Competition: Purple Polkadot Cavey Pilllow!
Holly from over at www.heycavey.com dropped us an email to let us know about a fantastic competition that she's running and you can win a giant Cavey pillow!
Mini Tea Tour @ Sixxa Store Vienna
Via Lunartik
The Mini Tea Tour was a roaring success at the amazing Sixxa Store in Vienna with lots of fans turning up to check out all the Mini Teas on display and to pick up a signed tea signed by me. So big praise goes out to all the artists for working so hard to make this Mini Tour such a joy to behold. Also a big thanks to the guys at the Sixxa Store for putting in a lot of effort and a great selection of tea’s and cake. It was perfect!
Make sure to check out the Mini Tea Tour page for more information. Stay tuned to VA for further news and updates on upcoming locations on the Mini Tea Tour!
also.. Don’t forget to vote for Lunartik in a Cup of Tea for best mini series at Designer Toy Awards 2011
[images via lunartik.com]
Nathan Hamill De Korner Curiosity Signing
Mark Hamill will hold a signing and debuting the Curiosity “Emerald” Ed. Resins and will have 3 custom Curiosities next weekend at Frank & Son @ De Korner booth #502.
All are De Korner exclusives.
There will also be Boris vinyl figures with limited ed. keychain charms (the last of the run) as well as prints and plush.
Saturday, May 28th.
1pm to 4pm
QEE To Happiness – Toy2R Contest
Starting today and running through May 27th you have the chance of scoring some FREE toys from Toy2R without leaving the comfort of your chair!
We have packed a plastic tub full of 2.5” Qees and all you have to do is guess exactly how many Qees are in the tub! The plastic tub measures 22” long x 15” wide x 6” deep. While you can pack a bunch of Qees in there…note that there are Qees of all characters from several years past (Bears, Eggs, Toyers, etc). Also, some are still in their original polybags…so you’ll have to call upon your best guessing skills.
Post your guess on the Toy2R USA Facebook Page and you’re entered – just that easy!
One entry per contestant – multiple guesses will not be accepted – so make sure to enter the best guess possible. To make the contest even more appealing – we will have TWO GRAND PRIZES – that means we can have two winners!!! In the event of a tie of more than two contestants, Toy2R will have a tie-breaker to determine the two winners. Winners will be announced on May 30st.
So with that…examine the image carefully and good luck, after all – it is Friday the 13th!
Daaamn, that’s alot of Qee! I know I can’t enter (probably?) but I’m gonna take at guess right here of 236 Qee in the box.. I’m gonna be so gutted if I’m right :/
Mugo + Kung Fu Panda
The Mugo + Kung Fu Panda 2 collaboration is here. This is the first themed series for Mugo, which will be comprised of four characters from the Kung Fu Panda 2 movie which hits theaters May 26th. If you haven’t seen a Mugo before the functions are quite simple and fun.
The first to be revealed is of the main character Po from the film series. For more information and character reveals, go to www.mugoplayer.com. Expect these to drop in late May for just $54.99.
Buff Monster “The Reign of Pink” @ StolenSpace Gallery
StolenSpace is proud to present the premier London solo show from renowned Californian street artist Buff Monster. Featuring paintings on board, installation work and also the release of a limited edition print.
Celebrating 10 years of the king of pink; Buff Monster has created a brand new body of work expanding on and revisiting familiar themes that he has become synonymous with. The artist has become famous for his signature candy pink bubbles, drips, ice cream sundaes, breasts and Japanese-inspired cutesy winged characters (also called Buff Monsters) which bring a smile to the face. As well as his highly collectable fine art paintings Buff Monster is known all over the world for his collectible toys and design projects.
‘I’ve always painted squirts and boobs and drips, and I’ve always considered them landscape paintings; oozing landscapes. Of course, I use a very limited color palette: Buff Monster pink, along with a couple other shades of custom-mixed pink, and white, black and grays.
For me, color is very important and I think that using a very limited palette serves to distill the essence of the expression. Formally, the paintings are rendered with great detail and are created in the superflat method of painting. I take great care to keep the paintings as flat as possible; making sure the surfaces is as flat and perfect as I think is appropriate. I use very fine sandpaper along the way to guarantee a smooth surface’.
The Reign of Pink exhibition opens Thurs 28th April with a private viewing @ StolenSpace Gallery The Old Truman Brewery, Bricklane, London. Open to the public from Friday 29th April through to May 29th, so you’ve plenty of time to go check it out.
Love the UK invasion of Buff Monster and only hope that it continues. Peep the gallery bellow for shots of Buff Monsters’ awesome new mural in Bristol (if you live there, I envy you lol) to whet your appetite for pink goodness! Stay tuned for further coverage :]
(images courtesy of Beth @ StolenSpace Gallery)
Ready for some Inkygoodness? – Interview
VA: Inkygoodness appears to be taking over the world, tell us more about yourselves!
IG: Michelle and I started Inkygoodness in 2008, and the idea was built on a passion for illustration and character design, developed during our degree courses and lots of trips to exhibitions and creative events over the last few years. The initiative started off as a small exhibition showing just our own work back in 2008, and quickly evolved into group shows with our friends and other like-minded creatives.
Our aim is to showcase new and emerging talent in this discipline alongside more established artists working in the field, offering a unique oppotunity for networking and collaboration. To date we have hosted events and exhibitions in Bristol, Birmingham, London, Manchester & Berlin respectively, showcasing work by a growing collection of artists from around the world. Berlin is our first international exhibition and we are very proud!
VA: Your Character Totem project is a great and definately unique concept, who came up with the idea?
IG: Having organised several group exhibitions which have been presented as ‘gallery’ shows, we were itching to do something a little bit different for the next Inkygoodness project. Pitching to Pictoplasma was our sole aim, but we knew we had to think outside the box to secure a spot on the Character Walk! The idea of doing an installation had been playing our minds for a while, and we liked the idea of customising objects or cut-outs.
We also wanted to create a show that would be fun to do, and of course incorporating character design, which is central to the Pictoplasma event. Uniting these elements gave birth to the Character Totem concept!
VA: How did it feel to get the call to say you had made the character walk tour?
IG: Absolutely amazing. We received the e-mail on the evening of our Dreamboat exhibition opening, and it was really hard keeping it a secret!! Up until that point we hadn’t seriously considered how we were going to deliver the project, so whilst we were incredibly excited, we were also freaking out a little bit!
VA: How did you find Pictoplasma? Can you explain what the show is to those who may not have had the chance to go yet?
IG: It was about 6 years ago, I had recently moved to London and I was trawling through the collection of illustration and character design books in my University library, and I think I just stumbled across one of the first editions of the Pictoplasma Character Book and instantly fell in love with the idea. I think after that I googled Pictoplasma and found the site and read about the festival and knew immediately that I had to go!!
VA: How do you choose who you guys work with?
IG: Since the beginning I have always picked artists that inspire me, whose work I love and admire. I am a huge fan of characer design and illustration, especially the recent surge in tactile illustrations composed of cut-outs, paper and random objects. Most of the artists we work with are illustrators or character designers, and have a strong hand-made aesthetic to their work.
Flickr and twitter are surprising sources of information for new artists on the scene, and of course I pick up a lot of industry magazines, blogs and exhibition invitations which offer the perfect opportunity to find new artists. We also receive a ton of submissions throughout the year, and we hand pick the best ones.
VA: Who were your highlights this year?
IG: Meeting so many talented artists and sharing a beer with them was pretty cool, I loved Ryan Quincy’s exhibition of paintings – it’s exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. It was great to see Mc Bess again, and catch up with friends like Louise Evans (Felt Mistress). The Character Walk was a little hit and miss, but the Crim Collective produced one of the best exhibitions with their ‘Mechanicalism’ concept – inspired by vinyl toy culture and the popularity of collectable characters.
VA: Who are your all time favourite characters?
IG: I am a huge fan of Gary Baseman’s work, and have a number of his Qee toys, I also love Felt Mistress plushies (though I can’t afford to buy them yet!) – I’m not a massive collector, but I do love cartoons – Cartman is probably one of my favourites!
Photography courtesy of Guy WJ Mayfield
Interview by Fran Pearce
The follow up show will be coming to Birmingham, scheduled for the We Are Birmingham space in June. Keep an eye on Inkygoodness and Inkygoodness on Facebook for future details!
Flogging A Dead Wars
“I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in the force” – anonymous Jedi Knight
Comparisons between Star Wars and Christianity are easy and plentiful. Both offer up a sacred source-text packed with allegory, introducing us to those incorruptibly good, those bitterly evil and those tragically flawed. Both serve as a life-guide for the masses – a beacon in the dark waters that are our mortality. And both have a tendency for the long-winded, for the two-dimensional and tedious and dogmatic. Then, of course there’s the whole matter of the old and new versions…
Why the religious ramble?
Well, for many toy lovers, Star Wars holds a deep spiritual place in their psyche. It was the escapist fuel of their childhood, shaping them forever in profound and meaningful ways. And it is with them always.
But is this necessarily a good thing?
I loved Star Wars as a kid, but having grown up in the pop-cultural swamp-waters of 1980s South Africa, I didn’t have access to the toys; to the literature, to the fandom. There were no happy meals or trips to Disneyland. The force was only as strong with me as the grumpy, unwashed dude that ran the nearest video store would allow it to be – a dingy flea-pit hedged between a drycleaner and a butcher.
Every few weeks in this store – my only link to Uncle Lucas and his Technicolor space-pants – I would rent the original movies. That’s if the Betamax copies weren’t too damaged, or some other pig-nosed half-ling hadn’t scooped up the only vhs copies first, hightailing it up the hill, all the while wheezing and screeching: “Yeeep! yeeep ! wheeeee!”
My childhood grasp of Star Wars was unbearably weak. Maybe that’s why I can say the following with confidence: “I just don’t get it?” I don’t get why wave after wave of wonderfully talented toymaker, artist and illustrator exhaust themselves with exploring this diluted and over-hyped franchise
Before the collective will of every nerd this side of Bobba Fett’s ball-sack riddles me with mind-bullets, let me state my case…
I know the characters are awesome and enduring. I’m with you in the belief that it doesn’t get better than a Storm Trooper or Vader or an AT-AT – these images will be with us always, beyond even death. I’m with you brother. sister. Amen! Hallelujah!
But while we’re all gathered here, praying in his chapel with our eyes tightly shut, do me a favour. Brother. Sister. Open your eyes and take a look at that lady in the front. The one shaking the tambourine. You see her? The one speaking in tongues and flayling her arms around like a lost fart trapped in Jar Jar’s dump-bucket.
Doesn’t she make you feel weird? And those people, tucked in the corner. The ones counting all the coins from the collection plate. Their chinless faces, their bloated necks; their thick tongues mumbling in a language we don’t understand – doesn’t something feel a little off to you? Doesn’t any of it make you feel a little dirty?
Could it be. brothers. sisters. that were are trapped in a belief system? And is this system polluting or ability to generate new ideas for toys and stories and characters?
Maybe it’s time we all wipe the stars from our eyes…
‘Mr Whistlecraft’s Tarnished Daydreams’ Doktor A Show Coverage
Doktor A’s much anticipated show ‘Mr Whistlecraft’s Tarnished Daydreams’ is showing till the end of this month at Iksentrik in Bath. Just to whet your appetite we’ve been lucky enough to get pictures of the exhibition and have a chat with Ryan, the shop and gallery owner, about what it’s been like to put on the artist’s first solo show on home turf. (more…)
Scrap Dunny custom series by Efo Tercero
The “Scrap Dunny” series is a set of beautiful customs by mexican Graphic Designer & toy customizer, Efo. Each Dunny is flocked in a different colour, with matching coloured details and bouquet of flowers. Every dunny comes in its own hand made cardboard and wooden packaging.
From Efo’s Scrap Dunny Behance page…
After a long time. I put together a series on a Custom Dunny 3 “.
This series is inspired by scrapbooking (The scrapbook is magic, is to capture and render immortal some precious moments of life. To pay tribute to our lives and those of our loved ones. Anyone who starts a job knows the precious scrap conservation value of the memory … Guylaine, professor of Scrap in Montpellier)These Dunnys are for sale, sells the complete kit containing 5 pieces and one piece Gift with a cost of $ 1900 pesos or $ 160 DLS or sold separately at Blind Box (or color you choose) at a price of $ 400 or $ 50 just in Blind Box is able to find a Golden Button that will bring a unique piece
THERE IS ONLY 3 SETS FOR SALE
-The scrapbook is a treasure that is transmitted to future generations-
I really can’t praise these enough, I mean I know a lot of smoke is blown up arses in the vinyl world, but these are genuinly a treat to look at and remind me that there’s still life in Dunny as a platform yet.
VA Forum Refresh
The VA forum has been temporarily taken down as we prepare to relaunch it brand new. The old forum threads will be gradually copied to the new forum over time.
We felt it was time that we started from a fresh slate as the old forum was outdated and cluttered, we hope to offer up a spam free, easy to read discussion environment in the near future.
Much Love ~ UnsungZero & the VA Team
