About the Artist Ronna Fujisawa

Painting is a connection to my natural environment and a discovery of what is real through the act of painting. Watercolor, oil, and mixed media painting is an understanding of myself and how I react to life. These truths are revealed by looking at reality and painting what I see through the abstraction of visual art.

I began watercolor painting in 2011 when I was living in Hawaii.  I find it very versitile.... allowing me to work outside in many locations.  I love painting in the plein air and letting my creativily flow surrounded by nature. I also like to paint at home from photographs that Ive taken when I can't make the journey into the wilderness.

When I first moved to Portland with my 5 year old daughter in 2015, birds became a common subject in my watercolor paintings. With this new passion for ornthology,I started teaching after school Bird Art classes to elementary students. The classes revolved around the fascination of local birds, identifying, learning about their habitats, and how to portray birds through painting. Bird Art slowly became popular and filled with eager to learn children. Going on 6 years of teaching Bird Art to children, it has become my passion to share my passion for art with children and inspire them to find confidence in themselves as artists. Bird Art has expanded to several public schools in Portland, as well as Bird Art workshops for adults in various locations.

In 2019 I received my MFA from Applied Craft and Design program at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC). My painting style dramatically changed in graduate school where finding my own voice as a woman, a mother and an artist became essential. Through abstraction based on the patterns of the knitted stitch, feminist values, transformation of materials, emotions, and how woman have changed from generation to generation, my thesis was an act of empowerment through my creative practice in painting and fibers.

Currently I am focusing my career on being a freelance painter in multi media and art education. I am also fascinated with natural pigments found in nature, such as indigo. I have begun to cultivate the natural blue pigment by growing indigo (persicaria tintoria) at my home in Forest Park. This project has led me to a new perspective in my creative practice where I can incorporate home grown indigo blue into my paintings.

With the sudden reality of the Corona Virus pandemic, it has led me to a more focused art practice at home and using natural resources that inspire study, experimentation, and creativity. I look forward to continuing an engaging art practice and finding ways to reach others with art education.

Please contact me for gallery representation or interest in offering my art educational classes for adults and children. Private or group art classes are available at your venue, school, or special event.

Peace on Earth,

Ronna Fujisawa

email: ronnafujisawa@me.com

instagram: @saltywaterart

phone: (503)-488-9229