Bitter Sweet July

The past 6 months have been a complicated whirlwind of farewells, preparations and teaching because come end of July I'll be saying goodbye to Japan and moving back to Cape Town, South Africa. I've enjoyed teaching English in Japan on the JET programme but after three years, it's time to move on to new goals and an exciting new chapter.

Between all the preparations and teaching this past week, I managed to get my hands on my watercolours again to paint a cup of tea which belongs to one of my favourite teachers. We both love art and I've enjoyed our friendship, sharing interesting teas and treats with each other. It makes a bitter sweet goodbye present.

July, a Month of Goodbyes

For the month of July I've said goodbye to many things, like:

• My students, until schools starts up again in September  o(^_-)O
  This is the ideal time for me to start my #30DaysofWatercolour challenge in August.
  
• Friends who are leaving Japan   。・゜・(ノД`)・゜・。
  This is a tough one, not fun at all!
• My long hair  (＾ｰ^)ノ
  I've gone for a short and sweet summer style.
• Student loans \（＾ν＾）/
  Not gonna miss this, not one bit!

Below are the paintings that I've completed this month.

 

This watercolour illustration of two koi fish swimming is my first commission for a friend.

I've kept the illustration simple and let the colours do the work.

 

Delicious grilled salted salmon. In Japan it's called sake (spelt the same ways as the alcohol but is pronounced shake) very confusing for me to understand at first.;P Grilled salmon is something my husband and I love to make ever since moving to Japan. Note: This will be in the calendar project.

  

This sunny side up egg was a fun illustration which I painted over a long weekend. All chilled and relaxed.