John Gram Robertson, Ottawa Member Since September 2009 Artist Statement Illustration has always been my passion. In 2006 I was fortunate to visit Japan, having never been overseas it inspired me greatly. I came back with hundreds of pictures. The urban spaces had excellent, bold architecture which was unlike anything I've seen in the west and the nature spaces were one of a kind and inspiring. It may seem like an unusual choice to use pen and ink with cross hatching however as I've continued with these landscapes I have improved my technique considerably.