Chronicle Books Blog

This is no doubt totally old news to you Nara fans out there. But…

The acclaimed Japanese artist was arrested back in early March for drawing in the subway station at Union Square in New York the night before his big opening at the Marianne Boesky Gallery.

Okay, but it gets better. According to Art in America,
“Nara was arrested the day before his show for tagging graffiti-a portrait in marker of two Japanese friends-at the Union Square subway station. Subsisting on peanut butter sandwiches and milk, he spent two days in the downtown jail, which he optimistically described as ‘a nice experience in my life,’ saying it was ‘like in the movies,’ a small space filled with all manner of people he would not otherwise meet.”

Didn’t your heart just melt a little when Nara was quoted as saying that jail was “a nice experience” in his life, you know, just “like in the movies?”

Well, mine did. Big time, people.

You can spread the Nara love with e-postcards.

My favorite being: Oh! My God! I Miss You.

Who wouldn’t want to get that in her inbox?

Hannah
Entertainment Marketing Manager

Nara postcards, journals and book can be found here.

We were proud to participate in Earth Hour this past Saturday, joining with hundreds of millions of people worldwide who followed the call to turn off lights for a full hour starting at 8:30pm. The WWF calls Earth Hour 2009 “a massive global phenomenon… a dramatic visual signal to world leaders that they must take urgent action on climate change.” Here are before and after shots of our building:

Find out more about Earth Hour here.

Isaac Sherrer
Facilities Manager

As a follow up to our neat mail post from two weeks ago, not all of those cool envelopes contain invoices. We also get a lot of promotional material that’s as diverse as the books we publish. For example, below (from left to right): letterpress “matchsticks” from Swink, a wooden postcard from Deep Craft, a multimedia card from Laura Tarrish, and a tiny letter from Sally Faulkner.

We love getting handmade art, such as this “Merry Xmas Sugar” card by CCA graduate student Fonda Murray, and this stylish postcard by illustrator Robbi Behr.

Good graphic design can also leave an impression (literally!). Both the San Francisco creative firm Office and the New York design firm Poulin Morris went the monochrome embossing route.

Illustrator Michael Slack sent us as “pribery” kit filled with samples of his work in various formats.

Japanese illustrator Sayaka Enomoto sent us the little origami packet below. The bow is a hand-written note and the envelope a magazine tear-out. Inside she included photo prints of her work. The whole thing is a tad mysterious since we couldn’t find samples of her online. But we’re definitely charmed.

Next week we’ll show you some of the neat art prints and cash money we also get in the mail. Just kidding! Getting to work with talented and nice people is rewarding enough.

Suzanne LaGasa
Designer

For a while now, I’ve been threatening a couple of my coworkers that I was going to this, and today I’m actually going to: I’m blogging about a meeting. I mean, come on, in theory, can you imagine anything more boring? But, in reality, this is an especially awesome meeting. I’d go so far as to say even an exciting, inspirational meeting. So, you know, make of that what you will, I guess.

Here’s the deal: every now and then a bunch of us editors and designers here who work on art books and on stationery get together to share the work of the various illustrators and artists that we’re feeling super into at the moment. And can I just tell you that, for the geeky visual book making type person, this is so much fun? So much fun. It’s like going to a great party and all your favorite people are there, and there are balloons and cupcakes and zebras and anteaters and zeppelins and narwhals and lord knows what else.

So, we looked at tons and tons of great stuff from tons of great artists. And I’ve just pulled out a dozen of our favorites (ok, full disclosure, maybe leaning a little heavily towards *my favorites here) to share with you. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Blanca Gomez:

Enormous Champion:

Kris Chau:

Sara Hoover:

Anna Bond:

Ralph Goings:

Domitille Collardey:

Betsy Walton:

Lisa Rupp:

Jennifer Tong:

Beast of Beaden:

Julie Morstad:

Bridget Watson Payne
Assistant Editor, Art + Design

Where have you had the best fried rice of your life? Share your favorite restaurant (or homemade secret!) and tell us what makes it so special. Three winners will be selected at random from the comments/trackbacks below to receive a free copy of this book.

Congratulations to Martin Yan, whose Martin Yan’s China has been nominated for a prestigious 2009 International Association of Culinary Professionals’ Cookbook Award in the International category.

Red and Gold Fried Rice
This dish combines two of Canton’s classics: tomato beef and fried rice. Tasty and fulfilling, this dish is also very quick and easy to make. It’s a popular lunch order for many workers in busy Hong Kong. The dash of ketchup gives a nice tangy taste to the silky scrambled eggs.

Makes 4 servings

4 dried black mushrooms
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 ounces ground beef
3 cups cold cooked long-grain rice
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Rich Homemade Broth (page tk) or canned chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten

In a small bowl, soak the mushrooms in warm water to cover until softened, about 20 minutes; drain. Discard the stems and chop the caps.

Place a wok or stir-fry pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add the onion and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beef and mushrooms and stir-fry until the meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add the rice, separating the grains with the back of a spoon, and cook until the rice is heated through. Add the tomatoes, green onions, ketchup, broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and salt and stir to combine. Make a well in the center of the rice, add the eggs, and gently stir the eggs until they form soft curds, about 1 minute. Stir to mix the eggs into the rice.

Transfer to a serving plate and serve.

Purchase Martin Yan’s China.

Click here for more great recipes.

Peter Perez
Senior Marketing Manager