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.

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. 

The truth about being an artist

I have been having trouble with frogs. Not actual frogs, which I kind of like, in their funny, damp way, but with trying to capture them on paper. To get the image I wanted for the piece shown here, in a long, frustrating process lasting two days, I painted a frog on a lily pad twenty-three times.

Still, each of my paintings fell short in some way. In many there was a problem with the neck, as my 12-year-old, an avid frog-catcher, helpfully pointed out. Others were out of proportion—froggy arms too long for the body, or feet too small. And in a couple, the ink ran in the all-important eyes, ruining the whole piece.

I wasn’t going for anatomical precision—that’s why God invented cameras—but I was still looking for that elusive “aha!” that tells me I’m done.

Exhausted by frogs, I put them away for a couple of weeks, letting the images percolate in my brain. And when I finally got up the gumption to tackle the piece again, I allowed myself to sketch it in pencil first, contrary to traditional Japanese technique.

Aha! Got it.

From the outside, being an artist may seem like a dream job. To have a career that is all about expressing your creativity, to enjoy the freedom of pursuing your passion however you choose, to share your talent with the admiring public, to leave your mark on the world in the most personal of ways . . .

A few of my failed frogs

There is truth to all of that, and I do appreciate the opportunity I have to walk this path. But the dirty little secret about being an artist is that it is also hard. Really hard.

First there is the overwhelming problem of trying to make a living as an artist, which deserves a whole separate discussion. Then there is the fact that—as rewarding as it is to create a successful painting—on any given morning, it is far easier to check email, Facebook, and Twitter, do laundry, or even (shudder) clean the bathroom, than sit down in the studio and paint.

It takes focused concentration and a mind uncluttered by the demands of a to-do list or a tight schedule. That's a tall order right there.

More fundamentally, although my creative vision is usually clear, my technical skills lag behind. In that gap lies self-doubt and frustration—not to mention a whole lot of wasted ink and paper. I’ve been involved with art and graphic design since childhood, yet some part of me still questions whether I can really call myself an artist. If so, would it really take me twenty-three tries to paint a simple frog? And must the whole process involve so much hair pulling?

And yet . . . I know that it's only by reaching beyond our comfort levels and throwing ourselves into the difficult and unknown that we leave open the possibility of grace. In the case of this particular painting, grace takes the form of a meditating frog, distracted by its many wandering thoughts, peeking an eye open.

Is this goofy painting to be part of my legacy to humanity? Well, so be it. Ribbit.

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“in meditation” is 5" x 7", painted with sumi ink and gansai paint (Japanese watercolors) on paper. It is also available as a print or greeting card.

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Makino Studios News

North Country Fair: Humboldt folks, please stop by and say hello at my booth at the 40th annual North Country Fair in Arcata, California this coming weekend, September 21-22, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. The Makino Studios booth will be near the Hot Knots corner on G Street.

Seabeck Haiku Gathering: I will be presenting examples of my haiga (art with haiku) at this fun haiku retreat taking place in Seabeck, Washington October 10-13.

Hello, Oregon: As of this month, the independent bookstore Soundpeace in Ashland is the first retailer in Oregon to carry a selection of my cards.