Frequently Asked Questions

How do I purchase your work?

For prints and originals on this site, visit any of the galleries in my portfolio and you will be guided step-by-step through the process of selecting the size, medium, style finish (including gorgeous custom framing options!) you would like. My website includes a very robust and interactive shopping experience, so be sure to take advantage of all the order tools and options available, especially the Wall Preview and Live Preview AR tools!

You can click on the wall preview button below the price of any print to see the art shown at scale in a variety of different rooms (living room, bedroom, sitting room, nursery, café, etc). Here, you can also play with the color of the wall, or the size of the art as indicated on that page. This is a great interactive feature of my site, and I highly recommend using it to make your buying experience easy and fun!

You can also click on the Live Preview AR button below the price of any print to see how my art would look to scale in your exact space! You must use a tablet or smartphone for this feature to work, and make sure you have opened my website with your regular browser, not Facebook's native browser (which can happen if clicking on my website from any FB post or link in messenger).

What is your packaging policy?

Originals I pack with the priority of keeping the painting safe during shipping. I execute that with the strong intention to create ZERO WASTE. I do this by using reclaimed shipping materials that I have received from other sources. The only plastics I use are reclaimed. I do not purchase virgin plastic of any kind for shipping. If I do not have what I need to feel 100% confident in the safety of the painting using reclaimed materials, I use 100% recycled biodegradable and compostable packing materials from Ecoenclose, including biodegradable tape. It takes more time to package each piece using these materials but caring for our earth is of the utmost importance to me. I encourage you to reuse the materials I send you.

Prints are packaged by my printing partner in northern California. They use recycled cardboard for packing and protecting prints and frames. Unfortunately, they have not yet found a method to protect the artworks from potential moisture damage without using plastic, so they do use plastic bags and shrink wrap. I am working with them to change these policies.

What is your shipping policy?

Originals ship out in 1-3 business days, unless I am on retreat and in silence in which case I'm not online and won't know about your order until I emerge. In that case, the shipping is delayed a maximum of 7 days. I will send you the tracking number after your painting is shipped. 

Prints are shipped by my amazing printing partner in northern California. The total time from order to delivery ranges from 5 to 10 business days, depending on the speed of shipping you choose. You will receive a tracking number via email when your print is shipped.

What is your return & exchange policy? 

When I was working for Crystal Palace Yarns, one of the owners once told me you learn the true quality of a business in how they deal with problems. I have found this to be resoundingly true. As such, I offer 100% satisfaction guarantee.

I want my art and your experience of acquiring it to bring you deep joy. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you can send it back to me for a full refund. 

If your package arrives damaged, please refuse the package so that it automatically comes back to me or to my print partner. If the package is left for you before you see the damage, please photograph what it looks like upon arrival and send me those photos so I can begin the insurance claims. My email address is suiko@artmonastery.org.

How can I keep up with your new work and where you are exhibiting?

Join my email list! I send out occasional announcements about my forthcoming shows, workshops & events, as well as discounts on my work. I promise to never ever give away your email address under any circumstances. Scroll down to sign up. 

Follow me on Instagram: Instagram.com/SuikoArt

Follow me on Facebook: Facebook.com/SuikoArt

My forthcoming events are also listed on my Events page.

Do you teach painting and/or meditation?

Yes I do! I've been facilitating retreats since 2009 and even made a book called Hosting Transformation. I've worked intensively in California, Vermont, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Poland. I teach and lead retreats via my life-as-art social sculpture, the Art Monastery and in collaboration with San Francisco Zen Center. Most of my retreats are about some interplay between meditation and artmaking. Sometimes I focus on painting, but generally I offer retreats that engage the widest range of the forms creativity can take. You can find out about my latest offerings on the Events page and via my newsletter (scroll down to sign up). 

What is this Art Monastery thing?

I founded the Art Monastery in 2007 with the vision to cultivate personal awakening and cultural transformation through artmaking, spiritual practice, and reciprocal relationship with the earth. Over the years the Art Monastery has taken the form of intentional communities living in monasteries in Italy, an artist community living in a farmhouse in Vermont, and currently it is both online (through classes & workshops) and in-person residential retreats. Learn more at the Art Monastery page or at artmonastery.org. If you'd like to organize a retreat near you, I'd love to explore the possibilities with you! Please reach out to me at suiko@artmonastery.org.

What is this Mirror thing?

I began collaborating with Gerry McCulloch in 2015 when Gerry came to Art Monastery Italia to participate in a program. Gerry is an astounding cinematographer and professor at Goldsmiths College in London. We have co-created Mirror as a moving image portraiture project steeped in social sculpture. We film strangers while they sustain silent eye contact. Learn more on the Mirror page, on a previous exhibition page Transpires.