In 1994, I visited Sydney Australia for the first time. I can remember the year because it was before the Great Hanshin Earthquake. I have a koala teddy bear which was a gift when I was born. So I had been wanting to see koalas.
I went to several sight seeing spots and when I was walking around the Rocks, I saw a gallery.
I went inside. What I saw was several paintings with bold composition and very attractive and cogent color deployment. I was strucked by them, because I had never seen such great art before. Then I decided to concentrate on painting as one of my life work.
It was Ken Done Gallery. Later I learned that Ken Done had several shows in Japan, and painted the covers of one of popular Japanese magazines, Hanako. Now my mom and younger brothers wear his sweaters and T-shirts.