So a lot has happened since my last post. We didn’t have internet for a week (horror upon horror!). More importantly, I’ve been working on three new paintings and two are already done! The first one I finished was a large (30″ X 22″) painting called “Bears vs. Dolls”. I hope that it will be part of a series, but we’ll see. I’ve been playing with the idea of juxtaposing our modern toys against animals we often make into toys. After teaching my 6th grade class about surrealism (and we had so much fun learning about it and making Dada art) I’ve been wanting to play around with it myself. I personally can’t take anything seriously and I find surrealism to be hilarious.

The next painting I finished is a smaller (15″ X 11″) painting called “Cats with Gun”. It was inspired by my own wonderful cats Tuna and Ewok, who actually in the painting as the Black and Yellow/orange cats. I wanted to make a visual representation of how I feel about these two critters and cats in general. I think my cats are spies or are leading double lives. They seem all lazy and cuddly, but behind my back they have this dangerous and two-faced existence.

I’ve never painted such a goofy painting. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, and actually I really love this painting! but it’s very different style for me. I’ve been sketching pictures for a large painting with bears in it, but I’ve been having a hard time with it. I have a perfect image in my head of what I want it to look like. This is a problem for me because then I feel a lot of pressure from myself to paint it perfectly. So I took a break from it.

I saw this youtube video of a Red Panda on a Japanese TV Show and I could barely handle the cuteness. (Actually, I think, the same show that had my former, now famous, High-School roommate Izumi Mori on it. She was in a room with a Cheetah! Oh that crazy Kid what will she get up to next? P.S we went to a Farming, hippie school together, and she loved wearing overalls, making her own clothes and hanging out with the piglets in the small animal barn.)
Anyways here is the video that inspired my painting.

watch?v=DAbuKblNHoE&feature=related

After seeing this, I was inspired to paint the world through the eyes of the cutest thing on earth! I imagined, “what would the cutest thing on earth see at all times?” It was obvious! Cupcakes! It was fun to paint and it’s really cute. Sometimes art isn’t meant to be intellectual.

I just spent the whole day painting this T-Shirt. I LOVE IT! Except I’m having problems with splatter and some of the paint going outside of the lines when I’m painting in the stencils. So I’ve decided to put these first T-Shirts on at a reduced price because of it. I’m hoping to solve this little problem. However, you could think of it as proof that they are hand made and the imperfections prove it. I’m getting really good feed back, but no buyers. I’m hoping that changes.

So here it is my first T-shirt! It’s a size small youth, pink and has a green cuddle fish on it. I’m going to make a matching adult shirt with an octopus on it.

I think it turned out pretty nice. Hopefully, I can start on my next project, a large painting I like to call the anti-teddy bear vs. the anti-human. It’s taking the opposite of a teddy bear (a real bear) juxtaposed with the opposite of a human (a doll/ or maybe a robot). I’m really excited. I really haven’t seriously produced art in a very long time, and it feels real nice to do it again.

So I didn’t think of it before posting the painting but here are some sketches I’ve been working on for t-shirts, toys and paintings.

For the t-shirts I’ve been debating whether or not to make the animals look realistic or like the toys. Maybe I should do both.

So after working really hard for a year I let my Knitted Beasts fall to the wayside. However, the summer is here, my husband and I have moved, and I think it’s time to re-start the beasties! Here’s some of my new ones.

Yet, I think I want to beef up the production. I want to make more then just the animals. I’m thinking of making knitted beasts paintings and t-shirts. I have a test painting I made for my husband and here it is. I’m thinking stuff like this. I do have to confess that this one is a little goofy (with the spam and all).

So for those of you that are curious what the monkey looks like now here he is. I’m trying to think up my next animal, but I’m having some trouble coming up with some ideas. I don’t know if I should make a reptile, mammal, or one of my underwater animals. If any one has any ideas just let me know, I love suggestions.

Thanks to my knitting group for putting up with me and my camera. Thank you, Grace, Maggie, and Bea! And thanks to Adam for helping so much. Next time, I hope to get more from the people who didn’t come this week.

Enjoy This was fun and frustrating.