August 19th 2007
Acrylic on unstreched Canvas

I met a nice lady at the Imperial Hotel who had parents living near this spot. When she found out that I was an artist she offered to have me stay there for a few days - so that I could paint some of the area/ Kamikouchi. Kamikouchi is a national park near the city of Matsushima, in Nagano. I took a train to Tokyo, got a highway bus to Matsumoto, then took a local train towards the alps. I really thought that that woman's parents lived a lot closer to Kamikouchi, but getting all the way there further involved getting an early morning ride from a neighbor, and a $30 bus ride towards the top of the mountains.
I had hoped to spend 2 days wandering through the woods, painting mountains and ponds - as is my custom, but this was at the end of one of the busiest holiday seasons, and most everywhere was very crowded. I did manage to find a few quiet spots, like this, but the crowds ...and later the rain, made me decide to get a head start on the long way back home.