Painting of a small Japanese village somewhere between Oita city and Kitakyushu city

This is one of my old paintings. 

I remember visiting and painting this place but I can’t give the year exactly. 

I think it was around 2013. 

And I remember that my wife was visiting or taking our eldest daughter to Kitakyushu where she was studying at the university.

However, my wife stopped on route to drop me off and let me do some painting while she went the rest of the way. 

And then the plan was that she would pick me up on the way back.

I remember that I had no initial idea where I was going to ask my wife to drop me off but that it ended up being the place in the painting above. 

It was a small Japanese village that I thought looked quite idyllic – at least from the roadside.

At first I walked around the village looking for a good scene to paint and finally chose the scene above. 

I’m guessing that I chose this scene because I liked the way the path curves around and leads towards the cluster of houses, such an arrangement would make for a nice composition.

And as I look at this picture, I find myself thinking that it isn’t so bad. 

I can see that the colors work very well together and there is a nice touch of subtle colors, especially in the big trees, as well as a nice combination of warms and cools.

I also think that this scene would look very nice in the rainy season when they fill the rice fields with water and hopefully, one day I’ll paint this scene with watery rice fields.

And in looking at and talking about this painting and realizing it is quite good and that it even has some sentimental value for me now, I feel a little regret for folding it in half with the intention of binning it. 

If you look carefully at the painting you can see a faint crease line down the middle. 

But perhaps I decided to bin it because I have too many paintings and at times it can feel like I’m drowning in my own creations. 

So from time to time, I cull my creations. 

Luckily, after folding it, I unfolded it and decided to take this photo as a record. 

However, I can’t remember now if after taking the photo I binned the actual painting or kept it.

One day, I may check.

That’s all,

Gareth.