"Utsukushi Mike"

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Written by Nobue Miyaji

Illustrated by Hiroko Kitada, Sachiko Nakajima, Kenji Mera, Shonoro Yamanaka

A luxurious picture scroll by the collaboration of cat painters!

A heartwarming picture story for calico lovers, with illustrations by four cat painters based on Nobue Miyaji's fairy tale!

A collection of calico cat works by each cat artist is also included.

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* Pre-sale at the 3rd Mumu Exhibition "Dora Cat 10"!

The 3rd Mew Mew Exhibition "Dora Cat 10" is an exhibition by 10 artists who run the cat gallery "Chaton de Mew", which closed in 2015.

June 22 (Thu) - 27 (Tue), 2017

12:00-19:00 (Last day-17:00)

Participating artists: Naomi Ichinose, Hiroko Kitada, Emi Sato, Yasuhiro Sayama, Shoko Nakajima, Yoko Hatao, Kenji Mera, Shonoro Yamanaka, Shoko Yokota, Yuka Watanabe

Venue: Tokyo Ginza Gallery Salon TACT

Ginza New Central Building 5F, 5-9-14 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061

http://gallerysalon-tact.com/gallery/

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Nobue Miyaji

Born November 1, 1932.

He graduated from the Faculty of Letters, Tokyo University of Education. He is a fairy tale writer and copywriter. From 1984 to 2013, he was the director of Beaux Arts Mew, a cat gallery.

●Hiroko Kitada

Born in Tokyo in 1963. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design, Department of Japanese Painting. She is a member of the Japan Artists Federation. She is a former member of the Japanese Painting Academy. She uses red as the base color and works on the theme of a girl and a cat. In her short pieces, she draws cats on her original screens and kimono fabrics on silk with foil backing. In her asobi-e, which personifies cats and frogs, she takes subjects from Kabuki, ballet, Noh, and children's stories, and creates works that are fun for both viewers and artists. Her encounter with Takeuchi Seiho's "Makaraneko" when she was in junior high school led her to the path of Japanese painting, and since then cats on silk have been a constant theme. It is my lifework.

● Sachiko Nakajima

Born in Tokyo in 1956. Graduated from Musashino Art University, Department of Visual Communication Design. After working as an art director for a long time at a promotion company specializing in the flower industry, she became independent. He picked up a calico kitten and met Beaux Arts Mew, where he began to hold a solo exhibition of cat paintings while working in the book design business. Her representative work is the BOTANICAL FANTASY series of detailed watercolor paintings in which cat fairies are arranged in her botanical paintings. She also works on copper engravings and glass paintings. Her books include "Flower Gift Book" and "Mail Greeting" (both Bunka Publishing Bureau) and "BOTANICAL FANTASY" (private edition, sold by Beaux-Arts-Mieux).

● Kenji Mera

Born in 1962. Born in Katsuura City, Chiba Prefecture, and lives in Sodegaura City, Chiba Prefecture. He graduated from Chiba Economic Junior College. After working at the Sodegaura City Hall Library for more than 10 years, he changed his job to a cat painter. Since then, he has drawn more than 2,000 cats to date.

He has held many solo exhibitions and participated in events, and has created many portraits of Naoki Prize-winning author Mariko Koike's pet cat.

In addition to Tokyo's cultural centers, he also holds classes to draw cats at about 20 locations. Recently, he has performed picture-story show performances in various places, and has become popular as a “singing and dancing cat painter”.

His major works include "Let's draw my cat with a new edition of colored pencils" (Nippon Publishing) and "MELANO MUSEUM - Grand Duchy of Italy, collection of cat masterpieces" (Atelier Third).

● Shonoro Yamanaka

Born in Tokyo in 1955. He met Pastel while studying at Waseda University's First Faculty of Literature. In 1980, he was selected for the International Asia Contemporary Art Exhibition. Although he gave up his career as a painter at one point, after undergoing surgery for cervical spondylosis, he began drawing pictures of his beloved cats and familiar animals. He has published many pastel paintings with his own technique on the theme of cats, dogs and other animals.

In 2004, he broke new ground by working on his first picture book, "Usagi no Yukku" (written by Yuko Emon Kinnoseisha).

Currently, he continues to hold solo exhibitions four to five times a year, mainly at St. Luke's Gallery, Yokohama Art Gallery Yamate, and Ginza Gallery Salon TACT, while participating in numerous exhibitions. He has also produced portraits of cats, dogs and small animals, with a total of nearly 400 already.

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A5 size, 64 pages, 1,800yen (consumption tax not included)