Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Artiste

I have an art show coming up in January, and I'm sketching out some ideas (the image above and the ones below are watercolor paintings from a previous art show). It's funny - I don't really consider myself an artist, though I've always loved to make things. I happen to come from a family full of artists and from an early age I was expected to be one. Maybe it's because of that expectation that I kind of rebelled and went corporate for many, many years (ironic, no?). After so many years ... Read more

Anthropomorphic animals

  As a child, I was obsessed with drawing princesses and playing with fashion plates. I was equally obsessed with drawing animals wearing different outfits and it's still one of the things I love to do. I never consulted any actual references, so my animals always came out looking rather wonky, and to this day, I tend to just draw from imagination and not much else. This pirate above is kind of foxy, yes? One of the things I find frustrating is how hard it is to capture the actual ... Read more

Happy

I was listening to Design Sponge's Grace Bonney talk about work/life balance today and thought there were some important things to reflect upon. I was intrigued by the glimpse I got into the professional blogging world from her perspective. The movie Happy is still my favorite in this general genre, but I liked her podcast a lot. What makes you happy? What are your goals in life? Do you have a network of supporters? If not, how do you find them? Questions to ponder... ... Read more

Fall is just around the corner: clothing challenge

We've been having such a fun summer, and as I look out the window and see the sun-dappled, lush and green trees, it's hard to believe that autumn will be here in no time. K is equipped with a new backpack already and we'll need to go shoe shopping in a week or so. And then there is the ritual of Fall clothes shopping -- oh, how I love little girl clothes! However, this year I'm doing something rather ambitious and kind of crazy: I am going to make all her clothes for the next 12 months. ... Read more