A walk through my shitamachi neighborhood.
In the sun the surrounding buildings start to blend into a patch-work: white, brown, black
they become the
random spots
of a calico cat,
who I then spot sitting disinterested in an alley.
Large and small,
grand and minute,
I don't know which is which any more in this city
is it the cat that is in the street,
or the streets that are in the cat?

watercolor and ink on watercolor paper 19x27 cm

This watercolor painting is the first in an image shiritori game currently in play between myself and another Tokyo creative (hence the kana at the bottom of the image). Follow #tokyoshiritori on instagram to see the updates from myself (@erica.ward.illustration) and my partner in drawing @jokelana as well as the progression from "neko" onward in our twist on the classic Japanese word game style.