During my wilderness years of learning watercolor painting by getting on my bicycle with my art gear and cycling off into the blue yonder of the Japanese countryside I found a picturesque village called Shonai. And I think it was around 2011 that I painted these pictures of Shonai.
Roughly around 2011, I painted these pictures. They are paintings of an area called Wasada. It is a semi-rural area on the outskirts of Oita city. I could easily reach this place via the path by Oita river. And in the past, I often went on bicycle adventures to this area in search of beautiful scenes to paint.
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.
This picture was painted around 2011. At that time, I was getting on my bicycle with my art gear and cycling off into the Japanese countryside. I call this period my wilderness years. And one of my favorite cycling routes was this river. It’s called Ono river.
This painting is an enigma. Firstly, I’m not sure when I painted it. I’m guessing it was around 2011. Secondly, I can’t remember doing this painting. And thirdly, I have no idea where this place is.
I’m not certain when I painted this picture. I think it was around 2011.It’s certainly an old painting. I know the place in this painting very well. It is a car park very close to my house. And although I don’t think it is a good painting I’m glad I painted it.
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 painting of Itogahama beach. It is a very beautiful beach. It is in Hiji town, Oita prefecture.This painting of the beach was done in about 2011. And I think I painted this picture on location. What I like about this painting is the feeling of peacefulness it exudes.
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.
Here are a few of my earliest seascape paintings. My interest in seascapes began in 2011. At that time, I started cycling to the bay. This bay is just a ten minute bicycle ride from my house. It is called Beppu bay. I did many on the spot paintings of this bay. I felt inspired by the beauty of the bay view at evening time. However, most of my paintings were very bad. And nearly all those paintings I threw away. But these few paintings survived.