Watercolors are the doors to all of Yuko’s possibilities, felines, fowls and fruit are constant themes in her paintings. She chooses to paint things she knows and enjoys. For Yuko, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when her paintings enhance the lives of those who view them.
Having graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan with a Law degree Yuko was not looking forward to becoming a lawyer. She came to California after marrying an American man and found out that anybody can enroll in a community college. She decided to study fine art at American River College. There she met the well-known artist and teacher, Gary Pruner. From him Yuko learned the importance of color and how it affects all paintings. She was chosen the best student in art by the faculty of ARC the year she graduated. Yuko then transferred to California State University in Sacramento and earned a Bachelor of Art degree. She gave birth to a baby girl the month after finishing her course work at CSUS. Yuko decided to become a full time mother until her daughter got to high school but she never forgot about her painting.
Recently, Yuko discovered “Sumi” ink to paint her objects. Sometimes she uses black ink only and other times she uses black with just a little color. Sumi-e painting is a very spontaneous art form. The ink flows quickly into the paper and becomes permanent. You can’t lift it, move it around, or completely cover it. Every stroke shows. There is no correcting or erasing. Yuko likes Sumi-e painting because it gives her an art form of great freedom.
Yuko entered many art competitions and won many awards. Placer County Fair in California (3rd), Brevard Art Museum in Florida, Annual Competition (2nd), Art of California, Discovery Art Show (Bronze Award), On the Wing (nominated Kinsley Art Club’s “Shinning Star”), Roseville Art Center, in Roseville California (Honorable mention), Cocoa Beach Art Show (3rd) in Florida, KVIE Art Auction (Honorable mention), 20th Gallery “What’s Cooking” Show in Sacramento, California (Honorable mention).
Yuko annually donates art to the Sacramento SPCA’s Fund Raising Gala and is an honored exhibitor for the Crocker Christmas show and sale since 1999.
Yuko’s artwork has been exhibited in nearly 65 shows throughout northern California, Nevada, Florida and Japan. Shirane Togen Museum (’91) and Fuefuki River Fruits Park (’03) invited her to have one woman shows in Japan. Pence Gallery in Davis (‘05) Yuko was a member of the Artist Collaborative Gallery in Old Sacramento since 1996. She has a studio/galley on El Camino Ave. in Carmichael, California.
