April 23, 2021

Since April 2020 I have posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.

I can usually predict about how many ‘likes’ I get on each painting I post. The more majestic, beautiful, familiar a scene is usually gets the most. I did this painting several years ago as part of my ongoing Japan series just because I thought it was an interesting thing to paint, and wonder what it means.

This is near a waterfall temple up a remote canyon near Maniwa-shi Japan that my son discovered while living in the area. I did a plein air of the temple on a cold drizzly day, but this stone marker and it’s setting made an interesting composition. To me it’s a mysterious story…how long has it been there? I can’t read Japanese, so what does it say? What is the purpose of the stone with it’s barely discernible carving?

Today’s offering from the “Studio Roundhouse” probably won’t get many ‘likes’, but I still like it.

“Takiyama Jiinn Sekihi”, 16×20, oil on canvas. Japanese for “mountain waterfall temple stone monument.”