“Water and Stone” makes a splash

“sun-baked orchard” is 11x14, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper. Like many of the works featured in Water and Stone, it is available for sale. © Annette Makino 2018

Well, what a nice welcome for my new book, Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku! All the orders, raves and reviews—it feels like a hat full of cherries. Thank you!

The Makino Studios site now offers Water and Stone. Please note that it can only ship to US mailing addresses. You can also order it on Amazon, which ships worldwide and probably soon throughout the solar system.

This is a full-color, 8x10 book, and runs 124 pages. It features 50 of my watercolor haiga (art + haiku) and 15 haibun (prose + haiku). The cost is $24.99 plus tax and shipping.

I’m happy to share that these stores in Humboldt County, California now carry my book:

Eureka
Eureka Books
Eureka Natural Foods
Northcoast Co-op

Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku at Northtown Books in Arcata, California.

Arcata
Northcoast Co-op
Northtown Books
Plaza
Wildberries Marketplace

McKinleyville
Blake’s Books
Eureka Natural Foods
Miller Farms

Trinidad
Trinidad Trading Company

Here are a couple of Amazon reviews. And if you order from there and enjoy the book, I’ll be grateful if you post a review.

5.0 out of 5 stars •  Beautiful and relevant

Annette Makino’s work is wonderful — her haiku reveal ideas that are instantly relatable and yet profound. Her joyful, expressive art pairs perfectly. This collection of ten years’ work makes for a lovely gift or a book to enjoy yourself.

My mother, Erika Makino, turned 93 last month. What a pleasure to be able to give her a copy of the book I dedicated to her!

5.0 out of 5 stars • Wisdom, insight, humor, beauty.

Annette’s book is a joy. Each haiku is unexpected, like a good joke that takes a sudden turn. But instead of guffawing you will wryly smile and gain a nugget of insight into the ways of the world. Annette weaves her personal stories throughout so that each haiku succinctly, humorously, and with wisdom expresses the essence of the tale. Her lovely illustrations tie it all together. A delightful book.

Thanks for reading. Here’s hoping you are enjoying some sweet summer days despite the madness around us.

warmly, Annette Makino

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Makino Studios News

Studio Space: I am excited to share that I will be one of the featured artists on the second season of Studio Space! This is a ten-part series on local Humboldt artists produced by Eureka PBS station KEET-TV. A crew of six was here for four hours recently, interviewing me and filming me at work in my studio. It was quite a to-do! The new season will air in late spring of 2022. It will be available to stream online for free for three weeks, and then only to PBS/KEET members.

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. I am waiting to hear if it is still a go, given the rise in Humboldt County cases, and will let you know.

New calendars and cards: My 2022 calendar of art and haiku is going to press next week! This will feature 12 of my Asian-inspired collage haiga. I am also designing some new cards. These should all be ready in mid-September. Stay tuned!

The business of art: My column on “the business end of the paintbrush” for the weekly Business Sense series in the Eureka Times-Standard is now available online.

Best of Humboldt: Thanks to everyone who voted for me for Best Local Artist in the 2021 Best of Humboldt contest! Congratulations to the first place winner, mural artist Duane Flatmo, and to my fellow finalist, mural artist Blake Regan. 

Free shipping on books, 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.

Tired of staring at your walls?

The way the pandemic is going, it looks like we’ll all be spending even more time at home over the coming months, if such a thing is possible. It could be a looong winter.

To change things up a bit, how about some fresh wall art for you and yours? Signed 11x14 prints of my watercolor and sumi ink paintings are all 40% off through this coming Monday. They are normally $45, currently $27, no code needed.

There are 20 designs including ocean and redwood landscapes, funny chickens, and swimming dogs. My 8x10 prints are also on sale for $18. Note that all supplies are very limited.

These prints are professionally printed by Bug Press in Arcata, CA with fade-resistant ink, using acid-free paper from a supplier that is certified to be 100% carbon-neutral. I individually stamp each print in red with my personal seal, then sign it. Prints will fit in a standard 11x14 mat or frame.

In a time when we are deprived of so much, let art feed your soul. Happy holidays!

Here’s a simple framing suggestion for my 11x14 prints. They will fit in a standard off-the-shelf mat or frame. Country road © Annette Makino 2017

Foggy coastline with haiku © Annette Makino 2019

Redwood forest © Annette Makino 2017

Happy swimming dog © Annette Makino 2015

Redwood time © Annette Makino 2018

Mountain meadow © Annette Makino 2015

Curious chickens © Annette Makino 2019

Water and stone © Annette Makino 2015

Prints are packaged flat in a self-sealing cellophane bag; a flyer describing my work is enclosed. They ship first class in a sturdy photo mailer.

P.S. I’m offering free US shipping for Makino Studios orders of $35 or more with code FREESHIP35. Order no later than Thursday, Dec. 17 to get your package by Dec. 25.

P.P.S. Video of a short presentation on my new collage art plus haiku about parenting is available online through Monday. At this Zoom link, enter passcode d604=+jS. Skip to the fourth recording by clicking on the forward symbol three times, then you can jump to my presentation at the 41:23 mark.

Wet Paint

Though I’ve been making art since I could hold a crayon, and have been a professional artist since 2011, I had never taken a watercolor class—until now. Next week will be my final session of a great sixteen-week class taught by esteemed artist Alan Sanborn.

Although the paint, brushes, paper and photorealistic approach are all different from my usual technique, I’ve gained so much from this class. I learned that to paint dark green trees, layering deep turquoise over orange can look more realistic than using green paint. Or how to use complementary colors for shadows: purple for a yellow banana or orange for a blue plate. Or even why it's worth spending $11 for a sheet of good watercolor paper!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll share some examples of my assignments. And perhaps you’ll notice some evolution in my art over the coming months!

hovering brush
nothing and everything
in a pool of ink

64 shades of black: Our first major assignment was to cut a black and white photo into 64 tiny numbered rectangles, then reproduce it using a wide variety of blacks that we mixed. 

Fishermen at dawn: We painted several 25-minute pieces in class, learning to make quick decisions about where and how to layer color.

Swan Lake: This was a study in layering color on an image with a black background, shown in progress.

And to think it only took 20 hours to transform a beautiful photo of a lily pond into a confusing jumble!

Languid lass: Our teacher had us paint the model in just two shades, light or dark, then add a few darker details. Surprising how realistic that can look.

The finished piece retains a subtle hint of the warm blue underlayer.

Playtime: Our final assignment: a self-portrait. This was the first of several layers.

Based on a photo by my son Gabriel, the finished painting depicts my dog Misha and me playing at the beach on New Year's Day.

The other end of the paintbrush

“summer solstice” is 11×14, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper and digitally edited. An earlier version of the haiku first appeared in Modern Haiku. A birthday card version is available. © Annette Makino 2016

Humboldt County is famous for two things: its magical old-growth redwood forests and perhaps equally magical marijuana. But there is a lesser-known feature that makes this area unique: it has more working artists per capita than any other part of California.

Each year in June, some 150 Humboldt artists open their studio doors to the public as part of North Coast Open Studios. Earlier this month, it was my pleasure to be part of the "Seven in Samoa" group that hosted visitors the first weekend. The following weekend, I got to tour nine studios.

In visiting other artists, I was inspired and moved by much of their art. But it was just as interesting to talk with these working artists and learn about what goes on at the other end of the paintbrush. I discovered we are grappling with some of the same issues.

A common theme of our conversations was the tension between making art that purely expresses our creativity versus making art that we know will sell. For instance, one artist is currently drawn to images of melancholy women, but knows there is a much bigger market for her playful pieces of cats.

Another sells a lot of art postcards with inspiring quotes, but her passion project is a scrapbook of sketches and thoughts about silent meditation retreats, though she knows the market for such a book is very limited.

Annette Makino demonstrates her tools and techniques at the Samoa Women’s Club in Samoa, CA as part of North Coast Open Studios in June 2017.

For my part, I sometimes find myself painting simply because it’s time for a new card catalog. Instead of “What do I really want to express about my core being?,” the “helpful” and persistent voice inside my head asks a much less inspiring question, “What would make for a good birthday card?”

Another common theme of my Open Studios conversations was the competing demands on our time: we need to spend time managing and marketing our business, but that cuts into the time to actually create. And it's hard for me to compartmentalize: when I know I have orders to fill or an event to publicize, I can't get into the open, spacious frame of mind I need to paint.

Finally, an underlying issue that emerged from talking with other artists was, what does success mean to me as a working artist? Is it measured by sales? Reputation? Appreciation from buyers? Personal satisfaction from the joy of creating? While it’s surely some combination of all of these, it’s challenging to find the right balance, especially in a culture that confuses money with worth.

Overall, I came away from Open Studios without clearcut answers, yet comforted to know that I am not alone: even the most successful artists struggle with these dilemmas. It was inspiring to meet so many passionate, committed people who have chosen to walk this sometimes difficult path. We may never get rich from our art (though I'm not opposed to that!), but we are certainly rich in spirit.

summer solstice . . .
the skipping stone
all the way across

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Makino Studios News

Seven in Samoa: The Eureka Times-Standard ran this story about the group of artists that showcased our work together as part of North Coast Open Studios.

Summer vacation: Happy solstice! I’ll be on vacation from this Saturday, June 24 until Sunday, July 2. While I am swimming and painting at the Klamath River (depicted in the above image), my Makino Studios Etsy shop will be closed for the week and I will not be filling store orders.

Westhaven Wild Blackberry Festival: Rabia O’Loren will be selling a selection of my cards and prints at this festival on Sunday, July 30, 10-4 at the Westhaven Volunteer Fire Department.

North Country Fair: Mark your calendar for this two-day festival celebrating the fall equinox, taking place September 16-17 on the Arcata Plaza!