For the past three years, the painter Beau Bernstein has lived a quiet and contemplative life in Kyoto. That is not to say he hasn't been busy. When the native New Yorker closes his Kyoto studio in July and returns to Manhattan, he'll take back with him an impressive new series of oil paintings.

Contemplative may best describe the quality of Bernstein's new work. "It is the result of an almost total immersion in the traditional Japanese arts," says the painter. When not in school working as an assistant language teacher, Bernstein spent much of his time putting paint to canvas as he explored the traditional landscapes and architecture of Kyoto. And when not painting, he was studying the bamboo flute under the tutelage of shakuhachi master Yoshio Kurohashi.

Bernstein's Kyoto series reveals more than just a remarkable skill for representational painting. Each canvas took up to three months to complete and represents the artist's endeavor to clarify his insights into the emotive qualities of space, light and shadow. These insights he attributes in part to his experience with the traditional Japanese flute.