Southern Watercolor Society
PURPOSE: To further the interests of painters in watercolor/watermedia and to encourage the study of this medium, Southern Watercolor Society offers a yearly workshop in conjunction with our annual juried exhibition. The locations rotate among our various member states and the District of Columbia.
2025 Workshop with Keiko Tanabe
Keiko Tanabe
June 4, 5, 6, 2025
Panama City Center for the Arts
Panama City, Florida
Class Registration opened Jan 25, 2025. If you would have questions, please email Don Taylor at dltaylor215@gmail.com
JUROR / WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR
Keiko Tanabe, AWS, NWS, SDWS-MA, AIS, LPAPA
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. For decades, 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.
Mostly self-taught, Keiko embarked on a professional art career in 2005 and started exhibiting publicly. In the same year she took a workshop from Alvaro Castagnet and discovered the joy of plein-air painting. Since that year her paintings have been juried into many exhibitions across Americas and in Asia and Europe. Her work has been purchased by private and corporate collectors from all around the world. She also had her paintings published in leading art magazines in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Additionally, her art has been enjoyed by many in nine self-published books as well as on four DVDs that have been produced to date. She's also a sought-after workshop instructor. . Keiko currently lives in San Diego, California.
The 3-day workshop is $399. The workshop will be held at the Panama City Center for the Arts, Wed. – Fri, June 4-6, 9 am to 4 pm. Registrants must be SW members in good standing or join at the same time.
If you have questions, contact Don Taylor, SW Exhibition and Workshop Coordinator, dltaylor215@gmail.com at 850-215- 9424.