Our trip to L.A. was a blast! Yes, I managed to go to the 3 Trees and 3 Flowers show in L.A., thanks to Matt. The trip was short but very intense. It was just amazing.. I was so nervous during the whole trip, my stomache hurt. I think i was nervous because I knew I was going to meet some amazing people that I worship and that I could talk to them in Japanese. Gosh, how I wish I were fluent!
(Some pics of gallery windows)
Matt, Richa and I went to the gallery a little early because I wanted to pre-order the 3 Trees Make a Forest book and get its poster signed by all three tree artists. The artists were all very friendly.. When I told Ronnie del Carmen that I came from San Francisco and that I read his blog, he drew me a little drawing of Nina on the spot with a message. This was at the same time Tadahiro Uesugi was signing my copy of the Illustration magazine with his art on the cover. I must have said “Thank you” and “Arigatou” a billion times.. 
Anyway, it was so great to see Uesugi-san’s reaction when I handed him the magazine. He looked so surprised! He even asked me where I got it, to which I was brave enough to answer back in Japanese.. I tried to tell him how hard it is for me to translate the article.. but I think I fumbled like a dork. -_-;; It was indeed a very embarassing moment…
(me holding the signed Illustration magazine)
I also purchased the 3 Flowers book and got it signed by the three female artists from Japan. The first to sign it was Katayama Wakako. She was very shy and and glad that I spoke to her in Japanese, and Icco Sasai was very energetic. Tanji Yoko was the last to sign for me, and she was very courteous and offered me a hand shake. I wish I could’ve talked to all them more about art, their inspirations and techniques, but I was too shy to say anything other than “sign please,” “cool!”, and “thank you”s. Again, what a dork.
The show started off pretty leisurely, and I checked out every piece like a hungry kid. I wanted everything on the walls! I had hard time deciding which prints to get.. Matt and I had already bought three of Uesugi prints from last year during the poster signing, so we had to limit ourselves… How I wish I took my time before deciding on which pieces to buy! Not that I don’t like those three pieces.. ^_^;; We finally decided on two of the bigger prints and had the biggest one signed by Uesugi-san in the back room. He recognized me from earlier and asked me if I was Japanese. I said no and I explained how we studied abroad in Kanazawa for a little bit. He even posed for a picture with me! I think he was slightly buzzed, just my little guess from his red cheeks and his eyes. But then again, the gallery was very hot and he must have been tired. But then again, Matt did say that he was concentrating very hard on signing his name. ^^;; Ah… it was so surreal to be speaking to him, the artist I worship, face to face! *_* One thing I regret is chickening out on asking him to sign the second big piece. But he looked like he was busy, and I had already bugged him too much for autographs. I gave Matt some hard time about this because he wanted me to do all the autograph requests..but I think I just ended up irritating him. -_-;; Anyway, maybe it was a good thing. We didn’t piss off any people we like. 
Richa bought lots of Tanji Yoko’s prints too! Her artworks were so beautiful.. *sigh* She even had a letter-sized portfolio ready for everyone to browse and they were just full of visual gems. She actually noticed Richa holding some of her prints and offered to sign them for her. That was really nice of her, we thought. With my limited Japanese, I told her I was a big fan of hers and that her website is cool, and she apologized for not updating it frequently. Aw.. how polite. I even took some pictures with her! Sorry, you’ll have to wait for my film to get developed. ^_^;;
When the gallery got too crowded and its temperature too hot, it was time for us to leave. But I didn’t want to leave! Matt and Richa actually had to wait for me outside while I took the final tour; I wanted to take mental pictures of everything I saw there. It was a real treat to see their new works, and especially their original artworks in traditional media. I really hope they come again next year.
These are some of the prints acquired during this trip:
Street 2
(the scenery looks very much like San Francisco. I actually heard a guy who looked at it and said, “Hey, I think I live around there!” hehe)
Untitled 8 - Birds almost steal the show
Untitled 14 - love the mood
Untitled 15 - very San Francisco!
Hatsuyuki - such wonderful texture and composition
When my photos are ready, I’ll post more about our little trip.
EDITEd: Pictures are now available!
