Assistant professor of art Nikishi Sugawara-Beda from Southern Methodist University (SMU) paid a visit to Pace this week, presenting to upper school visual art students and demonstrating painting techniques from Japan. She introduced the students to a medium called Sumi, ink made from the ashes of trees in groves closest to Nara and Suzuka.
Ms. Sugawara-Beda demonstrated its use and brush techniques by painting a Japanese character onto a piece of paper and then instructed the students to do the same. The students gained an in-depth understanding of the usefulness of different brush techniques and mediums, a subject that the professor has done research on in Japan.
Ms. Sugawara-Beda was born and raised in Japan, and exhibits her art nationally and internationally.