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The Travelling Artist – Why Become One?

Posted on January 25, 2012 @ 7:11 pm by massimo | Filed under: art,blog,fun,illustration,japan,news,people,wordpress

A lot of artists have a habit of travelling and using their memories and changing environment to inspire them to create new works. Travelling has an effect on any individual, whether they’re a watercolour painter or a retired accountant. Seeing new locations and learning more of a culture whilst immersed in it can change your world perspective, and an artist’s work is sometimes based around the same concept – helping someone see something from a different angle. But what are the benefits, beside inspiration? Well, for one, it may allow you to find the ideal location for your skills, from improving them to finding tools that will allow you to make the most of them. Gadgets in Tokyo could be great for anyone from a webcomic artist to a web developer who is seeking new tech to work with for a design on partypoker. Meanwhile, hunting for cave paintings could lead you all around the world, and finding them might influence your art style or lead you to create new works for a themed gallery event. This might sound expensive, but it’s worth the investment, and you can always supplement your travels by selling the art you’re creating while you travel, as people may enjoy seeing art created by a non-local. You’ll also make many connections with people in the art communities, which is important for when you’re looking to get enough publicity for your work and need the right people in the right areas to help make that happen. Lastly, you need to travel because it’s part of life! To stay in one place the entire time your alive seems like such a waste of your legs, of the world around you, and even if you don’t find anything that inspires you, you’ll come away with some incredible memories and a wider personal knowledge of the world, and that can never be a bad thing.

still life

Posted on May 28, 2011 @ 8:52 am by massimo | Filed under: advertisement,blog,fun,holidays,japan,people,ukiyo-e,wordpress

I really appreciate  the very peculiar   process of falling into sleep and, possibly, dreaming. Every time it happens it is like setting sail softly bound to some still  unknow region of our mind or personality. And as for  every real journey, we actually cannot plan much of what we are going to find into those deep regions. But alas!  At last we always wake up a bit confused by the dreams we dreamed or by their absence: what occurred to us while asleep has the power to determine our daily mood. I believe that every traumatic waking up could be positively overcome by some music or natural sound, so please avoid every alarm clocks even if you must wake up at 3 am because of your most recent late deals holidays ! Here is a lovely haiku by the japanese master Ryusui: “the nightingale’s sweet trill, The splash of ripples on the shore And all the rest is still”. What a way to wake up !

Illustration Fridays topic is: asleep

little things that makes life easier…

Posted on December 7, 2007 @ 8:00 pm by massimo | Filed under: bargain,blog,cheap,holidays,illustration,japan,package tour,travel,wordpress

hotelcombined tokyo aynaku travel illustration

Lousy hotels are familiar to long term travellers. At Maharaja Palace, a third class Tokyo pension house, it happened to me to wake up in the middle of the night and find out that a bunch of cockroaches were actually going for a stroll upon my body…the nasty little things!
Times are changing and the Internet definitely helps people who like travelling on a shoestring.
HotelsCombined.com. is a start up, but it is already experiencing phenomenal growth. It is a unique comparison website which searches over 30 top travel sites at once to find the best rate and displays information on one easy-to-navigate page. It helps independent travellers to find the lowest rate instantly and save time, since they don’t have to go to all other travel sites one by one to compare the rates…and forget cockroaches!

Illustration Friday’s topic is: the little things

the god of happiness

Posted on October 19, 2007 @ 5:30 pm by massimo | Filed under: animals,blog,china,himalaya,illustration,japan,mythology,news,people,ukiyo-e,wordpress

Hotei – one of the seven gods of happiness, is also the happy god of abundance and good health. Hotei is also seen carrying a large bag over his shoulder that is said to contain gifts and fortunes for those who believe in his virtues.
He is distinguished by his body of generous proportions …

sister moon

Posted on July 28, 2007 @ 2:26 pm by massimo | Filed under: art,blog,books,fashion,illustration,japan,news,ukiyo-e,wordpress

“both deluded beings
and buddahs gaze at
the same moon”
This is by Kaizan  (1769 -1846)   a Zen monk, a master of calligraphy and ink painting…
Illustration Friday‘s topic is: moon

Here are three good links on last week topic: Three ravens press ; Wolfgang Kolar ; …

neighbour

Posted on May 6, 2007 @ 9:34 am by massimo | Filed under: africa,blog,fashion,fun,illustration,japan,kenya,music,news,people,travel,ukiyo-e,wordpress

Behind the walls of his room in Al Mansura Hotel, in bustling downtown Nairobi, a man breathed into a saxophone. My room was next to his and I could hear the musician training himself all day long. At about 7 pm, invariably it was all over. The Al …

remember

Posted on April 28, 2007 @ 3:15 pm by massimo | Filed under: ancona,art,blog,fashion,fear,fun,illustration,japan,mediterranean,news,sailing,travel,ukiyo-e,wordpress

Maybe I should put forward for this week’s topic my whole blog! Actually every Aynaku’s post relates to memory so I consider that my most recent submission should make no exception, and be one of Aynaku’s most typical. My very first time on board a sailing boat is firmly fixed …

the floating world

Posted on January 27, 2007 @ 6:43 pm by massimo | Filed under: art,blog,books,fun,himalaya,illustration,india,japan,package tour,people,travel,ukiyo-e,wordpress

From1688 up to1868 the chonin, urban merchants and townspeople became the affluent bourgeoisie and the standard-bearer of a new Japanese popular culture. With plenty of money, they lived a life of luxury and created a lifestyle of their own, centred greatly …

aquarium

Posted on August 5, 2006 @ 6:35 pm by massimo | Filed under: architecture,art,blog,books,fashion,fun,holidays,illustration,japan,news,people,travel,wordpress

Ginza is a central area of Tokyo where many art galleries are. The area is more like a typical city centre: lots of big buildings, a bunch of department stores and several large corporations. I used to go to Ginza often, visiting dozen of galleries and …

robofish

Posted on April 22, 2006 @ 6:01 pm by massimo | Filed under: animals,blog,books,fashion,fun,illustration,island,japan,news,people,travel,ukiyo-e,wordpress

My only trip to Japan dates back to 1994; I spent a month in Tokio and had to leave the country because of the high cost of life. Nevertheless my short stay I precisely witnessed …

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