Ring in the new year with a Keico Watanabe Original Calendar!

Keico and I first did this calendar in 2006 and over the years it has found an enthusiastic fan base among her followers in the US and Japan. The art and aesthetic are her vision, paired with my design in order to bring it to life. 

In her words, it is an inspirational calendar that "gives you energy with bright colors, in a gentle and warm atmosphere."

What better way to start the year than that?

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More about the artist:

Keico is a Japanese painter, children's book writer, and multimedia artist living in New Jersey. She has been a dear friend of mine for over 15 years (!!) during which we've collaborated on a few projects. 

Her artist's statement:

"Living in New York humbles me and sharpens my rusting senses.  It freshens my mood by forcing me to discard my desire to look for an easy-way out of my reality.  It allows me an opportunity to question my tendency to pretend who I really am.  It lets me to express my mind without a trace of hesitation.

I see drama in each window of the skyscrapers that adorn the Manhattan skyline. And through those skyscrapers I see clouds, high-flying airplanes and stars that shine down on us. Stars in my paintings represent hope and dreams while the big hands represent our desire to reach for those stars.

In 1998, I had my first solo New York exhibition entitled “Between Stars and Man.”  The main theme of the exhibition, our ever-lasting adoration of stars and their relationship with humans, eventually led me to create a series of paintings called “Psalm of the Old Testament in a New Light – Contemporary Religious Paintings” inspired by the Sunday sermons I heard at my local church.

The Bible says, “Man cannot live on bread alone.”  What this teaches, I believe, is that there is something more than bread that humans need which is the spirit of sharing and loving one another.  I now understand the importance of spiritual enrichment that art, music, and literature, bring to help us maintain mental and physical wellness essential in keeping pace with contemporary society.

Painting as a personal expression is a way for artists as a visualizer of their innermost thoughts to communicate with the outside world. I’d be delighted if my paintings help you feel God’s grace and the blessings that embrace us."

From www.keicow.com

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•  16 pages
•  Dimensions: 5.5" x 8.5" folded
•  Silk finish
•  English and Japanese (英語と日本語）
•  US & Japanese holidays observed (アメリカと日本の祝日)