I always loved drawing a girl’s wonderland- beautiful princesses in dresses, me in my dream house which looked like a castle and I often drew the people around me who I always thought looked fashionable. I would draw everywhere, in my house and at school. I also loved colouring books.

There have always been two things very close to my heart, one is the special experience you get from traveling- I love drawing the everyday lives of the people I visit. The other thing is capturing the beautiful things which exist in my day-to-day life, like sunlight coming through my window or the reflection of the light through the water in my favourite glass. I want to capture all of those tiny but beautiful things and transfer them to my drawings.

Yes I love to travel! I have traveled a lot and drawing maps gives me the feeling of a new adventure beginning. In Asia I have traveled around Taiwan, Shanghai, Bali and the Philippines. I should also mention my trips to the southern islands such as Hawaii and Guam which were very special to me. In Europe I have visited Greece, Malta, London and Paris. I made a habit of visiting Italy as I love everything Italian, the food, culture, people… And I can’t forget Spain! I went to Barcelona three years ago and it was so much fun to wander around the city, Gaudi’s architecture was especially amazing and I had great tapas. I’ve had such unforgettable experiences in Spain and the people have been so friendly. When I’m home, the maps that I have collected while traveling always give me that wanderlust again.

I’ve lived in Tokyo for more than 8 years now but I miss Hiroshima sometimes because of the nature that I cannot find here in Tokyo. Also the people in Hiroshima are very friendly and not rushed like the city folk. In similar local places, I think the people in the art/craft industry are able to relax and focus on their work. Although nowadays anything is possible thanks to the internet and where you live is not such a big deal. Personally, Tokyo has been such an exciting city to live in but I know I’ll return to my hometown in the near future.

Since the birth of my first daughter this January, everything has changed in my life. I used to be a night owl but now she has completely converted me into an early bird, waking up at 5am every morning! I normally work while she sleeps but it’s very difficult to find a quiet moment to draw with pencils, brushes and paints because the wants to touch everything. Subsequently, I have found myself moving towards more digital art mediums. I would like to return to paper and paintbrush soon though.

Pride and Prejudice.

Having a baby has brought so many unexpected things into my life. I never thought about working in the child industry before but now I’m thinking of working on illustration for kid’s books and doing art projects for children.
I would also like to do more work on maps, not just "normal" maps but also a map book with pop-up drawings which are much more fun to open. I got a beautiful pop up map book by Sarah McMenemey called London: Panorama Pops and I would love to try and make this kind of book for Tokyo, Hiroshima and other cities all over the world. What I really hope for is that people have a lovely moment when looking at my drawings.