To Japanese  

Atsuko Morioka’s Watercolour

Introduction

Sudden emergence of artistic talent in one's mid-sixties

By the Present Writer

My recent trip to Oumi* (May 2023) was planned to visit the Buddhist altar of my late wife's parents, and then to see around nearby shrines, temples and historical sites, but quite stunning was an extraordinary story that I heard from my brother-in-law and his wife whom I met for the first time in twelve years.

     *) Oumi (近江) is the an area that surrounds Lake Biwa (琵琶湖) in the middle of Japan's main island. The old country name that covers the present-day Shiga Prefecture is still of wide use.  

At the dinner table on the first night, they told me that the paintings of Atsuko, the wife were exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum last year and this year and  awarded both years from an art association, showing images on the smartphone, one of which depicting a heap of fish and another, the mouth of a fish. I asked, "I didn't know Atsuko was a painter. Has painting been your long-time hobby?” She answered, "No, I never painted after I did in my childhood in the art class in school. Several years ago, I just knocked the door of a painting class in town, when I felt like to paint paintings." At first glance, the paintings looked like oils because they were drawn with strong brush strokes, but they were watercolor, she said.

The painting class that Atsuko attends twice a month is the "Odagaki Art Class" led by Mr. Juro Odagaki, a member of the Japan Artists Association and executive member of the Koyokai (光陽会) Art Association. He, who must have perceived Atsuko's latent talent that had been hidden for 60-odd years since her birth encouraged the new apprentice. At the fifth year he urged her to exhibit her work entitled "Heap (群)" at The 70th Anniversary Koyo Art Association Exhibition (2022), which was then unanimously selected for “The Small Piece Division - New Comer Excellence Award". The following year, her work, “A Catch of Fish (釣果)” won “The Small Piece Division - Member Encouragement Award” at The 71st Exhibition of the same association. They say that the case a member receives awards consecutive years from the same association is exceptional.

The original paintings which I saw in the following day at the Morioka’s house were true to nature, looked quite dynamic and unique. The fish she painted were those which  her husband angled in Wakasa Bay** for hobby, they say. The husband admires Atsuko's concentration. She says she likes rainy days as she has no other work but to paint pictures, rather than sunny days when she has to spare some hours to tend their garden. At night, she does not paint because under artificial light the colour tone looks changed

     **) Wakasa Bay (若狭湾) is a bay located to the north of Lake Biwa.

The images of Atsuko’s two awarded works are shown in Figs.1 and 2 (All pictures have been taken by the present writer with Nikon Z6/ NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR). Fig. 3 is a snapshot taken at the 71st Koyo Art Association Exhibition Venue (Tokyo Ueno, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum).

Fig. 3 Junko Morioka at the venue of The 71st Koyo Art Association Exhibition, April 2, 2022, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Ueno.

"Paper balloons'' and "Heap'' on the upper and lower rows of the panel to the right of the figure, respectively, are Atsuko's works.