Recently Jasmine got together with Ami Suma who she got to know after she commissioned Ami to paint the walls of her children's rooms. Esme and Max [pictured below] loved the experience of seeing the creation take place in front of them and live on in their rooms.
Ami is a graduate of FIT and she majored in fashion design/fashion
Illustration. She took a job as a fashion writer/reporter and has
written for publications such as Elle Japan, Figaro Japan, and Marie
Claire Japan. She soon became disenchanted with working exclusively in the
fashion world and at the same time felt distant from her own
creativity so she decided to give up her job. In 2005 a friend saw some of her
sketches of funny and goofy toys. Her
friend was so impressed she invited Ami to an exhibit that she was also
in. Ami had sketched several series worth at this point and agreed to
join. The
exhibition was a success! She loved the reactions and
seeing people laugh and feel happy while engaged with
her toys. She hopes to continue creating fun and fantastical toys for
everyone.
She had another inspiration while flipping
through a children's magazine and noticing a spread about a child's
room which featured decorative walls. Embellished walls was not at all
common (at least not while she was growing up) in her home country of
Japan. She loved the idea and was moved enough to think about painting
whimsical, out of this world, murals especially for
children. She
wanted to create a customized room where a child could feel safe and
happy; a place where they could imagine and dream. A space like no
other, that's just theirs! Her idea is to collaborate with her clients
and mesh visions together to come up with a collective end result. She
does not want to be thought of as an artist who pushes her own agenda
but more a painter who can provide a fun service for families. 
Her inspirations at the moment include, Contemporary Chinese Artists like Fu Jijang, Zhang Huan or Yue Minjun and movie directors Tetsuya Nakashima and Ingmar Bergman. She grew up watching Hayao Miyazaki, an all time hero of hers and she confesses to watching his movies over and over. we agree, we love Nausicaa!
You will definitely be seeing more of Ami in the future. The fun world she imagines is growing from the walls of children to shops [like Pomme NYC pictured above] to reach even larger audiences.
Ami Suma
Photos courtesy of-
Percy by Kikuko Usuyama
Bebe Nou's by Marilou Daube
Pomme NYC by Davina Zaqury Feinberg
Reported by Associate Editor- Jasmine Astronomo-Berger
