Sunflower Field

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My search for sunflowers.

Before I came to Canada, I visited my sister in Tuscany, Italy. It was late July and there were so many sunflower fields around the village of Rapolano Terme where my sister lives. During my four-month stay, I painted several paintings of sunflower fields. Sometimes I feel paintings of sunflower fields can be so cheesy, however, when I actually stood in front of them, I couldn't resist it. They were simply beautiful. It has been almost a decade since then, but I wanted to look for a sunflower field near Toronto.

I searched "Ontario sunflower growers", but the results lead me nowhere. I did find several images of sunflower fields in Ontario on Flickr, and some kind photographers even linked a map of the location. The photos were shot by several people in 2006 and 2007 and the location was Innisfil, Ontario and Mississauga, Ontario. So I drove there the next morning. The weather forecast was expecting rain in the afternoon so I wanted to get there as early as I could. When I entered Innisfil, it started raining. I hurried to the exact location, and there it was... a corn field, probably due to crop rotation every few years. I drove around the area without any success and moved to Mississauga only to find... another corn field.

That was last week. I didn't give up and went back to Flickr. This time I found some images from this year. So out again I went.

Wow. I found it. The only thing is that all of the sunflowers were facing the sun, away from me and there was no access to the other side so I couldn't go around.

I got several decent photographs from which to paint but standing on the road I was thinking "Oh please turn around and just look at me!"

Turquoise

Field of Festival (tentative title), painting in progress.

I am looking for new colours.
Sap green and viridian have been my choice of green. In this new painting, I tried turquoise blue. It is hard to judge before the painting is dry and completed, but so far I have really enjoyed this new energetic colour. Mainly I wanted to try turquoise for the replacement of viridian so I mixed yellow to make greenish blue. Despite the fear of strong blue clashing agaist yellow and orange, the turquoise blended well with other colours and created an interesting colour balance.

I still want to work on the details of this painting. Not only the striking blue of turquoise itself, but also the purples made with it, deep green, light green were making the colours dance on the canvas. Sometimes using all the hues can make a painting "crazy cheesy", it seems that I can manage that in this case.


Field of Festival (Detail)

Gone but not forgotten

To be truthful, I have never been a Michael Jackson fan. Growing up in Japan, my first introduction to his music was having to study the lyrics of We Are The World in English class.

I was inspired to paint this painting because of MJ's enormous iconic pop culture influence. That jacket, that pose - recognizable across the planet.

Beaches Arts and Crafts Show

This weekend I am showing at the Toronto Beaches Arts and Crafts Show. The weather and the turnout have been wonderful thus far.

This is my first outdoor show this year and also the first time I have displayed at Kew Gardens so I carefully prepared and double checked my show set-up list. I set up the tent Friday evening and carried in my paintings Saturday morning and "ha!" I realized that I had forgotten all of my cat paintings and cat prints. Oops. Well they will be on display tomorrow.

Cat Legacy - Part One

My cat paintings - including the picture above entitled "Legend"- were displayed at Butler's Pantry in Roncesvalles Village, a trendy spot in Toronto.

"Legend" was painted on sliced wood. I primed the wood with clear Gesso and painted in oil.
When I painted this particular cat, I was inspired by the wood itself and immediately thought of antique photographs of the 1940's - in an era when even the poor would scrape together some money and in their old and worn suits pose stoically for a photograph.

When I installed the Cat Show series at Butler's Pantry, the wall in the back room gave me the impression of an old cottage and I thought "Legend" would fit nicely.

Legend (Oil on Wood, 12x9", 2009)

Painting Process: Unity

I started this painting thinking I wanted to focus on light and shadow using indigo. I was actually painting over a painting of a cherry tree from last year. The red is Alizarian Crimson. I am still experimenting with this colour and I quite like the warm pink that Alizarian Crimson makes.

The image that I was working from is a photograph from last Spring. I chose to paint a large branch in the top right corner of the picture.

I liked the contrast of dark indigo and light pink. The indigo, used in the top right corner, gives me a feeling of a night sky. The sky at the bottom is brighter and gives contrast to the flowers.

As I painted, I realized that the whole composition was overwhelming. I had to erase the tree branch (indigo) and some of the flowers in the top area. By doing so, the focus of the painting turned to the larger flowers and the painting as a whole felt simpler yet stronger. The openness of the blossoms was, I felt, overpowered by the blue sky. To correct this I put a more neutral colour -gray.

After working on the details and the light, here is the final result...

Unity, Oil on Canvas, 30x24, 2009

Lastly, the title "Unity" was inspired by my recent reading of an essay on Buddhism by Ryotaro Shiba which discussed the history of different sects of Buddhism. From reading this, I got the impression (after all Buddhism is impossible to explain) of people uniting with nature=the universe= emptiness= nirvana... Without getting too complicated, this was on my mind while I was painting.

Open Studio and Sale

Ever since we turned the clocks forward, it feels like Spring has really arrived. The evening light is brighter and even though the temperature still goes below zero, it seems warmer because of the light and it gives me more energy to work.

I have made myself into a painting machine over the last couple of months. Consequently my rather small studio is overflowing and it is time to clear it out. This weekend I will host an open studio sale. This is a major sale for me - 48 paintings discounted between 20%-75% off. Translated into figures it looks something like this: a 36x60" painting that was originally priced at $3000 is now $750, there are 12 paintings that are also 75% off.

Please visit my website for futher details.

I hope to see you there.

Sale Date and Location
March 27 (Fri) 6-9pm

March 28 (Sat) 2-6pm

March 29 (Sun) 2-5pm

Shinya Kumazawa Studio

146 30th st., Suite 240,

Etobicoke, ON

416-302-1757

Up North

My family visited our close friends in their cottage near Parry Sound.
It was less than three hours drive north of Toronto, and the place was still covered by snow.
The cottage faces a lake, which was still completely frozen. It has been quite a while since the last time we left the city and visited the country side. We skated, hiked through the forests, heard owls hooting in distance and followed deer trails.

It was perfect because I want to paint a few more snow scenes and I took a lot of photographs that I will share soon. I want to play with the images of light, the sun and the shade. I wanted to start painting the moment we returned.

Entwined

" Entwined"(2009) Oil on Canvas, 36x24"

I am still experimenting with the combination of pink and orange. To match the orange with pink, in this case Alizarin Crimson, I thought I should make orange with Crimson. Result? The orange was dull.
So I highlighted the dull orange with a little bit of brighter orange using Cadmium Red.

An orange maple tree behind a pine tree was one of my favorite themes from 2004. By making sky almost white and the pine almost black, I think I managed to settle this rainbow-coloured painting .

Resolution

I have been trying to paint 10 paintings a month.

It doesn't matter how big or small, I decided to paint 10 paintings.

This is the third month, and the picture is what is happening at my small studio.

What is good about setting up the number of paintings each month is that I try to finish up 10 paintings (even though I often touch up "finished" paintings from the last month.) That will end up with less unfinished paintings.

Well, it is still March, let's see if I have 120 paintings up on my website by the end of the year...

Portrait of Crab Apple

This is basically continuation of Sap Green, Magenta and Indigo series.
The image is a branch of a crab apple tree but it became a still-life by putting gray background.
I love the way green mixed with magenta and magenta mixed with indigo. I feel like I am playing in the mud. I think it would be perfect if I put a blackish ornate frame...

"Portrait of Crab Apple", Oil on Canvas, 30x24", 2009

Colour Inspiration II

I found this image on a Japanese magazine. Immediately I saw it as a combination of Sap Green, "Q" Magenta and Indigo. I pulled out the old photograph of snowy High Park and applied it.

Here is the completed painting "Approach". The coloration is rather spring than winter but I love to have white in that combination.

"Approach", Oil on Canvas, 36x24", 2009

Colour Inspiration

"Sumach in Tibetan Wind"
Oil on Canvas, 36x36"

I have been working on "Sumach in Tibetan Wind" for the last 4 weeks.
The inspiration of the colours for the painting comes from paintings of James Gasowski that I found online. (http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/James+Gasowski/21301.html)
I rarely use blueish green against yellow but it was a challenge to use it effectively.
Here is a sample of Mr. Gasowski's paintings. I was drawn to this painting for its balanced use of golden tone yellow.

James Gasowski "From the Garden 2"

Riders on the Storm

It was 1990, when I flew to the US for the first time to study.

I spent a long dreadful rainy winter in the dormitory of the small college in Lacey, Washington.

One spring day my friend asked me to go see a movie called "The Doors".

Next summer, I spent time in LA and then moved to Tucson, Arizona to start the University.

Yellow Autumn

Last fall, High Park was more yellow compare to the fall 2007,which was rather reddish.
One of the things I wanted to paint was an umbrella of yellow leaves.
Sunshine comes through and creates this warm, yellow atomosphere.

This oil painting is 48x36" and available from www.skartist.com.

To be or not to be...

I am working on 5 cat paintings at the moment.

This cat is/wants to be the coolest cat ever.

He is/wants to be/tries to be a hero.

Here he is talking to Yorik the cat jester.

Yes, he is Hamlet today.

Process of Snow Scene

Here is a sample showing my process of painting.

Over the last two years, I rarely painted any snow scenes.

I really don't know why I didn't. Maybe the colours I was using at the time were not meant for snow scenes.

Or may be I didn't feel like painting in all white.

The few snow scenes I painted last year I

wanted to express the landscape in silver, or silvery gray.

However, they didn't really get me going.

I guess monotone wasn't my thing.

This year I focused on the light.

"Light" and "space" are the two things I painted.

I think I can continue with this series.

The painting is 30x36" and will be available shortly.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I have been working on some snow scenes this year.

Here is the image of High Park Zoo, almost complete.