Jim Yang / Illustration / Graduated 2006
Like many others, my encounter with Kazu began after seeing and being
moved by his work. At the time, I had just been laid off from my previous job
and came across his art book from someone who had studied with him. A few month
later, I was enrolled full time at AAU major in illustration. In many ways, his
pictures changed the course of my life in a dramatic and subtle way, just as
they were meant to be. After taking his popular acrylic figure painting class a
couple of times, I was fortunate to be one of his "little helper" in the class
for the next 3 years, until I moved out of San Francisco.
As the "little helper" in the class, I would often be searching for the
hair dryer, taping the models, setting up the heaters and all sort of
miscellaneous tasks while learning valuable skills that one does not often do
until he/she is out of the school. One of the great perks, for being in the
class repeatedly may be watching Kazu's weekly demonstration(or the "cooking
show", as he would refer to it. *smile*) and hope something sinks in.
One of the many traditions in Kazu's class, is the paintings he would bring
every week. Those were some of his favourite pieces, each with important
significance to him. During his weekly lecture to the class, he would share not
only what he had learned from the painting, but also the story on where he had
learned the lesson from. One time Kazu explained that he bring his painting
every week so that it would be fair for him to ask us to share ours and open up
to him. Although we were all students in the class, Kazu had always treated
everyone as equals and never look down to the students. This meant a great deal
to me and have an immense influence on my role as an educator.
The picture I had chosen to create is Kazu with cherry blossom. Hopefully
it helps to represent the beautiful and brief time we were fortunate to had
spent with him.
Jim Yang
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