関西の街角でかいてるとよく話しかけられる。今回改めておもった。人通りがある場所なら、必ずひとりは話しかけてくる。ええなぁ〜。東京の表参道でかいたときは完全透明人間の気分やった。まぁ、それはそれで良いねんけど。
奈良の街角に座って古びた建物をかいてるとおばさんがのぞき込んできてくれた。結局あたしの横に座って4、50分ほど彼女のライフについて色々と聞かせてくれた。80近いのに、人生たのしんでて、ガンバっててすてきな人やった。
でもたのしく過ごしてると、近所の人といろいろあるらしい。その年齢でまだ働かせてもらってたり、旅行行ったりしてるとチクチクゆわれるらしい。「だからもうな、ゆわへんようにしてんねん」と、また笑う。
あたしのかいてた建物は、女神と書いてヴィーナスというスナック？の跡地やった。駐車場がないのでビジネスが難しい、不動産に詳しいおばさんによると「ま、言葉は悪いけどいわゆる死に物件やな」。ヴィーナスってゆう看板は未だにはっきりと読める。「なんか皮肉やね。」
When I draw in the streets, some people get curious and start talking to me. I've noticed that that happens way more in the Kansai area than in Tokyo. When I drew in Omotesando, I was invisible. Though, I'm fine with that.
The other day, I was sitting on the wide curb and was drawing the building across the street. This 80 year-old lady peeked in my sketchbook. Within the few minutes, she was sitting next to me and we ended up talking for some 45 minutes. She told me about her life - still working, her two sons successful and happy. Her big smile made me smile.
As she told me that some of her neighbors and co-workers would say mean things to her because she's happy, she laughed again, like she knew she couldn't do anything about certain things and had accepted that.
The building I was drawing had a big sign that said "MEGAMI" ("Venus" in Japanese). Seemed like it had gone out of business a long time ago. The lady told me that it was hard to keep the business going there because there was no parking in the area. I told her the sign sounded ironic, and she laughed again.
