Cowpats

Recently I went to Kuju, a beautiful national park about an hour's drive from home.

I exhibit my work in a cafe around there and one of the customers, who had bought two paintings, was interested in seeing some paintings of Kuju.

A friend also called and suggested I go painting in Kuju because it is particularly beautiful this time of year with the changing color of the leaves.

So, I went. After all, landscapes are what I paint and this area is a landscape artist's dream.

Truth be told, I'm still not very familiar with this area, but there was one place I knew and liked a lot so that's where I went.

Upon arriving, I was a little disheartned to see some of the fields fenced off and barbwired.

I was determined, though, to find a good scene to paint and it just wasn't happening from the road. I had already walked through a muddy field and a hedge so climbing over a gate was a piece of cake. Besides, there were no danger or keep out signs this time.

It was a beautiful sunny day. In the distance was a seemingly endless series of mountain ridges. And then shooting way up into the sky was the faint blue volcano Aso – yes, an active volcano. I've looked down it, and the last time I was there it was smoking and cars were covered in a layer of ash. Aso is part of a caldera.

I was, however, enjoying this ethereal view while walking through a field full of cowpats. That should have told me something. But it was only when I was halfway across the field that I saw two bulls.

I stopped.

They were quite far away so I wasn't too worried but the cowpats being everywhere I looked meant they went everywhere. Some of the cowpats looked fairly fresh too.

I paint the countryside a lot but I'm not a countryside person so I have no clear idea of the danger of bulls. And I wasn't even sure if the bulls were fenced off, I couldn't see a fence, but the field was full of undulations that hid things.

So there was a bit of a wait and think at this point. It was funny because a few moments before I was even beginning to think of a place to sit down and eat lunch.

I saw that the other end of the field went steeply down and there were a lot of densely growing trees perhaps a place a bull wouldn't go.

So I carried on. I really wanted to find some beautiful scenes. When I got there, though, I decided that the other end of the field that I had started from was better and so I returned!

And when I returned to the other side, jumped over a deep, narrow brook again, I painted two pictures and with no bulls appearing. I did keep all my stuff together just in case I needed a quick evac. The fence was fairly nearby.

Then I went back to the safety of the road and did a walkabout. The scenery was wonderful. In front of me was a huge mountain, Taisen I think, which means big ship for some reason. You could see patches of autumn color upon it amongst the evergreen pines.

I painted a picture of a small brook. I was enchanted by the gleaming water and how the brook had cut a deep and jagged groove into the field.

Finally, it was time to go home. Walking back, I was about 30 meters from the car when I came across a beautiful evening scene. And so I did one more painting. My last and my favorite – the painting above.

It was cold and the paint didn't dry quickly as a result you can see that the bushes in the painting are soft edged, but I like that.

I put it carefully on the backseat of the car, it would take a while to dry, and drove home in the gathering darkness with a warm glow of achievement. The coffee and chocolate cake at a convenience store added to the warmth.

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