So I was on the train because I went to Beppu. This is the city next to mine which is called Oita. And I went to see an exhibition space in a small hotel. To date, I’ve exhibited in a bank, a green tea shop, a steakhouse, a cafe and a few other places but never a hotel. And this was not a normal hotel. It was a small, old-style Japanese hotel. Such a hotel is called ‘ryokan’ in Japanese.
This painting is of a small restaurant in a region called Kusu. This region is a very rural and rugged part of Oita prefecture. And I visited this restaurant with my family. I was so impressed by the beauty of this traditional Japanese style interior of the restaurant. And I could see that it was an ideal subject for a painting.
In 2012 my daughter Annie was born. And every day I would see these wonderful scenes of mother and baby together. So I did a lot of sketches and sometimes even a few paintings. Here are two of the paintings and a sketch.
For a long time I haven’t drawn or painted my family. But in the past I would often draw them. And occasionally I would paint them.
Sadly, I have no idea when I painted this picture. I’m guessing that it was 2012. But it’s just a guess. And I have no idea where this place is. Neither do I know who the figure is in the painting.
In the past, I often went to Starbucks. I loved that place. And at the cafe I would do paintings of people drinking coffee.
This painting is very old and very valuable to me. I lived in this apartment with my wife and her two children. I first came to Japan in 1999 and about one year later I was living in this apartment. I lived here for about 6 or 7 years.