During 2014 I did a lot of paintings around Oita castle. I should add that there is no actual castle remaining. There is though a moat and some beautiful castle walls. There is also a garden within the castle grounds. And these are all in good condition. The painting above shows one of my favorite views around the castle.
Despite my wife’s advice not to, I went to a Japanese festival in the rain and took some photos. To my wife’s amusement, I came back thoroughly soaked. However, from my photos I painted a picture that I am really happy with.
I have a friend who is a metalwork sculptor. He will soon have an exhibition in a small Japanese town called Yufuin. And he will show two of my paintings in his exhibition. So, as I’m a landscape painter and the exhibition is held in Yufuin, I thought it would be a good idea to visit this town and do some paintings of the place. This story is about that trip.
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.
Some of my old paintings are a mystery to me. Often I have no idea what year I painted them. Sometimes I can’t work out the place. And sometimes I know the place but I can’t remember the actual occasion when I was there and which led to the painting.
This place is in or near Wasada. Wasada is a region on the outskirts of Oita city. In this region, the urban landscape starts to disappear and farmhouses and fields begin to appear. I found this place by chance during a cycling adventure.
I can’t say I like this painting very much. It’s not particularly well painted. But it was painted around 2011 when I was still learning watercolor painting and struggling very much with this mercurial medium. But I like this painting as a reminder of how I would cycle around looking for beautiful or interesting scenes to paint.
Miyajima is one of my favorite places in Japan. And I have been there several times. It is an island with a temple built on the beach. The buildings of the temple are on stilts. And when the tide comes in the sea comes right up to the buildings. It’s very beautiful.
This is a very old painting. I think I painted it in 2011. I know it isn’t a particularly good painting. But I like this painting because I think it captures the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of a Japanese festival.
I know the place in this painting very well. But I don’t know when I painted this picture. It is a very old painting. I could have painted this picture as far back as 2010. At that time I was getting on my bicycle and cycling deep into the Japanese countryside.