I painted this commission many weeks ago but haven’t been able to post it until now, because it was a surprise birthday gift. A good friend came to visit me in Japan last year, and for her birthday her mom asked me to paint a memory of her Japan trip. The background in this painting is Tojimbo, one of my favorite places here (you can see those same cliffs in a number of my paintings, including the Umibozu). The sky and water patterns are borrowed from Hokusai’s Great Wave over Kanagawa, one of the most famous Japanese images. The painting is acrylic on Japanese washi paper board.

My wife and I will be going back to Takefu, to her parents’ house, for a traditional Japanese New Year’s. I spent New Year’s there back before we were dating and had a great time, so I’m looking forward to it again very much this year. And we’re expecting to have a huge snowstorm that night too, which will be fun.

Expect lots of new things here in January! Going back to the A-Yokai-A-Day theme, I’ll be working on another series of paintings of Japanese kami, or gods. I won’t be doing one a day — I have a lot of things to juggle right now, so I can’t devote 100% of my time to a single project — but I’m aiming for 4 to 5 per week. These will also be painted in acrylics and gouache on shikishi like the yokai, and will also be available for purchase as originals or prints. So please check back here soon after the new year rolls in! And have a safe and fun New Year’s holiday!

これは私の友達（エンジェル）のお母さんから注文があって、彼女の誕生日のプレゼントのために描いた絵です。

エンジェルは去年日本に私を訪ねて来てくれて、私と妻とエンジェルとで色々な観光地をめぐりました。この絵は福井の観光名所（東尋坊）での一場面です。私たちは東尋坊の美しさに心を打たれました。

北斎の「神奈川沖浪裏」から影響を受けて空と海を描いています。