Live on CNN!

OMG my CNN interview just went live! They'll be premiering it on CNN's International Connect the World at 4pm EST today.  I'm so stoked, thank you Adam Dunnakey for putting this together!

Go see it HERE.

Northwest Natives Alphabet Set: A-Z Finished!

Here they are folks, the complete Northwest Natives Alphabet set! An incredible amount of work went into these carvings. I had a lot of fun learning about our native species, some are old favorites and others are completely new to me. The entire set will be on view at an upcoming show in Seattle. Please stop by if you're in town.

Diem Chau
A-Z: Northwest Natives
August 30th - October 12th, 2013
Artist Reception: Thursday, Sept. 5th,  6-8pm
G. Gibson Gallery
300 S. Washington Street
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 587-4033

Links to individual images of my Northwest Natives Alphabet Set:
A-G: HERE
H-M: HERE
N-T: HERE
U-Z: HERE 


Letters A-M
A is for Aquilegia (Columbine)
B is for Bald Eagle
C is for Cougar
D is for Dogwood
E is for Elk
F is for Fox
G is for Grizzly Bear
H is for Heron
I is for Iris
J is for Juniper
K is for Killer Whale
L is for Lynx
M is for Mountain Goat


Letters N-Z
N is for Northern Spotted Owl
O is for Otter
P is for Painted Turtle
Q is for Quinault Tribe
R is for Rhododendron
S is for Salmon
T is for Timberwolf
U is for Urchin
V is for Viola
W is for Wolf Eel
X is for Xanthogrammica (Giant Green Anemone)
Y is for Yuma myotis (Vesper Bat)
Z is for Zapus princeps (Western Jumping Mouse)


A-Z: Northwest Natives Alphabet
I would like to make a print of this set available for sale... maybe even a postcard collection of the entire set?  I will keep you guys updated!


I had so much fun w/ this interview, thank you for coming over Nancy!  Check out my quad-chins yo!

Delicacy of Tiny Things Opened Today!

Orca (#102) 2012
Carved carpenter’s pencil
3 7/8"H x 5/8"W x 1/4"D

My show in Milan at Galleria Patricia Armocida just opened today!  Here are a few more pieces that will be in the show.  I wish I could have been there for the opening, but from what I hear it was a packed opening!  This is also the first time I will have prints available for sale at the gallery.  100 prints are available, 50 prints of each "The Last Elephant" and "The Raven and The Sun".  This is a very limited run, but hopefully we'll be able to offer more prints of other artworks in the future.


Full Sail (#100) 2012
Carved carpenter’s pencil
3 9/16"h x 5/8"w x ¼"


My interview with Gaia Segattini on Vendetta Uncinette!  It's in Italian, but Google does a decent job of translating.  Thank you Gaia :)


The gallery printed this uber cool invite!  It's a little booklet that's sewn together.  I believe the text might be an amalgam of my handwriting and KAPPAO's handwriting?  I recognize some of the lettering, but not all of it.  Patricia really put a lot of time and effort into this!  Bravo, this is such a cool card!


Delicacy of Tiny Things invite card interior.
My image on the left and KAPPAO's image on the right.  Both have embossed detail!  This is totally going the extra mile.


Embossed elephant on invite.


Octopus (#108) 2012
3 3/8”h x 5/16”w x 5/16”d
Carved Crayola crayon

Another crayon piece in the Milan show.


Detail of Octopus.


My first try at taking a 360 video of my crayons.  Sorry for the shakiness folks, this is quite crude!  I need to make a rotating stand and get a tripod for my camera.  I'd like to do a video for all of my carved work.  The photos are great, but I feel you can miss a lot detail.

DPi Magazine Interview #161

I did an interview with Taiwanese magazine DPi Magazine and they've chosen my work to be on the cover of issue 161!  This is so cool!  I'm so happy I can show my grandmother this article, she'll finally understand what I do.  It's been so hard trying to translate English articles to her, grandma can read Chinese, but not English.  Thank you Jenny Chou from DPi Magazine for taking an interest in my work!
This issue will hit the stands September, 2012.


Pages 1 & 2


Pages 3 & 4


Pages 5 & 6

Uppercase #11 Carving A Niche

The fine folks at Uppercase published an article about my work in Uppercase 11 and they chose my work for the cover! This issue came out in December, I'm just getting around to posting it.  If you're interested you can find back issues on their website and Anthropologie carries them in North America.


A big thank you to Janine Vangool and everyone at Uppercase!


This is a beautiful magazine, full of wonderful articles and project tutorials.  Get yours now, issue 12 is out now.  The green insert is an advert, it's paper that has seeds embedded in the pulp.  I'm going to plant it come spring.  I've found something that delighted me in every issue, like this seed paper.
You can subscribe or buy back issue HERE.

Push Stitchery - Win A Copy!

Hello everyone, I'm sooooo sorry for the lapse in posting.  Hopefully I'm back on the blogging horse again.  I'm very excited to be a part of Push Stitchery, curated by Jamie Chalmers (a.k.a. Mr. X Stitch).  The book is packed full of great art and insightful interviews from 30 embroidery artists from around the world.  Lark Crafts is doing a giveaway, you can win your very own copy!  Follow the link and just leave a comment :)


There I am!  There are 6-8 images from each artist along with bio's and a Q&A section.  The print quality is great and I love how it's bound.  I have a thing for books that open flat. 


Cayce Zavaglia
I want to see these in person... there is so much intricate detail.


Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė
I'm a BIG fan of her work!   



Tilleke Schwarz
I love her colors and the playfulness in her imagery. 


Charlene Mullen



Andrea Vander Kooij


Thank you Jamie and everyone at Lark Books, great job!

Textiel Plus

I'm in the summer issue of Textile Plus.  Thank you Coco, Dorothé and everyone at Textiel Plus!


I'm so honored to be in the same issue as Nick Cave!  I recently saw his work at the Seattle Art Museum.  Sadly today was the last day to go see these amazing suits.  He's my new art crush.


Click on the image to view large.  Sorry folks it's only in Dutch.

D di Repubblica/La Repubblica Interview!

I'm so excited to be interviewed by D di Repubblica!  Google Translate here I come :)  Thank you Ilaria, it was great working with you. 
Image gallery here

DiaCRITICS Interview

I had a wonderful interview with artist and writer Lien Truong on Diacritcs. 

DiaCritics is an online blog started by DVAN which stands for Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network. DVAN’s aim is to promote artists from the Vietnamese Diaspora whose work in literature, visual art, film and performance art enriches our communities and strengthens ties between Vietnamese across the globe. We undertake to support this body of work through cultural events, exhibits and publications that explore connections between art and society.
DVAN is international in scope. It provides resources and promotes the work of Vietnamese artists in the United States, France, Canada and Australia, as these countries host the largest Vietnamese communities overseas. It also supports artists who have returned to Viet Nam and produce from that location.

It's a wonderful resource for Vietnamese artist or for those who are interested in Vietnamese art.  I never knew they existed until a few months ago!  Go check out them out, just click on the screen capture for the link.


Sorry for the long belated post on this interview! Thank you for introducing my to DVAN Lien. :)

IndieFixx Interview

I did a fun interview with Jen Wallace from IndieFixx.  Sorry for the delay in posting this... I'm quite behind on posting these days!  Thanks for the great questions Jen :)

Bellevue Art Museum & Art Zone

I'm very excited to be a part of The Mysterious Contents of Softness.  Eleven national and international artists are in the show.  It's Organized by Bellevue Arts Museum, curated by Stefano Catalani and made possible by 4Culture and City of Bellevue Arts Program. 


The Mysterious Contents of Softness
February 4  June 26, 2011
Bellevue Art Museum
510 Bellevue Way NE
Bellevue, WA 98004

Members' Reception: Thursday, February 24 • 6 - 9 pm
Free First Friday Lecture featuring Diem Chau: Friday, March 4 • 6:30 - 7:30 pm

Artists Include:

Lauren DiCioccio I remember the first time I saw her water bottles.  I've not forgotten them since.

Angela Ellsworth  One of my favorite pieces from the show.

James Gobel

Angela Hennessy 

Rock Hushka 

Lisa Kellner 

Miller & Shellabarger 

Lacey Jane Roberts OMG I loved this work!  You have to see the pink fence.

Jeremy Sanders

Nathan Vincent 

And me!

I'm also featured on Art Zone with Nancy Guppy.  You can watch it below, my segment starts at 2:40.  If you have trouble viewing it you can go HERE.

Seattle Channel Video can be played in Flash Player 9 and up

I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Stefano Catalani, Valerie Vozza and Nancy Guppy for their support and for thinking of my work.  You guys are the best!

Indie Craft by Jo Waterhouse

I came home from some work travel and found this lovely book in the mail!  Indie Craft features artists, designers and crafters who bring a contemporary eye to traditional techniques.  Many of them are redefining the art of craft and I'm honored to be featured among them.  A big thanks to Jo Waterhouse, Faythe Levine and everyone at Laurence King Publishing!

The cover art is by Jenny Hart, my favorite embroiderer :)


A few of my pages.


Congrats TaDa!!!  If you've not seen Tada's Revolution you're missing out!  It's always good for a Awww, Eeee, Oooo or just a plane old chuckle.


Shauna Richardson
Unbelievably beautiful and the execution is spot on!


Erin Dollar
I met Erin last year at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle.  It was the first time I saw her whimsical beards.  Want your own beard?  Check out her shop on Etsy.

Juxtapoz Handmade

I just got this lovely book in the mail!  Juxtapose Handmade is published by Ginko Press and features artwork from 24 artist who's work crosses the boundary between craft, design and contemporary art.  I'm honored to be among so many great names.  This is a beautiful book, definitely worth looking through.  Go check it out at your local bookstore!  Retails for $29.95, hardback, 208 pages, full color.



I'm blown away at the quality in this book, both printing/binding and the artwork inside!  Each artist has a good set of images and a short bio.  Thank you for including me in this project Saelee, Ana and everyone at Ginko & Juxtapoz!


Ana Serranao


A. J. Fosik


Orly Cogan


Gregory Euclide


Saelee Oh


There are so many good artists in this book I can't blog it all!  Seriously folks. 

A. J. Fosik Ann Wood Ana Serranao Brendan Monroe Caroline Hwang Christl Hansman Christopher Bettig Clare Crespo

Cody Husdson Connie Wong Diem Chau Gregory Euclide Jennifer Muskopf Jenny Ryan Jim Houser Megan Whitmarsh

Nicole Gastonguay Orly Cogan Peter Callesen Saelee Oh Sara Escamilla Sarah Neuburger Souther Salazar Stephanie Anderson

Many Kudos W+K in Communication Arts Annual 51

This is the week for congratulations.  The Nike project I did for Wieden + Kennedy has been featured in the current Communication Arts Annual!  Great job guys and I can't thank you enough for taking a leap with my work. 


The project information is listed on page 112.  Once again congrats to Matt, Brad, Kelly & Krystle and also to Denise and Shari.


Images of the press kits are featured on page 113. 
Thanks for the scans Luca, much appreciated :)