Inner Sight
By GWEN MURANAKA
RAFU ENGLISH EDITOR
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008

Now blind, 95-year-old watercolorist Henry Fukuhara still finds inspiration to paint.

GWEN MURANAKA/Rafu Shimo
Henry Fukuhara works on a watercolor painting with
the assistance of Al Setton.

Shelley Pearson
An example of Fukuhara’s recent work. His topics include Manzanar and other places familiar to him, as well as landscapes he has never seen.

“The topics are from my past—like the ferris wheel—I’ve been there a number of times so I know what it’s like. I can draw the ferris wheel, or going to Manzanar, I can draw Manzanar,” said Henry Fukuhara.

At 95, the former Manzanar internee and member of the National Watercolor Society has faced hardships and always found a way to paint, becoming renowned for his vibrant interpretations of California landscapes. His annual workshop to Manzanar continues to draw artists to the historic area. Now despite blindness, he continues to paint with the help of a tight-knit group of friends and artists.

“He’s still the same Henry I’ve always known so I always feel like I’m giving back a little when I help him. He enjoys it and I enjoy seeing the outcome so it’s win, win, win,” said Al Setton.

A collection of some of Fukuhara’s most recent paintings are now on display at the APC Fine Arts & Graphic Gallery in Torrance. This Sunday a reception will be held for an exhibition of Fukuhara and his daughter’s work at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.

While the lines and bold colors are different from earlier paintings, they are still uniquely Fukuhara’s style. In a work titled, “Henry Fukuhara: Little Tokyo Fire Tower,” vertical swathes of red, green and dark blue capture the familiar J-town landmark. In a corner, the artist has written “Fukuhara 95 years.”

Setton explained that after Henry and his wife, Fuji, moved to a nursing home in Yorba Linda, there were two years when he didn’t paint and briefly fell ill. But his fellow artists came to visit and help him find his way back to his art.

“Gladys Checa (Reid), she’s Cuban so she’s very fiery and she went over one time and said, ‘You’re going to paint,’” said Setton. “From then on, he has found that he could, so we all love doing it.”

Other assistants, who are credited in the paintings, include Steve Nakamura, Helen Igoe, Lynn Mikami and Chiz de Queiroz. Fukuhara explained that he will discuss the color and topic with his helpers. He will do three paintings in a session, even exploring subjects he has never seen.

“I haven’t seen the arboretum, but there are three things over there: there is the fountain, the white house and a water tower. So Al will describe each one of those places and then I draw it,” Fukuhara said. “I ask does it have a good shape and then I can put color on. That’s what I do for places that I haven’t been.”

**A reception for The Fukuharas’ Helen & Henry Exhibition will be held this Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Gallery Wall, Forbes Hall, Unitarian Universality Community Church of Santa Monica, 1620 Eighteen St., Santa Monica; (310) 829-5436. Henry Fukuhara: Then and Now, continues until Jan. 31 at the APC Fine Arts & Graphics Gallery, 1621 Cabrillo Ave. in Torrance; (310) 328-0366.**