Consuming too much social media is like eating movie popcorn: it leaves you feeling full and slightly sick but not well-nourished. So at the beginning of the year, I made a vow to write a haiku before I check social media.
In times of trouble
“scent of wood smoke” is 11×14, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolor on paper. It is also available as a card reading, “the world is so much richer with you in it”. © Annette Makino 2017
The news has been so tough these past few weeks. Wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes. Reckless taunts between nuclear-armed leaders. And Monday in Las Vegas, one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
aftermath
a pair of cowboy boots
lying on their side
In such dark times, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. And just as easy to go numb. Facing an unending stream of suffering and horror, how do we maintain our humanity without losing our minds?
There are no easy answers for how to balance all this—though a quick Google search for “Ways to Cope with the Apocalypse” offers up 1.6 million results! Yes, I have sent money to Puerto Rico, called my representatives, prayed for the victims. But it never feels like enough.
Meanwhile, here in my small corner of the world, life is so rich and sweet I almost feel guilty. Our home has clean running water, plenty of food, electricity. We are all healthy, which is huge. This past week, in between seeing memorable plays in Ashland, Oregon and touring an artisanal chocolate factory with my family, I’ve gotten to take several hikes with my husband and our dog.
Indian summer is 5×7, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper. © Annette Makino 2015
scent of wood smoke
the way our shadows
lean together
Throughout, I’ve been trying to reconcile the grim world news with my sunny reality. I still don't know anything for sure. But I'm coming to think that, rather than feeling guilty about how much I have, my real challenge may be to appreciate it fully, while taking nothing for granted. At the risk of sounding trite, there is power in radiating peace and gratitude to others around us, knowing that happiness is contagious. There can be healing even in a smile.
Even though—or especially because—I know they could disappear in a heartbeat, I am deeply grateful for all my blessings.
Indian summer
the sky the color
of forever
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Makino Studios News
Mark your calendar for holiday fairs: Makino Studios will be at two fairs in December: the Humboldt Artisans Crafts & Music Festival, held December 1-3 at Redwood Acres in Eureka, and Arcata's Holiday Craft Market, held December 9-10 in the Arcata Community Center. In addition, some of my work will be for sale at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop November 14-December 24.
2018 calendars: My mini-calendar of art and haiku is available online and in local stores. These make great holiday gifts!
Newest cards: Check out my latest card designs in the MakinoStudios Etsy shop. You can choose any six designs for $19.99 plus tax and shipping
Sociable: I am now on Instagram as annettemakino. You can also get news, fresh art and haiku on my Makino Studios Facebook page and my Twitter feed.
Portrait of the artist as an entrepreneur
“Kaya in the Klamath” is 11×14, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on watercolor paper. It is available as a signed 11×14 digital print or a card reading “I’m here for you.” © 2015 Annette Makino
Once upon a time, in Mrs. Miller’s 12th grade English Honors class, we each had to make a persuasive speech on a topic of our choice. Like most of the talks, mine was terribly earnest, about Nestlé pushing infant formula on breastfeeding mothers in poor countries. But when it was her turn, my friend Betsy walked to the front of the classroom smacking her chewing gum, and gave a hilarious speech in favor of gum, vigorously chewing all the while.
A few decades later, she’s still fun, creative and original. These days, she and her husband run an art brand management and consulting company in San Francisco called February 13 Creative. On her blog, Betsy recently launched a series of art brand stories with various artists. I was honored to be the first in the series. I hope you enjoy this excerpt!
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art brand stories: Annette Makino
(by Betsy Cordes of February 13 Creative, reprinted with permission)
My very first interview is especially meaningful for me because it’s with someone I’ve known for a very long time—since our days together at Ukiah High School in Northern California—long before either one of us had any idea that our paths would re-intersect one day thanks to art careers that each of us took up later in life.
I’m happy to introduce you to my friend, Annette Makino, an artist and writer who combines both talents in her beautiful watercolor and sumi ink paintings. Annette is inspired by the Japanese tradition of haiga, artwork combined with haiku so the image and words deepen each other. Annette has always had a quiet, sly, Zen sense of humor and I especially love seeing that side of her pop into her artwork.
“2016 in Art and Haiku” is a mini-calendar measuring 5.5 x 8 when closed. Most of the Japanese-inspired art in this calendar includes my original haiku.
One thing I most admire about Annette’s story is her process of slowly switching from a career in international relations to one based on her artwork. In 2010, she began deliberately building her art brand while keeping one foot in her international relations work (as a consultant) and developing some passive income streams. Making a transition to self-employment—especially as an artist—takes a lot of discipline. It’s not uncommon to hear from folks who just want to dive straight in: devil take the hindmost, an artist’s life for me! Annette is doing it in small, thoughtful steps—an approach that I suspect will ensure a long life for her art-based business.
So, without further ado, our first Art Brand Story… Annette Makino!
Betsy: You come from a very creative and intellectually engaged family. I’ve always admired that in your home (both your childhood home and the home you’ve made with your husband and kids): that artmaking is celebrated and encouraged as much as academic pursuits. But you didn’t initially pursue college studies or a career in art, did you? How and when did your artmaking begin to play a bigger role in your adult life?
Annette: Art was always strongly encouraged in my family. Whenever my two sisters and I asked our mother what she wanted for her birthday, she suggested a drawing, painting or poem. For years up through high school, we kids created a calendar of our art that we photocopied and gave to relatives and close family friends. But other than a year of art classes in my early twenties, I didn’t do art seriously until I left the nonprofit executive world . . .
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Makino Studios News
Free Shipping: Through November 30, 2015, I’m offering free shipping on orders of $20 or more in my Etsy shop. Use coupon code FREESHIP2015.
Arts Arcata this Friday: Humboldt Pet Supply, which carries my dog and cat-themed art, including the piece above, is hosting a reception this coming Friday, Nov. 13, 6-9 p.m. during Arts Arcata. HPS is located at 145 South G Street in Arcata, CA.
Holiday cards: I’ve painted three new holiday card designs. They feature a cat stalking a mouse ornament, a naughty dog and a chili pepper wreath. They are available from my Etsy shop and in stores.
2016 calendar: A wall calendar of art and haiku, featuring twelve of my paintings of landscapes, animals and flowers, is on sale in stores and online. From ocean waves to oak-covered hills, this mini-calendar provides a monthly dose of Zen wisdom.
Made in Humboldt: More than 50 card designs plus prints and calendars will be offered at this holiday sale at the Garden Shop of Pierson Building Center in Eureka, CA Nov. 17-Dec. 24.
Holiday Craft Market: Makino Studios will have a booth at this fair in the Arcata Community Center in Arcata, CA on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12-13.
Ripening into sweetness
Happy Solstice! One of the things I love best about the advent of summer is all the delicious fresh fruit. You can take your pasta, meat, bread and sweets; if I had to live on only one kind of food for the rest of my life, it would be fruit. There is a series of photos of me at age three, up in a tree in our Southern California backyard, stark naked, blissfully eating apricot after apricot right off the branch.
My idea of paradise still involves lots of fruit trees and berry vines. A few years ago, my husband spent a backbreaking summer planting over thirty fruit trees on our land. Visions of strolling out into our yard to harvest fresh cherries, plums, and nectarines have since given way to the sad reality: our area just isn’t sunny and warm enough for such trees to thrive. What little fruit they produce is discovered first by the birds and raccoons.
Luckily for us, there is a lively farmer’s market on the Arcata Plaza every Saturday. Live music, an array of jugglers and hula hoopers, and half a dozen booths of fresh-baked treats complement the rows of organic farm stands. These days we are gorging ourselves on the tiny, deep red strawberries we find there, each one packed with more flavor and sweetness than an industrially grown version ten times the size.
I am savoring the strawberries and peaches of the season every way I can think of: as an oatmeal topping; sliced onto toasted bread slathered with almond butter or mascarpone cheese; in salads with blue cheese crumbles; combined with Greek yogurt and drizzled with chopped nuts and honey; or eaten whole with a few squares of good dark chocolate.
Hello, summer.
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“summer solstice” is 5" x 7", painted with sumi ink and Japanese gansai paint on paper.
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Makino Studios News
Summer Art Show: For the months of July and August, I will have an exhibit at Persimmons Garden Gallery, located at 1055 Redway Drive in Redway, California. There will be an opening Friday, July 5 from 6-9 p.m. with live music by the SoHum Girls and the Fabulous Resinaires.
North Coast Open Studios: Thanks to everyone who came out to visit the five of us at the Samoa Women's Club June 1 and 2! The event was very well-attended and it was great fun to share our work and techniques with visitors.
MikkiMoves Living Room Gallery: I have a piece in a group show at MikkiMoves' Living Room Gallery, located at 805 7th Street in Eureka, California. The show runs through June.
Makino Studios Gallery: There are several new pieces in the gallery secti0n, including some I painted in Mexico this past spring.