Eiko Amano was born in Japan and came to the United States when she was eleven years old. Amano has studied with various ceramic artists throughout Southern California, including the renowned Paul Soldner at Scripps College and Phil Cornelius at Pasadena City College. Eiko has taught at various schools in Southern California, working with students ranging from kindergarten to adults. She has lectured at Occidental College, Scripps College and Glendale Community College. Amano's work is held in many personal and corporate collections, including those of George Takei, Tricia Toyota, Rockwell International, AT&T, and Atlantic Richfield Corporation. She has exhibited her work nationally, and locally her work has been showcased at Little Tokyo Clayworks, Los Angeles and Kimura Gallery, Palo Alto.
Amano is a well-known, highly respected artist whose dazzling ceramic artwork has been exhibited across the nation. A leading artist in raku-yaki, pottery used in Japan's centuries-old tea ceremony, Amano's innovative workshops are shaped by the unique blending of her experience as an artist with her background in analytical medical sciences. In sessions that draw on her knowledge of chemistry and physical structures to explain the transformation of inert material into a beautiful work of art, students learn to use clay as a tool for three-dimensional study and to explore spatial relationships. Using a structured approach, Amano develops students' motor skills, aesthetic awareness and creative vision as they create their own masterpieces in clay.