Biography Nira Schwartz studied creative art at Haifa University - Israel. She moved with her family to Japan for four years because of her husband's work. There she met the famous artist Yoshitoshi Mori who invited her to his studio and demonstrated his fascinating printing technique that he developed out of Katazome - one of the Kimono printing techniques. She was accepted to study this traditional technique in a class sponsored by Mr. Keisuke Serizawa, who carried the honorific title "National Treasure of Japan". At that time Nira started to collect handmade Japanese paper. The discipline of Katazome, together with the unique paper collection that she owned, led to her developing a unique style of miniature collage. Miniatures by definition are fine art on a small scale with minute attention to detail, that can be enlarged or withstand close inspection without revealing its imperfections. This definition encouraged her to enlarge the miniatures, usually around 3X5 inches in size, into large size prints, 30X40cm, 50X70cm and more. Suddenly a whole hidden details were revealed and the unique texture of the paper used were shown. Her miniatures are drawn on Ivorine and colored with paper, no paint is used. Her prints are very high quality Giclee prints on Fine art paper or canvas, limited edition with Certificate of Authenticity. Nira is a regular participant in all major Miniature Art competitions around the world and has received numerous awards. She lives and works in Israel, member of: The Israeli Painters and Sculptors Association The Miniature Art Society of Florida - MASF The Miniatures Sculptors, Painters and Gravers Society of Washington - MSPGS. The Hilliard Society - England, HS. |