Several artists and friends gathered at Space Galleria today, and a good time was had by all! Studio Deanna, an American textile artist and jewelry maker in Tokyo, even wrote a review of the show.

Thank you everybody! Why was a party held in the middle of the week? It was one of the few days that Takeshi Ishikawa was free to come to the gallery.

Masako Otani actually decorated the vest and the jacket that he wore. She added patches from wash cloths and fabric with his prints as well as some colourful stitchery. The vest had some ruffly trim, too. Both She and Ishikawa willingly modeled their outfits for all to enjoy.

Ishikawa also had some silk scarves with his prints on them. They were so soft! One artist had used one scarf to make a blouse. I thought they would also make fabulous dresses!

Everyone enjoyed beverages and snacks provided by the gallery. Ishikawa introduced his version of one of his favourites: miso on apple slices. Who needs cheese? Others brought a bottle of a strong liqueur called, “Denki Bran.” It must have been sold as a health tonic decades ago. It was potent!

Ishikawa had previously written his artistic philosophy for this show on Joei Lau‘s Facebook page. He wrote something that had echoes of the Bible and of Eastern philosophy. Let me paraphrase what he he wrote in Japanese. In the beginning there was the sun, the stars, and the earth. The earth was made up of air, land, and water. People are made of the stardust that fills the universe. Everything is united and all is one. Water evaporates and then returns as precipitation; his prints were taken up by the other artists who then changed them into new forms. He was not upset that his prints were carved up or shredded. He was tickled pink and greatly flattered by the results.

I was thrilled that Lau’s mini books and my embroidered pictures were moved closer together after I added one more drawing to the mix.

I also had a stack of postcard-sized doodles for sale with half of the money received going to Ishikawa. Studio Deanna’s review featured a photo of one such doodle that used a teardrop-shaped piece cut from one of the prints as a base. Each doodle was 600 yen.

Anotehr positive result was some networking among artists and framers. A photographer friend met someone who had purchased one of her photographs a few years ago, I connected one artist with a friend who wanted to give away some frames, I met a woman who started reading this blog after she had read in Fukuoka Now about my show in Fukuoka, artists met more artists, and I learned of another group in Tokyo who also wish to improve the lack of artists’ networks in Japan. These human interconnections are priceless.