Saturday Morning Cartoons!

Hey Everybody! We are participating in a group show in San Fransisco @ Rocketworld on Friday, April 20th called Saturday Morning.


Suzanne Kaufman
Dev Madan
Augie Pagan
and...myself

Our opening reception is the night before the Alternative Press Expo (A.P.E.), so if you are in the area, mark your calendar and come by and see us! (More info to come) Here is a sample from Stumpytown:

Nothing ever goes right for Hardy Har Har....

"Oh Lippy..."

ECCC is over...

Here is a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who made it out to visit Suzanne and I @ this year's Emerald City ComicCon! We had a jam-packed weekend & the turn-out this year was so much better than the last. It was nice to see folks we've met over the years and friends we hadn't seen in a while. We met a lot of new people this year - hopefully we will see again next time.

I'm a knucklehead (but you knew that already) I hardly took any pictures this year - I completely forgot to take my camera out at all on Sunday so the few pics I have are posted on my Flickr page HERE.

Oh! So 2 things that made me smile were:
1. this! How can you not smile, seein' a Tusken Raider waiting in line?!

2. there were a few folks at the con that yelled out "8-bit Chikeeeeeeen!" now and again.
(made my day)

ECCC This Weekend!

Hey All!
Don't forget, this weekend is Emerald City Comic Con.
March 31 10am-6pm
April1 10am-5pm

A bunch of us will be in the artist alley, so stop by if you can!

...Email...

Hey folks!
I'm in the beginning stages of phasing out my hotmail email account, so if you need to get ahold of me, please email me at iam@stumpytown.com!

Thank you!

CHICKEN!

So, sorry for the long delay in posting... I've been having problems with my flaky service provider. No web access. no email. ACK.
Just a heads up, next weekend is Emerald City Comic Con, March 31 - April , A bunch of us are sharing tables in the Artist Alley (near the main entrance)...so drop on by if you get a chance!

King County logo unveiling

CONGRATULATIONS TONY!
This afternoon we attended the unveiling of the new King County's official logo at Mt. Zion. My friend and past employer, TONY GABLE of Gable Design Group, was selected out of a nationwide competition of 29 design firms to redesign the new logo in the likeness of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. If anyone deserved this honor, it would be Tony.

Last fall, Tony called me up for 'a freelance illustration project' and said that he wanted to keep it 'in the family.' I could'nt refuse. The process was a challenging one as the likeness of MLK could not be rendered directly from any existing photos/visual reference. But, working through many variations with Tony and Nancy... I'm very happy and proud of the end result. Here is a big "THANK YOU" to Tony for bringing me back into the Gable family once again to be a part of history.

Char Sui Bao + Cookie Plushies!

These are the handy work of Cara Wong of Randomthings.
Aren't they adorable? Check out some of her other cute plushies HERE.
Thank you Cara! I LOVE THEM BOTH!

Opening: BELLA and MAX!

My friend Juliet just opened her new kids boutique in
Bothell Country Village! The Grande Opening will be in April.

Bella and Max
817 238th St SE ,Suite C
Bothell, WA 98021
1.425.488.8200






Drop in when you are in the area. She carries really unique, cool kids clothes and accessories... I have to get to work on having a kid soon so we can buy some of this stuff (right Dev? wink wink) ....and down the road she will carry some limited edition Stumpytown plush (Thank you Juliet!) Don't miss out.

Hello! Back from Vancouver!

Hey Everybody!

We just got back from Vancouver and I swear to god, it felt like we spent more time in the travel - it flew by too fast. Dev and I went up with my folks and Kim and got to spend some time with our Uncle Pete and Aunt Marie. It was lovely. I love them both so much. I'm shocked to recal they celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary and Pete turned 93 last year. We will most likely go up again in the spring/summer, but stay a bit longer next time around.

I also got a chance to swing by OCCUPIED Shoppe - I've been emailing the owner Janelle for the past year. She is AWESOME! And her shop... is the best. If you are up in Vancouver, swing by Gastown on Abbott street. Here are some pics from Occupied Shoppe's site (Janelle, I hope you don't mind I used these!)






Two Stumpytown Tempura Shrimp are now proud residents at Occupied Shoppe. If you'd like to adopt one, contact enjoytheservice@occupiedshoppe.com or (604) 605-3322.

And lastly, I FINALLY posted some Stumpytown items on my ETSY Shop (having opened my account over a year ago. YIKES.) There is a new "SHOP" button at the top of the page (just under my PROFILE.) Check it out if you have a chance~

Bluebottle Art Gallery Reception Tonight!

Hey All,
Please join Suzanne and I for our art opening reception "Wookin Pa Nub" at Bluebottle Art Gallery tonight from 6-8pm! Hope to see you there.

PLUSH WEEK 2 @ Gallery 1988

Plush Week 2 Opening reception was last night!
I wish I could've made it down to L.A. for the opening night, but luckily they posted some pics on the Gallery 1988 website of the whole show.
CLICK HERE!
There are some really unique and interesting pieces in the show! I especially like APAK, Maoma and Johnny Yanok's. Take a quick peek on page 3... my stumpies are there!

WOOKIN' PA NUB

Hey Everybody! Mark your calendars!
Saturday, February 3rd, from 6pm-8pm
Suzanne and I are having a show at Bluebottle Art Gallery in 2 weeks! OH! And, if you are interested, there is going to be a pre-show PREVIEW SALE available to those who sign up on Bluebottle's Preview List. If you would like to be on that list, email them at info@bluebottleart.com ! And, for of you who asked, 'Wookin Pa Nub' is a title homage to 'Lookin' for Love' ala Eddie Murphy does Buckwheat.

PLUSH WEEK 2: Eclectic Boogaloo!

There is an amazing plushshow coming up @ Gallery 1988 called Plush Week 2: Eclectic Boogaloo on Jan23-30 down in L.A.! I got an email last week from the curator Jon and got an invite to participate!

These are my little guys I'm mailing down to him - Big ol Tempura Shrimp, sad Edamame, and Chicken Salad and Chicken Sh#*t' . I meant to send them off to him today, but because of the snow and my whimpy-ass driving skills, I'm going to send them down tomorrow. I hope he likes them!

Hey snowguy!

YUP. We got hit with MORE snow this morning...
I decided to stop complaining about the weather, so I made a little snowdude 'stumpytown' style with baby pinecone eyes and a twig mouth. I carried him around our backyard for a while to find the best resting spot. I think this will suffice.

...paperwork...paperwork...paperwork

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.
I'm finally in the process of changing my legal name (from Karin Yukiko Yamagiwa) and I've gotta tell you, it is a pain in the ass. Last week I got my new SSN#, City of Seattle business license, voter registration & driver's license (the bank wouldn't let me change my accounts unless I had a current picture I.D.) Then, the other day my credit cards and debit card stopped working - I call the bank to find that the halfwit bank agent I talked with accidentally closed my account, forgot to even place the order for my replacement cards and had ordered new checks with the wrong name on them! (Where is my cattle prod)
I have yet to change my passport (oh fun), bank investments, 401k, credit cards, car registration and title, car and medical insurance, and... all the online stuff I have accounts on. ACK. ACK. ACK. hairball! But, I AM THRILLED to say that I can finally say I am officially...uh, maybe about 55% Karin Yamagiwa Madan. HA.

HELL YEAH!

After 6 days in the dark... the Madan household now has POWER!
Ahhhh. I'm just going to sit here for a moment and enjoy the power of light.

ART JAM Pt2!

Augie and Corrie put on another kick-ass ArtJam this past weekend! Special guest start Ryan Bubnis showed up - I practically stalked the art runner and "JOE" who ran the art table in the back to lock in the purchase of his fine work. It will soon be hanging in my stumpytown studio... (as soon as we have power again). Here is a big THANK YOU to Augie and Corrie for another boost in juice. Check out Augie's blog on the recap, he also has some Flickr links to some awesome pics...

There is Bubnis in the middle and Maija on the right...

Augie and Corrie kickin' butt during the Artist SWAP Round.
(paint 20 minutes, then move to the right)

There is Dave.. I can't tell who is in the middle... and Marcia

Go Shane go! (on the right)

A 3-some: Lawrence, Suzanne and me...

Jody made it up from Portland and Dani made it out for support! Thanks ladies!

...STILL NO POWER...

Dev and I are SUPER lucky and no trees fell on top our house! Oddly enough, 1.5 trees fell in the only safe OPEN spot - our driveway. ACK. We had to call a guy out and chainsaw them into pieces so we could get out. We still don't have power as of today (I'm takin' a break at work to post this.) Fortunately, my folks got power on Friday - they live in South Seattle - and we've been able to stay with them. Be safe everyone.

ART JAM : PART DEUX!

Mark your calendars!
Saturday, Dec 16th
8pm-2am @ the 9lb in Georgetown!

Augie and Corrie put together this kickass artfest and it is a definite 'boost-n-creative juice'. For those of you who weren't able to make it out the first time, please try to make it out this weekend. Artist or non-artist, you will have a great time. Try to make it out early, as people were turned away at the door last time due to MAX capacity.
For more info or pics from the past ArtJam, check out Aug's blog!

ACK! I've been tagged!

Hey Everybody!
Mija tagged me for this Christmas game to get me back into the holiday spirit! I am to list 5 of my favorite Christmas Songs and tag 5 other people to see what they come up with.

SO, Here ya go:
1. Linus & Lucy
(no explaination necessary)
2. The Heat Miser
(I LOVE anything Rankin & Bass)
3. We Three Kings
(I love songs in minor)
4. The Little Drummer Boy
(Another Rankin-Bass...my childhood memory is that little sheep getting run over)
5. Holly Jolly Christmas
(How can you not love a snowman with a Banjo. Burl Ives!)

...Hmmmm, who shall I tag....

Illustration Friday : MASK!

When I saw this week's Illo topic, the first thing that came to mind was 'wouldn't it be high-larious to have Maskatron and a Fembot hangin' out having drinks?' HA! For those of you who know these characters and know what I'm talkin' about, you kick ass. For those of you who don't, have much shame. (uh... er... I'm showing my AGE, aren't I. Yikes.)
(The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman)

Hello Again!

I'm not dead!
I am doing well and I am happy to say, I was under anesthesia so I have NO memory of the procedure. My left knee is a little achey...hmmm... I wonder if it fell off the operating table or something. Poor little polyp was ripped from its home and got sent to the lab for a biopsy. Thank you for all the 'get well' wishes, emails and phone calls everybody!

A BIG THANK YOU!

WHEW! What a weekend.

(photo credit: My sister, Kim Yamagiwa! Suzanne is doing the Safety Dance...)

The Phinney Ridge Winter Festival and Craft Fair is now over, and Suzanne and I had an absolute blast. We met a ton of awesome folks. The funniest thing I heard was out of the mouth of a ... maybe 7 year old (?) girl shouting "I LOVE CARBS!" WTF. I sure as hell didn't know what carbs were when I was 7. She said her favorite was crackers. I think Suzanne and I will have to do a show with that theme in mind someday... HILARIOUS. A couple of high-points for me: a mom and her little boy came back to our table because she said he had a question for me. He asked "what is his name?" pointing to one of my characters (how cool is that?) His mom yelled "THAT is your question!? We came all the way down 3 flights of stairs for that?!" It was adorable. Another highpoint, was a woman came by to tell Suzanne and I that a lot of people really enjoyed our show at Fresh Flours and took the time to 'look' at our work. She said she missed the show when it came down, and just wanted to let us know and tell us that. That made my day. Here is a Special THANKS to Dev for helping me build my displays and package stuff, and to my folks my sister Kim and our friends who always find a way to make it out to see us and show their support.

Here is a "SHOUT OUT" to our friend Kristy who gave us this month to have a show @ the Starbucks in Fremont! There won't be an opening reception, but it will be up for the entire month of December. Try to check it out if you happen to be in the area!

And, lastly... I finally go into surgery tomorrow morning to get the polyp dude OUT. If this proceedure goes haywire, and I'm left infertile, my co-worker friend offered to be our baby "oven", so, uh.. at least I got that going for me. Wish me luck.

FYI, I totally fucked something up to the link to my PAINTINGS page so it doesn't work anymore. I'll get that fixed... but I DID update my PLUSH page so there a few new things look at. Enjoy.

Winter Festival & Crafts Fair : Dec 2-3

Mark your calendar!
Suzanne and I have a table at this year's
Phinney Ridge Winter Festival and Crafts Fair
Sat Dec 2- Sun Dec 3, 10m-5pm.
We will be in the RED ROOM, Table 83
We're going to have archival prints, original artworks, holiday cards, magnets, tshirts and more! Drop by and see us if you are in the area!

I LOVE fall colors!

I'm so happy! Our maple trees just turned color and are sooo lovely, I had to take a couple of pics and share them with you.

STUMPTOWN Comic Fest !

Hey Everybody!
Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to post a few pics from this past Stumptown Comic Fest in Porland. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but it was a ton of fun, the turnout was great and we met a lot of cool folks. Thank you to everyone who came by our tables chat with us - here is an xtra SHOUT OUT to Shane, Jordan & Lindsey and Joe & Colleen for all their support!







Aw man, check out little "E" in her damn cute monkey costume!

Mr. Polyp

So, yesterday I found out that a big 'ol polyp/fibroid has made a home in my uterus and needs to be removed (so the vessel will be clean and ready for children!) My doctor told me it is a simple surgery, but it still freaked me out a bit. So, this morning, I drew a 'stumpy' version to help ease my mind... i think it helped. Oddly enough, I'm kinda excited to make a line of Stumpytown polyp items... like a plush polyp pillow and a uterus handbag with polyp coin purse... :-)