All Creatures Great and Small

What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
My grandma is visiting for the Lunar New Year, and I am documenting her recipes with illustrations. My sketchbook is currently full of scallion pancakes, kimchi, and dumplings.

What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on them?
I realized I wasn't trusting myself to create. I often hold a rigid idea of "perfect" imagery in my head, so I struggle when the reality on paper doesn't match that vision. The truth is, it never did.

I had to let go of control. If I am not satisfied with the look, I simply move on. Surprisingly, every time I look back, the work I hated is often the work I appreciate the most. Good work is finding the alignment between hand and mind, not force.

What words, ideas or emotions were going through your head?
Simplicity, pause, space, flow, unexpectedness, acceptance, enjoying the process.

Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
My current fixation: Takashi Kokubo (????), Blessings Of The Forest (????); She Her Her Hers from their album Location (2019); Lisa Ono,“Te Quiero Dijiste” from Romance Latino, Vol. 1.

What's been the most difficult thing you've faced recently in your creative process?
I couldn’t find the time to create, with my to-do list getting longer every day. If I don't act when the impulse strikes, the moment evaporates. Creation cannot just sit on a to-do list; it has to be now or never.

What is your favorite restaurant and what do you recommend we order?
A bowl of avgolemono from Nammos Estiatorio.

If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
I am terrible at titles, so I will borrow from my favorite show, All Creatures Great and Small. It fits the current mood: chaotic and joyful, going with the flow.

Which studios, laboratories, or workshops have you collaborated with recently or would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I did a pop-up in Portland with How Convenient, which was lovely. I really want to try a workshop combining drawing on pottery!

Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Maniniwei, for linework and texture; Maira Kalman, for color, feelings, and chaos; Jean-Michel Folon, for negative space—I love his pencil drawings.