You already stand out as tall, blonde European woman walking around Nagoya, but if you’re also carrying a painting across one of the busiest intersections of the city, you’ll quickly be labeled as the weirdest ‘gaikokujin’ in the neighborhood.
While I was in Japan I thought it would be really nice to take some pictures with my paintings in quintessential Japanese settings and what’s more quintessential than cherry blossoms in full bloom? So I made a plan, picked out some of my favourite pieces, closely followed the national ‘Sakura’ tracker and waited for that magical moment to arrive in Nagoya.
Now walking under the cherry blossoms is a very popular activity in Japan, so naturally it was super crowded on the path along the river near our house. Tons of Japanese families were enjoying the beautiful weather and the abundance of delicate flowers. So you can imagine that as the only foreigner there, I caused quite the stir, especially since I was doing something completely outside the norm. Not only was I setting up these paintings outside but I was also lying on the ground to get the best angels for our shots, without a blanket or a tarp no less!
I’m sure I was the topic of many conversations that day, but it also turned out to be a wonderful opportunity for people to interact with my work in a unique and unexpected environment. I was able to connect with so many people, even though in most cases we did not speak each other's language!
I didn't expect these photo sessions would turn into little impromptu pop-up exhibitions; this inspiring side-effect prompted me to take my artwork on many more trips around the city.
One of the highlights was this trip into a small local bamboo forest where the gentle click clacking of the bamboo stalks in the wind provided the perfect backdrop for my painting ‘Take (竹) Time’.
The next spring my paintings and I were a peculiar feature at the local fruit park famous for their beautiful plum blossom forest. The plum blossoms, or Ume as they are called in Japan, are my favorite flowers, when I see these pictures I can almost smell the fresh scent of the early arrival of spring.
During my final solo exhibition in Japan I snuck some of my paintings out of the gallery for some quick shots in one of the beautiful traditional neighborhoods in downtown Nagoya.
We even visited a local Buddhist temple where I captured my paintings in the palm of Buddha’s hand.
On one of my most ambitious trips I brought my paintings to my favorite Sakura spot in the city, a beautiful river with huge overhanging trees on both sides. It was a gorgeous day, blue skies, no wind, absolutely perfect. I had walked the path by the river before but I hadn’t quite anticipated how much more intense it would be to navigate the narrow streets and crowds of people lugging two heavy and unwieldy art bags, a field easel and a camera around!
Everywhere we went these little photo sessions evoked curiosity and conversation, my favourite encounter was with a group of people from Taiwan who were visiting Nagoya for the day. We had a lovely conversation about the city and the art and of course, they wanted to take some pictures with the star of the show.
Although these glamor shots were the main goal, I feel that these interactions were the most valuable result of our little outings.
We came from different cultures and spoke different languages but we were able to connect on a deeper level through the universal language of art. A picture tells a thousand words and during these impromptu pop-up exhibitions it brought completely different cultures closer together.
ARTIST • EXPAT • TRAVELER
“I hate saying goodbye but I did it anyway. 🥲 Fueled by farewells, I paint places I miss so I can hold on to them forever”
