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Ako is Japanese and was born in Osaka. After completing her university education in both Japan and America she moved to England. For 15 years she lived and worked in London, moved to West Sussex in 1990, then settled in Guildford.
Since she was eight years old, she started Japanese calligraphy which you do with brushes on rice paper. She became interested in Brush Painting when she moved to West Sussex from London after a high powered career in the City where she was a bonds and currency dealer for a Japanese bank. She found it easier to master Brush Painting, because the brushes are the same as Japanese calligraphy and the brush strokes used are very similar technique.
Ako continues to enjoy developing her artistic talent by using traditional techniques but at the same time by something new and different. Her subjects reflect nature’s flora and fauna, including flowers, birds and some wild life within a variety of natural contexts.
After her retirement from the City job, she has been a part time lecturer in the University of Surrey. She had her first solo exhibition in Guildford in 1996 and in London in 1998. She exhibits regularly in Guildford, Farnham, Woking, Horsham and Midhurst. She also has for several years participated in Art trail in Arundel.
– Ako Danes