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

“Water and Stone” makes a splash

“sun-baked orchard” is 11x14, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper. Like many of the works featured in Water and Stone, it is available for sale. © Annette Makino 2018

Well, what a nice welcome for my new book, Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku! All the orders, raves and reviews—it feels like a hat full of cherries. Thank you!

The Makino Studios site now offers Water and Stone. Please note that it can only ship to US mailing addresses. You can also order it on Amazon, which ships worldwide and probably soon throughout the solar system.

This is a full-color, 8x10 book, and runs 124 pages. It features 50 of my watercolor haiga (art + haiku) and 15 haibun (prose + haiku). The cost is $24.99 plus tax and shipping.

I’m happy to share that these stores in Humboldt County, California now carry my book:

Eureka
Eureka Books
Eureka Natural Foods
Northcoast Co-op

Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku at Northtown Books in Arcata, California.

Arcata
Northcoast Co-op
Northtown Books
Plaza
Wildberries Marketplace

McKinleyville
Blake’s Books
Eureka Natural Foods
Miller Farms

Trinidad
Trinidad Trading Company

Here are a couple of Amazon reviews. And if you order from there and enjoy the book, I’ll be grateful if you post a review.

5.0 out of 5 stars •  Beautiful and relevant

Annette Makino’s work is wonderful — her haiku reveal ideas that are instantly relatable and yet profound. Her joyful, expressive art pairs perfectly. This collection of ten years’ work makes for a lovely gift or a book to enjoy yourself.

My mother, Erika Makino, turned 93 last month. What a pleasure to be able to give her a copy of the book I dedicated to her!

5.0 out of 5 stars • Wisdom, insight, humor, beauty.

Annette’s book is a joy. Each haiku is unexpected, like a good joke that takes a sudden turn. But instead of guffawing you will wryly smile and gain a nugget of insight into the ways of the world. Annette weaves her personal stories throughout so that each haiku succinctly, humorously, and with wisdom expresses the essence of the tale. Her lovely illustrations tie it all together. A delightful book.

Thanks for reading. Here’s hoping you are enjoying some sweet summer days despite the madness around us.

warmly, Annette Makino

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Makino Studios News

Studio Space: I am excited to share that I will be one of the featured artists on the second season of Studio Space! This is a ten-part series on local Humboldt artists produced by Eureka PBS station KEET-TV. A crew of six was here for four hours recently, interviewing me and filming me at work in my studio. It was quite a to-do! The new season will air in late spring of 2022. It will be available to stream online for free for three weeks, and then only to PBS/KEET members.

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. I am waiting to hear if it is still a go, given the rise in Humboldt County cases, and will let you know.

New calendars and cards: My 2022 calendar of art and haiku is going to press next week! This will feature 12 of my Asian-inspired collage haiga. I am also designing some new cards. These should all be ready in mid-September. Stay tuned!

The business of art: My column on “the business end of the paintbrush” for the weekly Business Sense series in the Eureka Times-Standard is now available online.

Best of Humboldt: Thanks to everyone who voted for me for Best Local Artist in the 2021 Best of Humboldt contest! Congratulations to the first place winner, mural artist Duane Flatmo, and to my fellow finalist, mural artist Blake Regan. 

Free shipping on books, 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 on the Makino Studios site.

Tired of staring at your walls?

The way the pandemic is going, it looks like we’ll all be spending even more time at home over the coming months, if such a thing is possible. It could be a looong winter.

To change things up a bit, how about some fresh wall art for you and yours? Signed 11x14 prints of my watercolor and sumi ink paintings are all 40% off through this coming Monday. They are normally $45, currently $27, no code needed.

There are 20 designs including ocean and redwood landscapes, funny chickens, and swimming dogs. My 8x10 prints are also on sale for $18. Note that all supplies are very limited.

These prints are professionally printed by Bug Press in Arcata, CA with fade-resistant ink, using acid-free paper from a supplier that is certified to be 100% carbon-neutral. I individually stamp each print in red with my personal seal, then sign it. Prints will fit in a standard 11x14 mat or frame.

In a time when we are deprived of so much, let art feed your soul. Happy holidays!

Here’s a simple framing suggestion for my 11x14 prints. They will fit in a standard off-the-shelf mat or frame. Country road © Annette Makino 2017

Foggy coastline with haiku © Annette Makino 2019

Redwood forest © Annette Makino 2017

Happy swimming dog © Annette Makino 2015

Redwood time © Annette Makino 2018

Mountain meadow © Annette Makino 2015

Curious chickens © Annette Makino 2019

Water and stone © Annette Makino 2015

Prints are packaged flat in a self-sealing cellophane bag; a flyer describing my work is enclosed. They ship first class in a sturdy photo mailer.

P.S. I’m offering free US shipping for Makino Studios orders of $35 or more with code FREESHIP35. Order no later than Thursday, Dec. 17 to get your package by Dec. 25.

P.P.S. Video of a short presentation on my new collage art plus haiku about parenting is available online through Monday. At this Zoom link, enter passcode d604=+jS. Skip to the fourth recording by clicking on the forward symbol three times, then you can jump to my presentation at the 41:23 mark.

Wet Paint

Though I’ve been making art since I could hold a crayon, and have been a professional artist since 2011, I had never taken a watercolor class—until now. Next week will be my final session of a great sixteen-week class taught by esteemed artist Alan Sanborn.

Although the paint, brushes, paper and photorealistic approach are all different from my usual technique, I’ve gained so much from this class. I learned that to paint dark green trees, layering deep turquoise over orange can look more realistic than using green paint. Or how to use complementary colors for shadows: purple for a yellow banana or orange for a blue plate. Or even why it's worth spending $11 for a sheet of good watercolor paper!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll share some examples of my assignments. And perhaps you’ll notice some evolution in my art over the coming months!

hovering brush
nothing and everything
in a pool of ink

64 shades of black: Our first major assignment was to cut a black and white photo into 64 tiny numbered rectangles, then reproduce it using a wide variety of blacks that we mixed. 

Fishermen at dawn: We painted several 25-minute pieces in class, learning to make quick decisions about where and how to layer color.

Swan Lake: This was a study in layering color on an image with a black background, shown in progress.

And to think it only took 20 hours to transform a beautiful photo of a lily pond into a confusing jumble!

Languid lass: Our teacher had us paint the model in just two shades, light or dark, then add a few darker details. Surprising how realistic that can look.

The finished piece retains a subtle hint of the warm blue underlayer.

Playtime: Our final assignment: a self-portrait. This was the first of several layers.

Based on a photo by my son Gabriel, the finished painting depicts my dog Misha and me playing at the beach on New Year's Day.