I've just arrived in HK and am loving being back in the warm weather. I spent a day wandering in Causeway Bay and Wanchai, soaking in all the sights and sounds, especially in the wonderfully noisy markets...
Here's how it looked on the day!
This week, just a little sketch I did of an astroemeria flower I have on my desk.
I was trying to concentrate on work and got distracted and thought I'd do a little drawing to get focussed...
This week I visited the Jack London State Historic Park near Sonoma. It was a beautiful day spent wandering along green paths and poking around in the museum and cottage. I went to the museum first, admiring all the artifacts the Londons brought back from their world travels...
...and then wandered into their farm. I loved the wide sweep of the green.
I saw Jack's studio where he wrote in their cottage, and their pretty garden. I bought a copy of one of his plays, and painted and sketched in it during my visit.
I went to see the pig palace (!) and painted the delightful view of the vineyards.
A lovely day, the only scary part being these signs everywhere. Luckily I didn't see any snakes!
The collaborative printmaking and book arts project I've been working on with my friends Katie Baldwin and Yoonmi Nam has finally got its own website!
It chronicles our two complete projects, the titular 'wood paper box', our most recent endeavour 'alabama california kansas', and our brand new project '(un)fold'.
There are links to process blogs for each project,
where you can read in depth about each artwork, and see photographs of shows we've put together and the meetings we've held. The chapter illustrations are my very own pen drawings, of our work and our portraits. 
Hope you'll take the time to visit and let us know what you think!
I've been planning some trips for the year, and trying to decide where to go, so I've been looking through some of the old maps I did for Conde Nast Traveller for inspiration. I found this full page map of Japan in the cherry blossom...
and am thinking it might be just the ticket!
A very happy Chinese new year of the rooster to you all! 
I want to share my love and support for everyone who is out this weekend marching, all over the world, showing that they care, about equality, diversity, and inclusion, and most especially about the future of the planet itself. We really all can make a difference.
I'm very proud to be a part of the women who draw website, an open directory of female professional freelance illustrators, artists and cartoonists. It was created by a group of women artists in an effort to increase the visibility of female illustrators. You can read all about it here and in this VOGUE article and in this one in the Huffington Post.
This is my little lady illustration (recognise her from the Miss joker playing card?) that represents me on the site.
She was even featured on the BBC news website this week, in an interview with the women who set up the site. I hope it will be a huge success. Thank you Wendy and Julia!
Hope the year has started out well for you all. We had our Japanese New Year osechi meal at home...
and I made extra so we could have it again with a different set of friends...
Hope this year will be bountiful!
We took a few days off during the holidays to have a little road trip down the coast to Capitola by the sea...
...and then on to Pinnacles National Park. I spent time sketching, walking and thinking about my goals for 2017.
I tried to paint pinnacles in the red of the rocks, but then realised that I more interested in the shapes than the colour, and did a wider panorama in just blue and green.
We also visited the Lick Observatory outside San Jose, which was fascinating.
Hope this year will be full of wonderful views, and incredible possibilities!
Hope everyone is enjoying their between-Christmas-and-New-Year break! Here's a picture of the cake my dad made and that I carried back to San Francisco to enjoy...
Stay cosy!
This year I splashed out and printed my Christmas cards properly. By that I mean they were offset litho printed (rather than digital) and included a shiny copper metallic foil stamped element. Hurrah!
For the design I wanted to create a pattern, but one that wasn't a straight repeat. 
To do this I sketched different types of trees you might find in a forest, and then all sorts of woodland animals. I then sprinkled the forest with twinkly stars, a moon and a greeting.
This man (and his dog) printed them for me in Hong Kong. I would thoroughly recommend him. New Hip Lik Co. in Central. tel: 2541 1992 (old school and no website!)
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!
M x
I drew a variety of cosmetic products for BEYORG's Christmas packaging in HK this year, creating a fun repeat pattern. It's been used on the website and shopping bags. There are 2 colourways...
... a very Christmassy red and green, and a more modern red and white...
If you see anyone carrying a bag with the design, do let me know!
I recently managed to get a copy of Cathay Pacific's inflight magazine featuring my HK toile bowl on the cover.
They even gave me a nice little write up inside...
I still love this toile so much, and am thinking of doing another...
I designed a limited edition small batch of christmas cards for sale this year. They're bundled in packs of five, and there are still a few packs left if you haven't sent your cards out yet. You can purchase them from my shop here. 
There are two designs, both featuring a cheeky robin in some ivy and berries.
If you're interested, please contact me and I'll get them to you as fast as possible!
I made two pieces for this show of paper cup art in San Francisco. The brief was to turn this ordinary object into a work of art, and artists from all over the US were invited to participate.
I tried to create the effect of blue and white china, and used my collection of Chinese ceramics as reference for the design. I made a cup with separate decorated panels first, and then did another based on the famous willow pattern design. It was interesting to work in the round, after working flat for such a long time.
https://vimeo.com/192408212
The show was on simultaneously at Long Weekend store in Oakland...
and Fayes in the Mission...
Today was the last day to see the show at Long Weekend, but Fayes will still be open to visit this week. Hope you can make it!
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!
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.
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!
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!
