Oishii

Japanese spring sweets, hanami dango and sakura mochi

Anything from Japan is a source of inspiration for my illustrations - especially food. 

I love that every season has dedicated specialities, even Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) has its own dango sweet. 

Sakura mochi (also eaten during cherry blossom season but mainly for Hinamatsuri - Girls' day) differs by region, I choose to illustrate the Kansai version.

For this pattern, I painted some of my favourite characters in the shape of Onigiri (rice balls).

It did take me a loooong time to colour each grain of rice but these were really fun to illustrate!

Totoro, hello kitty and rilakkuma onigiri

Food illustrations

Valentine's day treats

Ingredients for Osechi, Japanese new year's meal

Strawberry and chocolate donuts

Project with Venture Farm Cat Sanctuary

Richard, the kitten 

A few weeks ago, Jim and I decided to work together on a project with the Venture Farm Cat Sanctuary, very near from where we live 

(only 15 minutes away with our bikes). 

We saw on their facebook a call for donations and thought that we could use photography and illustration to help them. Carol, the owner, 

and her team of volunteers are doing such an amazing job there, our goal is to raise awareness about the sanctuary and hopefully funds too. 

And if some kitties can get adopted, even better.

Here are the two portraits I've started with:

If you're not already familiar with Jim's work, he's a documentary photographer, creator of Small Town Inertia.

Photograph by Jim Mortram

Carol taking a phone call about taking a new F.I.V cat. “We view cats with F.I.V. as a priority and we want to increase public awareness 

and understanding of this condition with a view to increasing the re-homing percentage of these animals.”

Geraldine, my little favourite

Marbles

The sanctuary also takes care of peacocks, sheeps, geese...

Marmalade