Art, Community, and Seeds Planted 🌱

Happy Summer Solstice!

After a busy first half of June — wrapping up substitute teaching for the year and preparing for East Bay Open Studios — a quick trip to Seattle right after helped me slow down and catch my breath. I'm ending the month more rested and with space to return to my art practices. I look forward to sharing more in my next newsletter. Until then, here are some highlights from the past month!

Sharing my love for art

It has been a full year since I began my journey with East Bay Open Studios, and I was ready to take all the lessons I learned into this season's event. Unlike the last two, I opted to participate in only one weekend so I could check out some amazing art during the other, and return to taiko.

It was lovely to connect with artists about their craft, like Emerging Artist Pam Jue. Her work is fabulously detailed, be sure to check it out! Also explore the creativity of the talented cohort she joined this season.

I also went on a spontaneous scavenger hunt curated by artsy friend Noah Johnson, capping a full day of art with an evening hike in the Berkeley Hills. Fun fact: Noah and I met last year as part of the inaugural Emerging Artist cohort — grateful for programs that bring artists together!

Planting artsy seeds

With a year of open studios under my belt, I was excited to try another first — hosting my own open studios during this season’s East Bay Open Studios. I borrowed Noah's studio (thank you, friend!) and displayed over a dozen of my original collages, the most I've ever shown publicly. It was quite the sight and I felt genuinely proud. I forgot to take a photo but I will post a video on Instagram soon. I also set up a collaging table, welcoming several creatives including Blanca (above left), who was new to the craft, and experimented with a community collage that folks actually contributed to! While I didn't make any sales, so many people came to visit — I had wonderful conversations about my artsy journey, heard inspiring stories about what art means to people, and planted some seeds for future opportunities.

Happy Pride!

After taking a couple months off to heal my wrist, my physical therapist finally gave me the go-ahead to return to taiko — just in time for Pride! I was ecstatic to celebrate by playing with Queer Taiko at Livermore Library (above) and closing out Mountain View Pride (below).

Led by Aki Oshiro, Queer Taiko is a multigenerational community group for LGBTQIA+ folks and allies. I've been playing with them for four years and it's one of my favorite groups — we're always encouraged to come as we are and have fun. Want to join? Queer Taiko holds classes in Oakland most Friday evenings. Newbies highly welcome!

As summer gets rolling, I'm soaking in the slower pace and feeling grateful for all the ways art and community showed up for me this month. Much appreciation to everyone who visited, checked out my art, and contributed their creativity to make such a sweet piece (see below) of community art — I look forward to learning how art continues to inspire you! And who knows what seeds were planted this month; I can't wait to see what grows. Here's to more collaging, more taiko, and more joy in the months ahead. Happy Summer Solstice! 🌞

Cheers,

💜 Trisha

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 26, 6:30-8:30pm Pieces of Self FREE Collaging Workshop (Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th Street, Oakland, CA 94607)

July 12-August 23, 2:30-4pm Beginner Taiko Classes (Berkeley Buddhist Temple, 2121 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704)

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