Miyuki Tanobe’s work reflects a freedom of action. She paints principally on rigid supports such as wood or
masonite sheets. Her panels are filled with scenes that she has observed like children playing
ice hockey. Her modern primitive works depict everyday life in the working-class neighborhoods of Montreal with humour and great sensitivity. She transforms "humble and unavoidable reality" by reformulating it, adding or deleting elements depending on her assessment of their contribution to the scene. A painting by Miyuki Tanobe goes to the heart of the matter: the artist is interested in opening the viewers' eyes so that they may better see the familiar and adjust their perceptions of what they think they know. In 1980 Tanobe illustrates the song "Gens de mon pays" by
Gilles Vigneault and in 1983 she creates pictures for
The Tin Flute by
Gabrielle Roy. The colours in Miyuki’s paintings are rich and full of contrast. Working with superimposed layers and applying
pigments with her pliable, flexible Japanese brush, Miyuki Tanobe succeeds in revealing unexpected aspects of the objects and people she depicts without making them difficult to read. She paints in
Nihonga. She is a member of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 2012 a mural was painted for Tanobe in
Verdun. ==Collections==