South of the Border, West of the Sun

"Inside that darkness, I saw rain falling on the sea. Rain softly falling on a vast sea, with no one there to see it. The rain strikes the surface of the sea, yet even the fish don't know it is raining.

Until someone came and lightly rested a hand on my shoulder, my thoughts were of the sea."

"We were, the two of us, still fragmentary beings, just beginning to sense the presence of an unexpected, to-be-acquired reality that would fill us and make us whole. We stood before the door we'd never seen before. The two of us alone, beneath a faintly flickering light, our hands tightly clasped together for a fleeting ten seconds of time."

Some time ago a friend (Thanks btw!) recommended an author - Haruki Murakami - to me. As I was curious I ordered a book ("South of the Border, West of the Sun") and strangely it was the first book I read in (almost) one sitting after 8 years. I used to read 3-4 books every week every since I can remember. But somehow, since getting married and having the kids I didn´t have the time and the energy to read (and also draw) a lot. Magazines or an occasional comic were all I could handle.

But then I had this moving story in my hands and couldn´t stop reading it. You can´t imagine how happy I was (and still am). After reading that book I ordered about 7 or 8 more books written by Murakami. One of them was a special edition of "Sleep" with fantastic illustrations by the artist Kat Menschik. Her illustration style is 100% what I like and would love to be able to do myself. I took elements of her drawings and drew the collage you can see above. I really like the result.

You can see some of the illustrations of "Sleep" here:

As usual I have a bad conscience when copying elements or parts of others´ art. But I learn so much from doing this. I´m glad at least Mucha said: "It is a great compliment, when people copy my art and my style."

Murakami´s signature:

“No one will weave dreams for me – it is my turn to weave dreams for others. That’s what I have to do. Such dreams may have no power, but if my own life is to have any meaning at all, that is what I have to do.”