Japan

JAPAN WATER COLOR PAINTINGS

Since 1991 I (Thomas) am living in Japan first in Tokyo, now in Osaka. There are two seasons in Japan that absolutely invite for painting. The first is the cherry blossom season, when life awakes from winter celebrated all over the country by people having picnic parties under cherry trees in parks. Whole streets are lined with cherry trees, so are many monuments and temples. And then there is autumn. The color of autumn leaves in Japan can be absolutely awesome. Most typical for the autumn colors are the leaves of the Japanese cherry tree (Sakura) and those of the maple tree (Momiji).

The water color paintings shown here were done at very different times. Mount Fuji is standing out painted at a cold April day during the first visit of my parents to Japan in 1992. Then there are three paintings made in rapid succession at the same place on the same day in Chuuguu Onsen on Nov. 10, 1994, the second visit of my parents to Japan. The paintings show the flaming yellow, orange and red color palette of this autumn day in the Japanese mountains. The colors were such that one would think being in the midst of a forest fire. The first picture of the Saikouji Temple (Minoh) in autumn was made during the third visit of my parents to Japan. The painting of cherry blossoms in the Saikouji was done, when my sister visited me. The others I painted in the following years. Later on, in the autumn of 2005 I ventured out more into the neighborhood of Minoh, a town in Osaka Prefecture, where I live, and painted more colorful views at the Saikouji Temple and Ryuanji Temple.