Awaji Adventure

Took a long overdue break last weekend, and drove down to Ajwajishima, to visit my Aussie mate Darren. I was expecting the drive to take around 2 hours, but we made it to Sumoto in a little over an hour. The Island has a great vibe.. very laid back and quite rural. My friend lives in a spanking new house, tucked away in the mountains above Sumoto town, overlooking Osaka bay. Initially, we had planned to camp on a quiet little beach, but with the weather forecast looking so bleak, we decided to opt for the more conventional. Yes, we gave into the weather and slept in his spare room. The first evening was really pleasant, and we just sat around on the deck chatting, eating and of course supping a few ales. On sunday we woke early and
ate some homemade yogurt with fruit, followed by Emi's freshly baked bread... Mmmmh! The folks on the Island are pretty self sufficient and grow their own seasonal fruit & vegetables. There's even a dairy farm in the south, where you can buy fresh farm milk and even try your hand at a spot of milking.

Sunday was a real scorcher, and really quite contrary to what was forecast. So, with that, it was game on!.. and off to the bay-side for a spot of fishing. We stopped by a small shop to pick up some new tackle & frozen prawns for bait. You've got to be careful with the bait, as it smells awful & is a nightmare to wash off your hands and clothes. Luckily, Darren is an old hand at fishing, and recently bought an inexpensive, self-filling bait bucket. Genius little contraption!.... must find out where to get one for our next fishing trip.
With all the gear packed, we then drove down the coast a little and found a small jetty to set up base, and got right into it... wasn't long before we started to catch a whole heap of Chariko. They are a small, black sea bream like fish, which are good for deep frying. Later, Darren was deep casting and managed to catch a good sized Sillago. The waters around Awaji are surprisingly clean and hold a vast array of critters, but you really need a boat to get into the deeper water, and at the larger sized fish. I think there may be a plan in the making! Later that night we had a BBQ on the deck, and ate some grilled beef, curried chicken and of course our deep fried catch of the day, washed down with a few more ales....burp!

My friend Tiery Le… is a French artist, who has been living in Japan since 1999… After studying Art in kindergarten and at the National Art School of Cergy, Paris, he has been exploring the meanderings of human existence through painting, cartoons, photography, video, various trips, procrastination and daily chores…
Some of the resulting images have been published in magazines, newspapers and books in France, Africa, Japan, Canada and the U.S., or exhibited in a variety of art spaces and galleries in Paris, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. A regular contributor with images and general design to Kyoto Journal, he is working recently with the magazine Dankai Punch and is preparing an exhibition of paintings at Soho Gallery in Osaka.
As inspired by cartoons, logos, cinema and other pop imagery as by Western art or worldwide heritage , Tiery’s works play with the ambiguity of our consciousness and lean towards a visual simplicity that at times flirts with abstraction in his paintings. Reference to universals of human experience is essential to his expression, while irony, playfulness, and distance are always present as a safeguard from despair… From Zen-like meditative calm to rhythmic, colorful exhilaration, Tiery’s images always seem to be dancing on the blurry edge of our cognitive frog pond... Conveying blunt political comments as well as quiet, mysterious atmospheres, his world hits your eyes before anything else, through an imbrication of clear-cut, dense blacks and whites or frank, intense colors, always creating a resonance with your senses much the way music does... Considering the viewer's sensibility as an active part of this process, he always feels inspired by any feedback, so please feel free to contact Tiery le!



フランス人ティエリ・ル．．．は、1999年より日本でアーティストとして活動している。パリ国立セルジ芸術大学で学んだ後、ペインティング、漫画、写真、ヴィデオ、そして日々雑多を通して、蛇行する人生の在り方を探る。
それらの成果は今までにフランス、アフリカ、日本、カナダ、そしてアメリカの雑誌や新聞に掲載され、パリ、東京、大阪、京都で個展も開かれた。京都ジャーナル
における挿絵やデザイン全般に貢献、最近では団塊パンチなどの雑誌、その他大阪のSOHOギャラリーでの個展の準備に取り掛かっている。
漫画、ロゴ、シネマなどの多種多様な現代的様式から、西洋及び世界各国の伝統的芸術などからインスピレーションを受けた彼の作品は、シンプルでありながら、時折抽象的な部分にアプローチしつつ、私達の意識の曖昧な部分を翻弄する。
アートを通して全人類について言及する事こそが彼の表現上の最重要課題であり、彼の作品に込められたアイロニーや遊戯、距離感などが、人類が向かう絶望への防御壁となるだろう。 ティエリ・ル．．．の生み出すイメージは、常に私達の日常と非日常との狭間で踊るかのようである。ストレートな政治批評がある一方、限りなく静かで神秘的な雰囲気を持つ明瞭で濃厚な黒と白、若しくは力強い色彩は、音楽のように共鳴し、何よりもまず私達の目を打つだろう。
彼はまた、鑑賞者である我々が、彼の作品に触れた時に抱く敏感な感覚が彼の作品へ至る重要な要素だと捉えている。彼はそこから多くのインスピレーションを与えられているので、是非臆せずcontact Tiery Leして頂きたい。

309 The Canteen

On Sunday, I jumped in my retro car and drove to my friend Tiery's house in 京都市Kyoto city. The highway was empty, and I got there in under an hour. It was far to early to appear at his door, so I decided to visit 壬生寺 Mibu-dera, near 大宮駅Omiya station.
This wasn't my first visit and will certainly not be the last. I just love the old streets & houses around downtown Kyoto. I took a few snaps and had a wee gander around the traditional sweet shop, then zipped down the Horikawa Boulevard to Sanjo Street.

Tiery's house is very old, but stacked with character, and has an amazing light-well in the kitchen, bringing much need light to centre of the house. Kyoto houses are typically narrow and long, so the windows at the front and back are quite far from the main living quarter, and offer little daylight. Thus, the light-well.

Later in the day, while walking back from the park, we noticed the amazing 309 The Canteen on the 商店街covered market near my friend's home. A functioning British cafe in the heart of downtown Kyoto. Who'd have thought it? The 309 has been well designed, and from it's Black & White decor to it's tiled floor, it oozes Britishness. Beyond the aesthetics of the place, the canteen serves authentic British food, many of which are hand made by the owner/chef Eiki Mano 真野英気. We chatted to Eiki a little in English, and found that, he had spent a considerable amount of time in the UK. Amongst the 309's extensive menu are classics like Bread & Butter Pudding, Lankashire Hot Pot and homemade Pork Pie. One of which, I bought and took home to Osaka. It didn't have a long life, and was washed down with a cuppa, as soon as I got in the door. Mmh!
If your in Kyoto for the day and fancy something different, then I strongly recommend, that you make the effort to pop-by the 309, for a taste of good old Blighty!

Roy.

End of Year Party 2008

Big thanks to Darren for getting everyone together & to Mr Yamamoto for letting the gang gather at his bar QBRICK this Sunday, for our Xmas/Year end party. We all had a cracking time, and ate some really fine food. Top marks were awarded to Tomoko for her super-dooper ham & broccoli quiche. It was fab!
I had planned on baking some homemade bread, chocolate cake and a joint of roast lamb, but had stupidly forgotten that this years event was kicking off at 1:00pm, instead of the usual early evening. So, with that, I ended up in Takashimaya's food hall searching for my pot luck entries. It all came up roses in the end, with a great selection of pot-luck dishes including the main roast chicken, ham, pork, quiche and various salads.

Looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year for another knees-up!!

Best Wishes,

Roy Dunn.

Awaji

Yesterday morning, I and the Ferry-meister travelled over to Awaji on the infamous Tako-Ferry, to visit a friend. Despite my many years in Kansai, this was my first adventure to the Island. Our friend and spiritual advisor Callaghan-Sensei picked us up at the port and took us on a magical mystery tour of his new home. After a short stop at the Bear's new abode, we packed up all the fishing gear and headed to the port, for a spot of angling.
In my youth, I spent many a day fishing at the mouth of the river Don in Aberdeen, with my brothers. But, almost all my knowledge of knots and tackle from those days had been erased over time. Luckily, the Bear is a dab hand with knots and quickly pointed me in the right direction. Over a few hours we caught and landed an aquarium sized array of sea beasts, including Whiting 鱚 and sea Bream鯛. I gutted and prepared the fish this afternoon, and will deep fry them tonight for dinner.




Cheers,

Roy Dunn.