"Place beneath Fish" can be placed beneath, or beside any fish to help others identify it. The arrow pointing to the fish will help clear up any confusion about what the person is looking at. It's a perfect holiday gift for fisherman, sushi itamae, or friends who can never remember what a fish looks like.

I have lots of scraps of nice paper left over from my book illustration project, so I like to use them to make new friends. It's very fun because you don't have to worry about messing up the paper, since it is just a scrap. I like to paint without knowing what will come out. I have already put some other examples of scrap art on the blog "Elephant has time for nonsense" "Miniature soccer" and "I'm still afraid of the deep end"..."self portrait of me as someone else" and others.

Some of these will be on sale Tuesday at the Cafemode show in LIttle Tokyo Los angeles. Http://www.cafemode.com

Here are a few more scrap art pieces.

This squid and whale is made from different layers of sky and ocean. The whale, Shintaroo, is just a baby. The squid is a giant squid. He lives deep in the sea all by himself. He doesn't really have any friends because he is a solitary cephalopod. If Shintaroo dives down a little bit he might meet the squid. I think they will get a long nicely.

Here is a lion made of two scraps stuck together. His name is Lion, so it's easy to remember. I'm not sure if he's finished or not. His belly is full of zebra right now.

This one is a little different because It's the only one that I painted with a certain idea in mind. I painted it after a friend asked me to make a melancholy Beluga whale.
I think that Beluga whales are the cutest of the whales. They are small and manageable and have a funny hump above their mouth, so it looks like a giant lip. I have met humpback whales, right whales, grey whales and killer whales, but I have not met a beluga. I am hoping to make friends with one soon.
I would also like to meet a MInke whale. I have never seen a minke whale in the wild, but I have seen one on my cafeteria tray in elementary school. He tasted strong and musty.