Perfection.
Simply stated, and with deepest apologies to Charles Schulz, wishing everyone a lovely, peaceable and relaxing Thanksgiving.
Enjoy!
Monthly Archives: November 2008
“Jolly Good” holidays to you and yours! Super excited about this show.
Blue Bottle Art Gallery in Seattle, WA - Jolly Good print show
The excellent-cool folks at the Bluebottle Art Gallery & Store in my favorite-not-home-city, Seattle, WA are putting on a fantastic holiday art print show called “Jolly Good” which features the work of over 30 screenprint artists from all over the US. And best, they invited me to join in the fun. Yes huh!
The “Jolly Good, Group art print show” will run from December 2nd, 2008 – December 31st, 2008. The opening reception for the show will be on Saturday Dec 13th from 5 – 8 pm, so please join in the fun for drinks, snacks and cheer! Blue Bottle Art Gallery & Store is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle at 415 East Pine Street.
My newest, fresh off the presses art print “Winter 2008″ will be available making it’s debut at this show and will be available for view and purchase, yep. Other participating artists include Cricket Press, Tad Carpenter, Nate Duval & a slew of others that make up the 30+ artists. The artists have entered 2 -5 prints into the show and all prints will be available for purchase. I’m sending 5, wassssup?!
Please note that as “Jolly Good” is designed to be a cash and carry show, to allow for holiday purchases, prints will be going fast while the show is up. All art prints are priced under $100, many in the $25 – $50 range.
Bluebottle Art Gallery & Store also runs an email preview list that you can sign up for here, which allows you to get sneak previews of art work before the general public. It’s a cool gig!
Bluebottle Art Gallery & Store is an independently owned & operated art gallery and curated boutique shop of handmade goods run by the lovely husband & wife team of Andrea & Matthew Porter. We’re tickled holiday red to be a part of this show. Cheers!
Once again, independent music store 52.5 Records in Charleston, SC is showing some mad love for the screenprinting community!
"Screenprinting 102" poster by Chuck Keppler
This time with a focus on art prints by local and national printmakers. Rad! “Screenprinting 102″ is the second annual screenprinted art show at 52.5 Records (hence the collegiate title) and I’m thrilled to be a part of it again. Pieces in the show are from artists from around the country and will be available for sale as well. Quite affordably too I might add. My newest, fresh off the presses art print “Winter 2008” will be available for view and purchase, yep.
“Screenprinting 102” opens on December 5th 2008 from 7-9pm and will run through January 3rd, 2009. 52.5 Records is located at 561 King St., Charleston, SC.
Participating artists include: Leia Bell, Johnny Pundt, Chuck Keppler, Cricket Press, Adam Turman, Crosshair, Jason Goad, Pete Cardoso, Jason Cooper, Mike Klay, Aesthetic Apparatus, Lon Unitus, Nate Duvall, myself and others to be announced shortly. A good handful of these artists will be at the opening too. Keep your eye on more information here.
We love you 52.5 Records!
Winter 2008 art print
Soft browns fall away and turn to ice-blues and snowy scenes. There is a love story, hidden in the leaves.
I’m excited to finally start this tradition of working on one seasonal print per season. It’s been in my head for a while and it feels good to get moving on it. This is the first print in series of seasonal, limited edition prints that I’ll be releasing. Ready? Here’s the mind-blowing part = there will be 4 per year.
This wintery tale is a 4 color hand printed screenprint, with black, bark brown and icy-blue transparent inks. Blue over prints brown to make a soft grey and the brown leaves are distressed as they fall off the trees. Get it? I thought that you might. Edition of only 85. Size: 16.5w x 22h inches. Available at my website, starting today.
Winter 2008 art print, detail
Lurking fun from above.
You know it’s true. A couple of weeks ago when my friend Beth from Hero Design was in town we cruised through the Strip District here in Pittsburgh. It was at the Latino grocery Reyna Foods where I snapped a few photos of the rad bits of colorful paper shaped into the stuff of childhood dreams. Or nightmares. Or both. A few more photos on my Flickr site as well.
WTF is this guy?! Awesome.
Piñatas have a long and debated history, are they Italian, Spanish or Mexican in origin? Ultimately who cares right? One fun new fact that I learned today, (thanks Wikipedia!) is that there are traditionally Christmas piñatas which are 7-pointed stars. Beating them and breaking them symbolizes triumph over the Seven Deadly Sins. And then you get to snack. Niiiiicce.
Lil flock of sleeping piñatas pack a mean fun punch.
And, thanks to the super talented and cool Sara of Girls Can Tell, ROMG check out the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed Largest Piñata before getting destroyed by a wrecking ball (yes!) in my hometown of Philadelphia:
World's largest piñata. Behold its HUGENESS.
Piñatas have always held an intense fascination for me. I love the clashing colors and the handmade aspect of them. They can range from highly conceptualized to rudimentary construction, yet all are meant to be ripped, crushed and destroyed. The first time that I saw one as a kid at a party was mildly mind-shattering, as The Winner is The Destroyer. Proof positive that inspiration can be found anywhere.
Of Montreal at Pitchfork, 2007 being all awesome.
I’m not usually much of a cover-song girl, I’ll be honest, but these covers by Of Montreal are super. It’s no surprise right? I’ve done two posters for these guys to date, so you know, it might be obvious that I love them. This collection runs from Led Zepplin to Prince to Boston to Elf Power and more, more more.
Of Montreal is one of the best bands currently alive and playing and breathing. And they play a lot of covers in their live shows. The music blog You Ain’t No Picasso has culled really solid collection of live covers up from these super heroes of rock right now. A slew of them if you will, with 52 hot-assed, booty shaking covers, there’s plenty of pie for everyone. Just click on the site and a convenient player rolls through them all for you. Heaven.
Oooh la la!
Friends Are Neato, brown & pink womens & mens/unisex tees.
Hey guess what! If you haven’t seen me at a craft show, you very likely haven’t seen my t-shirts for sale. Since most of my tshirt designs are printed in small runs, I usually only take them with me for shows rather than always having them available online. But now, with the craft and poster carny-travel season coming to a close, I put up some t-shirts in my Etsy store.
Elephant & Bird Friends Are Neato, womens & mens/unisex tees.
Available in sought after Women’s tee styles by Hyp brand, (an amazingly soft and comfy women’s tee that puts the other to shame) as well as traditional Mens/Unisex cut styles too. Take your pick! And, now that it’s chilly time, hoodies are in the works too. Got a suggestion or a design that you would love to see on a hoodie? Drop me line.
Nesting Brown Birdies, womens & mens/unisex tees.
And if you’re like me, you could always improve your tshirt folding skills, check out this super sonic, faster-than-the-speed-of-sound shirt-folding technique. SHAZAM!
Oh my GOODNESS. These photos are quick screencaps that I took this afternoon of my new favorite thing ever. Yes, you may already be aware of the PuppyCam. Yes, I have been watching them for well over a week now. Straight.
- Shiba Inu pups tearing it up.
These crazy cute puppies are Shiba Inus, an ancient Japanese hunting breed. They are the first litter for a Shiba Inu named Kika, and they will turn just 6 weeks old tomorrow, on November 18th, 2008 and yes, all of the pups are spoken for and not for sale. Each puppy sports a different colored collar and there are (perfectly, adorably) 3 girls and 3 boys. I mean, come on! They are on a live, 24-hour a day, 7 day a week live stream via the immensely popular live stream site UstreamTV which was initially popularized by US soldiers in the Iraq war as way to talk with their loved ones live.
Puppy Cam cuteness is infinite.
The site features live sound as well, so if you are at all like me and leave a small window up at all times, be prepared to hear shrieks, yelps, cries, howls (yes!) and even the voices of the pups’ anonymous owners as they all go about their day. Their sudden freakouts have scared the heck out of me a few times, and I won’t lie. Sometimes they sound like rabid monkeys. But I can’t stay mad at them, daaawwwwwwwww. You can also catch their momma in the pen to let them nurse a few times a day, and often they are wrasslin’ with each other and their myriad of toys. But I tell ya, those little fatties are lazy! They sleep so much and play so hard. Love those lil fuzzies.
Roly poly cutness
Check it out, they won’t be puppies for long.
I love to read, always have and always will. My bookshelves in multiple rooms are overflowing, and that includes my “to read” pile.
Handily enough, I came across The Year of Readers blog and wanted to join forces, as, I won’t lie, I am going to be reading in 2009 anyway. And maybe, just maybe? This will get me reading more and a bit faster. Again, I won’t lie, I’ve been a slow bookworm of late. The Year Of Readers is a sponsorship idea where readers join up and/or get sponsorship from folks for reading books from January 1st 2009 – December 31st 2009. Donations can be made per book read, or as a simple denomination can be donated, your choice!
So! For strawberryluna’s Year Of Reading 2009 my literary charity is the children’s literacy non-profit: Reading Is Fundamental or, as you may remember from childhood, RIF! I will be keeping a journal of my readings and the progress on fund-raising efforts for RIF during all of 2009 on my blog here, so keep up.
I’ve also chosen the organization JustGive.org to process all donations, as they already work with RIF, so any donation made goes directly to RIF. Easy Peasy!
All donations will be greatly appreciated. Please help promote reading and literacy in kids and sponsor me. Start reading with us today!
Tatsuta-Hime, my custom BUD, the Shinto Goddess of Autumn
Hooraaay! Our Custom Blow Up Dolls (aka BUDs) from Hero Design Studio’s the super successful This BUDs For You! show are now on sale. Yes yes! Let me be real real real real REAL real with you: These are truly one-of-a-kind toys.
Frownie Brownie, Craig's custom BUD, makin the batter Boss.
First, they are entirely hand customized, from start to finish. We were lucky enough to get 2 completely blank BUD Blanks (show below) from Jamungo, which by the way, are Sold the heck Out. It was great fun getting to flex my painting muscles again on this surprisingly tricky 3-D surface. For a pretty annotated process set of photos, look at my Flickr here.
Blank BUD - now Sold Out
Second, I rarely do toy customs! This custom toy, Tatsuta-Hime, the Shinto Goddess of Autumn, is my second one ever, and Frownie is a first for Craig. So, they ain’t coming back around anytime soon. I.E. NEVER. Nope, never ever. So scoot on over and check them out, exclusively available from Hero Design Studio + Boutique both online and/or in person. All custom toys from the show will be up for your viewing pleasure and the remaining toys (going fast!) and for sale until December 23rd, so don’t blow it! Get it? Blow Up Doll?
For more photos like the one below of the opening night totally fun rad awesomeness that I was stoked to drive 4 hours to attend (all weekend, yay!), check out Hero Design’s Flickr set.
This BUDs For You opening night crowd
Handmade Arcade at the Hunt Armory
That thanks goes for the organizers AND the awesome attendees. We had the BEST time all weekend. The Handmade Arcade (with 8,000+ people attending, it’s Pittsburgh’s largest indie/DIY craft show) just seems to get better every year. Everyone that we got to talk with was so nice and open; lots of fun conversations. What can I say? I love to talk shop. And happily, as it turns out, people love to talk craft and art too.
Chatting with a print & design friend
Plus, the new location was the BOMB. No foolin’! Handmade Arcade moved to the Hunt Armory, one of the largest National Guard Armory buildings around. It’s a really cool space with tons of natural light, room for crowds and vendors to breathe and of course, heavy vehicles. Turned out to be a very interesting mix.
heavy vehicles make way for crafty crafters
People looking at crafts at the Handmade Arcade.
Lots more photos over at Flickr too. Thanks bunches all! See you next year!
Poster by Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine
I am proud to be a part of this show at Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The Interlocution show opened on November 5th, 2008 and will be up and available to the public until November 25th, 2008 and runs concurrently with the “More Than a Book” show.
“Interlocution” is, in the gallery’s own words: A printmaking, poster, and design show organized by John Lysak and Laurie Godfrey of Egress Press and Research. This show continues the dialogue between Graphic Design, Illustration and Fine Art Printmaking in terms of design, process, and stylistic content.
Print, poster and design work by select artists:
Toulouse Lautrec
Arthur Wesley Dow
Gustave Bauman
Oskar Kokoschka
Takashi Murakami
Bill Fick
Tom Huck
Jenny Schmid
Jay Ryan
Diana Sudyka
and many more…including me! I know, RIGHT?!
“More Than a Book” is, in the gallery’s own words: A selection of handmade books from the collection of Lafayette College’s Experimental Printmaking Institute. Also Included are books from a cultural exchange EPI initiated with Costa Rica, Mexico City, and the University of Manchester, England. This exhibition redefines our preconceived notions of artist books, with over 60 pieces from selected artists.
If you are in the Western PA area while both of these amazing, international shows are up please do yourself an art favor and check it out.
Awww yeah! It’s The Handmade Arcade time again! What is The Handmade Arcade you ask? Silly goose. It’s Pittsburgh’s largest and best independent handmade crafts show. AKA Freaking Awesome. Crafters and artists from all over the country and even a few international peeps will be there selling all handmade, high-quality awesomeness. There are over 85 vendors – check out the list here – participaing in this year’s Handmade Arcade. That’s a ton, right?
This event is extremely popular and well attended, last year over 7,000 people came to look, shop and be stoked! So don’t be a goofus and miss out, OK?
We’ll be there! All posters will be $20! Yep, that’s right! That means a savings of $5-$80 on posters. That’s HUGE. We also have several new tshirt designs ready to go home with you that are not yet available on my website, (though check my Etsy store!) new art prints and lots of goodies as well as posters and prints. Please come say hello and introduce yourselves! I promise, we are more shy than you are. Honest Abe we are.
See yinz there!
What: Handmade Arcade, Pittsburgh’s own HUGE indie craft fair.
Where: The Hunt Armory at 324 Emerson St. in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh, PA.
When: Saturday & Sunday November 8th & 9th, 2008 from 11-7pm Sunday and 11-5pm Sunday.
Why: For awesomeness. Psssshht. Don’t be shy, say “Hi” OK?!
Thank you for inspiring so many to take part in this election, for bring millions upon millions together, for helping us feel proud and decent about our beloved country and for helping us all to refind our Hope. Si, se puede! Yes, we can!
“While we breathe, we hope.”
We can’t wait to get to work with you on January, 20, 2009.
Si, se puede!
President Elect Barack Obama
