Autumn in Fog

“651. Autumn in Fog” Oil painting by Mariko Irie

This scene is in Santa Rosa along my morning walk.

It stirred a vague nostalgia in me.

I feel that I have seen this scene long, long time ago in Japan or in my dream.

It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

I just watched the movie “Local color”, directed and written by George Gallo.

The movie recalls my High school and Art university period, which was Modernism in Japanese Art world.

“Modernism explicitly rejects the ideology of realism and makes use of the works of the past through the application of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody in new forms.”

In this movie the art dealer was talking about art: exactly what professors were teaching us when I was a student of Musashino Art University in Tokyo.

Modernism, especially Dadaism, Nonsense took over Japanese art world. I was sad like this impressionist painter in this movie. That was one of the reasons; I didn’t go to a painting major. My major was a space design. It was good for me. We had to study everything including painting, designing, sculpturing, lighting….. And freshman year we had to take drawing class all morning 6 days a week.

I moved to Mendocino CA in 1982.

I was inspired the beauty of nature. I told myself, “I can’t create better than nature does. I’d like to copy the beauty of nature through me.”

In ‘90s, I have red an article about Art in Japanese magazine: The artist said  “I’m happy to say that finally we can say “Beautiful” in art.”

It’s very strange to us now. But that was true.

I have been so happy that I can paint beauty since I moved to Mendocino. And people enjoy my works.

Thank you for supporting me painting.

Have a beautiful day.