HKDI workshop

I've just got home from my trip to HK, and looking through all the wonderful things I did while I was there. It's especially great thinking about the monoprint workshop I did with the illustration students at the Hong Kong Design Institute.It was truly wonderful to see them making a mess and getting really into it. I think they were all happy with the work they  produced.Here are a few pieces of the students' work that I thought worked especially well...I also gave a presentation about my work and being an illustrator. I may have scared them, but hope I put resolve into the ones who are serious!  

Hong Kong

I'm in Hong Kong at the moment, working on all sorts of projects, and loving being back after far too long. I had breakfast at the retro Hoi On Cafe with a friend and did a quick sketch..I adored the glossy red booths! I visited my favourite sort of hardware store......and wandered the evening streets, admiring the old and fast disappearing Hong Kong.

BEYORG organic market

This weekend I visited the BEYORG organic market pop-up store in Pacific Place mall, Hong Kong, to see the bags I designed for them.It's such a lovely idea, it was super fun to see! I love the way they animated my illustration in their instagram feed too: [embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BLix95mlS5n/?taken-by=beyorg[/embed]

The little market stands are just how I imagined them...and I think I captured the atmosphere of the market quite well...Hope you can pop down and see the market for yourself and buy a bag for charity!

open studios this weekend

My prints are all framed and up on the wall, and waiting for you to pop by!Several new prints are available, including this mokuhanga print of clouds and rain.and this etching of sewing tools...Here are all the details. Hope to see you today or tomorrow!

open studios 2016

Yes, it's that time again! I'll be showing prints at my workshop in Dogpatch, San Francisco, as part of the City's ArtSpan openstudio weekends. I'll be showing a selection of framed works, ready to hang:...and a variety of new unframed prints, such as these:I'll have some new mokuhanga prints,...and new playing cards:I'll be showing with 7 of my studio-mates over the weekend of 22/23 October. 11-6pm both days. I hope to see you there!

Animals Asia products

I was recently asked to design some products for the charity Animals Asia. These products are sold here and the profits go towards their work saving animals.I painted illustrations of wonderful moonbears, as I really love them and can't stand the way they are farmed and treated so cruelly. I tried to show them being curious and adorable, and most of all, hopeful.I started the project by researching and sketching moonbears, and playing with ideas on how to bring some colour and fun into the images. I then tried out different styles and media, and picked watercolour to give the illustrations a loose, free feeling.There's a teatowel, a tote bag and a tshirt, with different illustrations, and all available from the Animals Asia online shop.Buy them for all your friends! Please help save the bears!

nursery mural

I recently painted a fun mural for a friend's nursery. I was asked for simple scenes with friendly animals, in muted colours, that would work for a girl or a boy. I started with sketches of various combinations of animals and foliage, and put them into photos of the room to decide the best scale to paint them.I did one of the sketches in colour, to show how they would all look on the pale yellow walls... ... and then put together a colour pallette. I used the same colours in all three scenes, to hold the room together. Eventually I did add one additional colour as I was painting: a pale orange for the lion.This is a photo of the elephant scene half-way painted. It shows the building up of the layers of flat smooth colour.And here's a photo of all three finished painted scenes, after they were given a final protective coat of varnish. I love how they came out.Can't wait for the baby to arrive now and see if they like their room!

meyer lemon seeds

I recently packaged my mokuhanga lemon print for my collaborative project with Yoomni Nam and Katie Baldwin. I made an etching of a seed packet, and folded up the lemon print to fit inside: a print inside a print.The seed packet design is based on vintage references I found while researching my part of the project, which is about California.More news about this project, called Alabama + California + Kansas soon!

Christmas cards

Something I've been thinking about for a long while is opening a little online shop to sell some exclusive Mariko products. I'm often designing for other brands and companies (which I love doing!) but I'd also like to start my own little personal brand. I'm going to start slowly, with paper products like greeting cards, and then try to develop in an organic way. I'm working on my shop, which I hope to launch later this year, but in the meanwhile, here are some pics of my very first specially designed Christmas cards for sale.Please contact me directly if you're interested in ordering them, either for yourself, or wholesale! They are sold in packs of 5 cards with envelopes.

Star Trek improv

I went to watch Phasers on Stun a Star Trek improv group in San Francisco and I absolutely loved it! The actors was so versatile, playing starship crewmembers, aliens, animals, and sometimes even playing two characters on stage at once.This is the crew of the USS Golden Gate, exploring new worlds.I sketched throughout the show, trying to capture the strange situations, wonderful conversations and fantastical characters. My very favourite drawings are these little simplified characters I made of all the actors...Try and go and see them if you can, they have more shows this month. Live long and prosper!

exchange show

My printmaking workshop GAW has done a print exchange with a small gallery in Yokohama, Japan. It's very exciting! The exhibition of both our work and their work will be on show at the GAW gallery from next week 9 September to 1 October on fridays and saturdays, 12-5pm. I'm showing two of my San Francisco snowdome prints. The lighter one will be on show in Yokohama, the darker one in SF. There will be a reception at GAW on saturday 10 September 3-5pm. Hope to see you there!

There will be a reception at Launchpad Gallery, Yokohama, on saturday 17 September 7-10pm, with the show running from 16 - 26 September. Hope you can make it one or the other of the shows.

Los Angeles

Went to stay with some friends in LA at the weekend and spent an afternoon in their lovely back yard.Summer the dog, an adorable labradoodle, helped me with my watercolour sketch...Long live the sunshine!

Nathan's wedding

My friend Nathan asked me to create some illustrations for his wedding invitations, and I came up with several ideas for the three different event cards. Each card had a slightly different level of formality, so I tried to accommodate that.I also drew a little vignette of their names for the cards, that could be used on various stationery. I was asked for 'rustic but stylish', as the wedding was in Yosemite National Park, so I thought about the time I'd been there, and concentrated on the sweeping views and sequoia trees. The first event was on the lawn at the Wawona hotel, where I drew the lovely floral arrangements in the glowing early evening light.The wedding ceremony took place on the lawn of the Ahwahnee hotel, with the glorious mountains as a backdrop, on a perfect summer day.As a wedding favour each guest was given a waterbottle with my illustration of Half Dome on, but as a special thank you, Nathan and Strawn gave me a set of glasses as well, and I couldn't resist taking this picture. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Yosemite

We went to Yosemite National Park at the weekend to attend a wedding, and I loved being surrounded by the trees in the wonderful clear air.We stayed at the historic Wawona hotel (now renamed the Big Trees Lodge), and completely relaxed.We went up to Glacier Point twice, the first time at midnight to watch the Perseid shower, and the second time during the day. The meteor shower was one of the most magical things I've ever seen: the night was totally dark and all the stars in the milky way were visible. And then the stars fell, some brightly, some quickly, and some leaving a trail of sparkles. During the day the view was spectacular, with blue mountains and valleys all around as far as the eye can see. Truly a marvel of the world...

Rio map

To celebrate the start of the 2016 Olympics, here's a map of Rio I did for Conde Nast Traveller a few years ago. Hope it goes super well!I did a few little Rio icons for the article too...

watercolour sketches

I've been experimenting with watercolours these last few weeks, every time we've been to see the Pacific Ocean along the west coast.These two are beaches some way below Half Moon Bay...

San Francisco snowdome

I've been working on a new etching this week for an exchange project between my print workshop and a gallery in Japan. The theme is 'my San Francisco' and I decided to go for the ultimate kitschy object, the snowdome. I still feel like a tourist here and I looked for all the things that really appealled to me when I first arrived. I feel like the Bay is San Francisco's heart, so I featured watery icons like the seal, the bridge, and the ferry building. And of course I couldn't leave out the fog, and the sutro tower, that you can see from everywhere...I did several different versions of the print, some with colour/gold/stars and am still deciding which to show. We'll have the exhibition in our gallery in September and also in Japan around the same time. More details to follow!

improv theatre

Last weekend we went to see The Iron Stage doing a Game of Thrones improv night in San Francisco, it was amazing! I did lots of sketches while I watched...I said hello to the cast afterwards and showed them my drawings and they posted them on their facebook page, hurrah!Next month, Star Trek improv!~

print exchange

I took part in a print exchange between my own print studio the Graphic Arts Workshop and the Print Club of Rochester which is now on show in the GAW gallery. There was no specific theme, so I decided to do a new playing card in my ongoing series.I sketched all sorts of wading birds and chose sandpipers doing a spot of fishing. The opening reception is this afternoon 3-5pm, please do pop in if you can!

Here's how they look on the walls...

not a lemon

I have a piece in a group show opening next week in San Francisco called Not a Lemon. It features the work of 50 Bay Area artists and there'll be paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures. I had my first real California moment when I made lemon curd from lemons from my very own little lemon tree growing on the balcony, so for this show I created a hand-lettered recipe. I printed a woodcut lemon branch and wrote the recipe in pen and ink. I made 3 different versions, to experiment with type style and spacing, and they'll all be available at the exhibition.The opening reception will be on thursday 7th July 6-9pm. I'll be there, it would be great to see you! Hope you can all make it to see the show while it's up.