to develop a stunning collection of artworks. Each artwork shall consist of one line to a paragraph of a story or idea which the writer will create on their own, then pass on to the artist for them to develope a partnering image to go with the text to further expand the concept of the text.

Each collaboration should aim for A5 to A3 formats and 5 works between them. Each work shall be archival printed which I shall organize to lower costs for the artists.

The step I am up to presently is finding an appropriate place to hold the small exhibition. I am looking around for the right kind of spaces as we speak and as soon as I find the space, I will be formally contacting the artists and writers if they would like to involve themselves in this humble little project.
   

                                 Editorial Illustration "Tree" 2010