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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy Easter + Randomness

April 3, 2015

Happy Friday! Do you have big Easter plans? Every year, we get together with our neighbors and have an epic egg hunt followed by brunch in our yard (weather permitting). We're all transplants and it's become a much-anticipated tradition. There are usually at least 10 kids running around, and it's a madhouse in the best possible way. I keep wondering when K will be too old for egg hunts...I've got my fingers crossed that we're still good for a couple more ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life, watercolor • by sanae • 12 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

March 20, 2015

Happy Friday! I meant to have a sneak peek of my upcoming children's book today, but due to some unexpected snafus and technical problems on my part, I was foiled -- I'm hoping for better luck next week! I'm working on the custom illustrations from what is now an embarrassingly long time ago, and as my mother-in-law would say, the whole process is moving "slower than molasses in January." I just hope I'm still not apologizing this time next year! The horse above is one of the few I've been ... Read more

Filed in: life, watercolor • by sanae • 8 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

January 30, 2015

Happy Friday! Sometimes don't you wish you could pluck the moon and sun from the sky, put them into a container and take them out only when you need them? As I typed that it dawned on me that we use celestial movements as markers of the passage of time, but they aren't time itself. I need a refresher course in the fourth dimension. The power to stop time...maybe in the future someone will figure out how to make it into an app. ***************************************************** K: Look ... Read more

Filed in: black and white, illustration, life • by sanae • 8 Comments

Arrows

January 14, 2015

  sometimes. life shoots arrows that pierce blindly the released air sounds like sighs of sadness or hiccups of laughter or maybe gasps of wonder* *I am having a week in which the highs and lows are engaged in a major tug-of-war. So for today, this is all. ... Read more

Filed in: black and white, illustration • by sanae • 22 Comments

A Debt-Free Life Finale + Custom Illustration Giveaway! [CLOSED]

December 19, 2014

Evicting the roommates was a swift affair once I called in the big guns. You'll remember from last time that they had stopped paying rent and the situation was dire. M flew in from Seattle to "negotiate" (a punched hole in the wall was involved as I recall - the Czech girl's boyfriend was the temperamental sort). I was cowering somewhere out of sight and didn't witness the event. The couple left with a string of muttered Czech words trailing behind, cursing my name, I'm sure. Freed from thongs ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life, watercolor • by sanae •

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! I’m spending time with family in the Midwest and there is much to be grateful for, not the least of which is the slower pace this week. Sending big hugs to you! 🧡🧡🧡🧡 Incidentally, this ikebana floral arrangement is one of the illustrations that didn’t make it into my book SHIBUI — I painted a lot of extra illos!

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