Takao Tanabe is a Japanese Canadian who enjoys creating landscape paintings of places that make him feel at home. His works inspired me to create an artwork dedicated to my home country, Nigeria. I was born and raised in Nigeria until I was 10 years old and one of the things I enjoyed in Nigeria was going to Lagos to visit my extended family. I decided to show my love for Lagos by choosing two of my most memorable moments from my time there. One of these memories is driving along the bridges during family road trips. The bridge I used in my art piece is one of the most famous bridges in Lagos called Lekki Bridge. The beach scene in my artwork is inspired by another memory from my time in Lagos. Going to the beach was one of the things I loved to do there, so I selected a beautiful image of the beaches in Lagos and included it in my piece.

–Chinonso Obioha (Grade 11, Dr. Martin Leboldus Catholic High School, Regina, Saskatchewan)

One of the country’s most accomplished artists, Takao Tanabe (b.1926) is best known for creating large scale atmospheric paintings featuring some of the most iconic landscapes across Canada.