BUSINESS SENSE: Top 10 reasons to shop local for the holidays

Francis can often be found at Blake’s Books in McKinleyville.

ANNETTE MAKINO, TIMES-STANDARD, EUREKA, CA, Nov. 14, 2021

Almost three-quarters of all online shopping journeys now start with Amazon—and it’s easy to see why. The selection, convenience and price are truly tempting. 

But as the holidays approach, let’s consider the top ten reasons to shop local, especially from Humboldt artists and craftspeople. 

1. It keeps your money local. Studies show that independent retailers return more than three times as much to the local economy than chain stores. My greeting cards are printed at Bug Press in Arcata, so every card sale represents income to a local printer.

2. It makes for a vibrant community. We’ve all passed through those sad, lifeless towns that are just a collection of chain stores and strip malls. Shopping local supports the quirky, one-of-kind retailers that make Humboldt lively and unique.

3. It’s way more fun to shop local. Walk into the Holly Yashi Store and a staffer will offer you a free cappuccino. At Blake’s Books, you may be greeted by Francis, a sweet Bedlington Terrier. Stop by Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate and pick up a sampler of their bean-to-bar artisanal chocolate. Visit an artist in their studio and learn about their process.

4. You get more expertise. Unlike Amazon bots, independent store owners have to know their stuff. If you’re considering buying a fruit tree, Humboldt nurseries know what will grow best where. If you want to buy a book for your seven-year old niece who’s into dinosaurs, talk to your local bookseller.

5. Your purchases are more meaningful. Whether it’s a Bigfoot sweatshirt or a jar of Slug Slime from Los Bagels, local products come with a story. Also consider making gifts of experience, like a kayak tour of Humboldt Bay, a visit to the Redwood Sky Walk, or a gift certificate to The Larrupin’ Café. Or make a donation to Food for People in someone’s name.

6. Your items will be unique. That cozy wool hat knitted by a local craftsperson is much more special than a generic version anyone could find at Target. And your uncle who has everything would still love a bottle of locally distilled Redwood Rye or Jewell Gin.

7. It reduces your carbon footprint. Your locally purchased items are less likely to have been shipped from far away. Humboldt-based businesses also make far more local purchases for their own needs. And these stores are usually situated in walkable city centers instead of the outskirts of town.

8. Local products are ethically made. Mail order or big box products may have been manufactured in an overseas sweatshop or using questionable environmental practices. But Humboldt-made generally means responsibly sourced.

9. Humboldt stores support Humboldt nonprofits. Whether it’s donating raffle items, paying for sports team uniforms or making grants, local businesses are much more generous in supporting local charities than their big box counterparts.

10. It feels good to do good. It may cost a few bucks more, but it means a lot to know your money is being spent where it will really count.

Due to Covid, many of our arts and crafts fairs are canceled this season. But you can still find locally made products at the Made in Humboldt fair at Pierson’s and at independent retailers, grocery stores and art galleries. Buy local and enjoy happy Humboldt holidays!

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Annette Makino is an Arcata-based artist who runs Makino Studios, offering cards, prints and calendars of her art. She confesses that her new book, Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku, is available on Amazon, as well as makinostudios.com and in local stores.  

Local artist and poet wins international haiku award

HAIKU WINNER: This collage by Annette Makino is made from painted and torn Japanese washi papers. Featuring a view of the Klamath River, it incorporates her winning one-line haiku. 

MAD RIVER UNION, ARCATA, CA, APRIL 21, 2021

On April 17, Arcata artist and poet Annette Makino was awarded one of the highest honors for haiku in English, a Touchstone Award from the Haiku Foundation. 

Announced on International Haiku Poetry Day, the award recognizes the best individual poems published the previous year.

Makino wrote her winning one-line haiku while on a creative retreat at the Klamath River in Orleans last summer. It reads:

long before language the S of the river

Makino has a business, Makino Studios, selling her art and haiku in the form of cards and calendars in stores and online. A mixed media artist, she creates both Japanese watercolors and Japanese-inspired collages

She said, “I’m truly thrilled to get this recognition, especially because I’m celebrating 10 years as a working artist and poet this spring. It’s the perfect capstone to a decade of learning and growing in my craft.”

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.” 

This year the contest saw 1302 poems nominated from 31 countries, mostly selected by haiku editors. All the shortlisted poems are online at thehaikufoundation.org. 

Makino’s haiku have won many other awards and her poems and art regularly appear in the leading journals and anthologies of haiku in English.

She is currently at work on her first full-length book with the working title Water and Stone, to be published in the early summer. The culmination of a decade of painting and writing, the book will feature 50 of her haiga—artworks combined with haiku—painted with Japanese watercolors and sumi ink.

A ‘silver lining’: Amid the pandemic, a local artist finds a whole new artistic approach

Annette Makino of Arcata has been making art since she was a child. She’s now creating collage using hand-painted and torn washi papers combined with old letters, book pages, maps and other found papers. Her work also includes original haiku.

BY HEATHER SHELTON, TIMES-STANDARD, EUREKA, CA, NOV. 13, 2020

Local artist Annette Makino has found herself with more time on her hands during the COVID-19 health crisis, and she has used those extra hours to come up with a brand new artistic approach.

“With fairs and art shows canceled this year and some of my retailers seeing reduced sales, the pandemic has slowed down my business,” Makino said. “The silver lining of this difficult time is that I’ve had more time to play in the studio.”

After 10 years of working in watercolor and sumi ink, Makino recently switched gears and started making collages from hand-painted and torn washi papers, sometimes combined with old letters, book pages, maps, junk mail and other found papers. The collages, she said, draw inspiration from the natural landscapes of Northern California and from her Japanese heritage.

“I start with white washi paper, which is traditional Japanese paper that often has bits of leaves, rice straw or other plant fibers embedded in it,” Makino said. “I mix my own paint colors and paint the paper, then tear it as needed for my collages. … Recent collages include bits of a musical score from my choir, old family photos and a letter from my sister. It’s really meaningful to be able to incorporate different aspects of my life into my art.”

Annette Makino says the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced her haiku and art. This work was created in recent months. “(It) reflects a sense of the transience of human existence,” Makino said.

She added: “The fun thing about collage is that you can use any materials you want to make something interesting and meaningful. I paint and decorate all sorts of papers for my art, but I also save things like old keys, bird feathers and foreign stamps for possible use in collages. It fascinates me how a beautiful collage can come together from torn paper and odd bits.”

One thing that hasn’t changed in Makino’s work over the past months is the incorporation of original haiku in her creations.

Makino — who has been making art since she was a child — learned about the Japanese tradition of “haiga,” or art combined with haiku, in 2010.

“I started creating my own haiga, writing haiku and making paintings with Japanese watercolors and sumi ink,” she said. “In 2011, I started my art business, Makino Studios, which sells cards, prints and calendars of my work in stores and online.”

Haiku, she said, is a compact form of poetry, typically three short lines.

This original haiku, featured on Annette Makino’s collage work, was just published in Modern Haiku magazine.

“To write it effectively, you have to distill an observation or experience down to its essence,” Makino said. “I appreciate how the haiku mindset helps me to be more present in the moment, noticing little things like the way the woods look after a rainstorm.”

She shares this haiku — just published in Modern Haiku magazine — about her imagery above:

shortest day
on the tip of each fern
a drop of light

A few weeks ago, Makino attended a virtual haiku conference, the Seabeck Haiku Getaway, which is normally held in Washington State.

“There were about 160 haiku poets from 14 countries, some staying up all night in their time zone to participate,” she said.  “It was a lot of fun to connect with this community, even via Zoom. I gave a presentation on my new collage haiga there, the first time I’d presented this new work in a public forum, and I’m happy to say it was very warmly received.”

Pictured is one of Annette Makino’s new collage works. The featured haiku recently won first place in the Porad Haiku Award program.

Makino’s haiku are regularly published in leading journals of haiku and have also appeared in a number of haiku anthologies, including the Red Moon Anthology, and she just won first place in the Porad Haiku Award sponsored by Haiku Northwest for this work:

long before language the S of the river

“It was written during a walk along the Klamath River in Orleans, and my collage is based on a photo I took there,” she said.

Twelve of Makino’s collages are featured in her 2021 haiga calendar which, along with note cards and signed prints, are available at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka through Dec. 24.

“This will be the only fair where you can find my work this season,” said Makino, whose work is also available at several local stores in Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville, Trinidad and Manila. Her work is available on her website, https://www.makinostudios.com, as well.

In addition to her new collages, Makino is still offering her watercolor cards and prints for sale.

“I’m grateful to have a loyal fan base here in Humboldt and I want to make sure people can still find their favorite designs,” she said.