By Richard Brown

When thinking of Japan, Americans are likely to bring to mind modern images such as high-tech gadgets or the brilliant neon displays of Tokyo's Ginza district. Or, gardens, geishas and temples. Or, the iconic Mount Fuji. All are emblematic of Japan, but there is also a side that would be familiar to every Vermonter: bucolic fields and small rural villages. That Japan can be found in the work of Japanese watercolorist Masumi Nyui, whose drawings are on view in Poultney at the Green Mountain College Feick Art Center.

Nyui graduated from Green Mountain with a bachelor in fine arts degree in 2005, and she has returned to her alma mater for a solo show featuring scenes of her two homes: the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and Poultney.

Nyui works in pen and ink and watercolor wash. She carries her sketchbook everywhere, working on-site, as did artists in pre-photographic times, when souvenir images were captured by drawing. She says: "I prefer sketching and drawing from life because my eyes can see what I need to see to depict images on the spot (the details, colors, etc.), while photographs only show what the camera decided to capture." The result of her approach can be seen in her balance of tight and precise drawing with delicate flows of color.

Nyui is an accurate and meticulous draftswoman. The precision of her drawing is revealed in "Poplars," a small piece in which a tiny barn seen across a field is clear, down to the details of its doors. Her observational skills are evident "Bentley Avenue," a picture of a Poultney neighborhood that has been hung near a window at the art center. Look out the window next to the painting and there is the scene.

Clearly, Nyui spends considerable time on each piece, but they all have a snapshot-like immediacy. "Morning Walk" catches a couple strolling down an empty Poultney street – a slice of the day seen in passing.

A compelling aspect of this show is the universality of its images. "Morai," a town in Hokkaido nestled by a bay and overlooked by a hill with two wind generators, could be a Vermont town on Lake Champlain. But for the labels, "Poultney River" and "Tobetsu Field" are likewise without a sense of specific place. Some Poultney pictures can be placed by business signs or the tower of St. Raphael's Church peeking above the trees, but could otherwise be scenes from any village.

Many decry the homogenization of world society. But at a time when xenophobia is on the rise, it is good to be reminded that people, regardless of race, religion or nationality, build similar buildings, enjoy nature in the same way, till the earth for common fruits, and create art that reflects these commonalities.

Nyui's watercolors are on view at Green Mountain College in Poultney. The Feick Art Center is open Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call (800) 776-6675 or go online to www.GreenMtn.edu.



Richard Brown is a former gallery director and art historian.