Looking back at 2003 in 2025 and The Seeking Peace Paintings.
It was 2003. I had forgotten that I had brought home large rolls of unsized hemp paper from assisting Makoto Fujimura in teaching Nihonga at The Glen Workshop at Saint John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. I was frustrated with how long it would take to be able to build the kind of depth I was seeking in large work only 2 years after discovering Nihonga in Kyoto - yearning for it to become as easy looking as the remarkable work I was seeing in museums and in Mako’s studio that he shared with Hiroshi Senju.
An artist friend suggested that I create small studies each morning to free up my mind and hand. I inadvertently chose this workshop paper and some magic appeared. Witnessing scant amounts of the ink and mineral pigment bleed with such depth was an unexpected surprise. This ritual became a daily practice and a series of over 600 small 4”x 6” paintings created between 2003 - 2006 evolved. They have been exhibited throughout the USA and Japan. I live with my favorites that I won’t let go. Here is a small sampling.
