Painting

My first night in Tokyo, I was placed in a hotel room with two other teachers, one of whom was originally from Madison. Although we had lived in the same small city for an overlap of nine years, had mutual aquaintences, and at times even attended the same school, we never met until Japan. After that weekend, we were sent out to our host communities and we landed in small towns about an hour away from one another.

We became friends. Once I got over my Osaka craze of needing to spend almost every weekend in the city, we would spend weekends at each other's house. An's house became a refuge for me. It was new and clean. The only furniture was a beautiful stained glass lamp and 2 tibetan prayer mats, but her walls were covered in art, pics from magazines, sketches, painting, etc. She lived simply, but colorfully.

It was at An's house that I first started to make collages and later to paint. I never thought I had much of knack for art. I wasn't particularly encouraged or discouraged in school. In college I thought I might take a beginning course in painting, but I was told that due to the limited space, only art majors could take those painting classes. So I never took a class, but even after Japan, I continued to paint.

There is something soothing about sitting in front of a blank canvass and adding different colors until it feels right. I've discovered I love creating beautiful things. This year, for the first time, I've decided to share my work outside of my circle of friends. I'll be showing my paitings at the Wallingford 1st Wednesday Art Walk on the first Wednesday in July from 6-9 at Alliance Chiropractic on 45th.