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.

What we've survived

“bright green needles” is 8x10 and is available as a greeting card. © Annette Makino 2021

Well, it feels like we are finally turning the corner on the COVID-19 pandemic. My family is fully vaccinated, along with 40% of Americans, and I feel an expanding sense of relief. 

My husband, son and I took advantage of our newfound freedom by driving to San Francisco last week. I have been craving artistic inspiration, so we hit two museums and two galleries in three days. We also visited the Japanese Tea Garden, the new Salesforce Park, Chinatown, North Beach and the scruffy, artsy SoMA neighborhood, walking eight to ten miles every day. 

San Francisco
steep streets spilling
into the bay

It was rejuvenating to leave home for the first non-essential trip in fourteen months, and to experience the energy of urban life. Outside many restaurants, pleasant outdoor booths line the streets in place of parked cars. Some eateries offer customers QR codes to snap with their phones instead of touching old-fashioned paper menus.

city maze
falling in love with
the GPS man

But we were shocked to see how hard the city has been hit by the pandemic. Whole blocks of Chinatown are mostly shuttered and many restaurants have gone under. Even big national chains in prime spots have closed, like the giant Uniqlo and Gap stores near Union Square. The tourists are slowly starting to return, but it could take a long time for downtown to recover. 

Back home, we are not out of the woods. Though Humboldt County fared well earlier in the pandemic, now with the spread of the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, we have the worst COVID-19 case rates of all 58 California counties. The deaths and lingering side effects will haunt us for a long time, as well as the lost livelihoods and failed dreams of this brutal past year.

With all this in mind, I created the above collage haiga (art plus haiku). I used hand-painted and torn Japanese papers, sumi ink, prints made from ferns and redwood sprigs, and vintage Japanese letters from the 1920s. Though our scars may not always be visible, we have each come through a lot to get here. This  piece honors that struggle and the process of growth, and is meant to evoke a sense of hope and healing after trauma. 

bright green needles
on the fire-scarred redwood—
what we’ve each survived

Here’s to survival and new growth!

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“kingfisher” is 8x5. This collage of a female Belted Kingfisher was commissioned as the cover for the excellent new Kingfisher haiku journal. Check it out! © Annette Makino 2021

Makino Studios News

“The ultimate affirmation” - The Eureka Times-Standard ran a lovely feature on my Touchstone Award for haiku, including my process of writing poems and creating collages.

“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 Saturday and Sunday, June 12-13, and is free via Zoom. Anyone can register. From the program:

Annette Makino will first share a brief slide show of some of her watercolor haiga over the past ten years. Her presentation will draw from the first full-length book of her art, called Water and Stone, with publication in Summer 2021. Linda Papanicolaou will then explain approaches to linking and shifting between the words and image in haiga, with examples. For the bulk of the session, participants will try their hands at writing haiku to accompany several provided images. There will be time to share the results of this foray into creating haiga. 

Water and Stone - I am close to finishing my book manuscript! This will feature my fifty favorite watercolor haiga of the past ten years, along with fifteen new haibun (autobiographical prose pieces with haiku). I’m hoping to have it ready in June or July.

Cards - My current card designs, including the new “bright green needles” design above, are available here.

2021 fairs and events - Northcoast Open Studios, which is usually held in late May and early June, will not take place this spring, but may happen in the fall. The North Country Fair on the Arcata Plaza is scheduled to take place Sept. 18-19 this year, if COVID-19 safety permits. 

Thanks - I really appreciate all the kind responses to my last post, “Big news on Haiku Poetry Day.”

Big news on Haiku Poetry Day

“swirls of confetti” is 8 x 10, made of Japanese washi papers and other papers, an airmail envelope, vintage Japanese postage stamps, pen, sumi ink, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. © Annette Makino 2021

Happy International Haiku Poetry Day! I’ve got some exciting haiku news to share.

First, I am planning to publish my first full-length book! A selection of my best art and haiku of the past ten years, this book will feature fifty of my watercolor haiga (paintings combined with haiku). Sprinkled throughout the pages will be fifteen haibun—a Japanese literary form in which autobiographical prose is combined with haiku. 

With the working title of Water and Stone, this will be a full-color 8x10 softcover book. It will be available on Amazon and the Makino Studios site early this summer.

Secondly, if you heard whooping from my house, it’s because the Haiku Foundation announced today that a haiku I wrote has won a Touchstone Award for best individual poem of 2020! 

There were 1302 poems from 31 countries, mostly nominated by haiku editors, and I am beyond thrilled that my haiku has been honored in this prestigious contest. The Haiku Foundation site explains, “The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems recognize excellence and innovation in English-language haiku and senryu published in juried public venues during each calendar year.” 

Below is the winning poem, which I wrote at the Klamath River last summer. This poem also won first place in the Porad Haiku Awards last fall.

long before language the S of the river

For a fascinating look at the range of English-language today, see the contest shortlist. My deepest thanks to the panel of judges.

Meanwhile, I’m getting my second Pfizer shot on Sunday, which will mean all five of us in my household are fully vaccinated. Whew! Plus, the cherry trees around my house have put on a fabulous show and are starting send their blossoms afloat. There is much to celebrate!

swirls of confetti
from the cherry trees
festival day

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Makino Studios News

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 9! I’ve got cards for all the moms in your life. And graduation cards too!

Collage landscape notecards: For Makino Studios’ 10th anniversary, I’ve produced a brand-new notecard set featuring four of my collage landscapes. The cost is $15 for a set of eight cards and kraft envelopes. Mother’s Day gift idea!

Matted prints: You can now find eight small signed and double-matted prints here, mostly of landscapes.

2021 fairs and events: North Coast Open Studios, which is usually held in late May/early June, will not take place this spring but there is a chance it will happen in the fall. The North Country Fair on the Arcata Plaza is tentatively scheduled to take place Sept. 18-19 this year, if Covid-19 safety permits. 

Thanks: I really appreciate all the messages of congratulations on my last post, “Makino Studios turns 10 today!” You can read past posts online on my blog.

Makino Studios turns 10!

“moth at the window” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. It appears in my 2021 calendar. It is available as a birthday card reading, “happy birthday—here’s to many more trips around the sun.” © Annette Makino 2020

Makino Studios celebrates its 10th anniversary today! Exactly a decade ago, I took a leap of faith and launched makinostudios.com, the website for my brand-new art business. 

Though I grew up in an artsy family, I never expected to become a working artist. I graduated from Stanford in the 1980s—the Reagan years—with a degree in international relations. In this era of the materialistic yuppie, many of my classmates went on to earn MBAs en route to lucrative positions in corporate America. 

moth at the window
the things we think
will make us happy

Taking a more idealistic path, I ended up working for a global nonprofit. Though lacking many of the perks of, say, investment banking, this career came with its own benefits: I had a fancy title and a six-figure salary. Assignments took me to places like China, Russia, Kenya, Thailand, Paris, Istanbul. I worked with smart, committed people on a worthy mission: supporting independent media around the world. 

It was a role that served me well for a long time. But after twenty years in that career, it was time for a change. I craved work that was more creative and personally meaningful. I came to feel that I would rather make a significant impact on an intimate personal level than a marginal impact on a grand global level. Not incidentally, my financial calculations showed that I didn’t need to work for anyone else again.

The philosopher William James has expressed my feelings perfectly: “I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big successes. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of human pride.”

This past decade of running an art business has come with its share of struggles, false starts and teeth-grinding anxiety. I’ve had to learn accounting while kicking and screaming the whole way. Most recently, COVID-19 has taken a significant bite out of my sales.

But living this creative life is also incredibly rewarding. I get to spend unstructured days with my family and hike wild places with my dog. Then I turn those experiences into art—paintings, collages and haiku that only I could create. Work that flows from my authentic self. I may not be a Master of the Universe, but I can’t imagine a richer life.

all that I am
still unfolding
cherry tree in autumn

Ten years ago . . . with furry muse Misha at my first solo art opening in October 2011 in Eureka, California.

As Makino Studios celebrates its tenth birthday, I want to thank some key people: My husband Paul, for his unfailing support, help with counting cards at stores, and deliveries. My daughter Maya, for her invaluable editorial and artistic input. My son Gabriel, who helps package cards and fill orders. My sisters Yoshi and Yuri, for their keen-eyed artistic feedback. My mother Erika, for her lifelong encouragement of my creativity.

Special thanks to the skill and professionalism of the team at Bug Press, the small but mighty local Arcata printer that makes my print products possible. And last but certainly not least, thanks to my customers, store buyers, friends and fans for your ongoing support and enthusiasm. Makino Studios would not exist without you. 

I bow to you all.

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“moth at the window” haiku published in Bundled Wildflowers, Haiku Society of America 2020 Members’ Anthology, Haiku Society of America, 2020

“all that I am” haiku published in Modern Haiku, Issue 52.1, Winter-Spring 2021

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Makino Studios News

10th anniversary sale: This is the biggest sale I’ve ever run: take 25% off everything in the shop on US orders of $20 or more with promo code 10YEARS. Good for four days only, till 11:59 p.m. this Sunday, March 21. Includes sale items but not original art. One code per order.

NEW - collage landscape notecards: For Makino Studios’ 10th anniversary, I’ve produced a brand-new notecard set featuring four of my collage landscapes. Cost is $15 for a set of eight cards and kraft envelopes. This makes a nice Mother’s Day gift!

NEW - gallery of collage haiga: I’ve posted 14 of my collage haiga (art with haiku) on the gallery page of my website. Most of these original pieces are available for sale; please inquire if interested. (The 25% off sale does not apply to original art.)

A Prayer for Japan: Ten years ago, just after the Great East Japan Earthquake, I created a sumi ink painting of flying cranes with a prayer for healing. The Eureka Times-Standard ran this in-depth story on the piece and the birth of my business. 

My heart's delight

“you are my heart’s delight” is 5x7, made with a Japanese postage stamp, paper made with flower petals, Japanese washi papers, gold foil, a small feather and embroidery thread on paper. It is available as a printed card.

Last fall my friend Dave gave me his Japanese stamp collection, with vintage and modern stamps featuring geishas, fans, carp, and cherry blossoms. Though they are beautiful, I didn’t touch them for months, feeling too busy and distracted to create much. 

But January brought us capable, compassionate and sane new leadership in the White House—what a relief! Along with the steady rollout of COVID19 vaccines, I am feeling much lighter and more optimistic. As a result, I feel more free to create art!

I recently dug out those stamps and they inspired me to create a series of Japanese-themed collages, still in process. I’m having such fun playing and experimenting!

In addition to the postage stamps, most of my new pieces include natural objects like feathers, sand dollars, or willow twigs. Many incorporate the traditional Japanese embroidery technique of sashiko, a simple running stitch. And I have been writing haiku to go with some of them.

The first in this series, shown above, is a Valentine’s card for my husband Paul, who really is my heart’s delight. 

white linen
the easy sunlight
in his smile

His card is composed of handmade paper made with flower petals, Japanese washi papers, gold foil, a small feather, a Japanese postage stamp of cherry blossoms and hand-stitching with embroidery thread. Hopefully, these disparate elements join together in an interesting and  harmonious way—much like a long partnership.

On Sunday Paul and I will mark our 30th Valentine’s Day together. This year, instead of eating out at a fancy restaurant or going to a show, we’ll celebrate at home with a romantic candlelight dinner—for five! But whatever the conditions, I’m just grateful we’re together.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!

“Happy Valentine’s Day” - This card is based on an original collage that incorporates a Japanese postage stamp, a sumi ink painting of plum blossoms, gold foil, painted washi papers from Japan and hand-stitching with embroidery thread. 

Publication credit: “white linen” was first published in Frogpond 36:2 (Spring/Summer 2013)

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Makino Studios News

NEW - matted prints: I’ve posted eight small signed and double-matted prints , mostly of landscapes. The outside dimensions are 8x10 with the mat. Each one comes in a cellophane sleeve with an artist’s bio and is $18 plus tax and shipping.

Still need a calendar? Well, 641 of my 2021 calendars of art and haiku have gone out the door, but there are still nine left ($12 each)!

Blowin' in the wind

“this time next year” is 8 x 10, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on illustration board. It appears in my 2021 calendar. © Annette Makino 2020. 

Once upon a time, my family and I lived in a small town in Northern Italy. It was 2008, and my husband was running a college’s overseas program based in Alba, in the Piedmont region. 

That semester, the school provided us with an apartment that was situated near the Ferrero chocolate factory, makers of Nutella and Almond Roche. And just next door to us on the other side was the town’s sewage treatment plant. 

Some days the wind would blow from the south, and the air would be filled with the intoxicating smell of chocolate. And other days, the wind would blow from the other direction . . . and the smell was considerably less appetizing.

On this first day of the new year and the new decade, I am thinking about our Alba apartment as a metaphor for life. There is an Arab saying that translates as, “One day honey, one day onions.” Or in our case, “one day chocolate, one day poop.” 

We can never predict the future; we only know that things will change. Part of my household recently watched an ultra-low-budget action movie from Uganda with the priceless tag line, “expect the unexpectable.”

We all expect that 2021 will be better than the dumpster fire of a year we just left behind. But all we really know for sure is that “this too shall pass.” 

this time next year
the unanswered question
in the owl’s call

Here’s hoping that 2021 brings us brighter days and winds from the south. Happy New Year!

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Sample pages of my 2021 mini-calendar.

Makino Studios News

2021 calendars: Well, the first printing sold out and so did most of the second printing, but I still have a few of my mini-calendar of art and haiku for sale! These feature my Japanese-inspired collages and are $12 each.

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