Finding a warm community

software update
the maple releasing
its obsolete

                       l

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                                       a

                                v

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                            s

“software update” is 11x14, made with acrylic paint, paper, pen and glue on cradled wood. This is a page from my 2025 calendar. A card version reads, “have a wild and crazy birthday”. © Annette Makino 2024

I had a wonderful time at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway last month! It was four days of marinating in all things haiku with fellow poets in beautiful Seabeck, Washington.

Since the conference theme was maps, I recruited my geographer husband, Paul W. Blank, to lead a “Walk on the World” session with his giant maps that show the world at 16 miles to the inch. It was great fun wandering across Eurasia in our stocking feet! Many haiku emerged from his session and others.

The schedule was packed with presentations and “Write Now” exercises, many on the theme of maps and travel. Featured guest Crystal Simone Smith shared her moving haiku inspired by 19th century fugitive slave ads; she also led us in exploring new haiku approaches.

The Seabeck Haiku Getaway always includes a kukai, a contest of haiku written at Seabeck that is judged by the participating poets. I was honored that both of my submissions placed, tying for first and sixth. Here is my first-place poem:

Geographer Paul W. Blank, far right, explains the big maps at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in October 2024.

Tokyo alley
I run into
the moon from home

But for me, the best part of the long weekend was deepening my ties to the haiku clan. During communal mealtimes, walks in the woods and late-night socializing, I got to reconnect with poet friends and meet others I’d only known by name. Basking in this community was especially precious to me since I live far from any in-person haiku groups.

Earlier this year haiku poet P. H. (Peter) Fischer and I co-edited the conference anthology for the 2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway. Published by Haiku Northwest, it was distributed at last month’s gathering. Winds Aloft features terrific cover art of Seabeck and six haiku comics by graphic novelist David Lasky, as well as poems by almost all of the 56 conference participants that year. Here’s one of mine inspired by the bigleaf maples at Seabeck:

the last rays of sun
offered back to the sky
yellow maple

As Peter and I wrote in the introduction, “Haiku poets are a special breed. The habit of keenly observing life’s details tends to make people more attuned, thoughtful and appreciative. Or perhaps it works the other way around. In any case, each year this unique tribe gathers at Seabeck to create a warm community of like-minded folks. In the words of physicist Douglas Hofstadter, in this kind of synergy, ‘The soul is greater than the hum of its parts.’ We appreciate everyone who added their own unique hum to the magic that is Seabeck.”

In these turbulent times, we need community more than ever. So on this, my eighth time at Seabeck, I was grateful once again to be welcomed into the fold.

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Makino Studios News

These are just four of the notecard sets on sale at 20% off in the Cards section. Sale ends this Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024.

SALE on notecards: I’m offering 20% off all holiday and everyday notecard sets. These come eight to a box with eight kraft envelopes. Normally $20, they are on sale through midnight this Sunday, Nov. 17 for $16 with promo code NOTECARD20. Most of these designs are also available as single cards with words.

2025 calendars: So far this season, more than 500 of my mini-calendars of art and haiku have gone out the door! Still just $12 each, these lovely little calendars make great gifts for friends and family.

Greeting cards: You can find most of my newest single cards at the top of this collection of 70 designs. These cards are made with fiber from responsibly managed forests and the mill uses green energy and carbon offsets. They are printed in Arcata, California by an independent small business and go for $5 each.

Holiday shipping deadlines: For arrival on or before December 25, please place your order no later than December 17. The mail has been slow these days, so even sooner is safer!

Made in Humboldt Fair: This event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA runs through Dec. 24. There you can find my book (Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku), signed and matted prints, 2025 calendars and notecard sets.

Arcata Holiday Craft Market: This fundraiser for the Arcata Recreation Department’s youth scholarship program takes place Dec. 14-15 at the Arcata Community Center in Arcata, CA. Look for the Makino Studios booth on the lefthand side of the main room. This is my only in-person event this season and I will be offering some deals and closeouts.

Social: I’ve given up on Twitter/X, but I regularly post art, haiku, news and more on Instagram and Threads as @annettemakino and on Facebook as Makino Studios (links below). See you over there!

Thanks: I always appreciate your feedback, whether by email, on social media or here in the comments.

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Credit: “the last rays of sun” - 5th place tie, kukai at Seabeck 2023; in Winds Aloft: 2023 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology, Eds. Annette Makino and P H. Fisher, Haiku Northwest, 2024

The gift of gathering

“sideways rain” is 8x10, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on paper. © Annette Makino 2020.

As a strong introvert, I keep having to re-learn a truth that is screamingly obvious to any extrovert: humans need community to thrive. Although writing haiku and making art are usually solitary activities, I still need to connect with other like-minded souls for ideas, support and a sense of greater purpose.

Late last month I attended the annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway in Washington State. I’ve joined (and presented at) several haiku conferences via Zoom during the pandemic. But this was the first one that I’ve attended in person, fortified by my Covid booster shot and reassured by the required proof of vaccination and masks.

one red leaf
just inside the door
haiku welcome

It was deeply nourishing to spend three days talking, writing and breathing haiku with other members of this unique tribe. I knew some people from previous Seabeck gatherings, others only as bylines in haiku journals. Some participants were newbies and others were longtime leaders in the field, but all were true fans of the elusive art of haiku. 

It was especially affirming to give a presentation on my haiga (art combined with haiku) to a warm and appreciative crowd. A section on my senryu (haiku’s funnier cousin) elicited waves of laughter. I thought, “These people get me!”

Margaret Chula reads at the Cathedral in the Woods at the Seabeck Conference Center in Washington State in October 2021.

At Seabeck, we connected over meals and in a cedar grove where poets gave readings. On a trail through the woods to an overgrown cemetery and on a fun “bouncing bridge” on the conference grounds. In dozens of sessions and conversations, I found inspiration and community. The theme of this year’s conference? “Togetherness.”

the bouncing bridge
shakes loose our giggles
sun through cedars

Especially with people gathering for Thanksgiving this week, I am reminded that we all need community to make our lives rich and meaningful—even us introverts. I’m grateful beyond measure for all of it. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

sideways rain
a stranger’s umbrella 
brushes mine

More about the special magic of Seabeck.

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Makino Studios News

Thanksgiving special: Free shipping all week, no minimum orders! Use code THANKS21 at checkout for free first-class shipping on any order within the US. Offer runs through midnight this Sunday, Nov. 28.

Top 10 reasons to shop local for the holidays: On Nov. 16, the Eureka Times-Standard published a column I wrote for their Business Sense series. The article also shares ideas for meaningful holiday gifts, especially from local artists and craftspeople. 

Holiday shipping deadline: The US Postal Service advises that for first-class packages to arrive by Dec. 25, they should be shipped by Dec. 17. 

2022 mini-calendar: My calendars of art and haiku are going like hotcakes! They are available on this site and at select stores in Humboldt County, California. They feature 12 colorful Asian-inspired collages with my original haiku. $12 each. 

Water and Stone: My book of art and haiku, Water and Stone, makes a lovely gift! It includes 50 watercolor paintings with my original poems. Cost is $24.99. You can find it online here, on Amazon and in select local Humboldt stores. 

Made in Humboldt fair: The “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA runs through Friday, Dec. 24. This will be the only fair where you can buy my calendars, books, prints and boxed notecards this season. 

Art prints at Blake’s Books: This sweet bookstore in McKinleyville currently has a selection of my framed and unframed art prints, ready for gifting! They also carry my calendars, notecard sets and single cards.

The spiral path

A few weeks ago, I flew to Washington state for a three-day haiku conference. When I first attended the Seabeck Haiku Gathering a year ago, I was fairly new to the whole world of haiku, and it was very exciting to meet other serious haiku poets for the first time (see Finding My Tribe). This year, the conference deepened and expanded my understanding of this deceptively simple art form. Circling back to the same place a year later, I was also able to see how I have progressed as a poet and artist since then.

I was happy to be invited to do a poetry reading and present a digital slide show of my art, including the seashell painting at the top of this page. Following are a few of the conference activities, followed by my haiku.

The first morning, author and teacher Margaret McGee had us create large spiral labyrinths made of branches, autumn leaves, and oyster shells. She then led us on a contemplative walk into and out of the spirals, and over the weekend we dotted them with our haiku.

spiral labyrinth . . .
still hoping for a shortcut
to enlightenment

Terry Ann Carter, the president of Haiku Canada, led a workshop based on nature essays by Canadian writer and painter Emily Carr.

sleeping naked
all winter long
the maple

Jacqueline Pearce, the author of several historical novels for children and teens, gave a talk called “Time Travel with Haiku,” where we wrote historical haiku as well as “scifaiku” about the imagined future.

earthrise . . .
the world we left behind
so blue

Poet Alice Frampton led the group on a forest hike to the historic Seabeck cemetery, which inspired many poems.

eventually
we all arrive—
graveyard gate

The days were long and full, with some activities running past 11 p.m. I wrote the following haiku at the end of one such day. (It later tied for second place in the kukai, an anonymous haiku contest in which all participants vote on their favorites.)

flannel pajamas
my cell phone also
recharging

There was much more besides, including haiku bingo, a talent show, presentations by haiku poet Marco Fraticelli, and anonymous haiku workshops. On the last day, cartoonist-in-residence Jessica Tremblay of Old Pond Comics delightfully summarized the whole Seabeck gathering in cartoon form.

As with the labyrinths we made, the Seabeck conference left me reflecting that progress is rarely linear. It’s more like a spiral, where we repeat certain actions and experiences over and over, hopefully improving a little bit on each pass. The challenge is to stop looking for shortcuts, take a few breaths, and just enjoy the journey.

My thanks to Seabeck organizers Michael Dylan Welch and Angela Terry of Haiku Northwest for this fun and inspiring gathering, and to all the other participants who made it such a warm and rich experience.

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“listen—the song” is 5" x 7", painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors (gansai paint) on heavy textured paper. It is also available as a print or greeting card.

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Makino Studios News

Poetry & Honey: A new 2014 wall calendar features 12 of my paintings. This mini-calendar is now available online and at selected Humboldt County stores.

Humboldt Holiday Fairs: Look for my Makino Studios booth at: •    Humboldt Artisans Crafts and Music Festival at Redwood Acres in Eureka, CA, Dec. 6-8 •    Arcata Holiday Crafts Market at the Arcata Community Center, Arcata, CA, Dec. 14-15 •    Pierson Christmas Fair, Eureka, CA, Nov. 19-Dec. 31

Arts Alive Holiday Show: I will have several pieces in a group show at the Mateel Cooperative Gallery, 773 Redwood Drive, Garberville, CA in December.