The eye of the beholder

The Nativity Façade of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain.

Once upon a time, long, long ago—the summer before the pandemic, to be precise—my family and I spent a couple of weeks traveling around Spain. In Barcelona we visited the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, designed by Antoni Gaudí starting in 1882. Many of its millions of annual visitors find it stunningly beautiful. 

cobblestoned street
church bells ring
across the centuries

Unfortunately, its charms were mostly lost on me. The lumpy Nativity Façade, supposedly representing images from nature, made me think of a nasty skin rash. The cold and angular Passion Façade, meant to evoke Christ’s suffering, reminded me of the ugly Brutalist architecture I saw in the Soviet Union back in the 80s and 90s. 

At least I’m not the only one to shudder at the sight. George Orwell called it "one of the most hideous buildings in the world.” 

A view of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

I found plenty of other architecture to love in Spain, especially the Alhambra, the elegant Islamic palace and fortress in Granada.

where stone turns to lace Alhambra

The experience underscored for me that beauty is ultimately subjective. It means that as an artist, I need to accept that my creations won’t connect with everyone. It also means that I’m not the best judge of my own art, at least in terms of how it appeals to others.

So for the last couple years, I’ve been relying on the wisdom of crowds for big decisions about marketing my work. 

For my book, this spring I polled a focus group of some 20 friends and relations to help me decide which of my watercolor paintings to include and which to axe. I especially needed help choosing which piece would be most compelling on the cover (without the haiku). And I’ve relied on this same process to finalize choices for my calendars of art and haiku.

It’s fascinating to compile everyone’s responses. For each image that someone thinks should go on the cover, someone else votes to leave it out entirely. 

focus group
the conclusions
fuzzy

“flowering plum” is 11 x 14, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on paper. It appears in the 2022 calendar. © Annette Makino 2021.

Still, some patterns emerge, even if they’re not what I expected. A collage that I would have completely left off the 2022 calendar, featuring a bee in plum blossoms, was a finalist for the cover. The other finalist, a fox in the woods, was not one I had even considered for the cover.

With votes almost evenly split between those two potential cover images, I posed the question on Facebook and Instagram. Responses there skewed toward the fox. I also felt the fox image was more appropriate to the fall and winter, when people are buying calendars. 

But some people said they loved the brightness and optimism of the honeybee piece, especially after the year we’ve had. In the end, I went with the fox, but lightened and brightened the colors to make it more cheerful and welcoming. 

I’m really hoping that my respondents and I got it right, because 700 copies of the new 2022 calendar have just arrived in my studio! I’m very happy with how it turned out and I’m sure it’s a stronger publication thanks to the input I received. 

I hope you’ll find that this collection of landscapes, flowers and animals evokes neither hideous rashes nor Socialist monuments, just joyful celebration of life on this beautiful earth. May this calendar see us through a brighter 2022.

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Makino Studios News

NEW! 2022 mini-calendar: My new calendars of art and haiku are now available on this site and are coming soon to select stores in Humboldt County, California. They feature 12 colorful Asian-inspired collages with my original haiku, which you can see at the top of my collage gallery. These make great holiday gifts. $12 plus tax and shipping.

Joy, Art & Healing: I’m speaking on this fascinating topic this coming Sunday, Oct. 3, from 3 to 4 p.m. Pacific as part of an online panel with four fellow creatives. This is part of a free, 7-conversation series in celebration of a fantasy novel by Lori Snyder, The Circus at the End of the Sea. Register at www.writershappiness.com/JAH2021.

Water and Stone: I’ve just received the third shipment of my book of art and haiku! Water and Stone includes 50 watercolor paintings with my original poems, plus 15 haibun (short prose pieces combined with haiku). It is softbound, 8x10, full color, and 124 pages. Cost is $24.99 plus tax and shipping, You can find it online here, on Amazon and in select local Humboldt stores. Ooh, another gift idea!

New cards coming soon: I’ve got a number of new and updated greeting cards in the works; I’m just figuring out the words for some of the images. Stay tuned!

Made in Humboldt fair: You’ll be able to find my calendars, prints and boxed notecards at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA from Tuesday, Nov. 9 through Friday, Dec. 24. This will be the only fair where you can find my work this season.

Ta-daaah! My new book is out!

Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku, by Annette Makino, is published by Makino Studios and available to order on Amazon.

Since I was a child I have dreamt of publishing books. In third grade I even wrote and illustrated a rhyming alphabet book about books and being an author: “A is for ARTHUR (sic), It’s a him or a her. B is for bookstore, just go in the door . . . ”  It wasn’t exactly deathless prose, but the enthusiasm was genuine.

Fast forward fifty years, and I am thrilled to share that my new book, Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku, is now available to order via Amazon! This softbound book of my watercolor art is 8x10, full color, 124 pages, and priced at $24.99. I’m also planning to get it into some local stores next month—stay tuned!

I’m honored that four luminaries of the world of haiku and haiga have lauded my book. Here’s the full Amazon description with their comments:

This beautiful book by award-winning haiku poet and artist Annette Makino provides a welcome dose of Zen wisdom and humor for our fractured world. Through vibrant paintings and evocative poems, Makino finds beauty and meaning in the everyday world, be it the rhythm of ocean waves, the bittersweet joys of parenting, or a traumatized rescue dog.

Spanning a decade of painting and writing, Water and Stone features fifty haiga—artworks combined with haiku—painted with Japanese watercolors and sumi ink. Sprinkled throughout the collection are fifteen haibun—autobiographical prose pieces that include haiku. While deeply personal, these touch on universal themes such as the quest for meaningful work, finding love, raising a family, growing older, and considering our place in the world.

By turns joyful and poignant, this full-color collection of Makino’s paintings and haiku is a treat for lovers of Japanese poetry and art. Reading Water and Stone lifts the spirit while helping to deepen awareness and appreciation of the present moment.

Praise for Water and Stone

“Since haiku has become the world’s most popular and practiced form of poetry, it should not be surprising that it has led to fascinating fusions with other arts. Adding to the spirit of the poem without trying to explain it in words is difficult, but when well done it offers a special combination of charm and depth. With the publication of Water and Stone, Annette Makino takes her place among the leaders of haiku painting (haiga).”

—Stephen Addiss, author of The Art of Haiku

“Water and Stone is a joyous kaleidoscope of color with deeply felt art and words. Stories captured in succinct moments and longer prose that resonate in the very best tradition of simplicity and brevity. Makino has produced a wonderful collection.”

—Ron C. Moss, Haiga Editor of Contemporary Haibun Online

“Annette Makino offers a rare combination of excellence in both art and haiku. Water and Stone celebrates selections of the best of her work over the past ten years, documenting an impressive flowering of her aesthetic commitment and deep, playful exploration of these arts.”

—Michael Dylan Welch, founder of National Haiku Writing Month

“Water and Stone is a wonderful book of haiku, haibun, and haiga. Makino’s personal artistic voice centers on haiga—in this collection watercolors in a unique style inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. Water and Stone is a reminder that the best haiku are about really seeing the small, obvious, or not-so-obvious things in daily life.”

—Linda Papanicolaou, Editor of HaigaOnline

P.S. If you enjoy your copy of Water and Stone, other prospective buyers and I would very grateful if you would post a review online!

P.P.S. Amazon says it can take 3-5 days for the book to show up in the international marketplace. Also the “Look Inside the Book” feature will be available in seven days.

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A peek inside Water and Stone. The book features 50 watercolor haiga (art with haiku) and 15 haibun (prose pieces that include haiku).

Makino Studios News

Best Local Artist: There’s less than a week left to vote for Best Local Artist in the 2021 Best of Humboldt contest! Anyone can vote, every day in June, and I’d love your support.

Away next week: I’ll be off on a weeklong creative retreat/vacation next week, so please get your card orders in by tomorrow (Friday) evening. I’ll ship any orders after that the week of July 5. You can shop all my cards here.

Free shipping on cards and prints: Use code FREESHIP35 to get free first-class shipping on cards, prints, or other items on US orders of $35 or more on the Makino Studios site.

“Word and Image: Exploring Modern Haiga”: This session on haiga (art combined with haiku) is now on YouTube. I presented it together with Linda Papanicolaou, Editor of HaigaOnline, at the Haiku Society of America’s annual conference. First I gave a ten-minute slide show of my watercolor art from the book (starts at 3:20), and then Linda explained approaches to linking haiku with art. Finally, participants wrote haiku to accompany the images we provided. We had more than 200 attendees via Zoom and it was a lively session!

The business of art: I wrote a column about “the business end of the paintbrush” for the Business Sense series in the Eureka Times-Standard. It’s supposed to run this Sunday, June 27. I’ll be out of town, so I hope someone saves me a copy!

North Country Fair: This annual fair on the Arcata Plaza is scheduled to take place Sept. 18-19 this year, if COVID-19 safety permits. Makino Studios will be there, and I’ll have my new book for sale!

The worth of this day

“how to measure” is 5x7, made with a sand dollar, a Japanese stamp, hand-painted Japanese washi papers and other found papers on illustration board. © Annette Makino 2021

I’m delighted to share that, for the second year in a row, I’m one of three finalists for Best Local Artist in the North Coast Journals’s Best of Humboldt contest! The others are mural artists Duane Flatmo and Blake Reagan. Anyone can vote, once a day through June. I hope you will take a moment to support me and all your favorite local people and places.

As any working artist can tell you, there are many easier and more lucrative ways to make a living. Vincent van Gogh, now one of the world’s most famous artists, only survived due to financial support from his brother.

Though they may not have a brother like Theo, most of the artists I know rely on additional sources of income like teaching art, a day job, grants or a partner with good benefits. And the most financially successful artists aren’t necessarily the best at making art; they’re just really skilled at self-promotion and the business side of art. Look no further than the balloon rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons that sold for $91 million a couple years ago.

Unlike Koons’ balloon animals, my creative work brings in a fraction of what I earned in my old professional life. But the freedom and quality of life I enjoy are priceless. 

how to measure
the worth of this day
sand dollar moon

And whether it’s a painting, a poem, or a song, there is a special satisfaction in creating something meaningful that no one else could have made.

art studio
a full day’s work
under my nails

Although it doesn’t clearly show on a balance sheet, knowing that my work touches others only multiplies the rewards. After ten years of running Makino Studios, I’m still quietly amazed to receive checks from stores in the mail, because it means that perfect strangers are willing to pay for my art. Deepest thanks to my customers and fans for your ongoing support.

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“how to measure” haiga published in Modern Haiku, Issue 52.2, Summer 2021

“art studio” haiku published in The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXII, Number 2, June 2021

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“first warm breeze” is 5x7, made with a Japanese stamp, hand-painted Japanese washi papers and twine on illustration board. © Annette Makino 2021

Makino Studios News

Best Local Artist: I’m a finalist for Best Local Artist in the North Coast Journal’s 2021 Best of Humboldt contest! Anyone can vote, every day in June, and I’d love your support.

New artwork: Four of my collage pieces are featured in the Poetry Gallery section of the latest issue of Modern Haiku, including the two shown here. You can view all of them and many others in the Gallery section.

“Word and Image: Exploring Modern Haiga”: I will present this session on haiga, or art combined with haiku, together with Linda Papanicolaou, Editor of HaigaOnline, at the Haiku Society of America’s annual conference. This year’s event runs this Saturday and Sunday, June 12-13, and is free via Zoom. Anyone can register. Our 50-minute workshop is Sunday at noon Pacific time. 

Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku: My book is almost ready and I’m hoping to publish shortly! It features fifty watercolor haiga along with fifteen new haibun (autobiographical prose pieces with haiku). This softbound book will be 8x10, full color, 124 pages, on sale at Amazon or select independent bookstores for $24.99.

North Country Fair: This annual fair on the Arcata Plaza is scheduled to take place Sept. 18-19 this year, if COVID-19 safety permits. Makino Studios will be there!

Free shipping on cards and prints: Use code FREESHIP35 to get free first-class shipping on cards, prints, or other items on US orders of $35 or more.

The more things change

“The more things change” is 8x10, made of washi and found papers, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. It is available as a greeting card or notecard set reading ”may peace prevail on earth.” The haiku version appears in my 2021 calendar. © Annette Makino 2020.

Heavy snowflakes were falling as our taxi pulled up to the traditional Japanese inn. The snow took us by surprise—having packed light, I had only a rain coat and Dansko clogs—but it was magical. 

It was March 2012 and my sisters and I were visiting the town of Takayama on a trip through Japan following our father’s funeral. After an emotional couple of days and a five-hour train ride, we arrived in this preserved Edo-period town still in mourning and feeling disoriented. 

The tiny, warm-hearted innkeeper showed us to our room, which had tatami floors and rice paper screens. Through falling snow, there was a view of the river below. She served us foamy matcha tea and sweets at a kotatsu, a low table covered with a wool blanket that had a heater underneath, so we could tuck our legs under it for warmth. 

Walking to the river afterwards, we came upon a bright red bridge heaped with snow, in a scene straight out of 17th century Japan. At a restaurant just across the river, we ate the local specialty of hoba miso: miso paste spread on a magnolia leaf, grilled at the table on a small hibachi together with tender Hida beef and mountain vegetables. Delicious.

The serenity of our surroundings gradually seeped into our pores. Although we had never been there before, it all felt deeply familiar, perhaps from our childhood months of living with our Japanese grandparents in their traditional home in Takasaki, in Gunma prefecture.

At an intense time in our lives, the heart-expanding beauty of this place was deeply healing. I tried to capture the otherworldly quality of our visit to Takayama in a collage, above. 

the more things change
raindrops slowing
into snow

Wishing you joy and peace this holiday season.

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sold out

2021 mini-calendar of art and haiku - Japanese-inspired collage

Sale Price:$6.00 Original Price:$12.00

Makino Studios News

2021 mini-calendar: My calendars of art and haiku are almost sold out, but I am reprinting them and will have more next week! Some are available online now and in select local stores. They feature 12 of my new collages with original haiku. 

Made in Humboldt fair: I’ve just restocked my calendars, small prints and boxed notecards at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA, open through Tuesday, Dec. 24. This is the only fair where you can find my work this season. 

Sneak preview of the new collage collection

“fog becoming redwoods” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. © Annette Makino 2020.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who responded to my last post (Big Changes in the Studio), where I shared my new artistic direction creating Japanese-inspired collages. I was genuinely uncertain whether this big shift in style and technique would appeal to my longtime fans and customers. 

But based on your enthusiastic responses, I have gone ahead and designed a line of fifteen new greeting cards based on my collages. These new cards should be back from the printer on Monday. To sneak a peek at the new collection, see this page of all my Makino Studios card designs. I’m excited to share my new designs for the holidays, birthdays, sympathy and more.

I’m also very happy about my new 2021 calendar of art and haiku. This is my eighth year of producing these—and my favorite yet. Arriving next week, these mini-calendars feature a dozen of my new collages along with original haiku.

I’m not able to do any in-person holiday fairs this year, and some of my retailers are seeing reduced sales during this pandemic. Consequently, I have printed 100 fewer calendars than usual. So order soon to be sure to get enough for yourself and for holiday gifts!

My collages, using discarded materials such as old letters and canceled checks as well as hand-painted washi papers, may be a fitting medium for this strange, disjointed time. In adapting to the pandemic, we are all having to gather bits and pieces from our old lives, then transform and rearrange them in unexpected ways. 

Please let me know your thoughts on the new collection, and enjoy! 

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“what remains” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. © Annette Makino 2020. The haiku was originally published in With Cherries On Top, Press Here (2012).

Makino Studios News

Seabeck Haiku Getaway: I will be giving a reading of my haiku and presenting my new collage haiga (art with haiku) at this annual gathering, which is being held on Zoom this year. This free event takes place Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Registration is full but you can sign up for the Seabeck waiting list; the organizers hope to make room for more participants.

Made in Humboldt fair: You can find my calendars, prints and boxed notecards at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA from Tuesday, Nov. 10 through Tuesday, Dec. 24. This will be the only fair where you can find my work this season, as the annual holiday fairs at the Arcata Community Center and Redwood Acres are canceled. My cards and calendars are also available in select stores.

Big changes in the studio

“telephone pole” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint and adhesive on illustration board with the words digitally added. The haiku was first published in A Moment’s Longing, Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology, 2019, Ed. Tanya MacDonald.

With business slowed by the pandemic and time on my hands during these long months of sheltering in place, I have been up to something big in my studio. To be honest, I have felt shy about sharing it while my new work is in the process of being born. That’s why I haven’t written in some months.

But the baby has taken its first breath, so here goes. After ten years of painting with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors, I have set that approach aside to develop a whole new style of art. I have begun making collages from hand-painted and torn washi papers, sometimes combined with old letters, book pages, maps and other found papers. These collages draw inspiration from the natural landscapes of Northern California and from my Japanese heritage.

Although they can take just as long to create as my paintings, these days I am having more fun with collages and finding them to be very rich emotionally. For instance, the woodpecker collage shown here incorporates bits of an airmail envelope from my late grandmother, a score from my old choir and pages of Moby-Dick with my daughter’s high school notes in the margin. 

Traditional Japanese washi papers are made from the inner bark of mulberry bushes and other plants. The papers I use start out white, often with embedded organic bits such as fiber threads and leaves. In a technique I learned from Washington artist Donna Watson, I mix my own colors and apply paint to the backs of the sheets using a brayer. This way, the colors bleed through but the textured bits and any printed patterns are still visible. 

I also embellish grocery lists, canceled checks and discarded sumi ink paintings. In the alchemy of collage, every aspect of life can be transformed into something rich and beautiful.

These new collages will form the basis of my 2021 calendar of art and haiku. I’ll let you know when they’re available, hopefully next month. At that point you’ll also be able to view more examples of this new work.

I am still deciding whether to create card versions of these designs, with card-appropriate words rather than haiku. I would love to get your honest opinion on whether people would buy these, even (especially) if you think they would not hold much appeal. 

With this new collage art in its infancy, I am still working out how to piece it all together, literally and figuratively. I deeply appreciate your support for my work to date and I look forward to your frank feedback on this new direction.

warmly, Annette

P.S. I will continue to offer my most popular watercolor card designs while gradually phasing out the slower sellers. That means supplies of some card designs are limited; everything I’ve got is for sale on my Makino Studios website.

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“mountain switchbacks” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint and adhesive on illustration board with the words digitally added. © Annette Makino 2020. The haiku was first published in Acorn, Number 43, Fall 2019.

Makino Studios News

Best of Humboldt: Thanks to everyone who voted for me for Best Local Artist in the North Coast Journal’s annual Best of Humboldt contest! I'm pleased to be a finalist (2nd place), especially in a county with so many talented artists.

Seabeck Haiku Getaway: I will be giving a reading of my haiku and presenting my new collage haiga (art with haiku) at this annual gathering, which is being held on Zoom Oct. 31-Nov. 1 this year. Registration is full but you can still sign up for the waiting list.

Canceled Humboldt events: The North Country Fair, normally held in late September, is canceled this year, as are the annual holiday fairs at the Arcata Community Center and Redwood Acres. You can still find my paintings, prints and cards online here; my cards are also available in select stores.