I have recently returned from my trip in Japan and my exhibition at Gallery Sakura in Nagoaka. It was an amazing three day event with many visitors from the area, and others from further afield including Tokyo and Yokohama.
I was extremely fortunate to have such incredible help and encouragement from my Japanese family and friends, who helped to promote the exhibition and man the gallery throughout the long weekend. Two newspapers interviewed me about the show and the local TV news filmed an interview which was broadcast on the first evening. I sold 31 paintings and 5 textile hangings which was more than I could have imagined and it is still sinking in.
The gallery was a beautiful building, 100 years old, that used to be a traditional store for a kimono shop. Members of the same family who run the shop are now running the gallery and often display their collection of textiles.
This was my second exhibition and there are already plans to return to The Craole Gallery in Niigata for my next show in a couple of years.