A friend on Facebook nominated me to do a challenge where you have to post three photos of your artwork each day for five days.

I decided to post it here instead as a more permanent archive. I have to admit though that it is slightly scary to post about your own art even if many of my drawings are already in the portfolio. Yes, I call them drawings, not paintings. I know that many people who use coloured pencils call their artwork paintings, but I think the physicality of their creation and  the delicacy of the lines make them drawings, not paintings.

I guess I will start with a biggie that is pretty close to three metres square. I made Celebration for the anniversary of the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese (AFWJ). I wanted something that could make a large impact on people as they walked into Space Galleria where some friends and I had a show at the same time as AFWJ’s annual convention. The RBR Gallery in Tokyo later borrowed the piece for their own opening when they moved to a new building for the same reason, and the drawing showed up in the background of many photos.

Celebration is coloured pencil over watercolour and gesso on six wooden panels (218 cm x 226 cm or approximately 6 ft on each side). People usually do a double take after I tell them it is coloured pencil or pencil crayon as we Canadians like to call them.

After the show in Chiba City, three of the artists then did a group show in Shimonoseki in an old storage building. The ceilings were much lower, and it was impossible for me to hang my drawing as one large square. I had to divide it into two halves to make it fit. I was not sure if it would work or not, but it did. In fact, I now think I like it better divided in half! The upper three panels also work well, perhaps even better, as a piece by themselves without the lower three panels.What do you think?

I am now trying to find a place that I like to have a show with this and other drawings in Tokyo. Yes, hopefully my Tokyo debut. Wish me luck!