‍    I started Lunch Monkey Creations as an outlet for my creative pursuits. I have always been a creative person and when I went to university I ended up studying graphic design and I worked in graphics for a while when an exciting opportunity to move to Japan came up. I have always loved Japan and while I had been there a few times before, it was always just for vacation and never for every long. This time I had the chance to actually live and work there so I took the chance and moved to Japan. I loved it!

Living in Japan was very different than just vacationing there had been and it opened up a whole new world of different things to see, do, and experience. It was a great opportunity and I had a blast living there. I met lots of great people and I learned almost as much about myself and my own country as I did about Japanese people and Japan. I originally had only planned on staying a year or two but time slipped away and before I knew it I had lived there for 10 years. My 10 years in Japan was incredible, I would never trade my time there for anything and I highly recommend visiting Japan if the opportunity ever arises.

My love for ukiyo-e started long before I went to Japan but being in Japan helped me to do something with my love for ukiyo-e. I traveled around when I had time and saw as many exhibitions on ukiyo-e as I could. I learned more about how ukiyo-e prints are made and I learned more about the things that are portrayed in the prints than I ever would have had I not been in Japan. While there I also developed an interest in kamon or Japanese family crests. They are great designs that are simple and beautiful and you will see them throughout my ukiyo-e books. They are an exercise in simplicity and a great example of Japanese design principles with simplicity being a dominating force. Sometimes creating something simple can be difficult.

While living in Japan my interest in ukiyo-e grew and I started looking for a book of Hokusai’s ukiyo-e prints. I wanted a book that had all of Hokusai’s wonderful prints from his 36 Views of Mount Fuji series and with crispy high quality images with some basic explanations but not overly wordy. In the end I couldn’t find what I was looking for so I decided to try to make one of his prints. My first print took me a month or so to make and it was a painstaking labor of love but I was happy with the results when I was finished. After making my first print I decided that I would try making the book that I had been searching for. And that set me on my path to recreating all of Hokusai’s prints. Working on his prints introduced to me to other ukiyo-e artists and after I finished Hokusai’s prints, I moved on to Sharaku and then Utamaro. I also greatly enjoy Hiroshige and Yoshitoshi and while I haven’t made books on them, I often think about it.

My love for ukiyo-e is what set me down the path to making my own books and I hope that you enjoy them. I have made 5 different artistic books and I’m working on another but it takes me a long time to get each drawing just right and I never want to sacrifice quality for quantity so it may be a while before my next book is ready. I hope that you enjoy the ones that I have made so far and I hope that my books will entice you to look into other ukiyo-e artists as there are many other incredible artist out there just waiting for you to discover them.