2025: Kokyogaien National Garden, Tokyo

This was the first drawing I made on my last trip to Japan. I had just visited the Hilma af Klint: The Beyond exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, which I found incredibly inspiring. Afterwards, I walked through Kokyogaien National Garden. The weather was starting to warm up and the cherry blossoms were just beginning to appear.

I stopped to sit and draw. The marks in this piece are loose and quick, capturing the energy of that moment. The trees are sketched with layers of colour, the buildings roughly suggested in the background. I also included two figures sitting on the grass, adding a sense of scale and quiet presence.

I like this drawing for its immediacy. It reminds me of how it felt to arrive, to start looking and noticing everything again through drawing.

Each print is the same size as the original sketchbook page. You can choose whether to include the sketchbook seam or not when ordering. Larger prints (25 x 21 cm) are £35, and smaller ones (23 x 12 cm or 17 x 14 cm) are £30. All prints are made on archival-quality Hahnemühle Fine Art paper.