“Keiko Tanabe is an award-winning watercolor
artist. Her paintings have been juried
into many exhibitions across North America and in Asia and Europe. Her work has been purchased by private
collectors from all around the world. Keiko was born in Kyoto, Japan. As a child growing up in an art-loving
family, she always enjoyed drawing and painting and won many awards in
children's art contests. However, art
was not her chosen field of study later on.
She earned a B.A. in intercultural communication (International
Christian University,
Tokyo, Japan)
and an M.A. in international education (UCLA, California).
She then worked in international relations positions in a Japanese
government trade organization in Tokyo, at a
large law firm in San Francisco and at a private
consulting firm in San Diego. In the last 25 years, she has traveled
extensively, mainly in European countries, Asia and North
America. Through all these years, Keiko knew there was in her
heart the growing desire to someday become an artist. That, fueled by her love of travel and strong
interest in other cultures, eventually found its way out in 2003. After learning basic drawing and watercolor
painting skills at a local community school in San Diego,
she took on her first project as an artist together with her father, a renowned
scholar of French literature in Japan. Through the Azure Sea and Sky of Provence: A
Tribute to Her Joie de Vivre (Kosei Publishing, Osaka, Japan) was published in
August, 2003, authored by her father and illustrated by Keiko. From then on, she intensely taught herself to
be fluent in watercolor painting, just as one would do to master a foreign
language. Keiko embarked on a professional art career in 2005 and started
exhibiting publicly. She also discovered
the joy of plein-air painting in a workshop with Alvaro Castagnet in April that
year. Keiko was selected to be a
featured artist of ArtWalk 2008. In the
summer of 2009, she was chosen to participate in the 4ème Biennale de
l'Aquarelle in Brioude, France as the first exhibitor from the United States. Keiko lives in San Diego, California
with her son.”
(Image: Winter Morning, Hyogo, Japan
II by Keiko Tanabe)
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