Artist Feature - Justine Wong

Good morning lovely readers. Apparently it's summer here in Britain although seriously you wouldn't be able to tell from the rainy scene going on the garden next to me right now.

In a month or so I'll start getting really itchy feet. It's like absolute clockwork, like my body is gearing up ready for what used to be the best part of my summer. I grew up in Singapore and it remains my spiritual home but with no family members there anymore I have to find other ways to satisfy my need for a little bit of Asia in my summers now. The mighty Justine Wong does a pretty amazing job at helping me through this hump.

I first discovered Justine Wong on tumblr, who is yet another incredible illustrator from Toronto (seriously guys what are they putting in the water over there?). However Justine has just completed a long stay by the sea in Tokyo. Her wonderful stand alone illustrations act like a photo album of her time there and luckily they are exactly what I like to take pictures of when I'm on my travels. Cute, interesting little shop fronts and great food, mountains of it! 

As you scroll through her pieces her comments let you peak a little into her time there, how much she enjoyed a certain little crunchy bite of katsu curry or the type of day she was having when she entered that particular shaved ice shack.

She lets us live vicariously through her pieces and allows us to come on a tiny little journey with her. Her illustrations, whilst being reportage, tell us a story. I have also lived for a little while in Japan and the sense of nostalgia I get when looking at her illustrations fills me with joy. Especially this project Justine put together called "21 Days in Japan: An Illustrative Study of Japanese Cuisine". I mean, you guys, who wouldn't want to undertake a project like that?

I'm soon to be moving which should hopefully relieve my woes about a lack of summer holiday this year but I hope the next print to go up in my new studio (eep!) will be one of Justine's. Her website is perfect  but also make sure you keep up with her on instagram.