JAPAN 2026 — Taking a Deep Breath and Finding My Way Back to Painting

 

JAPAN 2026 — Finding My Way Back to Painting

I have just completed all the drawings in the sketch pad I took with me to Japan, and somehow, finishing that last page feels rather more significant than I expected.

I hope you enjoy looking through it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Japan 2026 was my escape trip.

There were 17 of us in total, including our UK Tour Manager and local guide. I chose Japan quite deliberately. It was somewhere I had never been, and somewhere I knew I was unlikely ever to have visited before. Most importantly, it held no memories for me.

After losing David, I found myself struggling to find my way back to the things I had always loved. Chinese brush painting had been such an important part of my life, but I had simply lost my heart for it. I couldn't seem to find the enthusiasm, the concentration or, perhaps most of all, the confidence to pick up my brushes and paint.

I hoped that going somewhere completely new might give me some breathing space.

And perhaps, somewhere amongst the temples, gardens, galleries, colour and extraordinary beauty of Japan, I might find a little inspiration again.

Thankfully, I did.

Japan is filled with beautiful art, and I found myself looking at it differently. I wanted to absorb some of what I saw and bring it home with me, not to copy Japanese art, but to allow it to awaken something in my own Chinese brush painting.

It was a fast-paced 14-day tour, with only a few free afternoons and evenings, but I started drawing almost immediately. On the plane I found myself sketching little flowers on odd pieces of paper. It was something so small, but it felt important.

Then, after visiting a gallery on 24 July 2026, I began sketching and painting around the stamps I was collecting in my sketch pad.

And gradually, something changed.

I found myself wanting to paint.

By the time I came home, I was actually looking forward to getting my Chinese brushes out again.

For the first time in a long while, I felt that perhaps the artist in me wasn't gone after all. Perhaps she had simply been lost beneath everything else I had been trying to cope with.

Japan gave me the breathing space I needed, and, unexpectedly, it gave me a little of myself back too.

If the link below fails, check it out on my Facebook page. 

Don't forget to put the sound on.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2393501477722732

My Japanese stamps

One of the things I discovered in Japan was collecting stamps. And I have to admit, it became VERY, VERY addictive!

I didn't have a stamp book with me, so naturally, I used my art sketch pad instead. I decided I could paint around the stamps and turn them into part of my memories of the journey.

There are two types I collected.

Goshuin stamps are hand-written calligraphy and artwork created by an official at a shrine or temple. They are given to mark that you have visited and prayed at the shrine or temple.

Some temples wouldn't stamp directly into my sketch pad, so I bought a stamped page and added it to my collection.

Eki stamps are found at many places throughout Japan, often at entrances or information areas. You can find them at places such as train stations, castles, museums and service stations, and each one is usually unique to that location.

So my sketch pad became more than just a place for drawings. It became a little record of where I had been, what I had seen and, perhaps without realising it at the time, the beginning of my journey back to painting.

One final page

When I returned to the UK, I discovered I had one page left in my sketch pad.

I couldn't leave it blank.

I painted something inspired by a piece of artwork I had seen at the Art Museum in Kyoto. It isn't the sort of artwork you might normally associate with Chinese brush painting, but I loved it because of its colour and the feeling it gave me.

So I used it as inspiration for my final painting.

I'll put a photograph of the original artwork below

Perhaps this little sketch pad is more than a collection of drawings and stamps.

Perhaps it is proof that even when we think we have lost something we love, it can sometimes still be there, quietly waiting for us to find our way back to it.

I don't know yet where my painting will take me from here.

But I have picked up my brushes again.

And for now, that feels like a very hopeful place to start.

Love and Light

Dbee xx