travel

coop house

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A few weekends ago I went to stay in the littlest castle you've ever seen. Well, it was actually a renovated summer house, but it's been beautifully renovated by the Landmark Trust, and it looks like a castle, so that's good enough for me...It's up near Carlisle, and the weather held out for us, so we walked in the mud, got chased by cows, and watched salmon leaping in the river. I loved the antiques that filled the house, and spent time drawing some of them. This jug is my favourite.We also went to see Hadrian's wall, and I fell in love with the land all around.

charity christmas cards

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I've designed a range of christmas cards this year for ndi moyo, a charity that provides palliative care for HIV/AIDS sufferers in Malawi. Here are some of my favourite designs. I based them all around traditional Christmas themes of baubles, gifts and trees, using African textiles and patterns to reflect the locale of the charity itself.I've done five designs, which you get in a mixed pack of twelve cards (six cards by another illustrator) with envelopes. Unfortunately you can't buy just my designs, but it all goes to charity, and the other cards are pretty interesting too! If you're thinking of getting your christmas cards soon, I hope you'll consider buying these...

travel photos

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I've just got my negatives back from my latest Asia trip, and here are a few photos to share...This is Taipa old village, in Macau. There are still a few tiny patches of old charm left there, if you look hard.Ritsurin Garden in Shikoku, Japan. It's listed as one of the top three, and was calm, orderly and very green, with delightful koi and picturesque red bridges.Sayabashi bridge in Kotohira. We went to climb the mountain to Kompira san here, a famous pilgrimage temple & shrine. More photos on the way, but hope you like these in the meantime!

Kate Spade party

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Kate Spade has just opened a shiny new store in Pacific Place shopping mall in Hong Kong, and I was asked to be a guest artist at the opening party. I  drew sketches of the customers and VIPs (who had each been given a fabric flower to wear for the event), and gave them to everyone to keep as a souvenir gift.It was fun! I kept the portraits light, pretty, and in the style of the evening. Each one had a dash of watercolour red and pink for the flowers, and took under five minutes to complete. I think most of the guests were happy with their pictures...I had expected it to be mostly women, but alot of men sat for me also, which was great.There were a few local celebrities there, and I even drew a portrait for Stephy, a canto-pop singer.Check out all the HK stores (ifc, Harbour City & Elements, as well as PP) if you're into super nice handbags and accessories!

Stephan Said album artwork

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In my last NY blog I mentioned that I went to a gig of a friend of a friend (Stephan Said) and did some sketches... well, my friend showed him the sketches, he (Stephan) loved them, and asked me if I could do some more for his new album. So I did.We discussed the album, I watched videos of his live performances, listened to the songs, and then worked out a concept for the album cover: I drew each of the main band members, and the image wrapped around the front and back of the CD packaging to show them all.I did extra sketches for the inside of the booklet, and also did most of the hand-lettering in the same loose pen style, for the titles and track names. I think it holds it all together well.

Here's an interview with Stephan on PRI, and you can listen to the single 'Take a Stand' on the Huffington Post, and of course you can find out all about Stephan on his own website.

The album was released yesterday, September 21st, International Day of Peace.

Peonies, Playing cards, & Teapots

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I have a solo exhibition opening soon, in a gallery in Hong Kong, yay! It will feature my printmaking work, themed around Asia, tea, flowers and playing cards.

As well as my etchings, my HK toile teasets recently sold in Lane Crawford will be available to buy.There'll be new furnishing fabric in the pattern, which has been made into cushions, sofas, table napkins etc. I've also designed some unique Peony rugs, and this will be the first time they're available for sale! The teasets and fabric are produced by faux, and if you can't make it to the show, you can buy directly from them.

The exhibition will be at Amelia Johnson Contemporary, G/F, 6-10 Shin Hing Street, just off Hollywood Road in Central.

The opening party is from 6-9pm on Wednesday 7 September 2011, and the show continues until 24 September.

If you'd like any more information, please contact me!

Mariko

Cliveden visit

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This weekend I went to Cliveden, a National Trust Property in Buckinghamshire. The grand Restoration era house (more of a large castley-villa) is now a private hotel, where you can also take meals. You get to the house up a long, wide gravel drive, past a magnificent marble fountain. In the 30's this was the home of Lord and Lady Astor, and there was a beautiful painting of Lady Astor by John Singer Sargent in the lobby. I explored a little, upstairs and downstairs, before lunch...

After lunch, a stroll in the gardens, to admire the parterre, and the house itself.There was a small group of re-enactment actors playing at being Lady Astor's crowd of socialites and celebrities, from 1934. How wonderfully English. They even had lemon drizzle cake...

Japan trip

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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...

Kyoto exhibitions and print conference

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Hi there, I've just had work in two exhibitions in Kyoto! Sorry for the late notice, but have to say they were both lovely. The first was a show of work by artists who attended the moku hanga (Japanese woodblock printing) residency in Nagasawa, Japan.

It was a Japanese style show, with all the work laid out on low tables, unframed, so you could see the subtleties of colour and texture. It was held at the Kyoto Arts Centre.

The second was a show of artists books, held in a specialist arts book shop. It was very very sweet. You could leaf through the books (after washing your hands, or putting on gloves), so it was possible to see all the pages.

I was in Kyoto for the 1st ever International Moku Hanga Conference, it was great! I attended several workshops...

and watched various demonstrations and presentations, by experts in the field, both local and from abroad.

I met  many interesting printmakers from around the world, and spent time with old friends I don't get to see often enough... and now I've definately got to work harder on my printmaking! Watch this space for new prints soon...

New York visit

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Hello again, here are a few items of Mariko news from NY... I went to see my ceramic products on display in Tiffanys on Fifth Avenue. Hurrah! They’d sold out of the mugs, which was great to hear.

I painted another mural (an alien this time) for Sparkhouse Kids toystore in South Orange.

They're using the ‘Sparky’ character I designed as the store mascot and logo now too. You can even get mini stick-on tattoos with him on!

I went to Pennsylvania to visit some friends in the countryside,

...went to a cool gig of a guy called Stephan Said, who had all sorts of interesting-looking people accompanying him,

and finally, enjoyed wandering in the Union Square farmer's market, looking at pies. A wonderful end to a wonderful trip.

new Hong Kong teaset

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Hello all, before I start on my NY blog, I thought you might like to see my newest product, available in Lane Crawford department store in HK.

The concept for this project was to create a traditional toile pattern with a contemporary Hong Kong twist, that could be used on a whole range of products, starting with ceramics. There's a teapot, teacup & saucer, and Chinese teacups. I think you can buy them all seperately.

All the elements and details in the design are very local  to HK, for example a mah jong tile, a good luck goldfish, a 2 dollar coin, and a red lampshade from the markets.

I grew up in HK, and I’m constantly inspired by it. I wanted to create a design that celebrates everything I love about HK!

road trip USA

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So, welcome again to my blog. I'll try my darndest to be fairly regular, even if it's just a tiny snippet of news... I've just come back from a road trip in the States,  (with a NY trip tagged on to the end) and here are a few sketches and photos:

Starting in Los Angeles,

where we walked along Venice beach from Santa Monica, and drove Mulholland Drive at Sunset, we carried on to Las Vegas, baby!

where we stayed at the Bellagio, watched the fountains, and gambled a grand total of $9, yeah, and spent all our money on buffets instead. From there to the Grand Canyon,

to be truly awestruck, and on to Monument Valley, where we drove as if in a movie:

A day at the Mesa Verde, for a touch of Ancestral Puebloan culture:

and then over the mountains to snowy Denver, the Rockies and the Buckhorn Exchange. It was road-trip-a-rama!

Next installment, NY...

M