Powerful Paintings On Display At Tulsa PAC

Patience, Passion and Pride. They are all principles seen in the paintings of Mitchio Takayama. His powerful pieces are on display in the city his daughter now calls home.

"It's nice to see his paintings because it feels like he's alive," said Takayama's daughter Kay Tuel. 

His work lives on at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The Japanese artist journeyed to America just three days before Kay's wedding more than 50 years ago. They made America their permanent home after Mitchio's wife, Kay's mother was diagnosed with cancer. They gave her six weeks to live.  She battled on for 25 more years.

"My father was used to my mother being sick," said Tuel. "I don't think he thought this cancer thing was that serious. I don't think he really understood her condition until later on when she was almost dying. I suppose he was denying the reality."

Mitchio's final painting before his wife passed was a safflower. A memory for Kay that was as vivid as her father's paintings.

"I remember the last painting he had done," said Tuel. "I remember him signing it and giving it to her. It's one of my favorite paintings."

"I think my father's work really blossomed after he came to this country. I think he feels he's more of an American painter."

Color and Serenity: The Paintings by Michio Takayama is on display at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center through July 6.

By Kyle Dierking, Video Journalist.