Today’s Warm-Up and an Interview

Here are some architectural thumbnails for today’s warm-up. I love doing these quick little studies, just playing with shape and proportion.

In other news, Chris and I were interviewed over on Pinball Publishing’s blog, CoinOp, regarding our collaborative project, Rigamaru. We talk about how the whole thing got started, our process and inspiration, and what’s on the horizon this year. Check it out, folks.

One last thing, Chris has a monoprint up for auction in the Brownstones to Red Dirt charity fundraiser. The auction will take place online, March 6th-13th. Check out their website for more details, and to see all the fantastic work being donated!

Today’s Warm-Up #4

There’s something about cartoons in traditional grayscale that I love. It’s just a timeless look for them. I seem to always come back to it.

For those of you who don’t know, I moved to the Bay Area this past week. I’m pretty excited to get out and explore and do some painting and sketching. I might even trade in my pasty-white Portland complexion for a tan.

Support these swell artists!

Just wanted to share some news about a few excellent artists and old classmates of mine. Firstly, the very talented Joey Weiser has organized a fundraiser in order to self-publish his second graphic novel, Cavemen in Space, which will then be distributed by Adhouse Books. Joey is giving out some excellent goodies in exchange for donations, including mini-comics and original art. Everyone wins! (Update: if you follow the link to Adhouse Books, there is a pdf for download with preview images of Cavemen in Space!)

Also, Eleanor Davis and Katherine Guillen have a show together that opens tomorrow night, January 16th, at Giant Robot 2 in Los Angeles. There are some preview images up on the GR2 website, and it looks to be a rad event!

Grand Opening: Rigamaru Online Shop!

The little business that Chris and I started is finally up and running at http://www.rigamaru.com! If you missed us this year at Alternative Press Expo, our products can now be ordered online through the site. There are still lots of items I need to get photographed and added to the shop, so keep an eye out for updates via the blog, our twitter feed, or on our facebook page.

Chris and I are really excited about this new venture, and thankful for everyone’s support! We hope you enjoy the goodies!

Rigamaru

Chris and I have spent the last few months working on this collaborative little venture called Rigamaru, which is also the banner we’re exhibiting under this weekend at APE. We’ve got a rinky-dink website up, complete with twitter feed, where you’ll eventually be able to buy our goodies and follow what we’re up to. This weekend we’ve got a selection of shirts, pocket-sized sketchbooks, posters, and assorted hand-made wares. Stop by and see us at booth #228!

Dwindling Poppies

This is an oil painting I’ve had sitting around for awhile. I wanted to finish the complete series before I shared any of them in their entirety, but some other projects have taken priority and it looks like it may be a good while before I’ll have them all wrapped up.

Chris and I will be at Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco on October 17th and 18th. Come and see us at booth #228! I’ll share photos soon of some of our merch.

Spoonflower Contest Update!

This update is a couple days late, but my fabric won in Spoonflower’s weekly design contest! It’s available for purchase until Tuesday the 11th in their Etsy store. I’d like to continue selling it through my site, too, but I am trying to figure out the best way of automating it. If anyone is interested in the meantime, please let me know, we’ll work something out. Thanks for your support, everyone! And of course thanks to Spoonflower!

In other news, I’ve been in Phoenix for the last few weeks helping my mom out while she recovers from surgery. The internet is really spotty here, so besides doing a lot of reading, this is what I have been up to:

I’ll be spilling the beans on some exciting things related to this stuff soon. And more art from The Mouse that Soared is on it’s way, I promise.

Spoonflower’s “Fabric of the Week” Contest!

To my surprise, a pattern I designed and printed up through Spoonflower about 7 months ago was just selected for their ongoing “Fabric of the Week” contest. The winner’s fabric goes up for sale through their Etsy storefront during the following week, and the designer is rewarded with a gift certificate. Exciting things!

Please help me out by taking a moment and voting for my design, Beta Clouds. No registration required! Just follow the link below, 2 clicks of a mouse, and wham-bam-thank-you-m’am, you’re finished! I’ll post the results here once voting closes on Wednesday next week.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Galleries in Recession

If business is far quieter than a year ago, Mr. Augustine, for one, said he takes solace in collectors’ renewed focus on gallery programming, as opposed to faddish speculative buying.

“If you can’t define yourself right now,” [David Zwirner] said, “you’re going to get swallowed up, because the ones who do define themselves are going to take all of the business.”

Lisa Spellman, the owner of 303 Gallery, said: “What drives me crazy are these clichés that say only the very, very best survive. I don’t believe that recessions are Darwinian systems.”

Some interesting thoughts from a NY Times article about the economic climate of art galleries right now in New York. However, I did let out an audible snort over this line:

…With half of a dealer’s profits typically going to the artist, he said, “that doesn’t give much room to run a business.”

Whew!

After a lot of headaches and sweating and several late nights of zombie-eyed coding, the blog is up and running with new and improved (meaning actually functional!) RSS capability! I’ve also taken the plunge and joined Twitter, which I intend to use for small or informal thoughts and bulletins. Here’s hoping it doesn’t become another collosal internet time-waster. So, subscribe away, people! I’m still not sure how I want to structure the archived work in the ‘Art’ section, so that will be up a little later. In the meantime, you can follow along with the latest right here.

New Art Up

New art up. Blueprint is an older painting that I realized I didn’t have up. Sins of the Father is recent, and is my first experiment with encaustic painting. I’m working on a new pattern that I will be testing on some upholstry-grade fabric. I have been debating on whether or not I’d prefer to make wares and sell them, or to simply sell yardage of my designs. If you are interested, or have a preference, please shoot me an email! hello [at] meghanjean.com.