Keiko Tanabe - Blog: Nocturne

Plein Air in the Emerald Isle

9/2/2018 6:44:41 AM

I just returned from 10 days of intense painting and fun in Ireland, resulting from receiving the honor of being one of the invited guest artists in the 11th Art in the Open. This international plein air painting event was held in Wexford in Ireland's South-East region and has grown into the largest of its kind in Europe. Together with other guest artists and 200 participants from 14 countries, I painted city scenes, charming villages, castles, harbors, beaches, animals on a farm, and the typical Irish rural landscape, every day, from morning till night. I also taught 2 workshops. A variety [...]

Travel Down Under

9/13/2017 9:19:41 PM

My first trip to Oz (Australia) last month was heaps of fun and an awesome learning opportunity with a few doses of culture shock. I started my adventure in Sydney, met up with my artist friend who organized my first 2 workshops in Newcastle and Mittagong, spent a mini holiday with her in the spectacular and very windy Blue Mountains, taught another workshop in Brisbane, met up with other friends in the balmy Noosa, taught in Adelaide, took a little trip to Hahndorf, and taught in Fremantle a.k.a. Freo. At the beginning of my 5-week trip it felt like winter there [...]

London Calling - Making Art is Therapeutic -

11/25/2015 1:31:56 PM

After generations, London Calling (1979), a hit song by the UK punk rock band Clash, is still iconic of London. We still enjoy this song maybe without thinking too much of what the words really mean. I was a bit surprised to find out, however, when I read its lyrics because they actually portray a pretty gloomy state of their troubled times back then, and speak about their anxiety of the world going to pieces. When people stop and think about the words, it still sends us a message after decades. Perhaps that is what the songwriter intended. We often hear creative [...]

Hakodate, Hokkaido III, Japanese Landscape Painting

8/17/2013 10:37:31 AM

Old-fashioned street cars bring me back distant memories of my childhood. As a toddler, I remember always wanting to go out for a little walk with my beloved grandmother. To me, it meant feeding pigeons at a nearby temple and waving to street cars on the way there while my grandmother was watching me with a gentle smile. I can't remember well a lot of other things from those days but a few things such as street cars have had a special place in my heart. Whenever I hear the familiar sound of a street car, I think of those old, happy days [...]

Yokohama Chinatown II, Japanese Landscape Painting

6/17/2012 1:45:30 AM

When I was in Dallas, Texas last March, I had the pleasure and honor of giving a demonstration to members of the Southwestern Watercolor Society. Sitting in the front row of a room full of people, was a gracious old lady. She was watching me paint with a loving, supportive smile and I cannot tell you how much that helped me relax in front of a large audience! Later a mutual friend introduced me to her. Her name is Naomi Brotherton, a very well-known watercolor artist from the area, and she's still active throughout the South and Southwest. Learning that she was [...]