Filoli visit

I recently spent a day exploring Filoli Historic House and Garden in the peninsula, south of San Francisco. There was a beautiful brick house, fountains and pools, a walled garden, rose gardens, and many more surprising delights, I’m sure I didn’t see everything!

It was a day for doing some filming, sketching and taking many, many, photos. I absolutely loved the charming orangery, and did a simple sketch of one of the windows inside, with plants and huge wicker armchair.

The grounds felt very European, and were a lovely burst of bright green. The cafe was great too and I’d love to go back and visit again for a more in depth look!

new studio wall

I’ve been tidying my studio all week, and it’s not complete yet, but I did finally unpack some of the framed artwork I had with me in Japan. I rearranged the wall above my computer to include some of these pieces - I love having things that inspire me around me as I work!

New York exhibition

Our mokuhanga group show Beyond Worlds opened at the Kentler International Drawing Space in New York last week. The opening reception was well attended, and four out of the nine Mokuhanga Sisters were there to hang the show and celebrate.

There were pieces by each of the Sisters, and also invited guests. Each wall was hung intuitively as well as thematically and there are all sorts of conversations happening between the works.

Our collaborative sumi ink scroll had pride of place in the exhibition, with a newly made display table. I never get tired of seeing this scroll and the beautiful work we all put in together to make it. Here’s a close-up of my Night Garden print in the scroll.

My tiny Black Poppy print had a little wall to itself in the black and white corner…

I especially like the dialogue that seems to be happening between this large print by Ayao Shiokawa and my Summer Blooms print. The matching colours and shapes of the flowers make the eye flow easily back and forth between them…

The exhibition runs until July 31st, please take a look if you’re in New York!

Delicious show

I have several pieces in the current food-themed exhibition Delicious at STUDIOGallerySF in downtown San Francisco. I chose to show some of my older dimsum prints, and this Peony Coffee pot and cup etching.

I visited the show this week and loved seeing all the work. It still gives me a thrill to see my work in amongst others in a gallery.

These are the last few days of the show, hope you can pop in!

Still We Rise auction

One of my Crimson Peony mokuhanga prints is in the fundraising auction being run by Still We Rise right now. It’s fundraising for two important organisations who are fighting to provide access to reproductive health for everyone in the US.

The auction runs until 7pm PST on June 13th, and you can bid on the Still We Rise instagram here. Thank you for your support!

wood + paper + box residency

For the past week, Katie Baldwin, Yoonmi Nam and I, have been doing a wood + paper + box artists residency at In Cahoots in Petaluma, California. We stayed in wooden cabins, enjoyed the wonderful sunshine, and I especially loved our working lunches sitting around the outdoor table under a large oak tree.

We worked together on our latest collaborative project Mise en Scene, letterpress printing a colophon and postcards, and putting together a booklet to accompany our box full of prints.

We discussed our upcoming show (Autumn 2023) and the next stage of wood + paper + box. So many exciting things on the horizon!

volcanoes COPE book

The newest COPE book is done! This was a great book to illustrate as I researched Indonesia and Mount Merapi, that erupted not too long ago.

The book was launched at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction for the United Nations, in Bali, Indonesia.

It was translated into Bahasa and read with local children’s groups, and introduced COPE to a wide range of potential partners, so hopefully we can spread the COPE message of disaster resilience even further!

The Volcanoes Book can be read on the COPE website here and also downloaded for free!

friendship book

This week I received my copy of you and me are so nice together by Storey. It’s a little book with beautiful illustrations by all the artists at Marlena Agency (including me!)

It’s a lovely combination of less famous quotes and contemporary pictures. I chose a Japanese proverb, and illustrated it with 2 beetles meeting on a leaf.

The book is available in bookstores an amazon.

Creativebug classes

This week I filmed two classes for the amazing website Creativebug. They created a wonderful set for me, filled with inspirational things, including quite a few of my own products.

I enjoyed the whole process, although I’ve never done anything like this before. The incredible team at Creativebug were so supportive (thank you!) and I can’t wait to see how the classes look!

As soon as my classes are online I’ll let you know!

San Francisco show

I popped in the STUDO Gallery SF in Polk Gulch at the weekend, to see the City Streets
Urban Views of the Bay Area exhibition.

There are 2 of my San Francisco Snowdome prints in the exhibition, and I’m so happy they finally get a showing! I made this series of prints, of an imaginary San Francisco snowdome, when we first moved here and I was still exploring and getting to know the city. I love the San Francisco Bay, and one of my favourite places to hang out when we first arrived was the Ferry Pier on the Embarcadero.

You can see an online gallery of all the pictures in the show here. The physical show is on until May 23rd.

London

For the last few days of my UK trip, I’ve been staying in central London with a friend, and managed a few excursions into town, when it wasn’t too busy…

I popped into HOBBS on High Street Kensington, to take a look at the artwork I did for the interiors, and was happy to see my work on the sock packaging and ceramic mug in the store too!

I went to see the Beatrix Potter exhibition at the V&A (my favourite museum) and loved her beautiful meticulous drawings and watercolours.

And no visit to London is complete with a trip to Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly. The windows are celebrating the upcoming Queen’s jubillee, and I always love wandering in the ceramic and tea areas of the shop. There was even a royal visitor (no idea who) with a Rolls Royce outside.

Soon it’ll be back to California!

Book Arts event

This weekend, a selection of my artists books and hand-made zines will be on show at the Bristol Artists Book Event in Bristol, England.

I’m showing alongside other artists from the Tokyo-based Art Byte Critique art collective.

Most of my work on show is mokuhanga-based, like the accordian fold book ‘Between Times’ above, and my mini zines ‘Night Garden’ and ‘beetle’ below.

You can find more info about BABE here and more about the ABC participating artists here.

HOBBS mug

HOBBS of London has made a new ceramic stoneware mug featuring the London map illustration I made for them.

There are black cabs running around the inside of the mug, as well as a compass on the bottom and there are lots of famous landmarks on the mug. I especially like the packaging for the mug, which also features my illustration.

The mug is available in select stores in the UK, and online here.

France trip IV

For our last few days in France we booked a delicious airbnb in Le Rouret, about an hour away from Cannes. It’s run by a sweet creative couple and absolutely adorable! If you ever need a calm and relaxing place to stay there, I recommend them!

The weather was changeable but sunny and cool most of the time, and I sketched the view from our little terrace as I watched the clouds in the evenings…

We visited the picturesque artist town of St Paul de Vence, and saw Chagall’s grave and wandered in the pretty cobbled streets. Then had a cup of tea in a local cafe and I loved the pink walls and gold lettering on the doors…

We spent a wonderful time in the little Musee Bonnard in Le Cannet, where there was a special exhibition of Felix Vallotton woodcuts. I was inspired by Bonnard’s paintings set in the town.

I really enjoyed sketching out in the open, it’s been a while, and experimenting with different materials and paper. Every day there was something marvellous to see and I wanted to capture it all.

It has been an incredible 3 weeks, and I can’t believe it’s already over!

France trip III

In our third week in France, we started in the ancient village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, nestled into the mountains of Verdon en Provence.

The weather started sunny, but there were also a few days of cloud that gave the village a mysterious atmosphere. There were twisty alleys and fountains and the sound of water everywhere. As we were early in the season, the shops weren’t really open, and only a few of the restaurants, but it also meant that it was quiet and empty and beautifully private…

We then travelled through the Gorge du Verdon, stopping for a picnic lunch at this incredible spot. Everything is magnificent and it’s tricky to decide what to draw.

The road along the gorge is high and winding and I have to admit it was frightening as well as breathtaking. I’m not keen on these tiny roads with no barriers!

We are now closer to the coast near Cannes and Nice, enjoying our last few days in the South of France. I can’t believe the trip is almost over!

France trip II

Carcassonne was like a medieval fairytale, and we spent a windy sunny day walking the ramparts admiring the views. I loved the morning silhouette of the castle from our balcony…

After a few days there we moved to the countryside near Arles, and took up residence in a delightful renovated pigeonnier attached to an old Provencal Mas.

The whole atmosphere was homely , the lady who ran it was welcoming and the whole stay made me want to settle down and live there forever. You can rent it from airbnb here. I 100% recommend it!

I spent almost a whole day just wandering around painting things around the house and grounds. Such a pleasure…

I even took the time to draw some of the desserts I’d eaten - this is the pavlova by Remi Touja Pastry, champion patissier of France!

We also visited Arles, a wonderful little town that I absolutely adored. We kept arriving at the amphitheatre, whichever road we took, so we had galettes for lunch and I sketched the view. It was market day, and the hustle and bustle was such a refreshing change.

I loved the little details on the doors and the plants decorating people’s doorsteps, and of course all the winding streets…

This second week of the trip has been relaxing and warm, as the sun came out a little more, and now we’re off to the mountains…

France trip volume I

This is the first week of our epic South of France road trip - first stop Tarn-et-Garonne! We stayed in a lovely barn near Montpezat-de-Quercy, and explored the surrounding areas.

All the shutters of the local houses are painted in blue/turquoise/lilac and I love them all! The main house attached to our barn was a delightful pink, which made the shutters really pop.

We visited the cloisters of Moissac Abbey and the sun finally came out just in time to create deep shadows on the green lawn. I started this sketch on site, but we got chucked out at closing time and I finished it at home.

We went to the market in the picturesque hilltop town of Najac, and I managed this sketch at the bottom of the hill. What you can’t tell here is the extremely strong gusts of wind constantly buffeting us!

Another, even more spectacular hill-top town is Cordes-sur-Ciel, and we went to the top of an adjoining hill to enjoy the sight. These towns and villages look like fairytales…

Next stop: Carcassonne!

Spring flowers

I’m in the UK at the moment, visiting family, and trying to get a handle on all the world news. Walking in the garden, and in green spaces, is a priviledge and a joy.

tree prints

I have four prints of trees in our current group mokuhanga exhibition at the Southern Vermont Arts Centre. They form a quadtych I made while I was on an artists residency in Vermont almost 10 years ago, so it feels wonderful to show them publicly for the first time ever, in Vermont.

I was exploring our relationship to trees and nature, and put a human-made object with each tree.

I’m happy that three of the four prints have sold, and that the Night Tree and Rain Tree prints were sold together to a collector. I wonder if they’ll stay in Vermont…

The show continues until March 27th, so I hope you’ll be able to visit before then.

clouds

We can hold our loved ones close, and try to do what we can to make the world a better place, in our own small way. Stay safe everyone.