My creatures for Plush You LA at Munky King have flown off to California. The show opens on 26th August at Munky King, 7308 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046. As usual I find myself wishing I could attend, if you make it, take some pictures for me! I can’t wait to see all the plush excellence on display, I think it is going to be an amazing show. Above and below: Fish Boy-The Shaman, The Sad Fate of Mau of the Octopod Clan and Theodore the Stevedore.

Mau looked very different originally. Upright, with a little helmet, claw socks and gloves-she didn’t look right to me when she was finished. I think I made my pattern much too thin, tried to replicate the slightly wonky aspect of my initial drawing. I was so upset by my perceived ‘failure’ that I almost cried with frustration (it *was* gone 3am!) & then I decided to chop her head off & change her story. Gory, perhaps a little Grand Guignol, but she works much better for me now. In fact I feel very protective of her, I hope she goes to a caring home.

Isn’t ‘stevedore’ the most magical word, euphonious, easy on the ear? I’m pretty sure I first came across it in a song by The Small Faces, the tale of Rene, the docker’s delight! Theodore really couldn’t have had any other job, it fits him like a pair of claw gloves.

I came across this image of a Stevedore on the New York Waterfront over at the MoMA website. I like the look of this gentleman, he reminds me a little of my Great Grandad, whose name was Percival Varnum, a fine Victorian name, always shortened to Perce, never Percy! Perce had the prickliest mustache, like porcupine quills and the twinkliest eyes I have ever seen, roguish and full of life. As I mentioned in a previous post I have been tossing the idea of producing a winter collection around, thoughts of Perce are proving to be an inspiration. Think Alec Scudder in Maurice (below).

Probably the most famous Stevedore in popular culture, Terry Malloy (played by Marlon Brando) in On The Waterfront.

I haven’t written a thing about the Fish Boy, I guess he is self explanatory and I wanted to use those feathers so badly! Wish them all a happy voyage if you please.

Above and below, my pieces for Lost at Sea.

I am so excited about the show, it opens next week, here are all of the details, if you happen to be in New York go and check it out.

Lost at Sea: daring fiber artists delve into the deep, May 6 – June 11 2010, Gallery Hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC / Opening reception: Thursday, May 6, 7-9 pm RSVP info@galleryhanahou.com

Artists include: Anna Hrachovec, Annie Aube, APAK, Becky Stern, Cindy Steiler, Coco Howard of Softlife, Cotton Monster, Diem Chau, Dixie Darling, Erin Paisley, Heidi Kenney, Helle Jorgensen, Hine Mizushima, Jenny Dubish, Jenny Harada, Jenny Hart, Jessica Marquez, Jill Bliss, Joetta Maue, Katya Usvitsky, Kristen Rask, Lou Lou & Oscar, Margaret Oomen, Melissa Sue Stanley, Moxie, mummysam, Nicole Licht, Pamela Davis, Sara Lanzillotta. Sayuri Sasaki Hemann. Snaggs, Yoko Nomura, Zoe Williams

“There is something about the malleability and textures of fabric, thread, and yarn that speaks of the sea and its many mysteries. Curated by Kristen Rask of Schmancy and “Plush You,” “Lost at Sea” gathers 32 exciting artists who share underwater visions of items lost, creatures forgotten, and life that struggles to stay with us. The show will feature a broad array of amusing and uncanny works in embroidery, plush, and other materials.”

Looks super cool huh!

I had planned to send some ‘products’ along with my pieces but the move and my sinuses got in the way. So, look out for some prints and postcards hitting the shop in the next few weeks.

While I am here I should really let you know that we made it to Edinburgh in one piece despite volcanic ash and lurgey bugs, I am currently deaf in one ear which is highly amusing (for others) and disorientating for me, I am out of love with my sinuses, the cause of the deafness. It is amazing up here, I have found some interesting bookshops and galleries and will make my first foray into the local art/craft scene tomorrow with a visit to the Morningside Makers market. The market is conveniently located one street down from our new place, I have booked a table for September so it will be a bit of a fact finding mission too. I hope to get the camera out and begin collecting some images of our new stamping ground, we are still surrounded by boxes and need to put our book shelves together. Oh, and I have learnt that parquet flooring, tiny hands and breakable objects do not get along! It is so nice to be back, I missed you.

Harum scarum March is here again, my favourite month. This particular March will be an incredibly full one and I hope to be able to announce some exciting news very soon. I will be keeping a low profile for the rest of this week as Mr A is out of town, just the bean and me, ballet rehearsals and lots of nervous nail biting.
Bob the Hare (above) from Kyoko Imazu.

Polar Bear Love print (above) from Spinster Summer

Sticking with the polar theme I am about to announce the winner of my little giveaway. Drum role for the random number thingamy – the winner is Diane (dkoss2) , hooray! I will be in touch a little later to ask you for your address and choice of star. Thank you so much to everyone who took part, that was fun, now I have broken my contest duck I won’t be so worried about doing another one. Watch this space!
Oh and the reason for the giveaway, the release of my exclusive for Schmancy, you can adopt one of the polar pack here right now!
I am pretty sure I had some other state smashingly interesting things to share with you but my jelly head isn’t cooperating. Ishi is obsessed with skipping/jump rope, we watched this video a thousand times yesterday. Malcolm McLaren annoys me but I confess I liked this song at the time. Ace skipping!

Two giveaways in one week, has the world spun off its axis! Click on over to Kenziepoo for your chance to win a Lapin de Lune and a hand embroidered wall hanging made by me. The giveaway is open internationally, get clicking!

Here they are, The Polar Pack, please say hello to Arctic Fox in Spring, Black Lemming, Snowy Owl, Caribou, Ringed Seal, Musk Ox, Bearded Seal, Red Aurora, Arctic Hare and Ice Blink. They don’t have super powers, just a love for the Arctic and the ability to assume an alternate identity, well, that is pretty super I guess. These little guys are available exclusively at Schmancy from the 1st of March, the online store is here. Each member of the polar pack is one of a kind and will never be repeated. In fact Schmancy is the only place you can grab yourself a Fish Boy of any kind at the moment! You can read more about the gang in an interview I did with lovely Kristen over at Plush You. I would love to hear if you have a favourite, I am willing to bribe you to leave a comment letting me know which of the pack you like the best. So, I am giving away a star pin of your choice from my Etsy shop and some other goodies too, a Lou Lou & Oscar treat bag, it will be lovely I promise! The winner will be chosen at random by the number picking gizmo, you have until the 1st of March if you would like to play along.

Just stopping by to spread the news that the lovely Tania has opened a new shop over at Big Cartel. Pop on over to Ninon super quick.

I am so ecstatic to have Paulina of Lemmikkiapina at LL&O today, a truly lovely anniversary treat. I am a little lost for words about Paulina’s work, the images really speak for themselves, better than a list of adjectives, where would I start: sublime, heartbreaking… you see what I mean! So, let’s meet Paulina and lose ourselves in her beautiful world.

Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“My name is Paulina Temmes and I’ll be 34 years old this December. I live in a small village in Southern Finland with my partner and my old grey striped cat. I grew up in Helsinki and I studied textile art there at the University of Art and Design.”

“I started making dolls and writing and drawing little animal stories when I was about 20 years old. Most of my older dolls were made from modelling clay, but lately I have concentrated on sewing soft sculpture animals. I love loosely woven linen, paperlike organza and vintage fabrics with signs of their age. One of my favourite materials is little stones and pebbles found everywhere.”

“At the moment I’m working at home and sewing my animals full-time. I rarely draw any sketches before I start sewing. By the time the animal’s face and body are ready, I usually know his character and how he should be dressed. Usually my animals turn out to be quite melancholic and peaceful.”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“I always find inspiration from animals: my own cat, neighbour’s horses that graze just behind our garden fence, the rabbits that come to our garden at night, a patient dog waiting outside a grocery store.
Lately I have drawn inspiration from old mechanical toys and books about medieval embroidery and outsider art.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Please tell us the story behind the piece.

“This monkey holding a garland of forget-me-nots is very dear to me. I made him for a small exhibition I had in Helsinki a few years ago. I think he looks very calm and quiet, a bit like a statue in an animal cemetery.”

Lemmikkiapina Shop

Thank you so much for joining us Paulina, it has been so wonderful to learn some more about you and your creative process. It is my dream to give a home to a creature from Lemmikkiapina next year, keep your fingers crossed for me, they fly so fast! Do you have a favourite from Paulina’s shop? I would love to hear which you would choose, it was hard enough to select the images for this post, *everything* is so beautiful. Sigh!

These little ones have been hanging around for ages waiting to visit the Lou Lou & Oscar shop. I hope to have them all listed tonight. We are still in H1N1 quarantine, well Adam & Ishi are, I feel so lucky to have resisted the virus so far. I hope everyone is staying well and send get well wishes to anyone who is under the weather right now.

How I wish I had been in Seattle on Friday for the opening of Plush You 2009. I got the first reports from the show via Danamarie of Green Star Studio fame (I *need* a knitimal!) through Twitter. I couldn’t sleep, I wanted to be with my gang, marvel at the artistry and imaginative power on display, give Kristen a hug and say hello to everyone in person. I really want to know who my creatures are hanging out with over there? Kristen puts such a lot of work and heart into Plush You and I would love to give her a big hug and a very loud *thank you* for all of her support and encouragement. Dawn, you will know her work very well, and her husband took all of the product shots for the show, a huge undertaking and they deserve a super big thank you too. You can view some of the shots over on Dawn’s blog, Plush-a-holic. Dawn took the beautiful picture of The Bird Suit (above) by the way, thanks Dawn.

Yay, some images from the show are up on Flickr here. As you can see my gang are hanging out with Melissa Sue Stanley’s incredible creatures. Jinx looks a little worried, perhaps it is the proximity of Narwhal Fish Boy’s horn? I am happy to say that all three of my little ones are off to new homes, I know they will be well behaved and give lots of love to their new owners. Congratulations to everyone involved, it has been such a privilege to take part. Three cheers!

I am so thrilled that Diane is joining us today, her work is irresistible, a perfect combination of fluffy plush joy and cyclopean monstrosity. I am in love with these guys with the wild antlers and spiral horns. Lets’s join Diane and her creatures now, I can’t wait!

Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

I am a full time plush toy designer based in the Philadelphia metro area. I graduated from college in 2005 with a fine arts degree in photography and mixed media and have always been a more 3D oriented artist. I started my company Cutesy but not Cutesy about two years ago and have been stitching my way along ever since. I use felt (made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles) and faux fur in most of my creations. Everything I do is entirely hand-stitched and I use no machines.

I like the way the fabric feels between my fingers and the way I can build the object from the ground up, it’s more like sculpture to me in that way. I think people can also really appreciate seeing the stitches in my work, it adds to the notion of the object being made completely by hand.

Each piece is one-of-a-kind as I don’t use any patterns. I just grab my scissors and start cutting! I really enjoy working on the larger pieces and pieces made for gallery shows because I can get a little more creative and make the horns and antlers as out of control and detailed as possible.

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

I’m mostly inspired by people who are doing what they love. People who have started from the ground up and who aren’t afraid to put themselves out there and work as hard as they possibly can to continue to get their creative voices heard whether it be through art, music, writing, etc. The internet makes finding constant inspiration rather easy (and sometimes distracting). I am always following a new blog and discovering a new site for inspiration.

I have always loved the work of Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane. Her blog is a constant source of inspiration in both plush and non-plush related things. Kit Lane is another huge inspiration. She’s incredibly productive and her work is so quirky and adorable which is right up my alley! I also have a not-so-secret obsession with vinyl toys and my collection is ever growing. Non-plush/toy related, I recently discovered the work of Nava Lubelski which nearly brought tears to my eyes. I learned of her on this amazing blog … talk about inspiring! I’ll stop there because my list of inspirations could go on forever!

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Please tell us the story behind the piece.

One of my favorite recent pieces was created for the Mortal Plush Show at the Art Whino Gallery in Washington D.C. The piece is called The American Dream (above). I created it with a lot of things in mind with one being a reference to the classic American Gothic painting by Grant Wood… my monster interpretation, if you will.

It was my chance to add a much more personal touch to a piece. I like when I can create work with a personal message that people can either get or not get, it keeps things interesting.

You can find diane in these places:
Etsy
Blog
Flickr

Thank you so much Diane for joining us today, it was such a pleasure to find out some more about you and your incredible work. Make sure you click the links recommended by Diane, I was so pleased that I did, some amazing work to be found!

I’m not sure when the next interview will appear, I am going to be keeping a low profile for a few weeks while I try and get some new creatures out of my sketch book and onto the sewing machine. I also need to get going on some new embroidery pieces, oh, I have plans! It feels wonderful to be so full of enthusiasm again. Another side note, I have wanted to write a post about a book I read over the summer, I don’t think I am going to have time but must urge you all to rush out and borrow/buy a copy of Leviathan by Philip Hoare. Really, it is the most wonderful book, so inspiring, my Sea Ghosts sprang from its pages. Go, rush, now!