allotment

Here's a very sweet picture of my parents-in-law's vegetable allotment, with the sign I painted for them. Hurrah for an English summer!

my birthday!

It was my birthday this week, and I spent it in San Francisco. I went to the Asian Art Museum to see the Japanese art exhibition, and admired some lovely ceramics (this is a birthday peach from a Chinese plate),and some Japanese sculptures and painted screens.I walked through the civic centre and then on to the Hayes Valley to look at some pretty boutiques......and then in the evening we went to Sons & Daughters, a lovely little restaurant in Nob Hill. The service was delightful, the food exquisite. I drew each dish in the tasting menu as it came out...and took some photos of the colours and presentation. Yum in every way.

London toile

My London toile collection launched this week. There's a teaset with a perfectly pouring teapot...and I love these wider teacups and saucers, perfect for afternoon tea with a cucumber sandwich.The design is in blue, and made up of all my favourite London things: phone boxes, bobbies, corgies, fish & chips, teatime cakes, cabs, the Albert Hall, and more! I tried to include a few things that you might only get to know if you spent a little time there...There are also napkins and teatowels featuring the toile, and coming soon, some fun dinner plates. They are currently available exclusively at faux in HK. If you know someone who might like to sell them in London (ideal, really), please let me know!

Fish Market cookbook

I've done some illustrations for Running Press in the States, for a book about how to choose, buy and prepare seafood. The cover looks like a market blackboard with chalky lettering and illustrations of today's catch.The drawings for the inside pages are pen and ink line. They were used reversed out for the inside cover.Inside I did drawings of each individual fish.There are also instructional illustrations, showing you how to do various prep things...If you're into seafood, I think this would be a great book to have! It's available from amazon.

Juri's Cotswolds tea shop

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.

wedding loveliness

Designing and illustrating for my own wedding has been a pleasure. Stressful, but full of joy too. I created all the stationery first, with a green/pink/brown/white colour palette, and occasional border of green watercolour leaves, and then carried this through all the wedding elements. Simplicity was the key to everything. The reception was held at the Black Barn, in Berkshire (UK), a huge barn on a working farm, and a delightful setting for a perfect day. They don't have many weddings there, and I was free to create everything just how I wanted it...My brother Kenji was in charge of the bar (he's a drinks specialist) and he created a welcome punch for the guests, with watermelon hearts on the glasses, and special cocktails for the evening. I made the signage for both in the wedding colours.My friend Karen made bunting out of different shaped paper doilies and green ribbon, which we hung inside and outside the barn. I had lots of fun with the flowers, which I bought from New Covent Garden market and arranged with my mum, in my personal collection of vintage bottles, jars, and white ceramic jugs. The interior of the barn still takes my breath away. I wanted it to be pretty, welcoming, and sparkling, and retain the essential "barn-ness" of the venue itself. To create a glowing atmosphere, I used festoon lights for the ceiling, hung by the amazing James and Chris of acdisco, and smaller pinlights from thinkgadgets for the columns. My friend Alvin, of YMK design, oversaw all the technical aspects of the styling and installation.

I painted the seating plan as vines with leaves, in the U shape of the table layout.In the entrance to the barn, photos hung on twine with wooden pegs (along with some framed photos of the bride & groom). Alvin took fun photos at the wedding with a mini polaroid camera, and these were also hung up for everyone to see.

On the opposite side of the entrance was the centre-piece of the reception: the cake table. Friends brought hand-made cakes, meringues and puddings, and my friend Anna styled the table to look irresistible.

I made hand-written doilie labels for the desserts, with the baker's name, aswell as the type of cake. I also made doilie candles in various heights, containing battery-operated tealights, for all the tables. Our official photographer Sonja Read took these beautiful photos of the cake table.

My dad made our gorgeous wedding cake; three tiers of homemade fruit cake heaven...At the end of the cake table was a mini sweet shop. Everything came from my favourite treat website, Chorley & Baker. We had sugared almonds, milk bottles, gummy hearts, and apple bon-bons, all chosen with the wedding colours in mind.My friend Alex at ChocoYou even made delicious little hand-made chocolates with an edible version of my vignette illustration on them!

My dad also made some lovely wine bottle labels, using elements of my illustrations. Each label had a portrait of us, and a quote about love.The amazing Street Kitchen provided the catering. They parked their airstream just outside the barn, and everyone went up to collect their food. For the main course, I used eco-friendly plates that matched the barn, that we could recycle,

and for the desserts, I gave each guest a personalised vintage side plate. They doubled as place settings and wedding favours, and were such fun to make.

I bought plates from Portobello market, thrift stores in San Francisco, and charity shops all over London, and then created a dotty calligaphy font in ceramic paint, which could be baked on, to become permanent.It was our dream wedding, and I'd like to thank everyone who helped us with all the planning, designing, installation and clean-up (especially Johan, our wonderful DJ friend). It simply wouldn't have been possible without the help of all our friends and family.

Everything was perfect, and I'm full of love for all of you...especially my adorable new husband.

wedding detail

There are so many things I'd like to show from my wedding, but for now, here's a photo of the ceramic wedding cake topper that my friend Aude made for us. I love it so much!I'm away on honeymoon for two weeks, and when I get back, I'll blog lots of gorgeous wedding stuff...

pies

I love pies! In case you hadn't already realised. I was thinking about pies the other day, and suddenly remembered a lovely little job I did for Parade magazine in the States, all about pies...The article was all about American pies, their history, which ones are famous, and what's so great about them (everything!)

the Fat Duck

We went to Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck restaurant the other day. It was an experience and a half! My very first 3-starred Michelin restaurant. When food looks as exquisite as this, it's impossible to resist...

chocolate packaging

Chinese New Year is just round the corner, and I've designed some exclusive packaging for Hong Kong based personalised (you can create your own flavours!) chocolatier chocoyou. The special new year red and gold sleeve is wrapped around a gift box of 5 chocolate bars. 2013 is the year of the snake, so I've based the illustration on a stylised Chinese papercut snake. When opened up flat,  it also works as a fai chun (lucky sign) you can put up in your house. The shiny gold brings good fortune, wishing you a prosperous new year. Here are some of my sketches for the project...I also designed a sleeve for a special Valentine's Day set.The pretty watercolour floral illustration is a romantic Valentine bouquet.You can order both these box sets here, the perfect gifts.

Three Good Things again...

I've just seen this lovely little video of Hugh, talking about his new book. You can see some of my illustrations as he flips through the pages, and there's even a nice close-up of the endpapers. Enjoy!I've been cooking out of this book for a while now, and have to say it's superb. Might make a good gift for a chef in the family!

Sweet Anthology

I love sweets. I've always loved sweets, and I'm fascinated by unusual and exotic confectionery everywhere. So when a friend asked me if I'd like to collaborate on a new venture for her sweet company Chorley & Baker, I jumped at the chance! Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce 'Sweet Anthology'.To suit this high-end brand, I created the illustrated label and hand-wrote the name for the identity in a classic, slightly baroque style, but kept a modern feel. The colourful sweets are packaged in high-quality designer jars, and the label needed to work with each variety of colours.We've created the brand to have collections, like a fashion house, and we're launching with an A/W collection of 42 varieties, focusing on traditional British sweets. We'll be refining these, and adding new flavours each season.The website for the brand is full of gorgeous photographs, and I created a muted leafy background to highlight the bright jewel-like sweets. I also drew some fun little illustrated characters interacting with the sweets.We're doing a soft launch on achica that starts on monday (29 October), with the prices slightly discounted (let me know if you want to buy them, I have a discount code for first time buyers). After that we'll be selling through our online shop, and in fancy stores near you soon! Give them a try, they make the perfect gift...

Hugh's Three Good Things

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new cookbook is here!Published by Bloomsbury in the UK, there are lovely illustrations by me, and gorgeous photographs by Simon Wheeler, all laid out by the wonderful art director Lawrence Morton.I've created illustrations of the ingredients in watercolour and pen & ink, and there are also some fun collages of Hugh interacting with illustrated elements, like this...I love that I can incorporate a slightly surreal element into the photos...and also play around with the recipe text a little.I've done some hand-written text in the cookbook for the first time too...The contents page is my favourite! Here's a corner...You can buy the book from the River Cottage amazon page or any good bookstore, and there is even a kindle/ipad version (but with less pictures, just so you know). You can also get more information on the River Cottage website, and there are some sample pages you can view in full here. Yum....

happy birthday me!

Yesterday was my birthday, hurrah! Here's a little sketch of my birthday raspberry and rose cake, made with real rose petals...

Cotswolds afternoon tea

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...

Chicago Tribune

I did this fun little illustration for the Chicago Tribune not that long ago, that featured advice from top chefs on cooking at home. Imagine you had an army of little chefs to help you when you're making that complicated dish...

happy christmas one and all!

I hope everyone is taking a break, spending time with family and friends, and having some well-deserved tasty treats (here are some I made earlier).Have a wonderful holiday season....Love from Mariko x

River Cottage veg everyday!

My new book is out! I say my new book, but of course it's Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new book: the next River Cottage everyday cook book, all about vegetables. Yum. For this book, I created the illustrations out of the ingredients themselves: I printed with the actual vegetables in the recipes. Remember how you used to print with potatoes at school? Sort of like that, but in a slightly more professional way. I left some of the vegetable prints simple (like this globe artichoke) and with others I created narratives and patterns, to complement the recipes.The illustrations have the same relaxed 'home-made' feel to them as the ones in the last 'River Cottage every day' cookbook, but this time in full colour, and with texture. You can read what Hugh says about the book here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/26/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-vegetables

It's the Guardian link, as he writes for them every weekend. The book is on their best-seller list!You can also go direct to River Cottage to watch several videos of Hugh talking about the book. He's so excited about vegetables...

I'd also like to say a little thank you to Lawrence Morton, who art directed the book, as he's been so wonderful to work with. Thank you!

Observer Food Monthly Awards

Hello again, I forgot to put these up in June, but thought you might like to see them anyhow. I did some line illustrations on photographs for this advertising campaign for The Observer. I hope you saw them, and voted in time! I hope I win an award one day too...

Japan trip

After the conference in Kyoto, I travelled for a week with some friends, and we went to Naoshima, an island in the Inland Sea that has been turned into a sort of 'art park'. It has several museums: my favourite was the 'Chichu Art Museum' with some amazing installations by James Turrell. You can get all the details of Naoshima here:

www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/naoshima/art/index.html

We stayed in a mongolian tent on the beach, and in the morning, we walked to Yayoi Kusama's pumpkin scuplture on the end of a jetty. It was beautiful. Serenely odd and perfect at the same time.

There were various scupltures and art pieces dotted around the island, so it made exploring really exciting!

We also spent a few days in Tokyo, visiting galleries and traditional shops to get printmaking supplies.

3331 in Tokyo is a new multi-use artspace in an old school, that has galleries, studios and workshops. I bought a print, and thought about having a show here one day.

I also ate tasty tasty tai yaki,

and had a restful day local style at Odaiba...