My toile ceramics are now available to buy online! You can purchase them from faux in Hong Kong here, and they can deliver internationally. You can buy both the HK toile collection...
and the London toile collection...
Happy shopping!
london
London wedding
My brother-in-law got married this weekend in London, and it was a beautiful day.
I sketched as much as I could, and loved seeing how my designs were used on the day.
For Luke & Amy's wedding stationery, I started with an illustration of the happy couple on a London bus, with pink flowers in the background, which was used for the Save the Dates. I started them off in casual clothes, and added a simple hand-drawn pink border around the card.
I developed this motif and drew a more detailed background for the formal invitation, including important places from their life together and secret elements from the wedding reception, like the ice-cream cart, the bowling pin and neon arrow, to hint at what would be in store on the day. I also put them in more traditional wedding attire.
For the welcome reception, before the wedding, I created a simpler version of the illustration, with a celebratory bottle of champagne...
....and then for all of the other stationery, another version with just a few of the details from the full invitation illustration.
It was used on the menu
for the wedding lunch, which was delicious, and the table where I sat was full of interesting and beautiful people to draw.
There was dancing and cocktails...
and an awesome sweet bar: check out the sweet bags! 
I hadn't seen this, but the bride was given a special dressing gown with the illustration embroidered onto the back. Isn't it amazing!
I also made a square-bordered version of the illustration (with an added heart detail) to have printed onto a pillow for the bride and groom as a gift.
I have more drawings of the day, but this is my favourite of the bride, my new sister-in-law. Welcome to the family!
London week two
This week I spent some time with friends in lovely places, and managed to do a little sketching too: here's a watercolour of a quiet garden inside Regent's Park.
I also did a little drawing while I was having a tasty afternoon tea with scones at the Mock Turtle cafe in Brighton,
and here's an atmospheric shot of my sketchbook in the window of Kew Palace, the summer home of King George III, inside Kew Gardens, one of my very favourite places in London. 
I'm loving being here, seeing all the familiar places with new eyes and sketching every day...
London
I'm in the UK for a while, and working hard, while trying to fit in some visits and exhibitions when I can. Here's a sketch I did today watching my niece and her dance group in the little town of Horsham. It was adorable, and sort of like going back in time.
Whenever there's a chance, I stroll in the garden, and soak up the green-ness of the Spring. I could sketch plants and flowers forever...
I've been inspired by some amazing exhibitions, sketching and making notes as I go. This one was at the London Original Print Fair at the Royal Academy. I love trying to work out how different prints were made, and what techniques were used...
I especially loved the Josef Frank exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum. So many incredible patterns and designs!
I was incredibly moved by the Howard Hodgkin exhibition Absent Friends at the National Portrait Museum. I've always loved his work, but this show made me see the paintings in a different way...
So much to do while I'm here. More London sketches next week!
HOBBS High Street Kensington part 2
The new HOBBS store in High Street Kensington, London is open! And lots of my specially commissioned illustrations are framed and decorating the walls...
I was asked to create illustrations for the stores, in a variety of styles, that reflected their values of quality and British heritage.
I also made a special map of the surrounding area showing the wonderful buildings and streets you can explore near the new store.
I highlighted some of the HOBBS iconic fashion items...
... and added in elements like local British flowers and animals.
Foxgloves and sweetpeas, foxes and a stag...
... and of course a countryside feature, the pheasant!
I also did some hand-lettered quotes, some etchings, and included some pages from my sketchbooks.
I hope you'll be able to visit and let me know what you think. Happy shopping!
Thanks to Nick Jesse for the store photos.
HOBBS High Street Kensington
I recently did some artwork for HOBBS fashion stores in London. I produced over 20 illustrations for use inside their stores, and also one very special one for the promotion of their newest store in High Street Kensington, inside the iconic Barkers building. Here's the promo they made for instagram: [video width="640" height="640" m4v="http://www.marikojesse.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_2885.m4v"][/video]
The illustration also went out on invites for VIPS and local customers...
...and I heard that a good time was had by all. Next post will have photos of the store!
London flowers
I'm in London for an early Spring, and enjoying the flowers in the changeable weather. I've been experimenting with mixing watercolour and pen and ink, and drew some peonies for my mum.
I visited Petersham Nurseries with my parents and had a lovely lunch, and I wished I could take every single flowering plant home with me...
London
This week I'm in London, admiring the lights, and loving the Chrismassy-ness of it all. Along with two of my monsters colleagues, Lynn Hatzius and David Humphries, we had a stand at the House of Illustration annual Illustrator's Christmas Fair, held in King's Cross.
We sold prints and cards, and I even had some of my London Toile products.
I've been admiring the wonderful Christmas windows around town, and my favourites are the glorious Fortnum and Masons...
and of course Tiffanys.
And the best thing about London is the choice of exhibitions, and these constructed trees by Ai Wei Wei at the Royal Academy were stunning.
Can't wait for more London inspiration this week!
Kew Gardens
A lovely visit to Kew in London this week, with sunshiny picnicking on the lawns...
The geese were very tame (or maybe just hungry), but with lovely shiny feathers!
I absolutely adore the Palm House, with its Victorian architecture and glorious hothouse splendour. The wrought-iron staircase is rustily beautiful.
Victoria and Albert museum
in craft, drawings, exhibitions, London, sketchbooks
I visited the Victoria and Albert museum this week, and pottered about the ceramics galleries thinking of ideas and doing little sketches.
If I could only go to one museum in London per visit, it would definately be this one. My head is filled with teapots, birds and butterflies...
London toile dinner plates
I'm in London, and I've just received some samples of my London toile dinner plates. They're super cute!
They're made from fine bone china, blue on white, in a set of 6, and each plate has a different London icon in the centre.
I have to say that I have a soft spot for the corgi...
They're available to buy online and instore from faux and tree, in HK.
show continues this weekend...
Thank you to everyone who braved the cold to make it to our private view last night! 
Helene Turbe makes delicate jewellery, Aude Van Ryn makes decorative ceramics, I have etchings and woodblock prints on show, and Romilly Graham has bold colourful ceramics.
The show continues this weekend, 11am-5pm both saturday and sunday. We'd love to see you!
private view tonight!
My show with Aude Van Ryn opens tonight, 6-9pm. It's in a private gallery in Kentish Town, London. Please e-mail me for the exact address. It would be great to see you!
I'm showing a variety of of etchings and woodblock prints...
Here's a photo of our show in the summer. Small, but delightful!
Winter Show
A little advance notice of an exhibition I'm having with my friend Aude, who makes beautiful ceramics. I'll have lots of framed prints, perfect for gifts, and we've got two guest exhibitors this year. The show will be in Kentish Town, London, in a private gallery, so please e-mail me for exact directions.
Olympic extras
in drawings, sketchbooks, sport
I went to see the men's indoor volleyball semi-finals last week, at Earl's Court. I had no idea what it would be like, but I really enjoyed the fast-paced game, and cheered for Bulgaria (I liked their outfits), although they eventually lost to Russia, the eventual gold medallists.
Olympics week two
in drawings, painting, sketchbooks, sport
It's the second week of the Olympics. It's still sunny, it's still fun, and I finally made it to the Olympic Park!
We managed to get some last minute athletics tickets, and couldn't believe that our seats in the main stadium were right next to the gorgeous Olympic cauldron. It was designed by Thomas Heatherwick (I love his work!), and it's truly beautiful...
Here's my little watercolour sketch of it...
Don Giovanni
This weekend I went to see Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House in London. It was beautiful, romantic, and also rather frightening. And melodramatic, of course, but that's what opera is for.
I adored Donna Anna, (I liked her voice the best) who was buxom, amazingly pale and wore a gorgeous deep black velvet flowing gown. Such great style!
monsters illustration show
As you may know, I'm part of an illustration collective in London called monsters and we sometimes get together and do projects as a group. We've got a show launching on sunday at a cycling-themed cafe/bar in Old Street.
Everyone (except me, unfortunately I'm still away) will be attending the private view, so if you fancy meeting us, please join us on thursday evening. Otherwise, pop in any time to have a look at the wonderful work!
Here's a sneak preview of one of my new pieces done especially.
It's a digital archival print, in an edition of 10.
Hope you enjoy the show!