The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Brianna Wray

The Pears are one of Sawada's early works. It was painted with a watercolor technique that requires the building up of many layers of transparent paint without muddying the color. It was purchased by a woman who loved it so much that she called to say that every time she looked at it it looked different. Sawada remembers his friend, "she lived to be over 100, but after 80 she lost eyesight." She gave them back to the gallery so they could be appreciated again. Meitzler bought prized painting so Sawada has become a collector of his own work.