Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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I designed 2 different sets of adorable lai see red pockets for clients in HK this year. The first were for BEYORG, celebrating the year of the horse, with cute horses doing various traditional New Year things, in lucky red and shiny gold. . .The second were for Grand Century Place shopping mall. They asked for a pattern incorporating Chinese New Year elements, but also fashiony things like a dress and jewellery. I love the coppery gold colour they used for the foil highlights, to match the pink. They also made a promotional fabric ipad mini case for VIPS with the same pattern.Have a wonderful year of the horse everyone!

Morocco

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I've just spent a wonderful five days in Morocco with my best friend, relaxing and seeing the countryside. We arrived in Marrakech, and stayed in a beautiful riad to the NW of the Medina. It was calm and soothing, and even had a hammam.We wandered around the souks, buying babouches and a rug, admiring the wonderful details of life in the bustling city.We then went on a three day trip into the mountains, with Desert Majesty. They were super helpful, and our guide Said was very sweet. Here's a map showing where we went.We drove up into the Atlas mountains and down into the valleys. Our first notable stop was at Ait Ben Haddou, a stunning UNESCO world heritage site. It was exciting to find that it has been used as a location for quite a few movies and TV shows, including Gladiator and Game of Thrones.We drove and drove, past huge vistas of mountains...and into an endlessly blue, blue sky...We explored an ancient Kasbah, and found an old display in one of the courtyards, like a lost moment in time...We stayed the second night in a Berber tented camp, and rode camels into the sunset, and in the evening, sat around a campfire listening to songs and drumming.And then on again, into the dusty, red and pink landscape.We drove through Rissani, where the Moroccan king's family comes from,and back again to Marrakech, to get the Saharan sand out of our shoes...All through the trip we were welcomed everywhere with hot, sweet Moroccan mint tea in beautiful little glasses, and invariably, a pretty silver teapot. Yum.

Christmas drinks

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I drew some festive line decorations around seasonal wine bottles for Waitrose supermarket's free Christmas drinks guide this year.I created a green-on-green patterned wallpaper for the background, so the white lines would pop, and the lovely rich colours of the wine bottles would sparkle.You can pick up the guides in any Waitrose around the UK!

Kansas

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This week I'm in Lawrence, Kansas. Yesterday I gave an artist's talk at University of Kansas about my work, with an emphasis on my printmaking and sketchbooks. The students were very responsive and I really enjoyed discussing my work with them. It's nice to feel I may even have inspired them a little. I also visited Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri. It was a little creepy, but in a fascinating can't-look-away sort of way. There were old photographs with real hair glued on, as mementos. There were pictures in little frames with hair inside...There were large ornate gilded frames with decorative flowers made entirely of hair...There were even simple delicate snippets of hair...I enjoyed it, as a truly unusual obsessive collection. I recommend it!

happy Thanksgiving weekend!

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Hope all of you in the States have had a great Thanksgiving! I went to celebrate with friends in Santa Barbara, on a ranch in the mountains... and in LA, by the beach in Santa Monica...I'm thankful for all the wonderful people in my life, and for the opportunities I've had to create the beautiful things I've always wanted to. I'm also thankful for ice cream. Mariko x

christmas lights

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Things are starting to get Christmassy, and I'm getting excited. Here are two of my favourite little lights I designed for thinkgadgets. They contain mini LED lights that slowly change colour. I love Mr Moon, who isn't just for Christmas, and the snowman, that is definately more wintery...They're available in all sorts of small stores around the UK, and lots of Christmas fairs!

whale watching

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I saw a whale! Actually I saw two. It was amazing. We went on a whale watching trip on a very cold foggy day in San Francisco, heading out under the Golden Gate Bridge. Even before we got far we'd seen seals and porpoises and all sorts of seabirds. But it was the lovely gray whale that made me happiest. They waved their fins, and dove down so their tails flipped out of the water... Also the murres, I loved them! Sort of like a penguin, but floating on the water. So adorable...

happy halloween!

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I've been watching the fog rolling over the San Francisco hills for a while now, and so I decided that for my halloween costume I would be the fog! I made a headpiece with a cardboard model of the Sutro Tower and added some birds and finally a wave of felt fog rolling over it all, and then I dressed all in grey.This is how the tower in the fog really looks...I especially loved making the little pelican and seagull.Boo!

rodeo!

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Last weekend I went to my first rodeo, the 2013 Grand National Rodeo, held at the Cow Palace (what a great name!) in San Francisco. There were all sorts of events, but most were just too fast to draw: bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, they only last a few seconds! There were lots of parades with people on horses holding flags...and displays where the horses galloped super fast too...I enjoyed it all, it was such a spectacle! Before the main event we went to see the animals, and I adored the goats and soft furry cows (that were having their fur blowdried to supreme fluffiness) and was super happy when they did a parade of the best-in-show.

Jenny's wedding

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I created the Save the Date and wedding info card for Jenny and Randy in Hong Kong this summer. Their Save the Date was interesting, as they asked for a map showing all the places that meant something in their lives, especially Okinawa in Japan, where they got engaged. They requested three colours: brown, pink and champagne...I then made a more detailed map of Bali, where the wedding was taking place, showing all the various wedding event venues. It featured little pictorial icons of some of the surprises in store for their guests.They also printed tote bags featuring the Save the Date map as favours for their guests. Nice! Congratulations guys! What a cute couple...First photograph is by Jada Poon Photography, and second is by Johnny Productions.