Megumi Kibi, of Quincy, wins Ledger's Christmas art contest

QUINCY ‒ For most of the year, Megumi Kibi travels around Boston with her sketch pad, capturing the cityscape with fellow members of the international artists' group Urban Sketchers. But when her husband told her about The Patriot Ledger's call for submissions to its annual Christmas art contest, she set her imagination on the holiday season.

Megumi, who's Japanese, said the beauty of the Christmas season in Massachusetts inspired her.

"The sparkling lights, the many happy faces and lots of gifts," she said. "I wanted to share the beautiful life in the U.S.A."

'More than a toy drive':Quincy Y's assistance program makes merry for many needy children

See more art:Patriot Ledger readers say happy holidays with their art

That inspiration resulted in several works filled with Christmas magic, especially as experienced by children (though The Patriot Ledger told her she could only submit one for the contest). The winning entry, which she created on the iPad Create app, shows a young family at a Christmas tree farm. The parents take pictures of their child at the wheel of a red toy car, a small tree tied to its roof. Bright lights and wreaths with festive bows hang in the background.

"I saw (the scene) in front of Quincy City Hall in the snow," Megumi said. "I thought that was very, very cute. So I made the art. I didn’t want to specify which location because (The Patriot Ledger is a) broad area newspaper, so I made it a tree farm instead of Quincy Center."

Another of her pieces shows three children playing in a wintry landscape. They have just made a pair of snowmen, and one writes a greeting to Santa Claus in the snow with her shovel. We view the scene from above, as if from Santa's sleigh.

In 2011, Megumi came to the United States from Japan as a medical researcher. It was meant to be a one-year exchange program, but she married an American and has lived here ever since. Art helped her manage the transition.

"It was difficult to express myself and my feelings here in a verbal way," Megumi said. "Instead, I started drawing. It's my meditation ‒ a way to calm myself down."

Humor, action, charm: 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' is the cat's meow

Megumi creates in a variety of art forms, including watercolor pens, ink, paint, digital art and mixed media. She has exhibited her work at the Somerville Public Library and the Boston Neighborhood Network Art Gallery. In 2017 and 2018, she won honorable mention at the Quincy ArtsFest.

"My art skills developed from Urban Sketchers," Megumi said, referring to the artists' organization with local chapters all over the world. Her group gathers weekly for two hours in different Boston neighborhoods and museums to work and share with each other.

"I went to museums a lot," she said. At the Museum of Fine Arts, for example, Megumi would carefully observe drawings and mixed-media works, and then try the techniques herself.

"I learn from people and museums," she said.

Megumi also has two blogs, one in English and one in Japanese, where she posts drawings and comic strips about her daily life as a Japanese wife and mother raising two sons, ages 7 and 8, in America. Both boys attend elementary school in Quincy for half the year and a school in Japan for the other half.

"I'm a housewife," Megumi said. "I don’t always have the place to show what I draw or paint. So this a great opportunity for me."

To see more of Megumi's work, follow her on Instagram @megumithegift.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Megumi Kibi of Quincy wins Ledger's annual Christmas art contest