Shima Tamami (1937-1999)

Shima Tamami was born in 1937 in Hirosaki, Aomori prefecture. In 1958 she graduated at the the Women's College of Fine Arts in Tokyo. Her work was promoted in the West after she had received a travel grant from the College Women's Association of Japan in 1962 (The CWAJ is still very active stimulating young artists). Shima's designs are notable for their use of texture, and especially for her striking use of various woodgrain patterns within a single image. Her prints from the 1960s often feature rhythmic fanciful birds.