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Art rambles
Painting of a beautiful Japanese beach at evening time
Recently we went on a family trip to Matama. This is a coastal area famous for its sandbanks that look so beautiful when the sun sets. And, luckily, we had arrived on a very sunny day. The tide was slowly coming in and creating a dramatic pattern of meandering streams through the sand. A lot…
I got a commission to paint a Japanese torii gate
In 2020, I did an exhibition at the main department store in my local city of Oita. It went well and I sold about 12 to 13 paintings. Nearly all of these were sales of paintings on display. However, I did get 2 commissions. And one of them is of this Japanese torii gate in…
The Kitchen Table Artist
A few years ago I met a young man who had decided to live out his dream and become an artist. I was quite surprised by his decision because he seemed such a sensible and pragmatic person. I never took him to be the kind of romantic fool that chooses to become an artist –…
Getting depressed over a disappointing painting
In January of 2024, I painted a lot of snow scenes. If you watch the video, you will see how many – and this is not all of them. Anyway, there was one painting I did that was really bad which you can see in the video. I felt so disappointed with that picture. And…
Getting lost in the Japanese countryside at night
Sometimes when I paint outdoors remarkable things happen and I don’t even know that they are happening but they later come back and influence my life. For instance, last year, a man who I can’t remember spoke to me while I was outside painting. It turns out that he is a sculptor and quite famous…
Painting a mountain in watercolor
Watercolor painting of Aso mountain in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan.
Painting the last glow of the day
A few weeks ago, I suddenly found myself with some free time. It was late afternoon and cold. So I jumped on my bike with my watercolor gear and started roaming the streets looking for a scene to paint.
Retreats towards success in painting a difficult subject
In this short story, I talk about the importance of retreating from a difficult painting and coming back to it at a later date. I found that I had to make several retreats before I could paint this particular subject well.
Painting a beautiful countryside scene near a cafe where I will have an exhibition
So this is not really a story but just an attempt to add some context to this painting. You can also see how I turned a painting of the countryside into a snow scene.
Where I find some of my best paintings
I used to think that I had to travel quite far to find beautiful places to paint. However, after 16 years of painting, I have found that some of my best paintings have been done within a short distance of my house.