First Works - Sui San Mui

Landscape, Black Jack, Heian court lady, Shinto talisman, Star-crossed lovers. Japanese landscape painting.
Fusuma Quotations from Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy. Divine Iliad.

Rendezvous Pastel on paper 54" x 24" H 2006-2008

This is the first pastel drawing I made. It began in 2006 as a backdrop to a vase of gladiolas - the orange-pink hill on the right is the color of those flowers. As the mountains and landscape and sky formed themselves, actors were needed. The Heian court lady and her carriage are from a Shinto talisman, the turtle from a Tezuka Productions animation book, and Black Jack, on the far left, comes too late. Perhaps he was tending a patient? The picnic is over before it could begin. Star-crossed lovers meeting from different times and genres in a place only they enliven.

Vertical citations are from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, The Message of the Divine Illiad by Walter Russell, and the Book of Job.

"L" from Deathnote writer Tusumi Ohba and artist , Takeshi Obata .cosmic event. Gotama Buddha, L the detective

Entry Pastel on paper 72" x 24" H

What is this celestial event? which orders everything around it? L (super sleuth from Deathnote by writer Tusumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata) ponders the event with a friend.

The quotations, which are slightly intermingled:

If wisdom arises in your mind, you become humble and modest, as a branch laden with fruit is sure to bow low. Gotama Buddha

Kira is childish: you guessed it...I am also childish and hate losing. I lost, but I'll win in the end. Like yourselves, this is the first time I've staked my life in a contest. Let's show him, those of us who are staking our lives, that the good guys always win! L from Deathnote

japanese rock garden, hikaru no go, cosmic event, japanese landscape

Rock Garden Pastel on paper 36" x 48" 9/6/08

I just wanted to live in Kyoto, to surround myself with the feeling of Japan. Hence this rock garden, with one earth rock and one rock from some place else that has landed on, and made apparent, a cosmic go board.

The quotation is from the manga Hikaru No Go:

"It's like creating a universe, just like a God." Hikaru Shindo

Ginkakuji Temple Pastel on paper with stamped ink bird 59" x 74" 12/9/08

A window opening up a wall in that apartment whose bare walls and bright sun begged for images of desire. At this entrance to the temple Joy, our dog who had recently passed away, greets us as a shepherd. The bird so perfectly rendered toward the back is an ink stamp from a great NY store.

Divinity, Birds and fish, a rope from the sky, Holy Spirit, cosmic event

Divinity - Birds and Fish Pastel on bond with marker . 72" x 84" H 2009

Watching from my window I saw a pair of pigeons first building a nest and then raising their family. I was afraid the young birds might fall from their nest to their death two floors below. i talked to a Christian Science practitioner who told me I would be a witness to their complete protection and journey to independence.

Quotations are from a poem and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

sikh blessing, music box, emerald mountain, turqoise necklace, incense, elephant

I like that the elephant is singing! Pastel on paper 36" x 59" H 7/22/10

This drawing began with the idea of the turquoise necklace given to me by a friend from India falling from the sky. The musical jewelry box evolved to catch it and the elephant was needed to carry the music box. How was I to know the elephant would sing?!?

Quotations are from from a Sikh blessing.

raymand chandler, poodle springs, marlowe, japan, sky scape

And if I change I disappear Pastel on paper 36" x 59" H 6/14/11

"And if I change I disappear" began with the orange sky discovered in "I like that the elephant is singing!" The orange was eaten away by black and by the creation of the view of the world below.

The quotations in the black sky are from Poodle Springs by Parker and Chandler:

"It's all I have," I said. "I don't have money. I don't have prospects. All I have is who I am. All I have is a few private rules I've laid down for myself." "And if I change I disappear. Because there isn't anything but what I am." Marlowe

volatire, zadiq, flying dog, the ingenue, cosmic event

Voltaire Pastel on paper with marker 60" x 24"H 6/13/11

Quotations are from The Ingenue and Zadiq by Voltaire

Rice Pastel on paper 18" x 24" 6/23/11

L calling Pastel on paper 18" x 24" 7/17/11

Bird People in China Pastel on paper 2012

A view looking up at the angled windows of my room. The swimming turtles are from Mike's Bird People in China. They are ferrying an egg (shades of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit).

japanese poetry, japanese architecture, manga

Into the Darkness Pastel on paper 54"x 96"H 1/4/13

These seven panels are meant to hang in a corner in the positions shown in the first photo. On the third row of drawings, the three drawings should be viewed together though the corner separates the left-most panel.

This work was done in the spirit of sequential art - the panels relate to each other in time and perspective, as well as color and action.