Lucky 13

“fields of lupine” is 8x10, made with acrylic paint, washi paper, part of a map, colored pencils and glue on cradled wood. It is part of the 2024 Makino Studios calendar. A card version reads, “love you, mama bear.” © Annette Makino 2023

Today is the 13th anniversary of Makino Studios! A huge thank you to all the customers, store buyers and fans who have made this art business possible for a lucky thirteen years. To celebrate, I’m offering 13% off everything in the store though this Sunday with code 13YEARS.

And tomorrow marks the official return of spring! Here in Northern California, it’s been a very dark and soggy winter, which has inspired many a haiku about the relentless rain.

cold winter rain
the swollen creek also
rushing home

At times it seemed even the wildlife was complaining about the weather.

wild geese
kvetching across the sky
March bluster

Over the winter, algae colonized the outside of my Prius while mold made itself comfortable inside. Those were solvable problems, but in far worse news, a mysterious leak completely destroyed the electrical system in my husband’s eight-year-old RAV4. So far his car has spent six weeks at the repair shop; it seems the insurance company is going to call it a total loss. Perhaps these were signs to just sit out the winter at home by the fire . . .

Starting work on the collage above.

Pale and moldy ourselves, we’ve been grasping at every hint of spring—the first trillium blooming along the creek, the earliest cherry blossoms unfurling along our road. These past few days we’ve reveled in the precious sunshine, gardening and taking walks.

I used colored pencils to add subtle light and dark accents to the bears.

My husband, son and I did a favorite hike last week, the Lyons Ranch loop in Redwood National Park. A couple of springs back, we saw a black bear cub from that trail, prompting a long, nervous pause as we tried to spot the mother. (She was nowhere to be seen, and we continued without incident.) The collage and haiku featured here came out of that experience.

Here’s hoping you survived the long winter better than our cars did. Happy spring equinox!

fields of lupine
against all odds
spring again

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Almost done, just considering different purple papers for the lupines.

Makino Studios News

Anniversary sale: Take 13% off everything in the Makino Studios shop through midnight on Sunday, March 24. Enter promo code 13YEARS at checkout.

New! Custom prints: By customer request, I've made some designs available in my shop as prints in several sizes that you can order on demand. If there’s a piece you’d like to order that you don’t see there, let me know.

Vacation plans: I will be taking a break and not filling orders April 5-26. Sorry for any inconvenience. Stock up now!

Mother’s Day and graduation: I’ve printed cards for Mother’s Day (May 12) and graduation (Cal Poly Humboldt commencement is May 11). Browse all 70-some card designs and notecard sets.

Social: I’ve mostly given up on Twitter/X (at least until it gets a less toxic owner), but I regularly post art, haiku, news and more on Instagram as @annettemakino and on Facebook as Makino Studios (links below). See you over there!

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Haiku credits: “cold winter rain” - tinywords; “wild geese” - The Heron’s Nest; “fields of lupine” - 2024 in art and haiku by Annette Makino

Joy, art and healing

“first rain” is 11 x 14, made of paper, acrylic paint, and adhesive on paper. It appears in my 2022 calendar. © Annette Makino 2021.

It’s always a bit awkward having an event online. It’s not just that someone invariably forgets to mute; it’s also just plain weird to have a conversation with people you can only see in their little Zoom boxes.

flossing only
my front teeth
Zoom meeting

But this deep into the pandemic, Zooming has become more routine—and it does allow for some interesting opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have.

A couple of weeks ago, I was part of an online panel with four other artists and writers on the theme of joy, art and healing. The rich and wide-ranging conversation centered on the experience of being an artist in this particular time.

Right now our world is dealing with climate change, a pandemic, and assaults on democracy, to name just a few threats. We explored whether it’s frivolous or self-indulgent to spend time making art when our world is so broken. 

Is it the highest and best use of our time to hole up in our studios? Should we instead devote ourselves to political organizing or marching in the streets?

A couple of the panelists shared ways they have harnessed their art for good causes. For instance, letterpress artist Jenn Graves donated sales of a print reading “love is a verb” to support young people as they age out of foster care.

More broadly, we discussed how making art is one way of mending the world. As artist Lisa Occhipinti put it, “Art heals us and enables us to give joy.” 

Author Lori Snyder said, “At its best, art is a bridge to all of our humanity.” She noted how creations that feel unique to us can have universal meaning for other people. 

I shared that my younger self thought that the best way to create social change was to work directly on issues, preferably on a global scale. But I’ve since come to believe that we artists can create more profound change at an individual level, when we’re in our truth and sharing our authentic selves. 

I keep this quote by Clarissa Pinkola Estés on my computer desktop: “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.”

I called both of my senators yesterday morning and I regularly donate to political and environmental groups. But I believe the part of the world I can best mend is the part I can touch with my art. 

Someday I hope to meet my fellow panelists out of their Zoom boxes, in 3-D! In the mean time, I’m grateful to them for affirming that, despite my occasional bouts of guilt and doubt, art can be a path to joy and healing for both the artist and the viewer. 

art studio
a full day’s work
under my nails

P.S. This panel was part of “Joy, Art & Healing,” a series of seven conversation organized by Lori Snyder and the Writers Happiness Movement in celebration of Lori’s new book, The Circus at the End of the Sea. You can watch the whole discussion here.

An earlier version of “first rain” was first published in Windfall: 2013 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology

“flossing only” was first published in Paper Mountains: 2020 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology

“art studio” was first published in The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXII, Number 2, June 2021

Single cards, notecard sets, signed prints, calendars and books are all available on this site.

Makino Studios News

New cards: I’ve created eight new and updated cards for birthdays, sympathy, support and every day! I also offer notecards sets for the holidays or every day.

2022 mini-calendar: My new calendars of art and haiku are available on this site and at select stores in Humboldt County, California. They feature 12 colorful Asian-inspired collages with my original haiku, which you can see at the top of my collage gallery. At $12 each, these make great holiday gifts. 

Water and Stone: My book of art and haiku, Water and Stone, makes a lovely present! It includes 50 watercolor paintings with my original poems, plus 15 haibun (short prose pieces combined with haiku). Cost is $24.99. You can find it online here, on Amazon and in select local Humboldt stores. 

Made in Humboldt fair: You’ll be able to find my calendars, prints and boxed notecards at the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA from Tuesday, Nov. 9 through Friday, Dec. 24. This will be the only fair where you can find my work this season. 

Seabeck Haiku Getaway: I will be presenting a slide show of my art and haiku (haiga) plus a hands-on haiga workshop at the Seabeck Haiku Getaway taking place in Seabeck, WA Oct. 27-31. (Haiku poets, there are still a few spots left!)

Traveling: In related news, I will be traveling and unable to fill orders Oct. 26-Nov. 4, so please get any Makino Studios orders in by Monday.

Humboldt Holidays

What a rainstorm we’re having! As I write, I can see redwoods swaying in the wind, big green leaves blowing off the alders, and raindrops bouncing hard off the deck. I hope you are finding ways to stay cheerful despite the wet and gloom. steady rain
80% chance
of popcorn

Meanwhile, I have been busy in my studio framing paintings and prints, assembling new cards, and making books with washi paper I brought back from Japan. This post is especially for folks here in Humboldt County, California. I wanted to share with you several local events this holiday season, or maybe we should call it the holiday high hurdles race!

The Makino Studios section at the Pierson Christmas Fair in Eureka, California, running through December.

Holiday Fairs: I will have Makino Studios booths at holiday fairs for the next three weekends, featuring some new paintings, holiday cards, and handmade books as well as prints and t-shirts. The first fair is the big three-day Humboldt Artisans Festival at Redwood Acres starting this Friday. The following weekend, I’ll be at the Arcata Community Center, and the Sunday after that, I’ll have a booth at the Bayside Grange. Details for all those fairs are below. These fairs are a fun and meaningful way for me to connect in person with my customers (see my  December 2011 post, “Holiday Abundance”). I also have a selection of my haiku cards, prints and books at the Piersons Christmas Fair in the Garden Shop, running through Christmas.

Affordable Art Show: For the month of December, several of my framed prints will be on display as part of  the “Home for the Holidays” group show at the MikkiMoves Living Room Gallery at 7th and I Streets in Eureka. The show, featuring affordable art suitable for holiday giving, opens this Saturday, December 1 from 6-9 p.m. during Arts Alive. There will be live music and tasty finger food.

Holiday Card Retailers: I have three new holiday card designs (see them in the Seasons album in my online gallery). Several local stores now carry my holiday cards. In Arcata: the Arcata Co-op, All Under Heaven, and Humboldt Pet Supply. In Eureka: the Eureka Co-op, Eureka Books, Piersons, and MikkiMoves.

You can find a selection of my other card designs at Wildberries, Northtown Books and Plaza in Arcata, Humboldt Herbals in Old Town Eureka, Blake’s Books and Miller Farms in McKinleyville, the Trinidad Trading Company in Trinidad, the Kozy Korner Gift Shop in Fortuna and The Gazebo in Ferndale.

Free Shipping thru Friday: If you would rather shop from the comfort of your keyboard, you can always order cards, prints and books from me online through the Makino Studios Etsy shop. I am offering free shipping through this Friday, November 30, with shipping code THANKS2012.

Holiday Gospel Concerts: And on a personal note, I will be singing gospel-style Christmas songs with the Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir at our annual holiday concerts. We are performing Friday, Dec. 14 in Eureka and Saturday, Dec. 15 in Arcata (further details on the concert poster I designed, with me in the right-hand corner). Singing joyful songs with 80 other people is one sure way to lift the spirits (see my April 2011 post, “We Lift Our Voices”).

Well, I’m going to try and take my dog out. If you read my August 2011 post, “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Go Out,” you know that Misha is not too keen on getting wet; this is when his dainty poodle nature emerges.

Here’s wishing you all the best. I hope to see you at one or more of these holiday events!

warmly, Annette

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The “winter night” painting above continues my Haiku for Dog Lovers series. The original is 7” x 5” and was painted with sumi ink and gansai paint on textured paper. It will be for sale at my holiday fair booth. The poem was first published in the haiku journal Notes from the Gean in July 2012.

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Makino Studios News

Humboldt Artisans Crafts and Music Festival –Friday, Nov. 30, 12 - 9 p.m.; Saturday, December 1, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and Sunday, December 2, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, Eureka. Live music on five stages, food and drink. General admission $3 or free with a kid’s toy or gift for a senior. Admission free for kids and seniors.

Arcata Holiday Crafts Market –Saturday and Sunday, December 8-9, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Arcata Community Center, Arcata. Music and concessions. Benefits the City of Arcata’s Youth Development Scholarship Fund for low-income kids to participate in recreation programs.

Holiday Handmade/Makers Fair –Sunday, December 16, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Bayside Grange, 2297 Jacoby Creek Road, Bayside. Friendly neighborhood fair. Expect good food, too; last year they served tasty hot soups and breads.

Pierson Christmas Fair –Tuesday, November 13-Tuesday, Dec. 25. Ongoing fair of arts and crafts handmade in Humboldt County. Pierson Garden Shop, 4100 Broadway Street, Eureka. Last week they were serving free hot cider and cookies.

Connecting - I regularly post fresh haiku and/or art on Facebook and Twitter. "Like" the Makino Studios Facebook page and/or follow @Ant99 on Twitter for the newest material.