Motoko Tachibana
Motoko Tachibana majored in Japanese painting (Nihonga) at Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan as one of two women in her major. After graduating in 1961, she transitioned from using natural mineral pigments and sumi ink to more Western style oil and acrylic paints. Despite this change in materials, she incorporated the same Nihonga techniques. Motoko actively participated in exhibitions in Tokyo before beginning a career as a middle school art teacher at age fifty-three. During those teaching years, she was popular among students with her unique method of cherishing individuality, and emphasizing detailed observations with her philosophy that there is no right or wrong in art.
Her childhood memories along with her life surrounded by the sacred grounds of Shinto shrines, nature, and inquisitive creativity form a foundation for her paintings. While her classmates announced that upon reaching 80 years old, they would no longer have exhibits, Motoko moved to the United States to be close to her daughters, and granddaughters who grew up in Rye, NH. She continues to immerse herself in painting each day, and was the featured artist at her university alumni art exhibition in New York City in September 2021. Her love of painting is her source of energy and sustenance.