Painting the kind of life he would like to live instead of the hard one he actually has, artist Andrew Boerger creates an appealing, serene world on canvas that has art buyers snapping up his work.

Boerger, whose fourth show in Tokyo runs until May 31, expects to sell most of his paintings. He sold more than 70 percent of the works in his last show, fetching 100,000 yen or more each. His paintings are also on display at Brendan's Pizzakaya in Nishi-Azabu.

His images are full of warm colors -- reds, oranges and yellows. The scenes suggest Morocco or cities in Spain during summer. There's not a hint of the tragedies Boerger, 38, has suffered in his life: his father's suicide, a difficult childhood and the loss of his home to a forest fire.