Olivia Inaba Waterman is a sumi-e, calligraphy painter who has studied with her teacher Keiko Von Holt for 21 years. Sumi-e is the art of black ink on rice paper where the brush work emphasizes subtle variations of color from light grey to dark black in one stroke. The negative spaces are equally important. The goal is to make a simplified image reflect the essence of the subject matter. The beauty of sumi-e and the long Asian art history attracted Olivia to this art form. For more than 45 years, she has painted in other medium such as watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil and dyes on silk fabric; but her main interest is sumi-e. Whether her painting is an abstract or realistic image, whimsy or social statement, it reveals an Asian influence.
Past exhibits of note were the National Juried Sumi-e Show in the Washington DC area and the American Watercolor Juried Shows in N.Y. with a traveling exhibit.