Cache Valley artist uses a Chinese style for her artwork introduced to Japan about 700 A.D.

North Logan artist Eiko Anderson uses a calligraphy technique( Shodo) introduced to Japan by the Chinese 1,600 years ago to write a Hiragana Kanji Character that means love.

NORTH LOGAN – Eiko Tonami Anderson is an artist that uses a unique Asian style of painting, called Sumi-e or Black Ink Painting. The North Logan resident is Japanese by birth and the art form is widely used in her native country, but the technique originally comes from China.

Eiko Anderson is a North Logan artist that specializes in a Japanese style that goes back centuries.

“It is sometimes called Chinese Brush Painting and its major influence is Zen Buddhism that goes back to the seventh century A.D.,” she said. “Sumi-e uses different strokes taught by masters of the craft with shades of black ink to express the essence of objects, flowers, birds or other animals and landscapes.”

The Zen Buddhism influence art form is the interplay of black and white, or existence, or emptiness. Artists observe nature close and reproduce the essence of the scene once they have left.

“Japanese Masters often refer to the technique of painting as employing the spirit, or Chi, of the scene and using brush stokes referred to as the Four Gentlemen,” she said. “The Four Gentleman are strokes used to paint Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, Plum (the first flower to bloom after winter) and the Orchid, the symbol of spring. Flowers, birds, people and landscapes can also be painted using Sumi-e.”

Eiko Anderson working in her North Logan studio paints using a technique that originated in China and was introduced to Japan about 700 A.D.

Color can also be introduced in some paintings using the same technique.

Anderson has hundreds of framed and matted paintings in her home. She switches out at galleries to keep her inventory fresh.

Last year I sold a lot of my work from galleries,” she said. “It was a good year.”

The other artform Anderson practices is Shodo, or calligraphy, a Japanese art form of Hiragana Kanji characters painted using strokes of black ink. The characters were introduced to Japan from China about 1,600 years ago.

Eiko Anderson paints a bamboo using a technique called Sumi-e at her studio in North Logan. Bamboo symbolizes Summer as well as endurance and flexibility in her native country of Japan.

The two Shodos most painted by Anderson are the Kanji characters for Dream and Love.

“They are beautiful characters,” she said.

“I came to Seattle from Osaka, Japan for a cultural exchange program,” she said. “After three months in Washington I wanted to go to Salt Lake City and see Temple Square on my way home because I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

While she was in Salt Lake City, she decided to try and find a job and stay a little longer even though she spoke no English.

“I found a job as a cook in a dormitory at University of Utah, even though I had never cooked before,” she said. “I have lived in the United States since then. My parents were furious when I didn’t go home.”

The mother of two married Otto Sherman Anderson and moved to Grace, Idaho where her husband built a Hamburger Drive-in and had some other businesses. That is where their children were born.

“My husband was quite a bit older than me and had a stroke. He was admitted to Sunshine Terrace,” she said. “We moved to Logan so we could be closer to him.”

After he passed, Anderson majored in Mathematics at Utah State University. Upon graduation she taught math at the university for 13 years. Then at Logan High for a stint before retiring. Along the way she was painting and selling her work.

Eiko Anderson has some of her work on display in the Artist Gallery located next to the Eccles Theatre at 43 Main Street.

“I went to China for three weeks and studied Sume-i from a Chinese master,” she said as she showed some of her artwork. “It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot.”

She has been back to Japan several times over the years to visit family and travel.

Anderson participated in Summerfest for years and was known to write patrons’ names in Kanji.

Her work is hanging in both the Logan Fine Art Gallery located at 60 W. 100 N. and the Logan Artist Gallery located at 43 Main Street next to the Eccles Theater.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.