Hi, my name is Mutsumi "Mitzi" Sato-Wiuff. I am the owner/artist/designer of Studio Miyabi Ballet Gift Shop (www.cafepress.com/studiomiyabi) and the original Studio Miyabi -- an Online Ballet Watercolor Art Space & More(studio-miyabi.com). As of 12/01/07, I have over 1,600 ballet/dance gifts and apparel at the store, all designed by me, using my original ballet paintings done in watercolor, colored pencil or both. I aim to produce artwork that appeal to a broader range of audience/dance fans, not just children. My paintings and drawings are not cartoonish or cutesy, but whimsically realistic with emphasis on accurate depiction of ballet technique.
Here's a small sample of my products at the store. www.cafepress.com/studiomiyabi
I was born in Tokyo, Japan and moved to US when I was 19, so I can read, write and speak both Japanese and English equally well. It does come in handy from time to time when I least expect it. I now teach private lessons and classes in conversational Japanese to American students in my area.
My parents never allowed me to take ballet when I kept asking them from when I was in kindergarten to when I was about 10. I knew it would be too late to start training at that point to ever hope for a professional career in dance, so I stopped asking when I was about 12. It was years later when a friend spoke the words that struck a chord in me -- "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." Somehow, these words made me realize that I no longer needed anyone's permission to seek what my heart had been desiring for all those years. Although I had a relatively late introduction to the world of dance (jazz at 17 and serious ballet at 28), I have been a part-time ballet and jazz instructor at The Institute of Dancing Arts since 1999. I still take regular technique classes in ballet and do public performances with the company associated with the studio.
I started drawing with crayons as soon as I was able as a very small child. I ruined walls, appliances and furniture with my unbridled creativity (the proof is still at my parents' house). I loved creating art and it came more naturally to me than anything else. I had won numerous awards for my watercolor works as well as some wood prints while still in elementary and middle school. However, my parents did not encourage me to pursue this path, and there was a long hiatus from painting from high school to after college. Then as an adult, I came across a colored pencil book by a Canadian artist Bernard Poulin which changed the course of my life. Inspired by the unlimited possibilities of humble colored pencil as a medium, I was back creating large works in colored pencil, and several years later, became one of the signature members of the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) and I had some of my works published. I was doing extremely tightly rendered and photographic art for fine art markets, juried exhibitions and other competitions for a while. It was years later when I finally combined my love for ballet/dance with my love of art. The result is the Studio Miyabi Ballet Art Gallery. Finally, I feel I have found my true self.
When I am not dancing or painting, I love to play my piano. Lately, I have been playing many pieces from the soundtrack of Final Fantasy X. Many selections from the soundtrack of the movie "The Piano" have been in my repertory since shortly after the movie came out. One of the most flattering comments was given to me when I was playing "Big My Secret" (by Michael Nyman) unknowingly in the company of a piano teacher and he asked "Do you teach?" (Imagine my surprise!) He was serious and offered me a teaching job at his studio, but I knew I could not consider myself a trained musician (even though I'd learned to read music and play the piano by the time I was in second grade). I am just happy that I can play at all for my own enjoyment and have music with me always.
"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." -- Siddhartha Gautama
"What I dream of is an art of balance and purity, of serenity devoid of troubling and depressing subject matter." -- Henri Matisse
All rights reserved by the artist (c)1993-2005. Do not use the images without the written permission of the artist. Thank you.
Please feel free to send messages or leave comments about my paintings. I appreciate your feedback very much.