I’m writing this story in February of 2021.
But this story actually happened around the spring of 2010.
It is one of my older stories.
With that said, let’s begin.
So I’m a little romantic.
Or maybe I’m just stupid.
I remember once looking at a girl’s neck and saying how it looked “swan like”.
Everybody erupted in laughter.
I was so embarrassed.
But the truth was that it did look swan-like.
But anyway this is a blog about one of my romantic painting trips into the Japanese countryside.
I think this is also perhaps as laughable as the comment I made about that girl’s neck.
I should have been doing a sensible and useful job and making money.
Instead, I was getting on a bicycle and cycling off into the Japanese countryside to look for adventure and a beautiful scene.
How foolish can you be?
But, anyway, on this occasion, I got both an adventure and a beautiful scene.
So I was following a very long and wide river called Ono river.
Rivers are the best places to cycle next to in Japan because the ground is usually flat.
The path, though, can sometimes suddenly disappear.
Especially if you cycle along it for miles and miles.
I’ve often experienced this but part of the fun is seeing how far you can cycle by a river.
And that was part of the enjoyment of cycling by Ono river.
At first this river was very pleasant to cycle along.
There is a smooth path and next to it are rice fields and it’s all very hospitable.
But at a certain point the landscape becomes more rugged and rocky.
And then you find yourself cycling along a very quiet, more neglected, path that you know very few people use.
I think it was a road but it was as narrow as a path.
And the sides of the river were no longer grassy banks but dramatic rocky cliffs.
At a certain point, I came across a big steel bridge spanning the river with a chain across its entrance.
There was a sign on the chain saying that you are not allowed to cross it.
Once again, as I often experienced when cycling in Japan, I felt myself in a forgotten place.
And then the road was cutting through the side of a rock and there were rivulets of water running down the side and forming pools of water in the middle of the road.
It had become a spooky road but also interesting.
And then suddenly I came upon the scene in the painting above.
It looked like a dazzlingly green rice field.
The picture above is a watercolor sketch that I did on the spot.
I used to take all my paint gear with me in those days.
I wish I still had that kind of energy.
At that time I felt indestructible.
Anyway, I was at that time really happy with the painting I did.
I felt that it captured that dazzlingly green color of the rice.
Now, I don’t think it’s so great.
I did a studio painting from this sketch.
And I sold that painting.
But sadly, now I only have one blurry image of the studio painting to show you.
I was hesitant about showing this bad image.
If possible I want to show only good images on my website.
Perhaps that’s vanity.
Anyway, I decided to show you because I thought you might find it interesting.
So here it is.
Sayonara for now,
Gareth.
