Genesis art Lounge

Saturday September 6th ２００８– Saitama
It could have been the beautiful fresh woodsy room we were in above the Alishan Organic Restaurant, the proximity of a peaceful river, the free exchange between nine adults with little collage experience and two kids totally at home with these same art supplies.

My friendship with Maine native Jack Bayles, who with his Taiwanese wife Fay own Alishan and Tengu foods, started 21 years ago. I used to make bulk food orders for whole-food-loving students at The House Experiment, my learning center for the creative, culinary and healing arts. That was in the early 1990s and until two days ago I hadn’t seen Jack in all those years. Between the House Experiment years and starting Genesis art Lounge I took 15 years “off” to look for path in life. I thought for many years it was creative writing and journalism but I so wanted children and a lifestyle free of deadlines. Finding art was at first a great relaxation diversion but I didn’t think of it as a life path that would lead to producing the Genesis Cards for creative and intuitive exploration. So when Jack asked me to hold a Genesis workshop on Alishan Restaurant’s busiest day of the year – Market Day – I was more than happy to do so. With this Genesis Way workshop I feel those old and wonderful creative links have come full circle.

I discovered that people who are into whole grain living, into biodegradable products and saving the environment, into natural creative alternatives are often the kind of people ready to think outside the box when it comes to making art as well. These Genesis Way pictures made at the Market day workshop speak from heart and soul.

Usually at a Genesis creativity workshop, most first-timers can see subtle links between the Genesis Card they’ve selected and the collage they’re making. A Genesis card is turned over only after the art is completed.


Take a look at the similarities between art and the Genesis cards selected. Look at the color combinations, the placement of the components, the feeling and energy level of the Genesis Card compared to the artwork made. It’s by looking and comparing that impressions surface that can be translated into words, into thoughts and finally into action.

Collage by KEF founding director Harumi Torii
on her recent visit to Genesis art Lounge

The paintings of a child can be so deeply expressive, with no barriers between heart, soul and the reality as they see it. When children are joyous they paint joy. When they are tormented they show it. There is an organization here in Tokyo Kids Earth Fund (KEF) that has come up with a very inspirational unique way to bear witness to the pain and suffering of children around the globe and raise money to bring volunteers, medical experts, and teachers to these childrens' hard-hit communities.


KEF founder Harumi Torii's work takes her to Russia, Rwanda, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and many parts of Japan. On the surface of things, it looks like she is bringing art supplies into suffering childrens' lives and offering brief, intense painting sessions with kids who don't normally have access to even the simplest art supplies. But something much deeper is going on here. Torii and the staff at KEF are playing roles that go beyond creative emissaries: they are seeking out children who need comforting and opening themselves to offer that comfort.


They do this in a number of ways: through smiles and hugs and playing with art supplies, by exhibiting this children's art, by arranging art exchanges between children of differing countries, by having children talk about their art in the communities they live in. Because the work that KEF does revolves around drawing and painting with bright colors and big sheets of paper, the art has a visual power and appeal that is hard to resist. Children need no instruction to make bold colorful works of art. KEF encourages children to go into a place of sadness, to get in touch with hidden inner reality, to give those feelings a name, to talk about their lives now, and, in so doing, to release these feelings.


KEF art has moved tens of thousands of people. The childrens' art has been exhibited in major venues, including the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and recently opened Tokyo Midtown. The KEF exhibits, which began in schools, in churches, anywhere that volunteers were ready to organize, have grown into a sophisticated worldwide movement run by 5 paid staff, scores of volunteers, corporate donations, individual memberships in KEF and the fundraising KEF does by selling prints and original art made by the KEF family of children. The proceeds then get funneled back into the communities from which the art came to fund KEF-run orphanages, educational institutions and clinics. You'll be hearing more about KEF in my blog as Genesis art Lounge looks forward to becoming more involved in Kids Earth Fund activities.


Please take a look at the KEF website (kidsearthfund.org) and please join me in getting inspired by taking action!

August 7, 2008: The before pictures - Children combined memory of
actual horses with what they recall from picture books. Then came the
adventure, a 30-minute walk in search of horses. Our campers were
okay with the intense heat but upon reaching Baji Koen Equestrian
Park, one of the most gorgeous and best kept secret spots in Tokyo,
we discovered the horses were not outdoors! We eventually found them
in their stalls being hosed down . . . . So there we stood drawing
and finally, with swirls of color on the paper back at Genesis art
Lounge, the horses emerged again in full color. That's the Genesis
Way-combining what meets the eye with whatever comes from the
imagination.



Erika sketching at Baji Koen.



Hitomi drawing at Baji Koen.



Nanase's horse sketched at Baji Koen.



Sheena's horse sketched at Baji Koen.



Mirai's horses.



HItomi's horses. These horses were made back at Genesis art Lounge

I found that the words and images of the two cards I picked, and the time spent talking about them and making the list was a wonderful preparation for starting to paint.There was a whole ground work, both conscious and unconscious, all ready laid down and ready for when the paints came out. And it was such fun. And really interesting to choose two colours from each of the cards and see later how they were blended into the painting in very different ways but all in some sort of echo, which was at the same time a new creation. Wonderful! HF, Tokyo