Painting a snow scene with a warm evening sky
Out of the blue my sister asked me to make some Christmas cards. So I had a go at painting some snow scenes and one thing led to another and soon the studio was littered with snow scenes.
2014
Watercolor painting of Japanese haystacks
Today I was just going to sit in the studio and paint. But then my wife suggested that I go out and paint as it was such a beautiful day. My relaxing day suddenly became a hectic one. Now, I was planning a trip and wondering where would be the best place to go.
Watercolor paintings of construction work in a small Japanese city
These pictures are of a small Japanese city that I live in called Oita. They were painted in 2014. Around this period there was a lot of major construction work occurring around the city center. New roads, a new bridge and a new train station were built. And the area around the train station was completely transformed.
Outdoor painting nightmare on a mountain
In September of 2014 I climbed up Mt Yufudake. I wanted to paint a picture from the top of the mountain. And I took all my painting equipment, even my easel. However, I stayed on the mountain top too long, watching a beautiful sunset. As I descended the mountain my pleasant painting trip turned into a nightmare.
Romantic peaks and foolish painters
What is the first thing an artist needs? I’d say passion. And that is something I have in abundance. And it’s a good thing. It means I’m doing the right thing. Passion though makes you do foolish things as you will read in this story.
Watercolor painting of the sunlit interior of a Japanese train
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.
Don’t go painting outside in holey sandals
It’s time to say goodbye to my sandals. My holey, not holy, sandals that is. And I learnt you should never take a walk in nature with holey sandals. But this is what I did and I stepped on something full of tiny needles. One of God’s wonderful creations!
A painting from a walk in the mountains of Beppu
Last week, I spent a whole day at my exhibition. I don’t think it helped sales but I learnt about what paintings people liked. On the final day of the exhibition, after I had finished and had packed away my work, I decided that I needed some fresh air. So I drove up the mountain, found an interesting place and stopped.
Being a ghost at my exhibition
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.
Watercolor paintings of scenes around a Japanese castle
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.