This website is about any and everything that sparks the creative genius in all of us. By profession I am a Graphic Designer, and enjoy all aspects of design. From traditional to urban from resin to vinyl, these are all great mediums and deserve to be explored. On top of that everything from music to movies from guns to graffiti.
The Toy2R USA webstore will be starting its Spring Sale at midnight tonight, Monday March 26th 2012 where you can save 20% off everything in stock!!!! A pretty big chunk of change to be saved right there! All you gotta do is use coupon code SPRINGQEE at checkout and you'll be golden! Oh, and if you feel like spending $100 or more, you can get a whopping 30% off your order by using coupon code QEEPLOSION at checkout! So, at midnight tonight... head on over HERE and let the savings begin!
Our friend Pierre Rouzier of PiNkJazZ Studios has been quite busy lately... and rightfully so after seeing his latest creation entitled "AirHead (79)"!!! Pierre tells us that this piece "Originally titled under a different name - I changed the title of this piece to "AirHead" because I forgot to hit the post button after making a few corrections to the original draft back on March 2nd (then again on March 12). "79" - refferences paying homage to the 79th anniversary of the original 1933 debut of King Kong. Thus "AirHead 79"." So that's how artist come up with the names for their pieces :-) These hand sculpted and cast polystone resin figures turned out great, and have so many familiar characteristics that we have seen in previous work from Pierre!!! Limited to just 4 pieces- the AirHead 79 figure sit 6.25" tall (to top of head) on a 4" diam base, each individually signed and numbered, airbrushed and hand painted in a satin monochromatic color scheme.... and can be picked up HERE right now!
That's right party people... that sweet tooth of yours can only take you so far with so few flavors, and that is precisely why Brutherford Industries just announced a next great new flavor of their uber popular 'Ice Scream Man" figure... introducing Malevolent Mintstachio, a sweet little green machine sure to curb that appetite! This is a limited edition of 125 pieces... all of which come signed and numbered, stand 7.5" tall, and the best part... are rotocast at Brutherford Industries in New Jersey, USA!! Head on over HERE now to snag this up for just $75 a pop... before it melts away for good!
April 1st lands on a Sunday this year... and for all of those keeping track, that's April Fools Day. This year, not only can you prank your loved ones and friends and have a legitimate excuse, the folks over at Lulubell Toys and Grody Shogun have a little something up their sleeves as well... and I don't think it's a prank either! Not much is know about this, except that it's being called "Grody Fools Day"... so stay tuned for updates as we get them!
One of the cool things about conventions is seeing new stuff coming out from companies you have never seen or heard of before... that was the case when walking through the isle at WonderCon 2012 and I stumbled upon the Beefy & Co. booth. Now, the name might be a little deceiving, but they had some awesome new vinyl prototypes on hand and upon further investigation I found out that the folks over at Kuso Vinyl had their hand in making this possible. Inside their glass display case was an awesome looking LARGE figure dubbed "Bad Bad Buddah" who sits 9" tall and is about that wide as well. The figure itself has a really nice aesthetic look and feel to it... and I just love the size and the pose! Along with that Buddah, there were some other rad figure called "Ghost Tribe Warriors" who stand 9.5" tall and come with some great accessories. Although they had no definitive answer on when we would actually see this product released, it is something to keep a watch out for! Oh, and along with those figures, they had all kinds of other rad plush and apparel as well! Hit up their site HERE as well as their Facebook page HERE for up to date info.
On Friday, March 16, Japanese artist Junko Mizuno satisfied the appetites of many of her Canadian fans with the opening of her second Toronto solo show, Venus Cake: Junko Mizuno's Food Obsession. The show features scantily clad girls enjoying some delicious treats, done in Junko's trademark style that mixes the cute, the twisted and the erotic. She chose five different kinds of food as her inspiration: oranges, whipped cream, artichokes, pancakes and sushi. Fans are able to enjoy her imaginative work in different media. For every colorful painting displayed, there was a pencil sketch rendition also available for people to see the evolution of the pieces from paper to canvas.
Host gallery Magic Pony stayed true to the theme of the show just to add a special touch to the opening night. Their front window invited curious passerby's with a cute installation of a little oven and some of Junko's tentacles and artichokes created in 3D. Food and refreshments included sushi, meringue treats, and orange based cocktails, all served by cigarette girls dressed up in costumes inspired by Junko's work. Junko Mizuno was in attendance, signing toys and drawing sketches for many excited fans.
After the gallery opening, the party moved down the street to The Bovine Sex Club, where local nerdy burlesque organizers The Underground Peepshow and blogger Raymi the Minx hosted a very special Junko Mizuno themed burlesque show for the evening's guest of honor. The evening featured six acts based on her saucy characters, including those recently featured in Venus Cake. Old favourites such as the Firebird Paintings and the adorable Gaiko-Kun from her Mizuno Garden Series were also represented. It was the perfect way to end the evening and celebrate the success of her show, especially since her work translates into a live striptease so well!
Junko Mizuno's Venus Cake solo show will be up at Magic Pony (680 Queen St W, Toronto) until April 20, 2012. Be sure to check it out!
Easter is just around the corner and you can always count on Holly and her Cavey brand to brighten up every holiday... especially this one!!!! Cavey is getting in the mood for Easter by dressing himself up as a little "Spring Chicken"! Made from bright yellow fleece with little wing and beak details. He is limited to 75 numbered pieces, will retail for just $25, and will surely make for the perfect companion... of your own "Easter Bunny" Coney! This little fella is the perfect companion to last year's Easter Bunny Cavey. Made of the same chocolatey brown micro fleece with his signature bunny ears. Limited to 30 numbered pieces, and retailing for $30 each... both are too cute to pass up! They are slated to drop in the Cavey shop HERE on Thursday, April 5th at 12:00 PDT... don't miss out!
So what has Hauke Sheer been up to... well, planning world domination that's what! To help him in his quest, he is planning to create an army of super soldiers... and more specifically, "Mechawhales"!!!!! From Hauke's crazy mind, comes this absurdly cool animation of the human race calling upon whales in exoskeleton suits to help protect mankind! The best part... Hauke plans on taking this character into production and actually getting a figure made!!!
As you can see from the above images... Hauke is well upon his way, and this figure is actually looking really cool! The sculpt itself is amazingly detailed and fits right in with all his other crazy creations. Stay tuned for more updates on the release of this beast... and until then... enjoy the above animation.
It's been some time since we have seen different iterations of Mark Ryden's "YHWH" figure... in fact, it was first released in "Flesh" back in 2009, and then spotted in "Black & White" in 2010... well, they are back and in 3 new colors Red, Gold and Blue!!! Just like the beforehand mentioned b&w pieces, these 16.5" x 9" x 1.75" totem style figure/statues are being released through Porterhouse Fine Art Editions, and will be limited to just 100 pieces of each! They are retailing for $200 each, or all 3 for $500... a big savings! Now... even though you can save a little cash on all 3, it still seems like a hefty price tag to pay for these... then again, the completionist in me says that all of them in a row would look pretty epic and if I had the money I would totally rock them in my collection! So... I will live vicariously through all of you who decide to pull the trigger... which will be HERE, Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 27th at 8am PST!
We posted up last week a nice teaser from Dead Hand Toys as they recently teamed up with Rsin to create a run of 10 limited edition hand-painted "Gread's"... well, now we have some definitive answers on when they are going to drop... and that's set to happen tomorrow, Tuesday March 27th, at Noon EST via the Dead Hand online shop HERE. They are going to retail for $20 each, and will come bagged with a header card. You gotta just love those muted/vivid colors on this sweet little resin platform. Oh, and it really goes without saying, but when these officially drop... good luck trying to get one as they will sell out in record time!
Spotted for the first time at WonderCon 2012, and not "officially" released until now... Scott Tolleson has teamed up with Screaming Sky Gallery to drop his newest Nosellot plush figure... introducing "Francis"! "He is constantly forgetting his last name, even though it is printed on his lab coat. A Nosellot anomaly, Francis used to be able to fly until his horns grew too heavy. Now, when he is very excited, he can flutter high enough to reach the top shelf. This makes him very happy." Francis is the third released character in the Nosellots line developed by Scott Tolleson and Screaming Sky Gallery. This little trouble maker measures 8.5" tall, is quality produced heavy fleece, detailed stitching, vibrant colors... and how can you not just love those adorable horns and glasses! The blue version is a Screaming Sky exclusive colorway and the yellow is the standard edition which will be available for wholesale ordering exclusively through DKE... all that being said, both are just $25 each... a smoking deal for an awesome plush figure! Go grab your own HERE today!
I really like these prints. I know I should probably have something clever written as an opening line but to be direct and to the point I really like these prints by Andreas Ekberg. Something gets to me when Lego and psychedelic colors are mixed together, they just really make my eyes trip out and feel like they are seeing something amazing. Ranging in sizes from 9" x 12" to Poster Size, Andreas Ekberg has a whole slew of different types of prints up for purchase in his online web store. He has prints of his own inspired creations and ones that feature his take on the Lego brand, they range in price from $25 to $50,and if you would like to see all of the different prints that are available please click HERE.
Phil & Adam at Flatties have been working hard to create their Heavy Metal Qee for the HMQ show (which we teased about recently here). As these work-in-progress shots show, Flatties aren't taking the term Heavy Metal to mean the musical genre… but rather as a chance to rebuild their 8" Qee out of solid Aluminum! This earlier show (before the metal was polished) might give a better idea to what it will look like assembled:
We're told that this piece weighs about 7 pounds and will come with it's own display & transport case.
The Spanish street artist escif tends to do murals that comments on the social or political climate of his home country, but they remain powerfully worldwide… mostly because they are rather universal concerns and problems. Above are some of my favorite pieces by him, but you can find quite a few more on his website and Twitter feed.
In our continuing coverage of the "Playsam 500" custom toy show, which focuses on artists customizing the iconic Playsam Streamliner Classic wooden car, we present to you Carson Catlin contribution to the benefit event. The above picture is a little dark, can't quite see what's going on, and…
…there we go! That's a lot of deep carving in some solid wood. I love that Catlin remade his style in the wood, which couldn't have been easy at all. Based on what we're seeing, I expect their to be at least one casualty from all this serious wood working going on!
"PLAYSAM 500" opens on April 28th at Super 7, 1427 Haight St. (@ Masonic), San Francisco, CA 94117. Participating artists include: Andrew Bell, Arbito, Clayton Bailey, Dacosta!, Super Cooper Berella, Beast Brothers, Betso, Kat Brunegraff, 64 Colors, Carson Catlin, DrilOne, Tristan Eaton, Brian Flynn, George Gaspar, Paul Greenwood, Gary Ham, Greglovestoast, Nathan Hamill, Jay222, Walter “Chauskoskis” Jacott, Jryu, Jeremiah Ketner, Paul Kaiju, Aya Kakeda, Frank Kozik, Josh Herbolsheimer, Travis Lampe, Matthew Langille, Josh Mayhem, Sarah Lunabee Miskelly, Frank Mysterio, Motorbot, Ritzy Periwinkle, Plaseebo, Patricio Oliver, Task One, Dave Pressler, Reactor 88, Jason “Aka Big Money” Rodan, Jermaine Rogers, Cris Rose, Scribe, Rsin Art, Ardabus Rubber, Skinner, Bwana Spoons, John “Spanky” Stokes, Steve Talkowski, Cameron Tiede, Scott Tolleson, Vise One, Angie Vtec, Ben Walker, Adam Washburn, The Air Rat, Julie West, Kevin Winnik, Nicholas Woodworth... and many others!
The other day we announced the forthcoming Tenacious Toys "Candy-Coated Custom Show" at The London Candy Company and revealed Richard Page (aka UME Toys)'s amazing looking piece for it. Above you can see JC Rivera's work-in-progress sculpt for the same exhibit. I love how the soft white ice scream swirl sits atop such a gruff & angry looking cone. So far, this show is shaping up might well…
"The Candy-Coated Custom Show" opens on April 21st with a reception from 7 to 9PM at The London Candy Company, 1442 Lexington Ave. at 94th St., New York, NY 10128. The show will be available for viewing for two weeks after the opening night.
Trampt continue their "100 Day Hu$tle" contest series with "Reputation is King," in which you can win an All Black Cody figure by Jon Knox and/or a March Of The Penguins print by Greg "Craola" Simkins & Deph. How do you win? Legitimately earn the most reputation points on Trampt between now and April 1st to get the figure or add the most prints during the same time period to win the print… and you can win both! More information is HERE, but you need to Join Trampt in order to participate.
While we don't know what Jason Limon's newest sculptural creation is for, we do know that it is amazing looking. Entitled "Unollo," this piece has Limon's traditional smooth & flawless sculpt lines as well as his tendency for the tentacle legs. I like how the chest seam, another staple in his creations, has the skull poking out and those delicate looking wings are superb. And that massive cyclopian eye is hauntingly beautiful.
In the above flyer, you can see Tim Biskup's newly done reinterpretation of Frank Zappa's Chunga's Revenge album which is part of a new exhibition that Warner Bros. Records has organized: entitled "Vinyl Revisionists," they've asked several top artists like Biskup, Joshua Petker, RISK, Sylvia Ji and Victor Castillo to reinterpret classic cover artwork from bands like Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Frank Zappa, Prince, Van Halen, Roxy Music, The Smiths, and Mastodon. The show opens on March 30th but — to my understanding — is not open to the public, but you will be able to view it online at: http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/artshow/.
While I do understand that these plush toys are meant for kids, I know they feed just perfectly into my own sense of morbid humor and love of interchangeable elements in toys… Meet the Clump-o-Lumps, a zipper-based modular designs which allows one to separate each creature into head, body and legs elements as well as mix-and-match. Here, you can see it in action here (and I'm sorry about the music in advance):
Each Clump-o-Lump is around 2-feet-tall (most are well over) and is made out of polyester fleece with plastic eyes and a plastic zipper (metal zipper pull though). There are various designs in the current family: tiger, frog, shark, bee, squid and bird. Clump-o-Lumps will run you $25 a piece, but what's the point of getting just one?
The above book cover for George Orwell's famous "1984" was produced by Shepard Fairey a couple of years back… and now Fairey wants to produce a whole different version, a film adaptation of the book. Fairey brought a new adaptation to the attention of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment and, if it gets made, Fairey stands to end up with a producer credit. Given the books dystopian themes of totalitarian government, successful propaganda campaigns and fear-through-surveillance, it seems ripe for Fairey — creator of the Obey Giant and Obama Hope images — to work on in an artistic role. Time will only tell…
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I really like these prints. I know I should probably have something clever written as an opening line but to be direct and to the point I really like these prints by Andreas Ekberg. Something gets to me when Lego and psychedelic colors are mixed together, they just really make my eyes trip out and feel like they are seeing something amazing. Ranging in sizes from 9" x 12" to Poster Size, Andreas Ekberg has a whole slew of different types of prints up for purchase in his online web store. He has prints of his own inspired creations and ones that feature his take on the Lego brand, they range in price from $25 to $50, and if you would like to see all of the different prints that are available please click HERE.
