Heatwaves - COP27

This year I illustrated the last book in the COPE disaster Risk Reduction picture books series: Heatwaves. It was officially launched at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

COPE attended the conference with the support of the World Meteorological Organization, and held a side event at the Science for Climate Action Pavilion. We hosted an inspiring panel discussion with some of our key collaborators from UNICEF East Asia and Pacific, the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, and the WMO. The panelists shared their opinions about the important role of children in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and the new book.

I watched the discussion live from HK, and sketched and made notes throughout.

Lina Suarez, our COPE representative, hosted the panel, and visited the first Children and Youth pavilion, shared the COPE books and built relationships with a host of future collaborators. Hopefully COPE can continue to expand its reach and we can spread the message of disaster preparedness to children all over the world.

You can read more about COPE at the event and see more photos here.

HK week 3

During my time in HK I worked in several places, here are just a few of the desks I made my own temporarily!

I was really happy to go and visit Korean Beauty Secret, who commissioned a floral illustration to be used in their two new stores. It was great to get to see the venues in real life.

I also went to the offices of the CMA, to collect samples of the commemorative plates I illustrated for them in 2020. It was lovely to see them proudly displayed in their reception area.

Before my show I got my nails done by my favourite lady nailups, who took inspiration from my teapot postcard and created a set of intricate nail designs. She manages to capture the essence of my drawings and produce something magical…

And of course, I had many delicious meals with all my wonderful HK friends. One can never have enough dim sum. Thank you to everyone who made time to see me. I hope it won’t be so long until next time…

HK week 2 - my show!

Two weekends ago, I had a show of prints and ceramics at the Vault at the Fringe Club to celebrate 25 years of my work in HK. It was hosted by faux and Feste. So many friends and clients showed up, it was wonderful!

I had my first show in HK at the Fringe in 1997…

… and it seemed fitting to have my anniversary show there this year.

I did a livesketch towards the end of the evening, when it was a bit quieter. It was lovely to sit and enjoy the ambience.

I was interviewd briefly during the event by a Japanese journalist. You can watch her vlog here and also see lots of the ceramics that were on show. All my different ceramic collections were available for the first time together.

The artwork is staying on the walls at the Vault at the Fringe until Saturday 26th November, I hope you get a chance to visit!

HK week 1

After almost 3 years, I’m finally back in Hong Kong. The first few days were pretty emotional, as I wandered around, soaking in the atmosphere and noting all the changes.

I stayed in a hotel for the first week, as there are still covid restrictions etc, but on the whole it wasn’t bad.

It’s been lovely to see my ceramics around town, in Feather and Bone, faux, the Mandarin Oriental and the vault.

I’ve been preparing for my retrospective at the Fringe this weekend, please do pop in if you’re around!

Hong Kong has its own particular kind of beauty, and I’ve missed it so much…

BEYORG seasonal box 2022

I created the illustrations for BEYORG’s 2022 seasonal box of products after last year’s was such a success. This time the box is in pink, with illustrated elements of facials, cosmetics and nature.

I did lots of initial sketches to work out a layout, and see how everything could work together, playing with the composition and style.

The illustration on the front of the box is more of a whole scene, with details sprinkled over the little drawers on the inside.

The separate little illustrations were also used on some of the promotion for the box, and I like the way they highlighted some of the products this way.

Boxes are available online here or in the BEYORG stores in Hong Kong.

England visit part III - Great Dixter

After many years of wanting to visit the gardens of Great Dixter in Kent, I finally managed a trip there, and was not disappointed! There was a sunken garden, peacock topiary, wild meadows and lawns and so many incredible flowers.

I did a few quick sketches while I was there, but spent most of the time taking photos.

There were so many delightful corners and details all throughout the gardens. I don’t think I’ve ever been to such a wonderful garden. I can’t wait to visit again in the Spring next time.

I bought some botanical ink made from the plants in the garden and am really looking forward to trying it out.

England visit part 2

I managed to do a little bit of sketching while I’ve been in the UK. We took a mini-trip to the Kent countryside, where I revelled in the lush green landscapes…

…and even visited a castle! We stayed in this adorable cottage and watched the sun setting over the hills.

Mostly though, this trip has been about home and family. This is the meal we all had together, at our regular and favourite Chinese restaurant.

WMO - Geneva

This week I visited the WMO headquarters in Geneva with the whole COPE team. We introduced our books and discussed our objectives, and met the Secretary General.

We had several meetings, within the team, and with the WMO, and I sketched and made notes.

Here’s the photo we took of the WMO DRR team, the COPE team, and the Secretary General (he’s holding the Heatwaves book open on the page that features my illustration of him!)

It was great to see in real life several of the locations I drew in the book set at the WMO headquarters.

It was a real treat for us all t0 get together and meet in person. The whole of the COPE team lives in different countries around the world, so this was a rare event.

Heatwaves will be officially launched in conjunction with the WMO at the COP27 event in Egypt next month. It’s currently available in English and French.

gloves and bottles

I’ve been busy finishing up a project this week, so here’s an image I found recently of something I made at art college - it’s a book I hollowed out and filled with some bottles of imaginary scents, adding some handlettering, that was inspired by the book Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I also printed the flowers onto the vintage satin gloves as part of the project. I used to make a lot more 3-dimensional work. Maybe it’s something I could go back to…

Wood Paper Ink

Wood Paper Ink explores mokuhanga and its expansion from Japan to the international world of contemporary art. The exhibition is organised by the Mokuhanga Sisters and the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, and it presents diverse examples of the environmentally sustainable printmaking process.

My tree print is featured on the brochure, and my 3-dimensional piece Into the Garden is on display in a case. I’ve never thought of these 2 pieces as part of a set, but I like them together.

Work from each of the Mokuhanga Sisters and a few invited guests, fills the beautiful space.

The Mokuhanga Sisters and the Richard F Brush Gallery at St Lawrence University in Canton, NY present Wood, Paper, Ink from September 12- October 8, 2022. Hope you can visit!

happy mid-autumn festival!

In HK, this is my favourite festival, when everyone lights lanterns and goes to the beach or the hills to light the way for the moon goddess to visit the earth…

This year I painted a little paper lantern with stars and lit it on my balcony. It was cloudy and I couldn’tsee the moon, but it still made me happy!

BRUSHED show

I made a sculptural piece for the BRUSHED show at the Compound Gallery in Oakland, curated by Courtney Cerruti. The opening was this weekend, and I went to take a look. I loved the wall my piece is hanging on - all the creamy pale pieces together.

I made my piece with an Asian wide brush, wrapping it in washi paper and collaging leaves made from my mokuhanga offcut prints. I tried to create a feeling of a dappled grove in the woods.

I originally thought I’d have the brush facing one way and put a hook on the back, but as I worked on it, I decided to collage both sides, and all the edges too…

I put a hook in the top, and now the piece can be hung whichever way forward you prefer!

The show is up for a while, I do hope you can pop by.

library card

Back in 2021, Burlingame Public Library held a competition for designs for several new library cards. There were two children’s categories and one for adults, and you had to be a Burlingame library card holder in order to take part (yay me!) The brief was to create a design that represented Burlingame, libraries, or reading. I came up with a concept that celebrated all three…

I’ve always loved the Burlingame library lions at the entrance to the main building, and decided to create the design around them. Using photo references I’d taken, I sketched out several versions, and adapted each iteration, adding a smile, a library book, and eventually also the main archway around the double doors to the library.

Next I starting playing with colour and shading. The line work was done with a dip pen and ink, and I added the colour and textures in Photoshop. I played with the tones in the metal lion, and added a pop of colour in the book. As you can see, right up until the end, the words on the book were the address of the library itself, until I suddenly realised it would be more meaningful to write ‘Wisdom and Wonder’, the names of the two lions, and also a wonderful motto for what the library itself represents.

I went to the library this week to get myself a new card and took these photos in situ…

Here’s a fun film that the library staff made to celebrate the winning library card designs.

I’m so pleased and honoured to now be a part of Burlingame library’s wonderful history!

storm drains

Earlier this year, Burlingame City held an open call for designs for a Storm Drain Murals Pilot Project: small murals to be placed near the storm drains on the pavements. They wanted to draw people’s attention to the drains and the fact that anything that goes into them gets washed directly out into San Francisco Bay.

I entered these two designs:

For the first, I adapted one of my San Francisco snowdome etchings, adding large raindrops, and for the second, I did some hand-lettering and placed it over my clouds and rain mokuhanga print. Both were chosen!

It was so exciting to to finally go and find them actually printed and on the street!

Both small murals are on Burlingame Broadway, and there is a map to show their locations here.

I would love to see any photos you take of them if you see them in person too.

ikigai Japan map

I illustrated a map of Japan recently for the new luxury spirits brand ikigai collection, part of the BBC Spirits group. The maps helps inform the bar servers, when they get specialised training in the brand, about the topography of Japan, and where specific distilleries are. There’s a huge difference between snowy Hokkaido in the North and tropical Okinawa in the South!

My brother Kenji Jesse is a brand ambassador for the collection, through his company nomu consult, and it was wonderful to work on a project together. He takes the Japanese philosophy of life and infuses it into his personal brand.

I gave the map a Japanese flavour, using traditional patterns in the sea and border, but kept it contemporary and bright, to suit the new brand.

I love seeing how the map is used in situ!

Creativebug class

Back in May, I filmed two classes for Creativebug and the first, a daily practice sketchbook class, is now available. You can follow along in short easy steps, with me drawing and showing you how to get comfortable sketching whenever you feel like it, in public, at home, wherever you fancy!

The sketchbook class is a ‘daily practice’, which means that every day, for a month, you spend a few minutes doing some sort of sketching, and hopefully by the end, you’ve built up a little routine for yourself, and will have fallen in love with sketching.

I show how I use 3 different sketchbooks for different types of things: everyday, special, and working. I always have a sketchbook in my bag, and if I’m out and about, in a cafe or a park, I’ll do a sketch. To create this scenario in the Creativebug studio, they built a mock cafe for me to sketch in, using a lot of my own products. I loved the set-up!

You can read more about how the filming went on the Creativebug blog here.

This is the trailer for the class. I’m not used to being filmed, but (I think) I got the hang of it. I really hope I’ve shared my love of sketchbooks and sketching. And maybe a few more people will be comfortable going out and sketching, and loving it too.

You can register and try out the class for a trial period for free. You can search for Creativebug online, or click this link to go direct to my class.

*I get a bonus if you end up signing up through this link! Enjoy!!

treehouse weekend

It was my birthday last week, and we went to stay in a treehouse, as a special treat! I have always wanted to stay in one, and it was as magical as I hoped. To wake up in a four poster bed, surrounded by trees and birds, was heavenly…

The house had been built into a fairy ring of redwood trees, and the light that came through at all times of the day was wonderful. I enjoyed just sitting out on the deck watching the sunlight through the leaves.

The treehouse was in the grounds of a ranch, and we wandered through the forests and pastures, marvelling at all the different wildlife. I especially loved seeing a group of California quail, with their funny head feather, but they ran away too quickly for me to photograph them.

My birthday breakfast was delicious and beautiful, mostly provided by the chickens and garden on the ranch…

The place we stayed was called FlipJack Ranch, but unfortunately they’re retiring and I’m not sure if you’ll be able to stay at the treehouse any more. Fingers crossed it will still be available in the future!

old postcards

I’ve been sorting out old files and boxes, doing a deepclean of my art cupboard, and I found a selection of postcards I’ve had printed over the years, going back to 1996! It’s wonderful to see some of these older works…

hike/walk in the peninsula

This week I went for a hike through the woods at the El Corte de Madera open space preserve with some new friends, and enjoyed the dappled sunlight through the trees. Saw lots of wildflowers, birds and even a lizard. Extremely happy that we didn’t see any mountain lions or rattlesnakes.

We visited the Tafoni Rock Formations and I managed a super quick colour pencil sketch before we went back. It felt so good to be outdoors in the perfect California weather!