Keiko Tanabe

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.

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