happy spring!

Hope you're having a fun weekend, wherever you are! Here's a little collage I made while I was at art school, a long long time ago...

Wiltshire weekend

I just got back from a lovely weekend on the Wiltshire/Somerset border in England. We stayed in a bed & breakfast place surrounded by rolling green hills,and I did a few sketches, and took a few photographs, and just took it easy. This is a watercolour of Cley Hill. There is a fantastic legend about the hill (read about it here) and it's also a famous UFO hotspot! Woo!

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...

photography exhibition

One of my photos has been chosen to be in the annual juried plastic camera show at the prestigious rayko photo center in San Francisco. This is a double-exposure medium format shot I took with my trusty Holga when I was travelling in India. I'm not a photographer, but I do love analogue photography so much. The opening reception is this wednesday evening, March 9th, 6-8pm if you're around! Show continues until April 29th.

last weekend of exhibition

Today and tomorrow are the last days to see my show at GAW in San Francisco. Hope you can make it! You can view these two hand-detailed mokuhanga prints of a jug and a mug...It's a series of four, with pen-drawn lines, but these two just seem to go so nicely together.

exhibition prints

My show continues for 2 more weekends, and I'll be at the studio this afternoon (saturday) so please feel free to drop in!Here are two of the newer pieces in the show. I've been experimenting with adding different media onto prints: the pink jug is a mokuhanga print with added pen line drawing, and the bird mug is an etching with watercolour.Graphic Arts Workshop: 2565 3rd St #305, San Francisco, CA 94107

exhibition continues

My show opened last weekend in Dogpatch, San Francisco. Here's me hanging my work...Thank you to everyone who came to the opening reception, I am full of love for you all!The show runs from February 5th – 27th on Fridays and Saturdays noon – 5pm, and by appointment at other times. I'll be at the studio most saturdays while the show is up, if you'd like to drop by! Graphic Arts Workshop: 2565 3rd St #305, San Francisco, CA 94107

kung hei fat choi

Wishing you all the best for the year of the monkey! *This is an adapted version of an image I made for the Keswick Foundation charity in HK.

upcoming exhibition

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

Joshua Tree

I recently got some film developed and found these images of my trip to Joshua Tree National Park last year. I still find the sight of these ancient landscapes so moving, and alien.

This last one reminds of a 1970's road trip movie...

Sometimes I just can't believe how beautiful the world is.

Click magazine

I did a fun illustration for the current issue of Click magazine, for their photo contest page, with all sorts of pets. Which one is your style? I like the layout of the online mag a lot...Hope you all enter the contest!

Dr Oz Magazine

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...

happy new year!

I was given this lovely simple shimekazari to put on the door, made of straw and rice, to ward off evil spirits and invite the good ones in. Let's hope it works!Today we enjoyed a Japanese osechi meal, all handmade and tasty, in a variety of special dishes, many of them wedding gifts used for the first time. Sometimes making beautiful food can be as fascinating as illustration.And here's a close-up of a little carrot blossom I made...Hope it will be a healthy and happy 2016 for you all!  

Point Reyes

Hope everyone is having a relaxing winter break. I just got back from a little visit up the coast to Point Reyes National Seashore, which was chilly but oh so beautiful! We visited the Point Reyes lighthouse, and saw grey whales on their way to Baha.In Inverness, right by the water, the sunrise glow with mist over the water, was pink and golden and like a dream...Limantour beach was wild and empty, and I lay on the sand in the sunshine and painted the grasses in the sand dunes.Really, really, can't wait to go back again and discover more!

a little extra Christmas

Here's a cute little thing I drew for the Croucher Foundation in HK this year. Yes, that's the star ferry speeding along there, obviously in a hurry to get home for Christmas...

Christmas greetings

...from me to you! Mx

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!

Kyushu part II

From Kumamoto, we travelled by scenic train to Kagoshima, with its famous active volcano Sakurajima. We visited up close, riding the boat across the bay, watching nervously at the smoke puffing gently from the top...We spent a day further south in Ibusuki, and visited the famous sand baths. At Yamakawa it was calm, almost tropical, and we saw another famous mountain called Kaimondake, with its perfectly conical shape.The skies we saw over the waters were truly magical through the train windows, as we travelled along the coast.We ate at a tiny restaurant, that specialised in local style yakitori, and the regulars were amazed to see us. These sorts of places are what make travel amazing...From there we made our way to Kurokawa Onsen, passing by yet another active volcano, Aso san. At Kurokawa we stayed in a lovely traditional ryokan and tried many different sorts of onsen baths. We rested, and walked in the Autumnal mountains. And then back we went to Fukuoka for one more evening of tasty food. Here's a lovely tempura place we found, dating back to the 1930's!And then on to Tokyo, and home.

Kyushu part I

This week I have been in Kyushu Japan, starting my travels by train around the island. I love travelling by train here, it's so efficient and also somehow charming. As you get further into the countryside, the trains become smaller, more unusual and fun! We started in Fukuoka, eating at yatais, and we're now in Kumamoto, at an adorable minshuku guesthouse in the countryside. I drew the view from our two windows.The rice has just been harvested, but the fields are still beautifully green, resting until the summer.

New York trip

I just got back from a quick trip to New York, where I worked on a lovely project for Dr Oz The Good Life magazine. I can't show you what it was yet, but here's a sketch I drew on the photoshoot day. I also drew the model several times, in various of her outfits...The view from the studio was gorgeous, so New York!I had a fantastic dinner one evening at the Brooklyn Diner, and sketched while I was waiting. The waitress was so happy with the sketch that she gave me a bag of delicious pastries to take home with me! I love New York, I really do. I'll be back soon, just you wait and see...