Walking among these magnificent Japanese cedar, a pilgrim makes his way to the Takio shrine one of many Shinto forest shrines in Nikko, Japan. Passing under the Torri (gate), the pilgrim makes his way thru the sacred grove that is believed to shelter and protect this forest shrine. A central tenet of Shinto is reverence for nature, which is something that resonates with my beliefs. 

I love trees, which feature in many of my pieces, and I was struck by the beauty of this scene. 

Special thanks to Naoki Takada, for use of his photo as reference. Naoki is a mountain artist. Check out his beautiful work on Instagram at yamaclay. 

For a closer look, please check out my Featured Pieces page.

#Takio, #Nikko, #Japan, #Shinto, #acrylic, #landscapepainting 

Got out for a breath of fresh air (quite fresh). Have been watching this barn slowly being reclaimed by nature. Had to try to capture its sunset. I was privileged to have hundreds of Canada geese do a flyby. They wanted to land in the fields beyond. I’m sorry but I think my standing there scared them … guess I looked too much like a hunter.

#Canadageese, #nikon, #affinityphoto, #barn, #sunset, #ottawa