The Misty Moon

1988, 40" x 30"
Omoide Collection

Deep in the night, the houses among the trees silently stand under the round, misty moon. Sasaki Nobutsuna wrote:

"The circle moon in the sky...

The houses sunk in silence

behind the doors."

I used to think that Dr. Sasaki was a very pompous scholar of Man'yoshu, a collection of poems of the 8th century. When I read this poem, however, I was delighted to note a relaxed quality reminiscent of a nursery song.

In "The Misty Moon," I wanted to paint a landscape to suggest the atmosphere that the poem describes.