new york
I've just come home from a wonderful visit in New York and Washington DC. I love NY, and it felt wonderful to meet friends and wander in all my special spots...
I showed my portfolio, ate fun dinners, and saw some inspiring exhibitions in both cities.
I was super excited to see the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, the White House, the Museum of American History and the Capitol.
I was especially moved by the Jefferson memorial, as he's my favourite US President of all!
I did some chalk drawing backdrops a few months ago for Dr Oz The Good Life Magazine in New York, and I just got a printed copy, yay!
I love this one with the frosty blue colour and wintery trees. Here's a detail of the actual backdrop, where you can see the chalky lines.
And here's a sequence showing my progress as I was drawing.
For the home interior, I started with a more elaborate staircase, but developed my sketches to create a simpler scene. 
I even drew a simplified version of one of my own prints in the background ...
It was a real pleasure to be there on the day of the shoot, here's a little scene of me sketching the set-up.
Let's all walk more this year and get healthy, whatever the background...
My NY Tiffany mugs have been included on the Top 5 High Fashion Designer Coffee Mugs list on luxury lifestyle blog Affluence Avenue. Thanks guys!
My Fifth Avenue Tiffany designs have been made into special little versions in Japan, with angled sides. Little and cute works well there! 
They're available exclusively in Japan, either in store or online.
I've just been to Sparkhouse, in South Orange, New Jersey, to add another little character to the growing collection on the walls of my friend's toy store. It's always nice to do a little favour...
I'm now trying to think of a name for the mini supercute robot...
My sketchbook for the Art House Co-op 2012 tour ('Forks and Spoons, and what we think about them') has been scanned and is now available to view online in their digital library. Just register, and feel free to browse. There are some amazing books in there...
I went to visit the art department of the Wall Street Journal in New York, and got a copy of the 'Off Duty' section of the paper that I did a fashion cover for in December. I'm so happy with it! It features catwalk photographs of models, in an illustrated party setting.
So, my good friend Ping got married this May, and I designed his wedding invitations, and also created a special map for him of Central Park in NY (where he made his romantic proposal). The style brief for the invitation was a vintage, country feel, with a quirky, hand-made aesthetic; light-bulbs hanging from wooden rafters and flowers in jam jars, that sort of thing.
I created a simple, hand-lettered invitation, in two slightly retro colours, with a few illustrative details. Inside, the card was also hand-lettered.
The card design was used as a detail throughout the wedding, with cards on the tables as menus, place settings and memory cards, where everyone could write notes for the bridal couple and hang them up on a washing line...
The map I created for them was a narrative of where they walked that day, where Ping hesitated, where they got lost, and where he finally proposed.
It was used as an animated feature in a mini-movie of the wedding, and also as a back-drop for the stage at the reception:
What a lovely wedding...
*the photographs were taken by Tec Petaja
Hello again, here are a few items of Mariko news from NY... I went to see my ceramic products on display in Tiffanys on Fifth Avenue. Hurrah! They’d sold out of the mugs, which was great to hear.
I painted another mural (an alien this time) for Sparkhouse Kids toystore in South Orange.
They're using the ‘Sparky’ character I designed as the store mascot and logo now too. You can even get mini stick-on tattoos with him on!
I went to Pennsylvania to visit some friends in the countryside,
...went to a cool gig of a guy called Stephan Said, who had all sorts of interesting-looking people accompanying him,
and finally, enjoyed wandering in the Union Square farmer's market, looking at pies. A wonderful end to a wonderful trip.
