birthday week

I’ve had a relaxing birthday week - it’s been lovely to enjoy my time slowly. I finally visited the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, where I’ve been meaning to go for years. I’d heard it was based on the Palm House in Kew Gardens, which I love.

It did not disappoint. Although it’s much smaller, I adored walking between the rooms being surrounded by so much beautiful greenery. I took the time to do some sketching where I could…

…and especially enjoyed looking at the huge floating lily pads and water plants.

I cooled down outside and drew the building itself, loving the afternoon sunshine and green lawns.

We had a special dinner at the North Beach restaurant Hilda and Jesse in the evening, and it was one incredible course after another.

Each dish was prettily plated and felt like jewellery. It was such a special evening.

And this weekend I had a picnic in the local park with some friends, and we ate cake and cucumber sandwiches and laughed at everyone’s wonderful exploits. I really love birthdays!

haircut

I had my hair cut this week, by the lovely Steven Kelly. I managed a few quick pen sketches in my sketchbook, filling in with tone on the computer when I got home. It’s always great to sketch in unusual situations!

Avalanches COPE book

The latest COPE book is out in the world! It’s all about Avalanches and how to be prepared when you go to areas where they may happen. The book is set in New Zealand/Aoteaora and the COPE team witness an avalanche there and help out afterwards.

We worked with UNICEF NZ, as well as the New Zealand Met Services, and the Avalanches book is available on their website too. You can take a look at what they’ve said about the books here.

When I get a COPE project I always start with a full book storyboard. Here’s an example of my storyboarding process: this is the very first stage, when I go through the story text and work out what needs to happen on each page, what sort of location it will be, and what sort of space I need to leave for the words.

And this is the final stage of storyboarding, where I’ve worked out the backgrounds and locations, and drawn in the COPE team in the right places for their actions and dialogue. Things can still change after this point, but this is where I start when I begin the final drawings.

And here’s a final double page spread in colour, with the text and speech bubbles in place. I really enjoyed making this image of the beautiful Milford Sound. I hope I can go there one day! Most of the pages towards the end of the book are snowy, so there’s alot of white, and it was great to be able to add in some full, colourful pages to contrast with them.

Here’s the trailer for Avalanches. Please spread the word about the books, and read them with your kids, you never know when the information may be helpful.

beach sketch

For a change, we recently went to a different beach than usual - Martin’s Beach. It’s smaller, but has an interesting shaped pointy rock that’s pretty dramatic.

I sketched the view and the incredible waves in my tiny sketchbook…

The sky was an incredible blue when we arrived, and the waters a lovely turquoise, but while I was sketching, the grey clouds rolled in, and it went dark for a while.

But then the fog and clouds rolled away again, as it does on the Pacific Coast, and it went back to being a perfect California day.

I roamed the shoreline looking at the various seaweeds…

I’m always amazed by the brightness of the flowers on the coast. All in all, a lovely weekend excursion!

chochin workshop

I went to a workshop recently run by Kojima Shoten at HEATH Ceramics in San Francisco, to make a chochin - a Japanese paper lantern.

We watched a demo, and then worked with a tiny structure made of bamboo…

…and added layers of various patterned washi onto the rings with glue and a brush.

The edges are trimmed and glued down and voila!

It was so fun to use washi in a different way than I usually would, and gave me some ideas of things to make in the future!

wood + paper + box exhibition review

There is a fantastic review of our wood + paper + box exhibition (held at the Beach Museum in Kansas) in the Journal of the College Book Art Association Magazine: Openings, Studies in Book Art.

Openings is a peer-reviewed online journal that features critical and historical articles and exhibition reviews on book art and its connections to the broader art world and related fields, such as poetry, graphic design, printmaking, digital media, and other textual and visual disciplines.

I’m attaching the entire article here.

Kimi Kitada, curator and arts educator based in Kansas City, reviewed the exhibition for the journal. Kitada is currently the gallery and programs manager at Charlotte Street Foundation. Thank you Kimi!

Rosewood Hotel Willow Pattern products

I’m so excited that these two ceramic products are now available at Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong. I designed this Rosewood Willow Pattern for them using lots of elements from the hotel itself, with its signature pattern as the blue of the sea, and several icons directly based on items in the hotel.

The peacock, the butterfly and the elegant bird sculpture are things you’ll find within the hotel. The dragon in the clouds represents Kowloon.

You can purchase the candle here. (It smells pretty nice too)

The coasters feature the whole of my illustration - a map of Kowloon side all the way up to the Lion Rock tunnel. You can see the famous Wong Tai Sin temple, goldfish market, and the Palace Museum.

The coasters are made with a special 3-D effect so the illustration is embossed, and have a shiny gold glaze to highlight various details in the design.

You can purchase the coasters here.

Hong Kong part II

After Japan, I went back to HK at the end of May, and managed to do some fun things, as well as have the usual round of meetings. I even managed to visit my artwork installation at Cheung Sha Wan MTR station, that I haven’t seen in a while.

It was great to check up on how the panels are faring, and to feel like (hopefully) the artwork isn’t dating too badly!

I also popped in to Stanley, saw the house where I grew up (it’s changed alot) and wandered in the slightly depleted market.

I went to see Alvin on Lantau…

…and had all sorts of wonderful, wonderful meals with friends.

I visited the Faux showroom, worked on new product ideas, and saw my ceramics in shops and even at a dinner party.

The weather was grey, hot, and rainy. But HK just always looks so fantastic, whatever the weather.

I spent my last evening with friends at their boat club, swimming, chatting and eating, as we watched the lights on the water. I made a little sketch with my emergency paint kit…

HK is changing, but my memories keep me tied to all my favourite places there. I hope it never loses its essential HongKongness.

Tokyo ...and Mt Fuji

For our last few days in Japan, we returned to Tokyo to spend time with our friends there. We ate wonderful meals and chatted about all sorts of things. This is one of our favourite restaurants: Nihonbashi Tendon Kaneko Hannosuke where I managed to sketch, eat and draw at the same time.

Just walking around a big city was a lovely change, and we visited lots of favourite spots from our time living there.

As I flew from Tokyo to Hong Kong, the pilot tilted the plane slightly, so everyone could get a spectacular view of Mt Fuji. Hazy and majestic, it was a fitting last view for this extended visit to Japan. I already can’t wait to go back…

Kyoto part II

For our second week in Kyoto, we moved to another adorable renovated house, this time with a lovely private garden. You could see it from the dining room and also the bathroom. I sat and watched the leaves fluttering at all times of the day, in both rain and sunshine…

We celebrated our wedding anniversary with a spectacular meal at Kushiage Omoto. Kushikatsu is our favourite Japanese food that just doesn’t seem to be available outside Japan. The chef brought out each stick one by one as it was cooked, so it was piping hot and fresh. This kind of meal is perfect for sketching, and I captured the whole evening in one drawing.

The house was within easy reach of the Kamogawa River, and we would often walk there, admiring the greenery and mountain views. We even managed to find a cafe one day that looked over the river in the rain.

We walked one early evening in the Kyoto Imperial Palace Gardens, and I managed a simple sketch in the dusk.

As it was Golden Week when were there, we avoided the central parts of Kyoto as much as possible, to keep away from the masses of tourists, but we did pop in to Gion to take a look around. We saw an amazing heron in the shallow river, who had caught some sort of eel. He managed to swallow it whole!

We visited the Toji Temple Antique Market on an extremely hot and sunny weekend, and I wandered happily for hours browsing the many stalls.

We ate so many incredible meals, and found lots of pretty places to eat. I don’t think we could ever get bored of eating out in Kyoto.

I spent alot of time walking, and loved finding the little corners filled with plants outside people’s houses. I wonder if this is a place I could live one day…

Kyoto part I

We stayed for a few days in a little renovated Japanese house right by the start of the Philospher’s Path on the Eastern side of Kyoto. I woke up early every day and explored the area on foot. I loved walking along the pretty path…

I discovered the incredible Honenin Temple very close by, and fell in love. I visited twice, once in the gentle rain, and once in the sunshine. The spring greens are beautiful either way, but the singing of the frogs in the mist and rain made that experience extremely special.

I visited Ginkakuji Temple, also close by, and although it’s very beautiful too, because it’s so famous, it’s hard to avoid the throngs of tourists, even though I got there right when it opened.

We visited a tiny little garden temple called Gioji, in Arashiyama, to the West of Kyoto. It was so green and adorable and mossy. I like the quiet places best. I want to enjoy the stillness…

…there was even a little bamboo walk, and hardly any visitors. I can look at the shadows of momiji on the moss all day.

Osaka - a brief stop

After Karuizawa, we took the shinkansen to Kansai. We had a little city break in Osaka, where we stayed in a tall hotel on Nakanoshima and I drew the view from the window...

Karuizawa

After Kanazawa, I spent a few days catching up with friends in Tokyo, and then made my way to Karuizawa, a resort town north of Tokyo at a higher elevation.

It’s cooller there and the cherry blossom was still blooming and it was wonderful to spot all the different shapes and colours of sakura.

Two weeks was spent very happily there, mostly at my computer catching up on things, but also walking everyday and doing small sketches…

We even picked some strawberries, and I learnt that there are different types! I don’t know why I hadn’t really realised that before. We tried 7 different types and I now have a favourite type of strawberry…

Mt Asama is not as grand as Mt Fuji, but it’s still impressive, although perhaps a little ominous. It sits, quietly puffing away, reminding you that it could erupt whenever it feels like it. We walked in the mountains whatever the weather, and the foggy rainy days were as beautiful as the sunny ones.

The night sky was often crystal clear and we watched the stars and listened to the sounds of the mountain.

Kanazawa part II

While in Kanazawa, I walked on a rainy day around the small Samurai district of preserved houses and streets. It was atmospheric and quiet.

The rain and wind had made lots of the sakura petals fall, which was beautiful in its own way too…

I visited the Higashi Chaya district on a sunnier day, and tried to beat the crowds by going early. I took a midmorning break and enjoyed a traditional treat of shiratama, which is a type of mochi.

I really loved these traditional streets, it felt like being in an NHK costume drama. The falling cherry blossom petals really added to the atmosphere.

I had lunch at the top of one of the department stores in town, and snagged a window seat so I could sketch the view towards the castle and mountains.

I popped in to the Kanzawa Contemporary Art Museum, as I’d always wanted to see the famous Swimming Pool sculpture by Leandro Erlich, but unfortunately it was closed for renovations due to earthquake damage from earlier this year. I did get to experience their James Turrell though, which was very calming.

Kanazawa was an interesting mix of old and new, and I feel like I had a good taster. I’d love to visit again in another season!

Kenrokuen - Kanazawa

After the excitement of the mokuhanga residency and conference, I went to Kanazawa for a few days to walk, and catch up on work. On my first day, I visited Kenrokuen Gardens, which were free to the public for the week so everyone could enjoy the cherry blossom which was in full bloom…

The gardens took 200 years to perfect, and have been open to the public since the Edo era. I found a little teahouse by a pond, and enjoyed a refreshing plum soda and made a watercolour sketch.

The views of the sakura were breathtaking, and I enjoyed walking along the various paths and seeing all the different trees.

My favourite parts of the garden were the mossy bits - I just can’t resist the glorious greens.

I would love to visit these gardens in other seasons - imagine how stunning they would be in the Autumn!

mokuhanga exhibition

As part of the International Mokuhanga Conference in Echizen, my printmaking collective Mokuhanga Sisters held a special exhibition at the Udatsu Paper and Craft Museum.

The museum allowed us free reign to design our show, and we displayed our work in the beautiful historic gallery as if it were precious jewels. Some of the prints were hanging, so you could walk around them to see the reverse side, and some were layed down on black velvet.

My print for the collaborative project is titled Camellia Bowl, and is the largest print I’ve made thus far. I used sumi ink from Nara, and masaban-sized washi from Echizen.

Here’s the statement I wrote about my piece:

We also showed our collaborative scroll piece in the main gallery, that we made together in 2020/21.

In the back room of the gallery, we showed some of our own personal work, and I had 3 flowers prints close together like this.

A reporter from the local Fukui Prefecture newspaper came to speak to us about the show and the conference, and we held a private view of the show the evening before it opened.

Thank you to everyone who came to see our show, and left lovely comments in our book. We’re looking forward to our next show when we complete part 2 of our project!

mokuhanga conference

I attended the 5th International Mokuhanga Conference that was held in Echizen last week, and had an incredible time. Our collective, Mokuhanga Sisters, put up a group show that was magical, and my tiny folded piece ‘le petit jardin’ was also featured in the juried show.

I did several workshops, but my favourite was papermaking - I’ve tried it once before, but truly enjoyed it this time, making 2 pieces of washi that I hope to be able to make prints with.

There were lots of talks and several demos, which I sketched, and I especially found Kyoko Hirai’s printing demo fascinating. I am always learning so much…

I’ve never really sized my own paper, preferring to buy it ready-sized, but having tried it out at my residency a few weeks ago, and then seeing Taki san’s demo at the conference, I think I may make it a habit.

It was great to participate in the open portfolio and show some of my work. Thank you to everyone who came by and chatted. It’s a real confidence booster!

It was a hectic few days, but extremely rewarding. Already looking forward to the next one…

Japan part II - mokuhanga residency

I worked hard at my mokuhanga residency in Echizen that finished last week. This was my desk, facing a pretty plum tree.

I started 2 projects, but eventually focussed on the smaller block so I’d have time to print.

I love the carving process, and am still a bit nervous of the printing, so I try to prepare as much as possible.

I planned this flower print in colour, and tried out various combinations…

…but then decided to also try a version in sepia tones, to really capture the idea that this is a print made from a fluid line sketch.

Here are both versions. Let me know which you prefer!

Echizen

I’m having a lovely time at my Echizen residency, and it’s been great to be working on my newest, largest print. The weather has been changeable so far: bright sunshine, thunderstorms, hail, rain, and several flurries of snow. I haven’t been so cold in a long time. And this morning there was an earthquake!

This is the view from my room, during a light dusting of snow…

Tokyo

I arrived in Tokyo for just a few days, before travelling to the countryside. It was lovely and sunny and so so so wonderful to be back!

I managed to fit in some brush shops, a paper shop and even a pigment shop. I’m all set up for my upcoming mokuhanga residency…