tea
Welcome to 2018. I'm looking forward to a year of discoveries: wonderful museums, inspiring cuisine, new friends, and a new home to explore. I'm moving to Tokyo this week, it's going to be fun! Here's a picture of the afternoon tea we prepared yesterday for our leaving party. 
Next blog, Japan!
I was thinking about my Tiffany & Co. mug the other day, and checked on instagram if anyone had posted any pictures of their mugs, and found some amazing images. I especially love this one...
Thank you amberallurecupcakes !
And here's a selection of some others, a big thanks to everyone who posted them. So glad you're enjoying your mugs...
I love instagram so much!
I'm going to have a solo show in San Francisco, yay! It's in the little gallery at the front of my printmaking workshop in Dogpatch. The reception is on saturday 6 February from 2-5pm, I'd love to see you there!
I'll be showing a selection of my ongoing playing card etching series, along with a new collection of mokuhanga woodcuts and etchings about tea.
The show runs from February 5th – 27th on Fridays and Saturdays noon – 5pm, and by appointment at other times.
There will be a presentation by Linda Marshall about handmade Japanese washi paper at 1pm, just before the reception, so please do come along to that if you're interested!
Graphic Arts Workshop: 2565 3rd St #305, San Francisco, CA 94107
A few weeks ago I went to a fascinating book talk at Omnivore books in San Francisco, about Darjeeling tea. Author Jeff Koehler spent time in the various tea gardens there and learnt about the tea, how it's picked and processed and made into 'the champagne of tea'.
You know I love tea, and everything about it, and now I can't wait to try Darjeeling again! You can check out his book here.
I've just spent a wonderful five days in Morocco with my best friend, relaxing and seeing the countryside. We arrived in Marrakech, and stayed in a beautiful riad to the NW of the Medina. It was calm and soothing, and even had a hammam.
We wandered around the souks, buying babouches and a rug, admiring the wonderful details of life in the bustling city.
We then went on a three day trip into the mountains, with Desert Majesty. They were super helpful, and our guide Said was very sweet. Here's a map showing where we went.
We drove up into the Atlas mountains and down into the valleys. Our first notable stop was at Ait Ben Haddou, a stunning UNESCO world heritage site. It was exciting to find that it has been used as a location for quite a few movies and TV shows, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.
We drove and drove, past huge vistas of mountains...
and into an endlessly blue, blue sky...
We explored an ancient Kasbah, and found an old display in one of the courtyards, like a lost moment in time...
We stayed the second night in a Berber tented camp, and rode camels into the sunset,
and in the evening, sat around a campfire listening to songs and drumming.
And then on again, into the dusty, red and pink landscape.
We drove through Rissani, where the Moroccan king's family comes from,
and back again to Marrakech, to get the Saharan sand out of our shoes...
All through the trip we were welcomed everywhere with hot, sweet Moroccan mint tea in beautiful little glasses, and invariably, a pretty silver teapot. Yum.
I did some work recently for a lovely little teashop in Winchcombe in the Cotswolds called Juri's. I did a hand lettered version of their original script font for their logo rebrand, and added a classic typeface for their house font. 
I created 4 watercolour and pen illustrations for their home-blend tea pack labels, basing the illustrations on the blue and white china they use, and the delicious cakes and jam that Juri makes. 
There's a dotted line at the bottom of each label, for Juri to write in the particular blend of tea in the pack by hand.
I also added one of the teacup illustrations to their shop information card. If you fancy a delicious cake and cup of tea, this is the perfect place...
I worked with my dad Nick Jesse on the layout and type for the project.
We just spent the day in the Cotswolds, and had the loveliest afternoon tea ever at Juri's Tearoom in the country town of Winchcombe. The crockery was a pretty blue... 
...and the view from the conservatory was delightful. But it's the cakes you need to try; honestly, the cheese cake was the best I've ever had, anywhere. So light and fluffy. The sandwiches were beautiful too. Everything is perfect, as it's traditional English, but with a slight hint of the Japanese, as Juri is from there.
I absolutely recommend this place if you're anywhere near...
So, my 'shop' is under construction and soon you'll be able to buy all sorts of lovely Mariko things direct from me. Hurrah! At the moment you can buy my teatins from Whittards, my books from all good booksellers internationally, and my ceramics from Tiffanys in New York.
My very own Mariko Shop will exclusively sell:
Limited edition signed glicee prints
And coming soon to the shop will be:
One special Christmas card per year, pre-orderable in sets of 10, with envelopes
Mariko tape (for all your packaging needs)
Limited edition book art, printed and bound by hand
My HK range of ceramics and textiles...
