Mandarin Orange, Mandarin Orange, Mandarin Orange

I was born in Imabari City, Ehime prefecture. I entered Bancho kindergarten in Matsuyama City and Bancho Elementary School, and graduated from Uwajima City Uwatsu Elementary School as I crossed the prefecture in accordance with my father who was a banker. Then, I entered Tama Art University, became a painter, and continued my artist activities in Tokyo for over 20 years. After that, I have continued production work whose expression subjects are everyday scenes and buildings for so many years as 11 years in France and 11 years in Kagawa after coming back to Japan.
I have lived with believing my own sensibility as a painter so far more than anything els. Last year I had a solo exhibition in Matsuyama and an exhibition of my work at The Museum of Art, EHIME, and also I went on location at Uwa Elementary School for the request of my appearance on NHK’s program called “Extracurricular Welcome Senior”. While visiting Ehime prefecture many times, I noticed that what has nurtured my sensibility is Ehime scenery.
The most impressive landscape is the image of the mandarin oranges which are planted in the shady fields overlooking the blue sky and the beautiful sea. While I wanted to leave this image as my work, I got an offer to produce a stained glass for Matsuyama Airport this time, and then I expressed the sky, the sea and the mandarin oranges of Ehime prefecture that I imagined strongly, by the color and shape of the glass through the Ehime’s sun light.
Aiming at sociality in art, I have continued expression activities in unique landscapes at specific places, such as designing buildings, reproducing ceramic murals and old chapels, etc. Since I had wanteded to produce a stained glass for long years, I really enjoyed my work this time.
It was fortunate for me that I was able to work with highly skilled craftsmen and Meisters in CREARE Atami-Yugawara Studio, during the half-year work. I deeply appreciate to everyone at the studio who reflected my image welling continuously on the work while repeating various experiments.
I think that this stained glass work will be familiar to everyone who uses Matsuyama Airport for a long time as new and nostalgic scenery at Matsuyama Airport.

The stained glass of Matsuyama Airport was planned by Japan Traffic Culture Association, and produced by “CREARE Atami-Yugawara Studio”, under the supervision by Mr. Kyoji Takubo, an artist.
In this spring, the production was started at the studio from that Mr. Takubo drew the original drawing with full scale (about 7m width and 4m height) by a crayon fixed at the tip of a fishing rod. This huge original drawing became the full scale pattern as it was. After that, the staff of the studio proceed most of the work based on the original drawing usually, but in this work, Mr. Takubo made glass by himself according to his completion image, and expressed a unique color and texture in a complicated process called fusing technique, in which he overlapped glasses with 2 or 3 layers or scattered glass powder called frit. After that, he did a painting work called “Stain” which became the etymology of stained glass on the profound glass pieces in which the sensibility of the painter was expressed brilliantly, and he drew with pigment for glass by using paintbrush at the tip of a “fishing rod”, which became a trademark of Mr. Takubo.
For each piece of glass, a piece of handmade antique glass made by Lamberts company in German or by Spectrum company in USA was used, and the whole work was completed by assembling about 3000 glass pieces.