Start the presses!

Made with a vintage Japanese letter and stamps, plus Asian washi papers, acrylic paint, glue, charcoal, and pen and ink on cradled wood panel, the playful cat shown here is part of the upcoming 2027 calendar. It will also be available as a card reading, “hello friend.” And it’s now available as a custom print with no English words, printed to order. © Annette Makino 2027

Well, I’ve finally caught up to my tail long enough to share some exciting news: I’m expecting triplets! Not literally, thank God. At my age, that would be a medical marvel. But I have been working away on three creative projects, and coincidentally, they are all due to come out in early October.

Yung Stands Strong Children’s Book

The biggest project is the children’s book I’ve authored about the expulsion of the Chinese population from Eureka in 1885. More than a year in gestation, Yung Stands Strong: A Story of Expulsion and Resilience is now being printed at Bug Press here in Arcata, CA. I’m excited for the world to meet nine-year old Yung, a real girl who lived in Eureka, and her tuxedo cat Miu Miu, whom I dreamt into being.

This 50-page book is very much a group project, conceived and led by Humboldt Asians and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI) and illustrated by Japanese artist Yukari Mishima. Following the story, there is a fascinating section on the history of Eureka’s Chinatown that was researched and written by HAPI members and local historians.

We are launching the book on Sunday, October 11 at the grand opening of the gorgeous new Eureka Chinatown monument in Old Town Eureka. The monument and book, partly funded by a grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy, aim to spread awareness of this dark chapter in our history so that we can learn from it.

2027 Makino Studios Calendar

My second “baby” is the 2027 Makino Studios calendar of art and haiku. The results of a year of artmaking, the calendar includes landscapes of redwoods, rivers and beaches, and an array of animals including a purple Roosevelt elk. As ever, each mixed media collage includes an original haiku.

As I said in a recent story about my calendar tradition in the Mad River Union, “It’s really meaningful for me to be able to share my art and words with the community and hopefully bring a bit of joy and insight and peace to people through their year.”

Special thanks to the 35 people who helped me decide which 12 designs to include and which to put on the cover. It was a wide-open field, with each of the 15 prospective designs getting at least one vote for the cover and one vote to be cut. In the end, the last image to be cut was decided by just one voter. Quite the cliffhanger! (But unlike the upcoming midterm elections, the stakes were very small.)

Fall Card Collection

The third of my triplets is a new greeting card collection, which went to press yesterday. Though it’s not easy after 15 years of designing cards, I enjoy the challenge of coming up with original words for each image that go beyond a generic “happy birthday” or “deepest sympathies.”

Sometimes I hit it: my top seller remains a 2017 birthday card reading, “in redwood years, you’re still a seedling.” And sometimes I miss: apparently few others appreciate the dark humor of “cheers to another year of staying above ground!”

Anyhow, over a couple weeks of brainstorming and head-scratching, I wrote words for eight of the new collages, plus updated words for an older piece. I’m in suspense to see how these do!

So October will be a big month here in the back woods. With all three projects at the printers now, I can take a deep Lamaze breath and shout, “Start the presses!”

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Makino Studios News

Annette Makino holds a proof copy of Yung Stands Strong: A Story of Expulsion and Resilience, illustrated by Yukari Mishima, with historical background written by Humboldt Asians and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI).

Art Attitudes radio show: Host Wendy Butler will interview Amy Uyeki, Sue Lee Mossman and myself about the Chinatown monument and book. We’ll be live on Humboldt Hot Air, KHHA 94.7 FM, on Sunday, September 27, 10 to 11 a.m. The show can also be streamed online.

Chinatown monument grand opening and book launch: On Sunday, October 11 from 1 to 4 p.m., come celebrate the grand opening of the Eureka Chinatown Monument, located at First and E Streets in Eureka, CA. The event will include lion dancers, taiko drumming, Asian food trucks, and dance and song performances by Hmong, Lao, and Eureka High School K-Pop groups. Yung Stands Strong will be launched at the grand opening.

Book reading at Los Bagels: Along with members of the HAPI book team, I’ll be reading and discussing Yung Stands Strong at Los Bagels, 403 Second Street in Eureka, CA on Saturday, October 17 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available and a tour of the monument, around the corner from Los Bagels, will follow for those interested. For a free tour of historic Chinatown, meet in front of the Clarke Museum at 2 p.m. that day.

In Bashō’s Footsteps: The annual Seabeck Haiku Getaway takes place in Seabeck, WA October 21-25. On October 23 at 1 p.m., using photos, maps, and haiku, I will give a talk on my self-guided walking tour last year that traced part of the famous route taken by haiku poet Bashō in 1689.

Book signing at Eureka Books: I’ll be signing copies of Yung Stands Strong at Eureka Books, 426 Second Street in Eureka, CA, during Arts Alive on Saturday, November 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. They also carry my cards and calendars.

Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Award: I’m honored that this very Humboldt poem took first place in The Heron’s Nest’s highly regarded haiku contest this year. My thanks to judge Joyce Clement for her thoughtful commentary, and congratulations to the other winners.

edge of the continent
a flock of godwits
poking holes

Grace Hudson Museum show: A new exhibition at Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, CA, “Deep Valley: People, Places, Memory,” opened this month to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the City of Ukiah. My collage of an oak tree is included in a section about the ukiaHaiku Festival, where I’ve served as the keynote speaker and had many of my haiku win awards over the years. I’m proud to play this small part in telling the story of my old home town! The show runs through February 7.

Mad River Union story: “Annette Makino’s artful, joyful calendars” is a fun article about my annual calendar in Leo David’s column, “All Things Art,” in the September 3 Mad River Union.

Sizzling summer haiku

sun-striped path
the forest’s outbreath
fills our lungs

This mixed media collage is 11×14, made with paper, acrylic paint, charcoal, crayon, ink and glue on cradled wood. A birthday card version reads, “happy birthday—may you grow many more rings.” © Annette Makino 2023

Today is sunny, but through the weekend, the clouds hung on till afternoon, and I was chilly enough to wear a wool sweater. Here on the Northern California coast, we have entered the month of Fogust. In our cool and damp micro-clime, so perfect for redwoods, locals are amazed by the temperature if it reaches 70 degrees.

But having lived near Ukiah, CA as a teen and visited family often since, I know a little about triple-digit heat. Today I’m sharing a haiku sequence that I wrote on a recent trip there.

By the way, while traditional haiku are supposed to convey the season, there are lots of ways to do that without stating it directly. This sequence only uses the word “summer” once, but you’ll see that there are many creative ways to imply it.

Today I’m also featuring two collage haiga (art with haiku) that were inspired by my time in beautiful Mendocino County.

Heat Wave

weathered fence posts
resting on the wire
meadowlark song

This mixed media collage is 8×10, made with paper, acrylic paint, crayon, ink and glue on cradled wood. © Annette Makino 2023

English Breakfast
a real scorcher
gathers steam

record highs
the weather map
blazing

wildfire season
the first clothes I hung
tinder-dry

and the seasons . . .
turning the fan
to summer mode

heat haze
a hummingbird
fans the air

ninety in the shade
a glass of iced tea
sweating

cherry pits
stud the bear scat
exposed trail

the day’s heat
still rising from the stones
the whoosh of bats

first stars
we open every window
to let in the night

Whether yours is foggy and damp or sunny and dry, I hope you’re enjoying the summer!

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Makino Studios News

Free shipping this week: Your Makino Studios order ships free through Sunday, August 10 with code SIZZLE25. Enter the code at checkout. No minimum order. US addresses only.

This haiga, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper, appears in Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku, Annette Makino, Makino Studios, 2021.

2026 calendar focus group: I’m working away on the collages for my 2026 mini-calendar of art and haiku! I could use some input on which image to use for the cover. If you’re interested in getting a sneak peek online and voting on the contestants, please reply to this email. And if you were part of last year’s focus group, I’ll include you again. Thanks!

Haiku 21.2: I’m honored to have the following haiku in Haiku 21.2, a new anthology of contemporary haiku in English, published by Modern Haiku Press:

October sun
the sky the color
of forever

Haiku North America: This biannual conference will be held in San Francisco September 24-28. I’m excited to attend HNA for the first time! Registration is still open for anyone interested in haiku.

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“Heat Wave” was published in Frogpond, 48.2, Spring/Summer 2025

Taylor Swift and the Trope of the Tortured Poet

“dawn’s early light” is 8x10, made from Japanese washi papers, metallic gold paper, book pages, paint and glue on cradled wood panel. It is the February art for my 2024 calendar. A card version reads, “you light up the room.” © Annette Makino 2023

I must admit I ignored Taylor Swift for years, thinking a pop star with such mainstream popularity, a pretty blonde beloved by teenage girls, would not be my cup of tea. But with the 2020 release of her folk-pop album Folklore, I took another listen—and became a fan. I belatedly discovered she is a gifted songwriter who writes original and interesting lyrics.

As you’ve probably heard, Swift has announced a new album called The Tortured Poets Department, to be released April 19. So does Swift consider herself a tortured poet? As evidence, there is a hand-written poem she recently posted to Instagram that includes lines like “my muses, acquired like bruises” and “my veins of pitch black ink.” Another subtle clue: it’s signed “The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.”

And yes, her lyrics often convey suffering. In “All Too Well” she sings, “you call me up again/Just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest.” And on “Cardigan” she sings, “You drew stars around my scars/But now I’m bleeding.”

But the pain she describes is just one element of her persona; other songs talk about falling in love or tell colorful stories about fictional characters. I suspect Swift’s use of the “tortured poets” label is at least partly tongue-in-cheek, offered with her trademark combination of confession and self-deprecating humor. I guess we Swifties will just have to wait until April 19 for further clarity on this burning issue!

Meanwhile, the album title raises the question: do poets need to be tortured to write good poetry? The poster child for this stereotype is Sylvia Plath, a brilliant poet of pain and despair who took her own life at age 30. For awhile I found that my darker haiku had higher acceptance rates than my neutral or upbeat poems—proof that such poems are inherently stronger or more compelling? (See my anonymous 2013 letter on this question to the Haiku Maven advice column.) But of course, one can write about hard times from a place of acceptance rather than agony.

Despite the trope of the tortured poet—a corollary to the trope of the starving artist—there are plenty of life-affirming poets. Consider Mary Oliver’s lines, “When it’s over, I want to say: all my life/I was a bride married to amazement.” Maybe it comes from spending a lot of time in nature and learning to notice small details, but haiku poets in particular really seem to appreciate life’s gifts.

“scattered feathers” is 5x7, made of watercolor paper, an airmail envelope, washi paper, a vintage Janaese stamp, feathers, paint, thread, ink and glue on paper. © Annette Makino 2021

Tortured or not, I think the most effective poems come from being present and attuned to the world around you. You don’t necessarily have to suffer to write good poetry, but you do need access to depths of feeling and the gift of observation. This helps you write poetry that is accessible, involving some experience readers can relate to even if they have never gone through that exact event. An example:

dawn’s early light
the neighbor’s peacock
tunes up

Poetry—and I include Taylor Swift’s lyrics in that category—helps us make sense of this shifting world, the major triumphs and tortures along with the small moments that, strung together, make up our lives.

scattered feathers
the weight
of being human

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Makino Studios News

Red Moon Anthology: I am thrilled to have the following poem in Upside Down, the 2023 anthology from Red Moon Press of the best English-language haiku of the year. Editors nominated more than 3000 poems for the latest edition, and I’m honored that mine was one of the 146 haiku that made the cut. My thanks to the anthology editors.

alone at the beach
someone else’s dog
brings me a stick

Mother’s Day and graduation: I’ve stocked up on these cards for Mother’s Day (May 12) and graduation (Cal Poly Humboldt commencement is May 11). Browse all 70-odd card designs.

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Publication credits:
“dawn’s early light” - Mariposa; “scattered feathers” - Modern Haiku.

News story on my art journey

I’m excited to share that this week’s North Coast Journal includes an in-depth article about my creative path! My thanks to Louisa Rogers for the lively and well-researched column—it’s a great holiday gift to be featured. Happy solstice and season’s greetings to all!

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Makino’s “Garden rosebush,” a collage of book pages, a letter and envelope from the artist’s grandmother, handmade and Japanese washi papers, painted, torn and glued onto birch wood panel.

ART BEAT

Annette Makino’s Life in Collage

LOUISA ROGERS, NORTH COAST JOURNAL, EUREKA, CA, DECEMBER 21, 2023

Annette Makino has been an artist all her life but it wasn't until 2010 that she became interested in incorporating haiku into her artwork. For her birthday that year, her Arcata friend and fellow artist Amy Uyeki gave her a book of senryu, a poetic form structurally similar to haiku but with more humor and a focus on human nature. The poems were written by Uyeki’s Japanese grandmother and accompanied by Uyeki’s art.

“This lovely book set me on my current path,” says Makino, whose father is also Japanese. She started combining her haiku with simple brush paintings, which evolved to Asian-inspired watercolors and then collages. A year later, after leaving her 20-year career as senior vice president for communications at the Arcata-based nonprofit Internews, she launched Makino Studios, offering collages, watercolors, prints, cards and calendars.

Annette Makino. Photo by Maya Makino

Currently she works mostly with collage using hand-painted and torn Japanese washi papers, which are typically made from the fibers of the mulberry plant. She also uses other papers from different parts of her life—letters, her young nephew’s scribbles, book pages, musical scores and maps. To make sure the pieces don’t fade over time, she uses acrylic paints to color the white paper, then tears it into the shapes she wants and glues it onto paper or wood, a process that typically takes two to three days. According to Makino, a common misconception is that collage doesn't require much skill. “It’s very labor intensive and can involve as much skill as painting,” she says.

Makino’s most productive periods of artwork happen twice every summer, when she and her husband, Paul, a retired Cal Poly Humboldt geography professor, rent a cabin on the Klamath River in Orleans, a place they've visited for 27 years. In that placid location, free from distractions, she can get a lot of work done.

Makino usually writes the haiku first, before the artwork. “The words aren’t meant to illustrate the art,” she says. “You want a bit of distance, so the reader has a new way to think about the theme.” She often starts crafting the poem while hiking in Ma-le'l Dunes or in Trinidad, where she and Paul walk a couple of times a week.

Makino considers herself equal parts artist and writer. Her book Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku was awarded Honorable Mention in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Awards and her poetry regularly appears in English-language haiku journals, including Modern Haiku, Frogpond and The Heron’s Nest. She has also won awards for her poetry from the Haiku Foundation and the Haiku Society of America.

Annette Makino’s “All that I am” incorporates book pages, a fern print, a vintage Japanese letter and washi paper, as well as asemic, or made-up, writing by her nephew.

Many of Makino’s haiku have to do with transitions. A few years ago, for example, when her two young adult children started the process of leaving home, she wrote about the empty nest, while the loss of her 16-year-old dog inspired many poems last summer. Her 95-year-old mother Erika, a former Humboldt resident and also a writer and artist, lives three hours away in Mendocino County. Makino visits her about once a month and is keenly aware of her mom’s gradual decline. That, and the earthquake last winter which caused a lot of damage to her home, have inspired her poetry and art. “Whatever life brings me,” she says. 

Makino was one of five local artists granted the 2022 Victor Thomas Jacoby award for “artistic vision and creativity,” provided annually by the Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation. Winners each received $10,000 to support their work. The award freed her from some of the commercial pressures of running a business and creating mostly marketable art that appeals to the public. Instead, she experimented with mixed media, using materials like charcoal, crayon, ink and pencil in her collages, and exploring oils and cold wax.

North Coast Journal, December 21, 2023

Recently, she’s been incorporating more personally meaningful elements into her collages. Because Paul loves maps, she created a collage for him that included a detailed map of Tibet. Another collage she created with whales incorporated a scrap from her daughter’s high school copy of Moby Dick. For “Garden rosebush,” she says, “I included a letter from my Swiss grandmother when I got married.”

Makino’s Japanese-Swiss ancestry has shaped her creativity. The haiku and Japanese paper may be more apparent to viewers but, “The Swiss, too, are surprisingly very playful in their art and writing,” she says, noting she likes to bring that spirit of play into her work.

Makino’s cards, prints and calendars are available at the Made in Humboldt Fair at Pierson Garden Shop through Dec. 24, and in shops around the county year-round. You can see more of her work at makinostudios.com.

Louisa Rogers (she/her) is a writer, painter and paddleboarder who lives in Eureka and Guanajuato, Mexico.

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Makino Studios News

Made in Humboldt fair: With 300 local vendors, the “Made in Humboldt” event at Pierson Garden Shop in Eureka, CA runs through this Sunday, Dec. 24. There you will find my calendars, books, small prints and boxed notecards.

2024 mini-calendars: I am still shipping out orders through the holidays, especially my calendars of art and haiku! They feature 12 colorful Asian-inspired collages with my original haiku. $12 each.

Free shipping: Earn free shipping on orders for $35 or more; just enter promo code FREESHIP35 at checkout.