Last site update:Nov.27, 2011
Japanese Earthquake-Tsunami Nuclear Power Disaster
On Mar. 11, 2011, at 2:46 (JST) Japan was struck by a record breaking 9.0 mega earthquake. The fifth most powerful in the world. The energy released was equal to 6,000 times the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It caused wide scale destruction in the NE of the country. Following the initial quake there were several powerful aftershocks. Since Mar. 11, there have been more than 1,000 powerful aftershocks.
The earthquake created a record breaking very powerful tsunami, in a very short period following the quake with waves reaching up to 30 meters or about 125 feet. This also caused wide scale destruction.
The city of Kesennuma, in Miyagi Prefecture, was hit very badly by the earthquake which also caused large oil and gas main fires then it was struck by the tsunami, hell on earth.
This video shows the tsunami hitting Kesennuma. First part is shot from a building in the port area. The second part was shot from the Coast Guard building also in the port area. Originally, the video was about one hour in length but I increased the speed to 4x.
From the earthquake and tsunami, 23,482 are reported dead or missing. 15,413 known dead, and 8,069 still missing. There are still nearly 100,000 people living in evacuation centers across 21 prefectures.
The earthquake and tsunami, also caused a third mega disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, destroying the plant and creating the worse level 7 nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
Japan may recover quicker from the mega earthquake and mega tsunami than the nuclear disaster, which will create a 10,000 year waste land.
Today, is three months since the disaster, we remember all the victims. SOS!
ArtWeb
Basically this is my artweb. For 40 years I've been a painter, and at times, other things too. I live in Japan, at least since 1994, quite a long time. I love living here, many reasons but certainly one is because my wife is Japanese. I'm a painter, these days mostly acrylics and sometimes watercolors, which I love. But I also think I'm more than just a painter. I hope you'll find something of interest.
Coming of Age Day, 2011
About
Most people, or at least some want basic info which I've provided here. I've tried to make it as interesting as possible but sorry if it bores you.
With my art I try to bring hope where there is none, to bring happiness when there is only darkness, to replace nihilism with faith in humanity. As we plead for democratic ideals all over the world, we need to remember that the most convincing proof of the fruit of democracy can be found in our own museums, concert halls, and arts curriculum.
An exchange of art and culture between countries leads to a greater understanding between nations
creating a more peaceful world.
Art is a journey, not a destination.
Does that sound too much? Ah! well.
My Art
There was a time, many years ago when I used oil paints and although I liked some aspects, like the slow drying I never liked all the unhealthy chemicals and smells. For many many years I have painted with acrylics and love using them. I also love not having to use any chemicals. I also like watercolors-I love the simple technique of some paper, some colors and a bit of water.
I have a large very comfortable art studio but my main studio is the great outdoors. I love nothing more than spending the day outside painting. It's never easy, battling with the weather, and people who come by and want to stop and chat. Basically, I suppose I'm a landscape painter but I'm also more than that. I make abstract painting too, but really all painting is in fact abstract. Big works have to be painted in my art studio. My largest works are about 3m x 2m.
Plein Aire is a French painting term which means painting outside which first came into fashion with the impressionists who needed the true light of nature to capture the colors. It must be remembered, there was no electric lighting in those days, nonetheless, I feel that outdoor painting creates a better work than working from photo's indoors.
The work becomes more spontaneous less worked. Working in the nature is a hard master.
For a fuller description of Plein Aire, you can read my Plein Aire Notes
Weathercock
Paintings
My Galleries
I have organised my works into various section, like a gallery of many of them and then also divided into various themes. I use flash galleries because I like the interactive aspect which can't currently be achieved with video. I also extensively use the "Lightbox" effect of clicking on a smaller image to view a larger one.
My Photography and Video
When I'm out, I like to have a camera on my hip and I want one which don't get in the way. For about 2 years I've been using a Canon Powershot, SX1 which sits on my belt in a padded Lowerpro lens case. I have 10 Megapixels with full HD video and stereo mic's which work very well when needed. I can say I'm 95% happy with this camera.
One of my favorite forms of photography is long shutter, night time like as in my photobook, Merkin Park. I've tried HDR and can be fun but it's not a method I would like to employ all the time although I frequently make auto bracketing of taking 3 shots at different exposures and combining them into one photo. Recently I've been playing with some fake tilt-shift mainly because I discovered an online converter at Tilt-Shift Maker. I can't afford the camera or the lens for real Tilt-Shift. That's fun too but you need to select the right photo to get the best effect.
Photography and Painting Locations
Kobe City, Japan is a great location for both painting and photography. My house and art studio is located at the base of a mountain and within 20 minutes I can be deep into the mountains to discover waterfalls, large lakes and all the natural glory of the mountains. This is my photobook about the autumn in the mountains Red Autumn Luminaire.
The Kobe City woodland park is worth a visit in the spring or autumn, check out my photobook, Autumn Woodland Comik.
The sea is only another 20 minutes away. This is a photobook I made of the seaside area, Akashi Sunset Comik.
I love living between the sea and mountains. Also we don't get any snow here.
We are very near to Kyoto which is only about one hour away by a fast train. Kyoto is a worthwhile trip anytime of the year but the best seasons are spring and autumn. My photobook, Kyoto Autumn. Osaka is about 40 minutes while the famous Himeji Castle is about one hour. Nara, which id full of all sorts of treasures is about one hour and half. There are many traditional historical sites nearby.
The new Kobe airport is only 30 minutes, which is our gateway to the rest of Japan. Tokyo is only a one hour flight so it's possible to visit and get back the same day. Internal flights aren't like in the US. There isn't the heavy security vetting and is more akin to hopping on off a bus or a train. Kansai International Airport is about one hour away, and is our gateway to the rest of the world.
My Photo and Video Sites
I think the first web site I used was on Yahoo but I have also used Google Blogger since the beginning. Last year I deleted my blog and moved it to Posterous. Considering it's free, Blogger has been a great service and so easy to use. I still make a Photo-Blog there. On Posterous, I also have another Photo Blog.
My general photo and video site is the one which is part of my MobileMe account. I also have an account on Google's PicasaWeb and Flickr
For my video's I use YouTubeand DailyMotion
My Publications
Today, there are many sites offering the means to publish online digital books or photo albums. The two I use are Issuu, which I have used since it almost started, there's a free version and pro version, and Scribd which is a different kind of site were you can even sell your digital books. I think these sites are a great way for both artists and photographers to make very professional looking presentations.
