Hello, I’m Blair Nakamoto. For over a year now I have been part of Art Sphere Inc.’s art teaching team, offering painting skills for murals, art lesson plan writing, and appreciation for simplicity and heartfelt values with craft-making and design.
I am now in New Jersey, born in California, and graduated from Camden County College with a fine and applied arts degree.
Currently I am an assistant for the Art Sphere Inc. Tumblr blog found here.
To me, humanity’s connection with the arts since prehistory is not unlike mankind’s endeavors into outerspace and researching particle physics. Art is about exploration of the beauty of our universe as well as our human commonalities, and shared stories. I intend to bring this love of beauty and of storytelling to my pursuit of a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Illustration. The necessary delight of art is well conveyed in the essay “The Philosophy of Composition” by Edgar Allan Poe:
“[t]he most elevating, and the most pure, is, I believe, found in the contemplation of the beautiful. When, indeed, men speak of Beauty, they mean, precisely, not a quality, as is supposed, but an effect — they refer, in short, just to that intense and pure elevation of soul…”
Art that’s sincere and lifts your soul and spirit will inspire.
Seeing children become engaged with crafts and artistic concepts is so rewarding. Along with fellow volunteers and interns, I have gotten to teach, paint and craft on projects at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Veterans Multi-Service Center, Tzu Chi Center, and Fishtown Recreation Center outer mural.
My earliest experiences with art were drawing birds and fish at pool parties. My family had an appreciation for visual art and local gardens and I continued drawing, delighted and self-encouraged to see that I could bring anything from friendly alligators to stories about backyard birds to two-dimensional life.
My favorite memory with ASI was near my birthday in April, last year, when we held Astronomy Night at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. The night was overcast and the conditions rainy, but we continued with the installation indoors anyway, and with just two volunteers and our director, we taught the Constellation Project. It was my first visit to the refuge, a remarkably beautiful place. There were cupcakes, star-shaped crafts, and best of all, the gathering of youth ready to learn about the beauty and intricacies of nature.
For fun I like to listen to radio podcasts, go climbing, and bake. I could never do without a schedule book, reading books, and art supplies.