My sister Yoshi Makino is one of the most creative people I know. As a middle school and high school art teacher in Geyserville, California, she always comes up with interesting projects for her students, from making their own egg tempura paint to designing wire sculptures of their shoes.

Last fall’s Kincade Fire, which started near a PG&E transmission line outside Geyserville, was the worst of California’s 2019 wildfires. It ultimately burned through more than a hundred square miles. Most of Sonoma County was ordered to evacuate, and three million customers lost power. 

A former student of Yoshi’s texted to check on her. She wrote that the fire had destroyed her home and belongings, including all her art.

The fire came within a foot of Geyserville New Tech Academy, where Yoshi teaches. Thankfully, a dedicated team of firefighters stopped the blaze before the buildings ignited.

“The fire was really traumatic for some students,” Yoshi says. “Ash was falling down, and first responders were shouting into megaphones, ‘You’re in immediate danger, evacuate now!’ Students had to double up with relatives, and it was super crowded. Some had to evacuate twice as the fire spread.”

Between the evacuation, power outage and smoke damage, the school was closed for three weeks. When it finally reopened in November, Yoshi had an idea: to have her students harvest charcoal from the burned logs remaining on the school grounds. 

Using this charcoal plus compressed charcoal and gold leaf, she then had her seven high school students draw a 17-foot-wide, four-foot tall mural featuring phoenixes rising out of fire. You can see them at work in this video.

“Phoenixes represent the spirit of resilience and renewal arising from fire and destruction,” Yoshi says. “I wanted to help the students transform their experience into something beautiful and healing.” The mural recently showed at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair, where it won Best of Show. 

Senior Camila Lopez, in a story in the Cloverdale Reveille on Tuesday, said, “Not knowing if I can go back to our house and not knowing if there's gonna be a school to go back to as well was extremely hard to deal with. I was very grateful to later find out that everything was okay. So, creating this mural was actually quite calming. It was like I was a part of making a hard situation a bit better. Making something that was horrific, beautiful.”

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Makino Studios News

Haiku poetry reading: I will be reading my haiku and giving a slide show presentation of my haiga (haiku art) at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, CA on Thursday, April 30 at 7 p.m. This is part of the free Writers Read series. I’ll have cards and prints for sale, and after my reading there will be refreshments and an open mic.

Cards and calendars: I’ve got lots of spring-themed cards for birthdays, weddings and everyday on my Makino Studios website. And my 2020 mini-calendar of art and haiku is now 40% off, from $12 to $7.20.

Free shipping: I offer free first-class shipping on US retail orders of $35 or more. Use code FREESHIP35 at checkout.

Studio visits: I don’t have any public events planned for the next several months, but local folks can always visit my art studio between Arcata and Blue Lake, CA by appointment.

Staying connected: I love hearing from readers and respond to every message. Also, I regularly share art, works in progress, haiku, Makino Studios news and photos of my day. We can stay connected through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter through the links below.