In April of 2018, I visited a cafe that had a gift shop.
The gifts were artworks by foreigners living in Japan.
The owner, who was herself a foreigner, had asked me to show some of my paintings there.
I was delighted by this opportunity.
The shop is near Kitsuki town, which is a very rural area in Oita prefecture.
And although I’d been to Kitsuki town several times I’d never seen much of the surrounding countryside.
It was beautiful.
I had a lovely time there with my family.
And I also now have 4 of my paintings on display in the shop.
We left late because my daughter was having such a good time that she didn’t want to leave.
She even cried and said that she wanted to live there.
It really touched my heart when she said that.
But it was getting late and we had to go home.
Fortunately, once in the car her mood soon changed and she was feeling fine.
The journey home was a wonderful experience for me.
As I was driving in the final light of the setting sun, I saw several beautiful scenes.
One of them was of the river which for a while ran by the side of the road.
There was one particular curve in the road where I caught a glance of the river.
The view was so beautiful that I had to stop and turn the car around and go back and take some photographs.
Perhaps what appealed to me was the color of the river.
I could see an enchanting mix of warm orange and cool blue hues in the water.
I was hesitant to do a painting of this scene because normally I paint light.
So there are often rays of light and strong highlights in my work.
But in this scene the sun had set and there were no dramatic and powerful contrasts of edge, light and color.
Instead, this was a soft, muted scene.
I am glad, though, that I plucked up the courage and tried to paint it.
It took several attempts before I got a result that I was happy with.
I’m particularly satisfied with capturing the warm orange and cool blue hues in the water.
I’m also satisfied with the tranquil feeling that the painting conveys.
Sadly, none of my paintings sold at the shop.
I am, though, well acquainted with such disappointments and although it has taken many years of enduring such disappointments, I have become somewhat less perturbed by them.
And do not take that as resignation.
Creativity is a living energy that flows in me and I follow it.
Once, quite a few years ago, at one of my very first exhibitions it was a requirement that I was there the whole duration of the show acting as the ‘host’. It was not a pleasant experience because at that time I found meeting other people quite a stressful experience.
Also, the fact that my paintings were falling off the wall at regular intervals didn’t help. This was because I didn’t have the money to buy proper frames and so instead I used some thick card frames and stuck everything together with the strongest tape I could find. But the tape was not strong enough and the paintings just slowly peeled off the wall. The bang they made when they hit the ground was shocking.
Since then I have never ‘hosted’ any of my exhibitions. Normally, I’m in and out of there so fast you’d think I was committing a felony, and I probably leave tyre marks on the road.
In my latest exhibition, which is at a cafe in a town called Beppu, I didn’t even have any image of myself and I later heard that a group of women were wondering what I looked like. I suppose you could say I was more the ghost rather than the host of my own exhibition.
But things change. I now have a friend, a fellow artist living near me, and we are parallels of one another in some interesting ways. He’s like a 15 year future version of myself.
And this year I have done a small collaborative exhibition with him and some of my paintings were shown at one of his exhibitions. When I talked to him about this present exhibition the first thing he said was ‘When will you be there?’ And I said, only when I put up the paintings and when I take them down. Oh, and I will also go to meet two newspaper reporters there which is a first for me and due to the efforts of the owner and my wife.
My friend was surprised by my comment and laughed. Unlike me, during his exhibitions, my friend spends any free time he has being at his exhibition, talking to people who look interested and giving out business cards. He even holds special little parties. I’ve been to one of these parties and the atmosphere was wonderful.
So, it was time I did the same – well, not the party – not yet. To be honest, I’m not a party person. But maybe one day. This time I made a date when I would be at the cafe all day and told the newspaper reporters.
And it was great to arrive there and find a painting missing because somebody had bought it. According to the cafe owner it was a flute player.
Anyway, I also had lunch there so it was hardly a chore. And I even did some painting there. I hoped that it would add to the entertainment but the truth is that I just love to paint.
And I can see now from this experience the benefits of ‘hosting’ rather than ghosting my own exhibition.
People were literally telling me what they liked about my work and I could see which pictures got noticed and looked at most. Interestingly a lot of it was the work I’d done that year and they were all linked because they all began with an interest in reflections.
It had rained a lot that year and being stuck in the house because of the rain inspired in me the idea of doing watery reflections. And this led to a small series of paintings of Nagahama festival which is the first festival in the city where I live and famous for beginning in the rainy season and yes it often rains during the event.
So, no more being a paintergeist, it’s time to start turning up and upsetting people with my bad jokes until they find a way to exorcise me.
You can read here about my final day at this exhibition when I went for a walk in the mountains.
Postscript
This story was originally written in August of 2014. I edited it in 2022.
The painting I added here is my favorite one at the exhibition.
These spectacular cloud formations are one of the positive side-effects of the heat and humidity in a Japanese summer.
During this season I wake up in the morning feeling 90 rather than 43. I have a dry throat and I feel weak, tired and too hot. I start feeling better about six or seven in the evening.
And that’s not so bad. Some years I have felt like I’m dying during this season.
But let’s talk about these spectacular cloud formations. They are called nyuudougumo in Japanese. I know, it’s a bit of a mouthful.
I’ve wanted to paint a nyuudougumo for a while. They are so beautiful. And eventually about a week or so ago I saw this spectacularly colorful one by the river.
It was a real challenge to paint this though, especially the beautiful bright edge of the clouds. I tended to paint too many cloud shadows and thus not leave enough light areas. Trying to paint less rather than more is surprisingly difficult.
And this painting was preceded by many that did not make it!
But these attempts helped me, through trial and error, to finally achieve a good result. I say that just to let you know that these paintings don’t always magically appear from the first attempt.
And just in case you are interested these are the Chinese characters for nyuudougumo: 入道雲; the three characters respectively mean: enter/ join, road, cloud. So a ‘poetic’ description might be: “the road of joining clouds”.
That’s all for now except to say that if you are also hot then try, like me, to enjoy the wonderful cloud formations that the heat makes.
Oh, I forgot to ask, can you see the birdie? My oldest daughter always notices them.
And I will just add that I really enjoyed painting that river. It’s interesting to me how I have spent so many years struggling to paint sparkling seas and rivers and that now it comes fairly effortlessly.
That’s all,
Gareth.
Postscript
I originally wrote this story in August of 2014. I am editing it in 2022.
I should add that not long after I painted this picture, I sold it to a man in Germany.
Also, even after 8 years I am still very happy with this painting.
And finally, I don’t know why, but I haven’t painted any Nyuudogumo since. Hopefully I will do so again at some point in the near future.
I often go to my local river. It is called Oita river. And it is only a few minutes from my house.
This river provides a wonderful choice of painting subjects as well as being a wonderful place for painting sunrises and sunsets.
And in 2014 I painted many pictures of this river.
My favorite viewpoint
The painting above shows my favorite view of the river. Here are two more paintings I did from the same viewpoint.
“Golden sunlight sparkles across the river”
This viewpoint is particularly good for painting dramatic skies as well as sunrises and sunsets.
Also, from this viewpoint, the figures look very dark and dramatic as they contrast strongly with the bright sparkle of the river.
“Peaceful, evening walk by the river”
In this painting, I love the soft wispy clouds and faint touches of rose in the evening sky. The sky imbues this scene with a feeling of beauty and peacefulness.
Below is a different viewpoint of the river that I often find more challenging to paint but on this occasion worked out very well.
“Morning fisherman walking home”
I particularly like the bright colors of the trees in this painting and the delicate texture of the grass.
Bridges
There are many bridges across this river and although none of them are particularly beautiful I find them an interesting subject to paint.
“Friends fishing by the river”
In this painting of a bridge, I like the fishermen in the foreground. I often see them by the bridge and they help to make this scene much more alive and interesting.
“Fishermen gathering by the bridge”
I also like the dramatic shadows that the bridge casts and I do my best to emphasize that feature in this painting. And once again the fishermen help to make this scene more alive and interesting.
“Beautiful reflection of the sky upon the surface of the river”
And this painting shows the view from the top of a bridge. On this occasion, there was a beautiful reflection of the sky upon the surface of the river.
Embankment
One of the things I least like about the river is the artificial embankment. Nearly all Japanese rivers have them.
I have done my best though to turn the embankment into something interesting and even beautiful.
I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that. And I think this challenging subject has turned me into a better artist and led to some very interesting paintings.
“Stroll by the river on a sunny and misty day”“Stroll by the river on a sunny and misty day”
Anecdote
An extra attraction of the river other than as a painting subject is some of the joggers I see there and their unhealthy pursuit of health.
And here is something I wrote about them in July of 2014.
It was hot and humid and there were people jogging past me who were desperately gasping for air.
I felt like telling them to stop and just walk. It would probably be healthier for them.
Besides what if they suddenly collapse from a heart attack. Then I’d have to try and do CPR and this would be extremely stressful for me as I can never remember the ratio of breaths to chest presses.
However, the gaspers are not the strangest kind of jogger. This spot is reserved for the sweaters.
This kind of jogger puts on a lot of clothing despite the heat. And I saw one such person today. He was wearing a jacket in summer in Japan and he was soaked in sweat. I saw quite clearly drops of water running down his hands and hanging from his fingertips.
And there is one jogger I occasionally see who is the champion sweater because he wears a full tracksuit – all black of course – and a hood up so that you can’t even see his face.
I have to add that these people are not fat either.
Of course, being an artist and hoping to become successful from it is perhaps one of the maddest pursuits of all.
That’s all, Gareth.
Postscript
I originally wrote this anecdotal story in July of 2014, I am editing it in 2022.
Sadly it has no painting to go with it. But when I saw how many paintings I’d painted of my local river during that year then I had the idea of showing those paintings as a series and adding on this story at the end.
Today was “Marine Day”. It’s called “umi-no-hi” in Japanese and it’s a national holiday.
And we, the family, even went to the beach and it was wonderful.
But before we came to the beach we stopped the car on route and the family had a sleeping break. While they slept I got out of the car and did a painting.
We had parked next to an estuary in a small Japanese town called Kitsuki. I have painted this estuary a few times. To get a view of the estuary I had to climb over a fairly high sea wall. But when I did I found a very nice scene to paint.
When the tide is low you can see a lot of sandbanks and fishing boats which makes for a more interesting scene. But the tide was high and there was only one sandbank. It was an enormous sandbank. And there was only one fishing boat so it was a bit of an empty looking scene.
It was while I was painting this picture, and enduring the smell of rotting fish or worse, that a rat (in Japanese they might say “dobunezumi” which I think means water or gutter rat) suddenly appeared and it was running directly towards me.
It was ridiculous, but I was suddenly gripped by fears of being bitten and catching the Bubonic plague as this seemingly mad rat looked like it was charging at me with the intention to bite me. I am a city person and have no idea about the nature of rats.
I was also thinking that I might be the first person to ever get the Bubonic plague in Japan, who knows?
But my sudden movement as I rose, startled it and it did a ninety degree turn and went towards the sea. It came to the 2 meter high edge of the sea wall and did a bold leap off, went far through the air and ended the feat with a clean dive into the water. Then it swam (I think about as fast as I can) under the water. Then it came up to the surface near some rocks and started exploring around there.
Later it came back and ran past me without much fear. I think it realized that I wasn’t anything to worry about.
Despite an aversion to rats it moved with such beauty and speed that it was a mesmerizing delight to watch and it could even swim wonderfully well. In fact, it was kind of cute.
However, to return to the point, which is the painting.
I was lucky that there was a fishing boat present as this became the focal point for the whole painting.
I am, though, a little disappointed with the sea. It was a hot day and when I painted the sea it dried quicker than I expected. Luckily, I managed to salvage it with some dry brush strokes.
I should add that the building in the middle of the picture and on top of the hill is a Kitsuki castle. The position of this castle within the landscape is perfect and I’m sure that even John Ruskin would have enjoyed the sight of it.
Here is another painting of this estuary. It has no story to go with it, so by putting it here it feels like giving a stray dog a home.
“Fishing boat in Kitsuki estuary”
And here is one more painting that is around this area. I am very happy with this one but it also has no story to go with it.
“Beach in Kitsuki”
I have so many stray paintings. I wish that I’d learned to write about my painting adventures more and to have not been completely obsessed with just the painting. But it is what it is and I’ll make the best of what it is.
You can read part two of this trip to Kitsuki here.
Gareth.
Postscript
This story was originally written in July of 2014. I’m editing it in 2022.
I probably shouldn’t have done it but I threw away the original painting that I talk about in this story.
That is why you are getting the rather poor image above that is a blown up copy from the small image I found on my computer.
Every artist has to throw away some paintings otherwise it becomes overwhelming. I threw away about half of my paintings.
And, to be honest, I wasn’t very happy with this painting.
But after reading this story I wish that I’d kept it for the sake of the story. Alas.
When you paint outdoors you never paint alone. There’s always something that happens. Often some kind of annoyance or discomfort.
It could be a freezing cold wind or it could be an insect such as a mosquito or little flies that want to explore your nostrils. And of course there are always people.
Most people are okay but some are strange.
Today I had a boy cycling around me while I was painting. He was making a circuit with me at the center.
I admit that I felt a little irritated by this. Well, I’m quite an irritable person to be honest. But I also know that you can never be sure about people and it is essential to suspend judgement.
In fact, no judgement is probably the best judgement of all as you never really understand other people. And this was perhaps the case here.
After circling around me about ten or more times, I lost count, he sat down on the steps behind me and started sketching. The pest had become a fellow artist.
It was great to see this young boy sketching. And he spent a long time sketching. He must have a passion for sketching just like myself.
I didn’t speak to him but when he left I did a little bow (I can be very Japanese on occasion). However, he didn’t even acknowledge me. Anyway, it was great to see someone so young with a passion for art and to even be drawing outside.
And I myself had a great time and managed to do three paintings.
The rain was constantly threatening to come down and there were a few drops. But luckily it held off until my last painting when it started to rain a little. It was, though, just a brief shower and by the time I had reached home it had finished.
That’s all.
Postscript
This story was originally written in July of 2014. I’m editing it in 2022.
There was no painting with this story so I added a painting without a story of its own to go with it but which was of the same river and which I painted during the same year this story was written.
It also shows a sky, like in the story, where there is the threat of rain. I have to admit, too, that I like this painting very much and am glad to be able to show it.
When I arrived, though, I discovered that most of the tulips had gone. That said, I quite liked the scattering of tulips I saw rather than the almost overpowering bright lines of tulips that look so unnatural.
And all was not lost as there were other interesting things to paint in this place. So I left the tulip fields and went to the river where there is a suspended footbridge.
“A View from Above”
The bridge is very elegant. In Japan, most bridges are not. They look like they are built for tanks to cross. They are probably made so sturdily because of earthquakes.
What was really exciting about this bridge in my painting was how the walkway, which looked like a white line across a dark background, acted as a directional line leading the viewer’s eye to the focal point which in this case was the people at the far end of the bridge.
And what a background. A dramatic gorge with beautiful spring foliage and rocks.
In this painting, the figures are a little too big and in a future attempt I will make them a little smaller or the bridge a little bigger depending on which works best.
Next, I went down the gorge to see the waterfall. I’ve done a few paintings from this spot in the past and I couldn’t resist doing another painting from this spot on this occasion. It is such a beautiful scene.
“Waterfall Mist”
I read that the waterfall is about 20 meters high and forms a perfect crescent shape.
Despite being a beautiful scene I spent quite a long time hopping over countless stones in order to find a good composition.
But I don’t mind because the composition is critical and the first thing to think about before doing a painting. I believe that even a beautiful scene will not necessarily become a beautiful painting if the composition is not good.
One of the magical things about this scene is the mist that wafts across the bottom of the waterfall. It was also nice when the mist wafted over me because it was a very hot day. Although at first I thought, in a sudden panic, that it was raining.
It was a very sunny day with a warm breeze. Ideal conditions for drying clothes and watercolor paintings. In fact, my paint was drying out so quickly that I had to keep spraying it with water.
I folded the cover of my watercolor pad above the paper so it acted as a little “parasol” over the paper blocking out the sunshine over half the paper.
Despite the “parasol” the paint still dried really quickly. Truth be told I am a little disappointed with the waterfall part of the painting but I will have another attempt at home.
I ate my lunch while my first wash was drying out completely. Then I did my second wash.
However, I started to feel bad. Especially my head. It felt like a baked potato. I had been out in the sunshine too long.
And it was a great relief to finish the painting and go to a restroom where it was shaded and cool.
Next to the restroom, there was a shop. And I wandered around this shop just to enjoy the cool shade.
But I had spent too long in the sunshine and even in the cool shade of the store I felt dizzy.
After recovering sufficiently, I painted the final picture. This scene is of the river just before the waterfall. When I painted this picture the waterfall was behind me.
“Japanese Torii in a Misty River”
Sadly there is a road across the very top of the waterfall. And there is also an artificial channel in the river. I find that the Japanese have a tendency to do an excessive amount of construction. I wish they could have left the waterfall and the river in its natural state.
Perhaps there is a good reason for such construction.
And despite such construction the river is still beautiful.
I think one of the reasons this river is so beautiful is because of the little grassy islands in it.
Another reason is the gate, or torii as they say in Japanese, which is in the middle of the river.
The whole scene was really inspiring especially as the river was set against a very dramatic sky that imparted a wonderful mood. I literally live for this.
A group of Japanese people even came by and showered me with smiles and compliments before they continued on with their sightseeing. I don’t know about you, but I very much enjoy compliments.
I’m not happy with the painting I did of the Japanese Torii on that day. So the painting that I’m showing here is another version I did. I’m not sure if I did it in the same year but it is inspired by the same scene.
After finishing the painting, I returned to the shop and bought some Japanese sweets called manju for my family. These are basically buns with a very heavy doughy texture and an adzuki bean paste filling. They are very tasty.
I bought these as a kind of peace offering to my wife as she had looked after our toddler all day while I had been out painting.
It was wonderful to return home and to hear my toddler’s excited feet coming to the door. Young children don’t walk, they skip.
She’s only one year and eight months old but she gave me a bow as I entered the house – adorable. Her sparkling eyes, wide smile and rich chuckle of a laugh touched my heart.
By the way, torii means bird abode, perhaps this is because birds perch on it, but that’s just my guess.
Postscript
I originally wrote this story in April of 2014. I’m editing it in April of 2021.
At some point, I threw away the painting of the bridge. I probably wasn’t very happy with it. What I am using here is an image of the painting that I had on my computer. Sadly it was a small image and I had to blow up the image a little and then sharpen it using a photo editing app. I think the final result is pretty okay but it is obviously not ideal.
Since this story was written, I’ve visited Ogata several times and I now have a small series of paintings of this place. However, I never did another painting of the bridge with smaller figures. Maybe one day.
I wanted to paint the sky today because it was very dramatic.
It was a very cloudy sky but now and then the sunshine would burst out. It was inspiring stuff for me.
So, I went to the river as this is one of the best places for painting a sky picture.
The long horizontal lines and low verticals you get at the riverside give the viewer an unobstructed view of the sky.
Also the low vertical features by the riverside mean that the ground area in the painting doesn’t take up much vertical space and so this can be given to the sky area.
And when you want to paint a dramatic sky it is important to give as much physical space on the paper as possible to the sky.
I went to the river by bicycle because it’s quicker than walking.
My bicycle also acts as an outdoor mobile studio because my bicycle basket can hold all my art equipment.
I took the largest watercolor pad I had (45.5 x 53 cm) even though it is awkward to ride with and when it is windy it can even be dangerous to ride with.
A few months ago, when I was cycling in the city with my big pad I got smacked in the face by it. It was very painful as well as embarrassing.
But there are two good reasons for carrying a big pad.
Firstly, because I enjoy painting big.
And secondly, because it is good for competitions where big paintings are the norm and where a normal size painting looks like a postcard.
I also get the feeling that the small paintings don’t win prizes.
It was February and it was cold by the river.
A constant cold wind was blowing against the backs of my legs and as I began painting my fingers slowly started to go numb.
But I love to paint outdoors and to paint directly what I see, such as a dramatic sky.
There is a feeling of aliveness because the scene is changing moment by moment and as I paint I feel that I am alive in that changing scene.
I finished the painting with chattering teeth but a feeling of satisfaction.
I felt satisfied with my painting because it captured a little of the dramatic mood of the sky.
And finally, when I came home, it was a nice surprise to be greeted by a delicious meal made by my wife.
It was much better than the breakfast that I threw together in my haste to get outdoors and paint.
That’s all for now,
Gareth.
Postscript
This story was originally written in February of 2014.
I have edited it substantially as it was too wordy.
Also I changed the painting!
Sadly, I no longer had the original painting.
I must have thrown it away.
I did have an image of the original painting.
But it was a small image.
I tried enlarging it in an image editing app and then sharpening it but it still looked blurry.
I didn’t want to show a blurry picture.
So I replaced it with a painting from the same year.
Fortunately, this painting showed a dramatic sky with the sunlight bursting out of the clouds by the river which I described in the story.
But maybe not if you have a one and half year old toddler.
I had a plan though.
So, I took my toddler, Annie, down to the river where we could play.
But I also took my sketchbook so that if the opportunity arose then I could also do some sketching.
You have to use your nous right.
But Annie wasn’t going to make it easy for me to do some drawing.
Whenever I stopped to sketch she would stomp her feet, point ahead and make lots of impatient uh, uh, uh sounds.
What can you do?
So I made some very quick and super rudimentary sketches when I got the chance.
However, these attempts were not in vain because from these crude marks I could create some watercolor sketches at home.
And I’m really happy with them.
I feel they capture the beautiful clear light you get in Japan in winter time.
Anyway, my strategy of taking my sketchbook with me when I’m out taking care of and playing with my daughter and then later turning those sketches into paintings proves that it is possible to make art in all manner of circumstances.
Annie, though, was playing her own strategic games.
The riverbank has a road at the top of it and there are concrete steps leading up to the road at various points along the river bank.
Annie wanted very much to climb up those steps.
But I shook my head when she pointed at the steps.
I thought it was too dangerous because of the cars.
However, Annie then sat on the bottom step and pointed to the space next to her and said uh, uh, uh.
So, I sat next to her.
As soon as I did, she ascended to the next step, sat down and repeated the sit here daddy strategy.
This continued all the way up, or most of the way up as at some point I gave up and just helped her the rest of the way up.
To be honest, you only get the occasional car on this road. So it wasn’t really that dangerous.
And when we got to the top of the river bank I saw a nice scene for a sketch.
I did my best to memorize it so that when we were safely back down the steps and on the path I could do a sketch from my memory.
This became the watercolor sketch above and this is my favorite one.
It may also be my only one because I couldn’t find the other watercolor sketches I did.
I’ve probably thrown the others away.
Later, my wife took care of our daughter so I could dash back down to the river and do a large outdoor painting.
Often when I paint outdoors I produce my best paintings, but in this case I thought that the quick watercolor sketches I did at home were much better than the large outdoor painting.
I’d love to show you the large outdoor painting so you can compare them but I can’t find it. I think I threw it away.
