Rolling out the Wicked Bats

The bats are all a flutter this fall at CRG studios! Why? well starting on August 30th, and continuing through the fall, I will be launching all kinds of bat-themed items in the store. First, because I have a mad love of bats, and second, CRG studios will be raising money for bat preservation & conservation. This Fall the CRG store will be donating 10% of all bat-themed purchases to batworld.org from August 30th through October 31st, 2013.

My first bat launch is August 30th at 12 noon (pst) Downloadable tattoo flash of Wicked Bats will go on sale in the CRG store!! come take a look...

I’ll be rolling out downloadable designs, prints, posters, and limited-edition dolls, so stay tuned for more updates!

Musical Bat Hunting

Well hello there, Austin,Texas! why don’t you help me raise some money for your remarkable urban bats! For those of you who don’t know, Austin is home to the largest urban bat population in North America. From March through April, thousands of mostly female, pregnant Mexican free-tailed bats migrate North to give birth. And they stay through the spring, summer, and early fall, right there in Austin Texas! over 1 million bats live there, and they emerge every night at dusk from under a big ol’ bridge.

Well guess what, I’ll be in Austin this fall to witness the remarkable twilight display! I’ll also be there to see some great music as well at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. So i thought, while i’m there...

From October 3rd-6th, 2013, during the Austin City Limits Music Festival, I’ll be hiding original bat drawings around Austin for you to find. You heard right. The finding is free, but I ask, if you are a finder, to make a donation of whatever size you can manage to batworld.org on my behalf.

Join my instagram: @crgstudios and receive clues as to the whereabouts of the hidden bats. Happy hunting everyone!!

The Peppermint Man Rescues Spring

Perhaps you have been pining for something chitty-chitty-bang-bang-ish to wear this spring for your great aunt Germaine’s taffy pull, but you just can’t seem to find exactly the right thing anywhere. No need to fall into fashion funk! I have something, oh, something rather different, a bit sweet, and guaranteed to invite all sorts of weird questions from friends and family alike.

Launching this Friday, I am over the peppermint moon to announce the first T-shirt in a series of “wearables” I am doing this year. This one bears the handsome image of The Peppermint Man himself toodling along in his flying car. Where is he going you ask? Well, he could be on his way to the farmer’s market to refresh his supply of wormwood, or perhaps he needs more pink syrup for his purple pancakes. Either way, I want to take him to the fair for some cotton candy. Anyone game?

He comes in four delicious flavors: black Licorice, Apricot Pie, Cherry Valance, and Colonel Mustard. Lady shapes and man shapes, cause they’re different. I don’t think I have to explain why.

Come get some flavor this Friday at the CRG Store!
T-Shirts go on sale this Friday, May 17th at 12 noon PST at the CRG Store.

Visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum

I'm in San Francisco this week for my show at the Walt Disney Family Museum. It's an amazing place. I took some time to view the permanent exhibit, which includes early annimation drawings, a multiplane annimation camera, and a miniature replica of Disneyland! Come by this Saturday, May 11th, I'll be doing a talk at 2 pm and signing at 4pm. The museum is open until 6. See you there!

May Juxtapoz Cover!

Just wanted to share this with you, I am very honored to be on the cover of Juxtapoz for the May edition! It's a special edition cover, which means it's not available everywhere, (I think it's west coast only). There is a big feature article inside as well. Get your hands on one soon!!

also...

"Nature Can be Unkind" print launch this  Friday, April 19th, 12 noon PST

What’s that flapping in that tree? Is it the rustling of a hungry pair of owls you hear? Don’t you just want to bring them inside and stare at them for awhile? Oh, but an owl is such a difficult thing to catch.

Don’t fret, my feather fond friends, I have just the thing for your aviary parlor, bird-hobbyist attic, or maybe you want to add to your granny’s owl collection.

Yes, Friday, April 19th,  at 12 noon PST, “Nature Can Be Unkind” flaps into the CRG Store!  #3 in my series of mini-prints, 10" x 10" signed and numbered limited edition of 50. Hand deckled edge and hand-applied glitter applique. Come take a look over at the CRG Store!

Tee- shirts coming next week, stay tuned!!

"Sneewittchen" Print Launch!

Well it’s Spring again and the centipedes are in full bloom, restless to decorate their underground lairs. Gone are the spare black portraits of old man Winter, but something bold and colorful is needed to welcome in the joyous respite from gloom. And what to put in Winter’s place, you may ask? Well I have just the thing my restless magpies.

Yes, the “Sneewittchen” arrives in full bloom tomorrow at the CRG store! It is #2 in my series of mini-prints for those of modest house or budget. This color-drenched giclee´ print is 10” square with deckled edges, hand-applied glitter applique, signed and numbered and limited to 50. It ships flat with a certificate of authenticity from CRG studios. Centipedes not included. Oh and they are $100!

These launch tomorrow, Friday April 5th,  at 12:00 noon pst. 

Happy Spring everyone!

PS. Much more stuff to come to the store in the next few weeks, check back and visit, will you?

Save the Date! May 11th

If you are in the San Francisco area on May 11th, 2013, I will be doing an artist' talk and book signing in conjunction with my show, "Down The Rabbit Hole" at the Walt Disney Family Museum! 

All original artwork from my "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" book will be on display, as well as some amazing Alice in Wonderland art by the artist Mary Blair. 

The show will be up through November 3rd, but if you want to come to the talk, the space is limited so be sure and buy tickets for the event.

It's a wonderful and fascinating museum, if you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend it. Probably one of the only places you can see a miniature replica of Disneyland!! 

Hope to see you there! 

Cobwebs and Exploding Pies

Well folks it’s been an eventful January with the great remodeling of CRG Studios! Every piece of furniture has been unmoored and rearranged, spiders and centipedes evicted, and flat files given a delightfully thorough spring cleaning in winter.

This means I have unburied some gems from the archives, and this Friday, February 1st at 12 noon (pacific time) I will be releasing a few select prints from the vaults. in the CRG Store I will have a few available of:

“Who’s Afraid of the Peppermint Man?” 

“Becoming Animal” 

and “The Suffocating Corset”

Come early, to the CRG Store,  as I only have a few of each one!!

Watch Me Paint Exploding Pies

I am currently  working on a delicious illustrated cover for some my pals over at McSweeneys Publishing. Here are some sneak peeks of my process.

For this project I'm using watercolors on handmade watercolor paper. I have a few different watercolor sets, The bottom one is Japanese and the top one is German made.  I've had the lil' one on top since high school! I can't bear to part with it, plus the quality is unparralelled. Vintage rules.

Dr. Ph Martin's inks can be very intense, so I water them down a bit. Yes, I love Philippes. I'm very sad this mustard jar is empty.

I do some rough sketches first on vellum paper, then finalize and transfer my sketch to the watercolor paper. I think this guy looks pretty good, real rubbery.

When I have my drawing transferred, I do the black areas in a waterproof ink first. 

Then I lay in some watercolors in many thin layers, letting it dry in between. What's he baking?

I'm still working on this one, but when it's all done I'll post a little film of me working on it.

This year is shaping up to be an exciting one, many fun and varied projects taking me to San Francisco,   New York, Los Angeles and beyond! Come back and visit me soon, kay?

How to Make A Hoot

What actually goes into the making of these nocturnal vermin snackers? These puffy hoots have been flapping around in my mind belfry for some time now, and I thought it was time to bring them out of the dusty mental recesses and into the world of real things.

I always try to start simple, but I don’t usually end up there after it is all said and done.
I start with a story:

Then I do some design. That part takes forever, as there are endless variations of colors, of sizes, of materials, but I try to lock down my ideas at some point. 

Then we have the many headed hydra known as production! I personally, don’t really like to make over 100 thingies, but this time i thought I’d bamboozle some folks into working at my lilliputian doll factory and see what we could do collectively. 

It turns out, a lot! Here are some picts of the fabrication process. These are all made in the USA, because I am a bit of a control freak and also I am very into supporting local, independent businesses and paying a living wage. 

My sister came up with a rad bow design: 

Lo and behold, straw into gold, we have a product. 

Then what, you may be asking? 

Well, a nice photo shoot has to happen, and images need to be created of the things, so I wandered out into my yard and snapped a few. They were ok, but I thought maybe they could be better. Perfect is the enemy of the good, I am guilty. 

The next day it was torrentially raining, so me and the Hoots had to set up inside. They proved to be excellent models.  

 Who wants a peanut? 

Finally the hoots were ready for the world, and I felt comfortable releasing them. You may be asking yourself, who would do all of this? Why create all of this extra work for myself when I could just be watching the Walking Dead and baking bread? Mostly because they are so cute, but mainly because I am insane.

Available at the CRG Store! Enjoy!!!

A Ghost is Born

I've been working on a pretty big painting here in the studio, it's going to be on display at Art Basel Miami in December at the Michael Kohn Gallery. Here are a few exclusive picts of the process and inspirational sources. Enjoy!

The painting takes it's title form a Wilco song, "Theologians", the title is "A Ghost is Born". I was listening to the song and thinking about all kinds of existential ideas, and I knew I wanted a lion and a magician in the painting. Here are a few books from my library that got me going. Audubon's Mammals, "Tricks and Illusions", and of course Erte´ for the graphic awesomeness.

This one is from the Audubon book, no actual lions, but he does great snarly mammalian mouths. Gosh, is he eating a dead bird? I can't believe I just noticed that! 

Here is my snarly mammal, sans bird of course. 

This is a gorgeous illustration from the Erte´ book. I love these long icicle things and that weird snow queen. What kind of absinthe was he drinking I wonder?

And here is my version of the icicles on the edge of the painting:

And finally, my magician reference, mainly for the outfit and wand. I tried many versions of a magician man, but I was not satisfied with my man faces.

 then this onion-headed  thing sort of demanded to be a part of the whole thing, so I complied. I don't know if he is a wrapped candy or what, but you know, alchemy is mysterious business. I don't question the muse, I am merely an instrument. 

And finally, the almost finished painting with all the bits put together. It's a bit Narnial, don't you think?

Thanks for visiting, until next time curious art lovers! And if you want to see this painting in person, it will be hanging out at the Art basel fair in Miami Florida this December. Come and visit it if you are going!

I'm a Cherry Ghost

As an avid music fan, I get excited to see live performances when I get the chance. Since I live pretty far from any “cool” city, my options for live music are slim to none, but this week I got to see one of my all time favorite bands, Wilco, play at an amazing outdoor venue in Jacksonville Oregon!! The moon and stars came out to see the magic, I swear, and the only lame part of the whole evening was the girl in front of me who decided that the middle of “Jesus etc.” might be a good time to check her email on her phone. Oh the young-uns, they don’t seem to know when they are in the presence of greatness. 

The above link is not from that particular evening, but I had to share Wilco performing one of my favorite songs. I know what you're thinking, you all thought I was just into punk rock and David Bowie, but I like anything that sticks it to The Man, in whatever form, and that includes lots of anti-establishment folk music and alt- rock from Chicago. I’m no hater. I dig the rock and roll!! 

So back in the studio, sometimes I have this problem after I see/hear something great, I have trouble “making” because I set my expectations of myself that much higher. But THEN, oh then, I got just about the greatest idea ever for my next series of work, I’m not gonna tell you what it is, you’ll have to just come and see it next fall, but the hint is in the title of this Blog post. A musical Scavenger hunt, if you will.... 

ALSO look for some new goodies in the store this Friday! I’m bringing some treasures out from my personal archives, card sets, dollies, and new prints too! I will be adding new stuff every Friday until December 15th. Why you might inquire? because... 

You get a Golden Ticket

I am announcing a ridiculously fun contest! First, from now until the end of the year I will be introducing new goodies to the store every Friday, and I will be introducing a new section of items for under $100. I will also be introducing select limited items from my personal archives. 

But the fun part is that anyone who places an order at my store from now until December 15th, 2012, will be automatically entered into a raffle to win three unique prizes: 

1st prize: A hand-painted Peppermint Man doll customized with your name 

2nd prize: A lovely “Doomsday Animals” print set by Pressure Printing 

Third Prize: Well, that’s a surprise. 

I will be drawing the winning names out of a hat on December 16th, winners will be announced, and prizes will be mailed out in time for Christmas. Happy collecting everyone!! 

Careening into Fall

Summer is winding down and the light is starting to change around here. Where I live, it means the blue dragonflies are done for the season, squirrels are pretty busy with their nuts and things, and the bats are getting fat gorging on gnats.

Whats new in the CRG Store you might be asking? Well I happen to have a very limited number of Melvins 7” vinyl lp picture discs on sale this Saturday, September 22nd at 12:00 noon pst! I have 40 to be exact, and they are $40 plus shipping. I expect they will disappear pretty quickly, so get the change out of your couch and pony up!




Pachyderms on Display

If you are a resident of the windy city Chicago, or if you are passing through in the next few days, I have a painting on display at the EXPO Chicago art fair from September 20th - 23rd at the Michael Kohn Gallery booth. Clowns, owls, and a few sad pachyderms are all hanging out in one cheery painting. Come take a looky if you are around, you might get some ideas for that cave circus you wanted to start.

http://expochicago.com/





In the Studio
I’m back in the studio and here are some fun peeks of stuff I’m working on.

Bunnies anyone? I'm working on a secret-ish project, here is a little peek, but more to come!




Hey, who are these cute little guys? What the heck are they up to?


This gang showed up on my table, they look like they are up to something if you ask me...



Until next time friends and strangers! Growing feet for children’s shoes, as Tom Waits would say. Happy fall!