Guardians

As our stay in Okinawa is coming to an end, these watercolour paintings aim to present our gratitude to this place which has hosted us for several years. This non-dominant hand art series shows some of the shisa we have seen in this lovely island.  This series arose from the Series under the same sky art series challenge proposed by Anne Livingston at the beginning of 2025.

沖縄７年滞在すぐ終わる予定だ。この滞在時間にありがたい為にこの書画には美しい島に見たシーサーをかいてみた。

 Shisa are mythical creatures of the Ryukyus that represent protection. They are usually made as pairs and placed at the entrance of houses and businesses but can be found at streets intersections and even announcing businesses. They are made of clay in multiple shapes and sizes and are often decorated with colorful glazing. 

These two paintings are from shisa protecting roads and intersections.
The blue ones are a pocket sized statue at a traffic light just two blocks from my house.
The red one is one of  series on the sidewalks of an area I frequently transit and
are tall enough to sit on them (but don't to it, they are not meant for that).

This style can be found protecting large businesses such as hotels.
These are quite massive,  toddler-sized, but probably baby rhino-weighted statues.

The following two pairs are examples of door-front statues aimed to protect houses.
These considerably smaller statues could fit in a backpack.

Then we have some smaller (but not less powerful), which are meant for inside the house.
The next two pairs are the ones that protect my house (お疲れ様です).
These shisa are in 1:1 scale to the toy shinto gate and plants in spice bottles.

We are also considering making a zine including these illustrations.
Feedback on the paintings (and whether to make the zine) is welcome.