This is longer than 110 characters so.. ?

O.K. this is also pretty random, but, whatever, I'll ask for the hell of it. I took the PSATs a few months back and in it there was this excerpt from a biography about a female Asian artist. I don't remember her name (except that it sounded Japanese) or really what it was about. I think she had been drawing a picture of a flower, and she had a mentor.. Something strange like that. Anyway, does anyone know any famous Asian artists that sound like they could be the one I'm looking for?