Today we’d like to introduce you to Mugi Kinoshita.
Hi Mugi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since I was little, I experienced the power in art, and it was a healing to my soul. I always loved art, any kind of art. When I spent an hour making art, it seemed like five minutes. But I realized that art was not just fun, but it was becoming my mental support.
In Japan, we have an art mandatory class at school, and we have opportunities to make a wide range of art from a simple drawing to painting, and to sculpting. When School got hard and I began having stress, pressure, and depression, art class became the time when I could stop thinking about my struggles and devote all my efforts and emotions to just making art. Every time my art teacher announced a new project, my heart lifted. When I devoted myself to creating art, I was able to forget any worries, and my whole heart was filled with a sense of peace and joy.
I started dreaming of being an illustrator, who can create paintings that heal the viewer’s soul and help them recover from depression, anxieties, and stress from life.
But I never believed art could be my job. I remember my grandparents telling me to keep art as my hobby and look for promised, sustainable jobs.
But there is one person who makes anything possible, and It is God, our father. I cannot ignore the presence of God when I talk about my life as an artist.
I never thought I would go to College in the US, but God led me to Adventist high school in Japan where I found God, and eventually this brought me an opportunity to study art in Southern Adventist University. I thought I would study art therapy, which seemed like a safe job that was related to art: however, my first friend took me to the animation department, and without realizing it, I became an animation student (at that time, my English was not enough to understand what professors were saying. So, when I realized it, my whole schedule became for the character animation major student, and I did not have the courage to explain my situation. So, I let it happen). There, I learned how to tell a story in art. Although I was studying animation, and I liked it, I could not take out my passion for illustration. Outside the class, I kept creating illustration as my hobby, and when I became a senior, my illustration career started blooming.
December 2021 Southern Adventist University chose my design for a giant Christmas banner for the front buildings. I painted in a watercolor style that could create a sense of comfort and warmth, which was the perfect way to share the Joy of Jesus’s birth. Simplified and stylized designs are appealing to the eyes and created a sense of playful and happy feelings. From December 2022, they start using this banner that would be hung in the front buildings every year. Winter Semester of 2022, I held 10 days of prayer meetings at the lobby of the art department, and I witnessed God reaching out students and healing them from their souls. Many people came and shared how prayer helped them to recover from their spiritual and mental struggles. I couldn’t help but to share these blessings to others. I started painting daily watercolor illustrations that captured the moment when God healed us. Through this post on Instagram, graphic design studio, Types & Symbols found me and gave me an opportunity to create a monthly illustration for Adventist World magazine, the children section. My 10 days prayer testimony was written in an article on Southern Tiding with one of my watercolor illustrations, and people who saw this article started commissioning me to create watercolor illustrations for their projects.
But God did not stop there.
My illustration for Ukraine reached a Ukraine mother whose son is in danger. She set my art as her phone screen, and that has been a great encouragement for her to believe that God can save her and her son no matter where they are.
In the summer of 2022, I met Ariel at church who works at It is Written, and through her, I had a commission to create a 30x12ft banner illustration for their new bible study series.
The best way to share healing and peace is through God. Whenever I devoted Him, He gave me inspiration, skills, and ideas to create the art that could touch people.
Recently, I received an exciting art commission to do children’s book illustration, and possibly this may become a series. I couldn’t believe it when they said that they were excited to work with me. Becoming a children’s book illustrator had been my dream for a long time.
God is making my dream come true. The dream to be an illustrator, and the dream to create the illustrations to help others to be free from their struggles.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a challenging road to grow as a Christian artist who learns art in a different country. When I came to the U.S, I faced hardships to learn new things in English as my second language and networking was very hard for me without having any experience in self-promotion. I learned how to put myself out there by creating a website, going to conventions, and sending messages on SNS. But those things did not give me a quick solution to expand my connection. I would never be able to do it with my power, but when I started focusing on God in 10 days of prayer, He opened many doors for me to find many clients and meet great people who were excited to work with me. But compared to the other challenges, my biggest struggle would be keeping hope and trust in God that He has a mission for me and He will take care of my future. The Internet allows us to see art from all over the world and that can be a temptation to compare other great arts with my works. The beautiful pieces and great artists are great inspiration, but at the same time, they can point out my level and force me to see how much I need to improve to get there. Every time I struggle, the Bible helps me to trust in His “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Now I can see that all the struggles were needed to grow and develop as a Christian artist. Those experience will help me to believe that God will work through me to overcome any challenges in the future.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Award winning artist, Mugi Kinoshita, shares God’s love in her digital paintings and delivers soul healing arts. High skills in storytelling and capturing a sense of peace and hope. Worked for Southern Adventist University, it is Written, General Conference, Types and Symbols, and other ministries. Her works continue delivering healings in the world.
Born in 1998, Kyoto, Japan. Currently studying art in Southern Adventist University
Awards
Knock Knock (2020): Best Undergraduate Student Film (Windrider Institute/ 2021)、Best in Festival, Audience Choice, Best Animated Short(Sonscreen Film Festival/2021)
Southern Adventist University: Consistently Excellent In Foundations Courses (2019), Top Achiever Award (2021), Excellence in Art Direction (2021), Recognition of Spiritual Leadership (2022), Excellence in Concept Art (2022)
Contact Info:
- Website: mugikinoshita.com
- Instagram: _mugi.art.p_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kinoshitamugi/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
mugikinoshita/
