For those who have the patience to read one of my "How I started as an artist" story, here it is. This is "Lady Flying Over The Moon". The piece I created which led me to pursue my passion as mosaic artist.
Some of you may notice that the style and technique is different from the ones I create now. I don't use stained glass, I don't make shapes and I don't do characters anymore. The concept of characters and shapes were intriguing at first, however after I created my favorite design, it just died inside me. The design I picked was so personal and special to me, there was nothing else anymore.
The design was from the famous Studio Ghibli's (Japanese Animation Studio) work. "Kiki's Delivery Service" was on screen in 1989 when I was just 4 years old. The story is basically about this 13 year old Kiki going to a new town and start a living in order to become a full witch. It is about meeting new people, finding a place to live, getting a job and everything we do in real life. However by seeing a young girl struggling to find her own passion, I strongly start to relate to that emotion. I saw her struggle as mine. "Finding My Passion."
The design of this piece appears in the movie when Kiki pays a visit to an artist's house. Ursula is her name and she is a painter living in the woods during summer. She shows her progress on her painting and tells that she wants to paint Kiki in it. The conversation between the two leads Kiki to talk about her struggle.
Kiki ; "Without even thinking about it, I used to be able to fly. Now I'm trying to look inside myself and find out how I did it."
Ursula : "We each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it's not easy."
It is funny how the movie you've watched over and over again seemed to make sense all of the sudden. And this was my moment. Her painting gave me inspiration to create this design as mosaic and this piece lead me to pursue my passion as mosaic artist. It was nothing special, just watched my favorite old movie. But that few moments in that movie was all I needed.
Now this piece is hanging in our bedroom. Every morning I wake up, it is helping me get a fresh start and a reminder. "You Know What You Gotta Do".
So many thanks to Kathy Richardson who taught me the beauty of mosaic art and her amazing Mosaic Meetup that ended today after 360 incredible sessions.
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またまた私のモザイクアートを始めるきっかけの物語を読む根気のある方へ。今回はそんなお話です。この作品が私をその道に進む勇気をくれたものになります。
見る人が見ればわかりますが、今とは全く異なる技法を用いています。まずステンドガラスはもう使わないし、形を描くことも、それこそキャラクターを入れることももうありません。モザイクを始めたての頃は形やキャラクターはとても魅力的に思えましたが、一番好きな絵柄を作ってしまった後はそのコンセプトは私の中で死んでしまったのです。それ以上自分の心を動かす絵柄が見つからず、先が全く見えなくなってしまいました。
その絵柄は１９８９年に放映されたスタジオジブリの魔女の宅急便にでてきます。私が４歳の時の映画です。１３歳のキキが一人前の魔女修行の為新しい街で住み始めます。内容は皆さんご存知の通り住む場所を見つけ、仕事を見つけ、新しい人と出会う等、私達が日常的に行う普通の事。だけど若い女の子が感じる「生きる道」を見つける苦しみや苦悩にとても共感できました。まるで彼女の悩みが私自身の悩みのように感じられたのです。自分の情熱は何なのか。
絵柄はキキがウルスラという画家の家に訪れた際に劇中に現れます。彼女の製作途中の絵を見せ、会話はキキの悩み相談へ。
キキ；私 前は何も考えなくても飛べたの。でも 今は分からなくなっちゃった。
ウルスラ；魔女の血、絵描きの血、パン職人の血。神さまか誰かがくれた力なんだよね。
おかげで苦労もするけどさ。
小さい頃なら何度も何度も見てきた映画なのにここまでハッとさせられたのは初めてでした。こんなことですが、私にはまさに"こんなこと"が必要だったのです。彼女の絵は私にモザイクを作るインスピラーションをくれ、私はこの作品で自分の道を見つけることが出来たのです。
今、この作品は私のベッドルームに飾ってあります。毎朝みる度に語ってくれます。「私は何をすべきか、分かっているよね？」と。
最後にモザイクの美しさを教えてくれたキャシーへ。彼女のモザイクミートアップが３６０回目の素晴らしいセッションを得て本日終了しました。
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