wedding certificate

I made my very good friend Katie Baldwin a wedding certificate for her wedding, so that all their guests could be witnesses, and sign it on their big day.I did the calligraphy in pen & ink and the leafy border in watercolour, with dusky pink berries and tulips. Here are some details from the border......and a photo of the happy couple. Congratulations Katie and Curt!

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!

Tiffany mug on instagram

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!

kapok 10 year anniversary

kapok, the hipster boutique lifestyle store in Hong Kong had their ten year anniversary this weekend, and they've been building up to it with a variety of events. I designed and illustrated a map for their #kapok10 anniversary launch, and they've used elements from it throughout their stores, website and social media.I've never created a map from scratch before, by which I mean that it's an imaginary place, not a real one. I was asked to create a country that embodied everything kapok stood for: creativity, fun, fashion and a truly international flavour. I could start anywhere! And of course a new country needs a crest: kapokland's features the pink dolphin of HK and their new motto: 'future classics' Here's the full map, showing an archipelago of different exotic fantasy islands, covering all seasons at once, with both tropical and arctic lands.The reverse side of the map also featured a close-up of the main town in kapokland: Kapokville. The town had shops and museums, but also global embassies, a castle and even pedalos!This is how it was used on the kapok website...They even had a stand at a local design market with fun illustrated props for customers to interact with......and also used some of the animals as a banner on facebook...I especially liked how they used details from the map on the store windows...and inside...Congratulations kapok! Here's to the next 10 years of fabulous!

tmtplaza beauty promotion

I recently designed an exclusive butterfly and peony pattern for a jewellery box for tmtplaza in Hong Kong, for their spring beauty promotion.I was asked to create something feminine and elegant, to match with this season's beauty products and cosmetics.The illustration started out as pencil sketches of peonies in pale colours, with detailed monochrome butterflies and shadows.This then gradually turned into a more colourful solid background with smaller butterflies......and I then developed the butterflies into more colourful versions, with stronger patterns and outlines. I chose a limited colour palette of pinks and greens to give the feminine feeling a contemporary twist.I tried more detailed peonies, in richer colours......but in the end it went with the paler, more loosely-drawn flowers and more fully detailed butterflies. If you spend over HK$1,500 at the mall, from 23 April, you can get my box as a VIP gift, while stocks last! Hurry!

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.

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...

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.

mid-autumn festival

I'm in HK at the moment, for various projects, and loving the mid-autumn festival. It's a long holiday weekend, and even with the occasional rain (and thunder) it's a time for families to enjoy the evening, wonder at the moon, and carry bright lanterns...Happy festival everyone!

Kansas visit

I've just got back from a wonderful visit to Kansas. I spent a day doing a spot of teaching at Emporia State University and giving a presentation there. Here's a great poster one of the students made for my talk:I went to Lawrence, to set up a collaborative exhibition with my friends Yoonmi Nam and Katie Baldwin at the new Wonder Fair gallery downtown.We had our opening on saturday evening, which was super busy and fun!We showed our project wood + paper + box, along with a special silk-screened poster of our complete box (available to buy from Wonder Fair).We each also had space to show our own individual work. Here's mine, hung salon style.The show will be up until mid November, so please do pop in and take a look if you're nearby!

stationery set

I've collaborated with my friends Katie Baldwin and Yoomni Nam on a hand-printed paper stationery set for Wonderfair's Letter Writing Club, in Lawrence, Kansas. This is a photo of all the elements before they're packed together. I made the letter sheets with envelope, and also did the calligraphy for the top label (which Katie then screenprinted). The letter sheets are relief printed in green/gold. Here's the gold block,and the tests I printed to choose exactly the colour that would work.Here's the final set all put together. They'll be for sale at the club, and then afterwards at Wonderfair. The club meetings are held regularly, to encourage good ol' fashioned writing letters, and we'll all be attending the next one on Sunday 20th September. Hope to see you there!

Marc's wedding

We attended our friends Marc & Liz's wedding at the weekend, which was a beautiful, sparkly, glamourous event in downtown Los Angeles.I sat to one side, and had a wonderful view of all the pretty bridesmaids, and loved the way they all had the same dress, and yet managed to look individual.My favourite sketch of the evening is this one of the bride and groom cutting the cake, it really makes me happy!We sat at a table full of wonderful people, surrounded by glittering glass and soft lights in the trees.Congratulations Marc & Liz! Happy days to follow...

Max & Mei books

Martha, who wrote the bilingual Max & Mei books I illustrated, donated some books to an orphanage in China for Half the Sky, and we were sent these photos of the kids enjoying them. They're adorable!I'm so happy to see kids enjoying the books...Looking forward to working on new projects with Martha soon!

social media update

Hello! I'm finally upping my social media presence, and am now on twitter and instagram, as well as facebook. Tweet me, follow me, and let's all be online more together. Here's a sample of what you could be seeing on instagram every day... I'll still be blogging, I've grown to love this weekend ritual, but there'll be extra treats to see mid-week on other platforms, hurrah!

kokeshi

I've been trying to do more mokuhanga, and recently completed this print of Japanese kokeshi dolls for my new collaborative project with Yoomni Nam and Katie Baldwin. This time we're calling our project alabama + california + kansas. You can find out more on our blog. We'll again be travelling to visit each other in our studios in these locations, and sending work to each other. Here's a pic of the wood block for this print, as I was carving it.

wedding anniversary two

Today is our second wedding anniversary, hurrah! I made this little etching of a constellation of stars to celebrate...

Monte Carlo

I watched the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Monaco this week, on the most beautiful court I've ever seen.I spent a day watching Tsonga, Djokovic, Ferrer and Cilic in the sunshine and with the sparkling Mediterranean in the background.Merveilleux!