Yoshie: Applique ‘Til You Drop

9 Oct 2008 Category: Illustration, Japan

Yoshie: Applique ‘Til You Drop

The cutest mixed media ever: Yoshie's appliqueing magic was first painted in acrylic, the motif was then finished with a sewing machine. Et voila!

There is an artist whose colourful, and warm appliques seem to have a mysterious healing power. Today PingMag talks to Tokyo-based Yoshie, who when she is not teaching workshops, seamlessly stitches and sews her illustrative embroidery art onto picture books, ads, and CD jackets to spread the love with mixed sewing media.

Written by Hiroshi Sasaki
Translated by Kevin Mcgue

First, please introduce yourself!

I work as a picture book writer and illustrator. Since the end of 2005, I have been working freelance. Now I live in an old house which contains a studio, and I spend my days creating.

Yoshie’s studio in her own house. Looks like a cozy work of art already!

You used to work in the apparel industry: How did it start with the picture books?

When I was a kid, I was always drawing. For a while, I wanted to become a veterinarian, and after that I wanted to work making something. I found a job in an apparel company, but I realised I wasn’t able to create the kind of world that I wanted to create. I wanted to make something with fabric and somehow naturally came back to the world of drawing that I was living in when I was a kid.

How do you think up picture book stories?

It is hard to explain, but in my mind, I just throw out fragments of ideas. So I always have all these thoughts racing around in my head! Sometimes I take memos and begin to build on ideas and start scene out of them. That is always the most exciting moment for me. Pulling together tiny little thoughts to build something new is a bit like making an applique picture.

Oh, lots of the yummiest mushrooms and apples! Spread from one of Yoshie’s picture books.

Family life including green cheeks, from another picture book.

When it comes to the technique, you mix acrylic paints and applique in your pictures. How do you balance those elements?

That depends. Sometimes I make illustrations with acrylics; sometimes I embroider pictures with a sewing machine; sometimes I consult with my clients about what they want. Basically, I never decide what materials I am going to use.

Yoshie’s did the cover of a mobile phone novel (!) that was published as book. On the left, the original design; on the right, the actual book.

A close-up of the original book cover design. What a nice handmade feel! Note the multiple elements layered on top of each other.

How spontaneous! Tell us about the process of the making, please!

First, I sketch the design in pencil, and draw the outlines in thread with a sewing machine. Next, I paint the hair and cheeks and other details in acrylics. Then I quickly stick on decorations, trying out different combinations and adding one element after another, and then the next thing I realise is that the work is done. It is always interesting, because I can not predict how it is going to come out.

A waving figure lightly sketched in pencil, and then traced in thread with a sewing machine.

Where do you get the materials you use in your applique?

I’m picking them up here and there. Some I buy at craft stores, and also I have a stock of wonderful lace and other items people have given me. When I’m traveling to places like India, Malaysia, or Paris, I visit fabric shops and pick up new things. Recently I like an area in London that has a lot fabric shops. I am also planing to go to a lot of fabric dealers in countries I haven’t visited yet.

Joyous summer greeting card design! This one mixes applique, acrylic illustration, postage stamps, and more.

A stock of colourful fabric in Yoshie’s studio… on a revolving stand.

What of yourself do you put into your art?

That depends. One point that is always part of my work is creating a colourful world. I have published three picture books so far, so it is hard to say what is different about each of them. I draw the things that I truly feel and want to express.

With my first book, Yoshie Fondue, I did 51 chapters all in acrylics, and intended it as a collection of fairy tales for adults. So many people told to me, you make such bright, cute pictures to illustrate such dark stories! (Laughs)

Dark stories in cute disguise: from the Yoshie Fondue picture book.

My second book Ponporutontan was a picture book aimed at kids three years and older. It is a rhythmical story filled with mischievous little characters…

Sweet mixed media: the first page of the Ponporutontan children’s book.

My third book, ‘Wreath of Mimosa’ was made for teenage and adult women. I included colourful applique collages and calming poems for people who, though they might feel enriched by their everyday lives, also feel sad inside.

The cover of ‘Wreath of Mimosa’… and a magical underwater world inside.

Apart from making children’s books, what else do you do?

It is not on a set schedule, but I sometimes hold workshops on how to make applique collages for both kids and adults. I basically feel it is fun to make things with fabric, so I am happy if I can teach people how to make something from a bit of a paper or a scrap of cloth, rather than just throwing these items away.

Finally, what are your next plans?

I would like to travel around the world, collecting fabric, paper, dyes, and other materials, then mix these to create pictures to reflect what I have felt on the journey. This winter I am putting out my first travel book, and I am really looking forward to that!


A shy Yoshie surrounded by her wonderful works.

I get a lot of comments from readers saying that they really cheered up after seeing my applique pictures. If this really has a power, I want to make big, colourful posters and hang them up around town for people who are busy in their daily lives. (Laughs) My interests and methods will change, but I want to keep creating works that make people feel good.

We were certainly blown away over by the power of your work! Thanks, Yoshie.

90 Comments

  1. Gorgeous, amazing, inspirational!!! Thanks for sharing this talent

    Posted by: Keryn on October 9th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

  2. かわいい~~~!!!

    Posted by: anne on October 13th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

  3. Hi!
    I am from Thailand. I like your work very much. They are very cheerful and creative. Anyway, I would like your help (if you know) to advise me about the place, in Tokyo or the place near Shinjuku, to buy the knitting equipment i.e. needles and yarns, clothes and accesaries for quilt work. I am going to Japan on this coming Thursday 23/10/08. I’ve been searching in internet for many days but couldn’t find one. It will be very much appreciated if you can help me. Thank you.

    Posted by: Aroonluck D. on October 21st, 2008 at 3:21 pm

  4. ↑Hi, thanks to your message (^Y^)
    maybe I recommend you “okadaya shinjuku” ,(you can find this name website and map.) –but if you had enough time, the best recommend place for handmade creater is NIPPORI. →　http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~nippori/map/map.html　There are lots of textile, knit , material shop. I hope you can find . enjoy JAPAN ! see ya.

    Posted by: yoshie on October 22nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm

  5. Hello Yoshie!

    I love your work.

    I wonder, where can I see/ or buy it? I live near tokyo.

    xx

    Posted by: jenny cox on October 28th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

  6. [...] Yoshie also hold workshops on how to make applique collages for both kids and adults. {via PingMag} * While on the subject of appliqué, my friend Ismoyo has published her own craft book ‘100 [...]

    Posted by: Yoshie « Crust Station on October 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm

  7. Hello, jenny ! Thank you for your comment. –I’m sorry I ‘m not selling any original-artworks for the present. But I’ll show&sell my new fabric-pictures artwork at GINZA as one of creaters of that exhibiton… If possible, Come and see (^U^)

    Posted by: yoshie on November 5th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

  8. ↑　Oh I forgot … The exhibiton comes in 7-14th ,February 2009. at AC gallery (GINZA).

    Posted by: yoshie on November 5th, 2008 at 11:21 pm

  9. ↑and as for my Picturebooks, you can see and buy on my website /* works ( http://www.yoshiemilk.com ) . see ya *

    Posted by: yoshie on November 5th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

  10. [...] There is an artist whose colourful, and warm appliques seem to have a mysterious healing power. Today PingMag talks to Tokyo-based Yoshie, who when she is not teaching workshops, seamlessly stitches and sews her illustrative embroidery art onto picture books, ads, and CD jackets to spread the love with mixed sewing media. Read the full story>> [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue - Tokyo-Based Journalist & Filmmaker » Yoshie: Applique ‘Til You Drop on March 1st, 2009 at 10:04 am

  11. Thank you for your comment

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  12. Yoshie also hold workshops on how to make applique collages for both kids and adults. {via PingMag} * While on the subject of appliqué, my friend Ismoyo has published her own craft book ‘100

    Posted by: para kazanmanın yolları on August 11th, 2009 at 8:05 am

  13. [...] Read the English version at PingMag» [...]

    Posted by: Kevin Mcgue | “Yoshie: Applique ‘Til You Drop” Translation on April 16th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

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