This time, we held two types of workshops.
One was a natural pigment workshop that Sugisaki has conducted in various parts of the world over many years. Together with the younger children, we walked around the school grounds collecting soil, soot, and plants. From these materials, we made pigments together. We paid attention to the “colours” already present in our immediate surroundings. Drying earth. Boiling plants. The process felt almost like a science experiment. The children’s faces shone with excitement. Once the pigments were ready, the older students began applying colour to two large canvases. For many, it was the first time painting on works so large that their entire bodies could fit inside the frame. As they lifted their brushes, something shifted. They stopped chatting—though conversation in sign language, especially while working, is not always easy—and immersed themselves in the act of painting. Even after the session ended, they lingered near the canvases. “Can we do it again later?” one child asked.
We hope they hold on to that feeling—the simple, powerful desire to create.
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Children gathering soot to turn into paint.







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