One month has passed since my mom was gone. Our relations were not always good, but what I can remember are good memories.
I grew up in the suburb in Tokyo, and I used to play the small toy electric piano in the small house. One day my mom bought me a very good piano and I started to have piano lessons. She had save money for that. I just can remember what she said, " I don't expect you to be a pianist, but I want to give you 'aesthetic sense'". I didn't know that word, but now I understand that she wanted me to love art.
When I was four years old, my mom took me to her hometown, Himeji, her home is near the beach. She took me to the beach. That was the first time I saw the sea. We gather shellfish, and my mom taught me their manes, picking them up one by one, spiral shell, pink-colored shell... I saw a crab crawling on the sand. I was too young to appreciate the beauty of nature, but what I saw was the natural uniqueness of creatures.
In March, two months before she passed away, we sowed seeds of a herb. Now they have grown into vivid green leaves. I put them into the soup of three of us, I and younger brothers.
She had guided me where I am, to love art and nature. The painting below is titled "Heart", it's about my memories of my mother. Acrylic and pastel on paper, 8.5"x11.5"
