Recent Projects

My friend recently lost his Burnese mountain dog named Lola. He asked me to do a couple of paintings featuring that breed.

These are replacement paintings for the ones that sold. OO7 Cats

An installation I did for Seattle Storefronts featuring some of my favorite hip hop artists: Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Mos Def. They are done in a glitch art style. Digital art printed on posters. Seattle Storefronts site is here: https://shunpike.org/storefronts/

We did a show featuring the paintings we all did during quarantine. All three of mine sold!

This is a mural about The Hmong flower farmers. The Hmong are the farmers that sell their flowers at Pike Place. Having been hit hard by tha pandemic Friendly Vang took on the responsibility of selling their flowers and vegetables at her house and around the city. In this mural I have included her two grandmothers, both Hmong refugees. The ends are decorative Hmong embroidery. Here is a King 5 story about Friendly and the Hmong farmers: https://www.king5.com/embeds/video/281-d8caa7d7-6fe3-4c41-9d71-ef6cebef0f3a/iframe?jwsource=cl&fbclid=IwAR0scI6qnczhy9KP7kenauOeyCo1nbo0jmz7qP6Du63QMPjzpZwKDwAU_xs

These are the proposed murals for the Kinnear side staircase.

Three pieces included in the stories section of “New American Paintings” instagram page. April 1, 2020.

Piece was included in COCA’s annual members show.

Mar 5 20/20 Vision: CoCA Members’ Show

Our annual show presents 128 artists celebrating the depth of creativity of our members, amplified by nearly four decades of holding space as a nonprofit in Seattle.

https://cocaseattle.org/2020-member-show-gallery

On a recent trip to Japan I was impressed with all the good luck charms you could buy at shrines. I wanted to introduce this tradition to the States and have been able to with this mini residency with First Hill Improvement Association. For three Fridays in December I handed out Emas and had people create Omikuji. Along with the charms I provided green tea and Japanese sweets.

First Hill Community News

First Hill Improvement Association secured an Arts in Parks Wintertime Community Event grant for a First Hill Park Artist Residency. FHIA put out a Request for Proposals, seeking an artist or group of artists to take up residency in First Hill Park, engage with park users and create non-permanent public art during the month of December. FHIA selected artist Michiko Tanaka, who will begin her Residency this Friday, December 6th from 10am to 1pm and continue on December 13th and 20th, 10am to 1pm. 

Michiko Tanaka is originally from Centralia WA and spent 18 years traveling and living around the world before settling in Seattle in 2010. She attended The Evergreen State College and started a freelance art career after graduating in 1997. For 13 years she painted for theaters, operas, museums, public organizations and private residences. Since moving to Seattle she changed her focus to doing studio and public art. Some of her recent projects have been for Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Sound Transit, The Greenwood Neighborhood Association, Washington Global Health Alliance, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Storefronts and Spaceworks.

Michiko is half Japanese and on a recent trip to Japan, one thing she noticed was how important good luck is in Japanese culture. People can buy good luck charms, visit particular shrines for specific wishes, burn incense and much more. Michiko would like to introduce this concept to First Hill Park users and give people good luck for the new year. 

Michiko will create a temporary installation of Omikuji (paper fortunes). Traditionally these are fortunes you buy at a shrine. If the fortune is good you keep it. If it is bad you tie it to a string and leave the bad luck at the shrine. Michiko will be inviting people to write whatever bad luck they experienced in the last year on the paper and tie it to a string in the park. Michiko will also be handing out Emas. Traditionally these are bought at shrines. People write a wish on each Ema and leave them at the shrine. Michiko will give out an Ema for people to write on for good luck in the New Year.