lifestyle

Huntington Library

The Huntington Library, near LA, is a beautiful botanical gardens and art gallery/museum. I recently designed an exclusive toile pattern for them, to use on a variety of products to sell in their new museum store, which has just opened. This lovely paper parasol, with wooden handle, is available now!h_parasol-side_largeWhen I was commissioned for this project, I visited the gardens, took photographs and did sketches...Exif_JPEG_PICTUREand then designed this repeat toile featuring many of the elements I saw there. I especially loved the Japanese bridge, the rose gardens and the cactus gardens. huntington repeatThe parasol has been featured in Romantic Homes magazine.for blogIt's available to buy in the museum store or online here. Look out for more products with this pattern, coming soon!

aquarium + museum

At the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco I admired the gorgeous anemones and seaweed in the aquarium.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThere were fish, seahorses, sea slugs and coral, and all sorts of weird squiggly things.sketchbook monaco bwThe shiny gold sparkles of the piranha were mesmerising.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThere were also fascinating historical displays on the upper floors. I just can't resist the labels and cataloguing of these types of collections.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREI loved all the hand-writing and little boxes...museum sketches

Bonaveri showroom

I illustrated a branch of plum blossom for the Spring launch of the new aloof mannequin from Bonaveri, for their China showroom. bonaveriI kept the colours bright and the line crisp, to create a calm and beautiful backdrop for the elegant new mannequins.croppedMy illustration is influenced by traditional Chinese painting, but I tried to give it a modern feel. I started with pencil sketches of the flowers, and then drew the line in dip-pen and ink, finally adding colour in Photoshop. both

Mission window display

I've just installed a display in the artspace window next to Alleycat Books in the Mission in San Francisco, on 24th and Treat. I wanted to create the illusion of looking into an interior, playing with various layers and dimensions.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREI drew an illustrated black and white backdrop of a Victorian parlour, looking through to several more rooms. I hid little details in the drawing to create stories: portraits, a lady by the fire, a statue of a rabbit, a cat’s tail, a stuffed bird under a glass dome. I played with depth within the drawing itself, and then added to it by hanging real framed pictures on the drawn walls.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThe framed pieces are etchings of ceramics and a portrait, echoing the subject matter within the backdrop. They're full of patterns, creating a layer of patterned artwork on top of patterned wallpaper.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREOne of the difficulties was fighting the un-removable grafitti on the glass. By creating a detailed pattern, I hope I've managed to distract the eye! Please go and take a look if you're around. It should be up for 2 months.Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

year of the goat

Here's a video of me drawing a happy new year goat. It was made as part of the social media campaign for Pacific Place mall in HK. It's a visual pun on a traditional Chinese blessing about the rabbit's breath and the goat's eyebrows, which somehow translates to good fortune! https://vimeo.com/119728675

I did pencil sketches first to work out the order in which to draw things, how the goat should look, and the positioning of drawing and text.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThis is how the final goat looks in ink and watercolour...Exif_JPEG_PICTUREAnd this is the filming. I drew at my normal speed, but tried to keep it generally consistent, and the final footage was speeded up, and a soundtrack added. I've never done this before, but it was fun!Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

Pacific Place photos

The Chinese New Year decorations featuring my zodiac illustrations are now installed in the Thomas Heatherwick designed Pacific Place shopping mall in HK. In the large atrium, there are banners and lanterns,Exif_JPEG_PICTURE which are also featured throughout the mall.mall bigger My favourite part of the installation is the glass wall of the lifts; it features my illustration on a huge scale, and looks wonderful when you travel up and down.lift biggerThey're also on the connecting mall walkway, over the main road,Exif_JPEG_PICTUREand there's a pagoda with flower maze in the lower atrium, with an illustrated rotating display and each of the zodiac animals on the outer wall. roundAt the back of this display are some Chinese-style screens made of wood. I love the way elements from my drawn illustration have been transformed into 3D.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThere's a smaller pagoda also, based on my drawings, with information screens and drawings on each side. I really like the flowers on the floor!Exif_JPEG_PICTUREIf you spend a certain amount of money while you're shopping at the mall, you can collect a special gift at this lovely kiosk.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREYou can get two of these limited edition fine bone china dinner plates, with my zodiac illustration in a lovely repeat pattern!Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

And if you upload an instagram photo at the mall, you may win a pack of these wonderful pink and gold lucky fai chun.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREI do hope you'll go and have a look!mariko by lift 2

Pacific Place

I've just arrived in HK to do some promotional work for Pacific Place luxury shopping mall. I created an illustration about the celebration of Spring, for their Chinese New Year decorations.small fileI used red (a lucky & auspicious colour) and included all the 12 Chinese horoscope animals. It also features Chinese New Year elements such as peonies, plum blossoms and pine trees. The PP website features the design in a pink + brown colour combination.screen shot 1 copy There'll be all kinds of fun events at Pacific Place over Chinese New Year, so if you're around, please check it out! I'll be taking some photos of the decorated mall this week, so you can see those soon.

It's the year of the goat, and I especially do like drawing goats...goats

Sicily map

I haven't featured any maps recently, so I thought I'd show this map of Sicily I did for Conde Nast Traveller in the UK . I painted it a while ago, and I like the way it's placed in the page, giving it lots of room to breathe.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREI also thought I'd show my rough sketch for the map:sicily map roughYou can see how the outer shape of the sea around the island has changed, and a few things, like the distance scale, have moved, and that I removed all the tiny outer islands. The final map became more streamlined, and focussed on the important elements. The bright Mediterannean colours were wonderful to paint.

WOM dining guide

I worked on the new WOM dining guide in HK, and I really like the glossy brightness of the cover. I created an illustration about food and drink in HK, and managed to feature all my favourite buildings.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREAs this issue is about award-winning dining, I drew all sorts of badges and awards inside, for the different categories.Exif_JPEG_PICTUREThe awards were also given to the actual restaurants, and it was great to see this on display!Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is this coming week here in the States. Every year it falls on the 4th thursday of November and everyone goes to see their families and have a huge turkey meal, and think about all the things they're thankful for.I'm thankful for having such a lovely husband, wonderful family, excellent friends, and for being able to draw every day. I hope you all have lots of things to be thankful for too...