Red Idol

42 x 64 cm, acrylic, oil, and oil stick on canvas

I painted regularly for many years until I left Tokyo, and then I took a break for 16 or 17 years. Here is my second painting after starting up again. I proceeded cautiously, laying down big fields of acrylic, then smaller ones, then oils and oil sticks, waiting for each layer to dry before shyly approaching the next. Very much like laying bricks. To keep the material side of things simple I didn't do a lot of color mixing. I loosened up pretty quickly and soon the painting experienced a series of Happy Accidents and they turned out to be my favorite parts and helped guide the painting in directions alien to me.

One of the reasons it was easy for me to start painting again was because I had held on to a lot of my old paints. Moving between Japan, Spain, Japan again, Thailand, Japan again, Bangladesh, and Slovakia, I couldn't bring much with me besides essential clothes, a few books, photos... but I've been holding on to some of these paints (and a few brushes) since I was an undergrad in Philadelphia.

Anyways, the painting is liked. One person said they'd like a much larger version of it, and now that one hangs in an office. So now I'm painting more than ever. Some of my paintings I am happy to reproduce, so just ask.