Get along, little doggies

Boom Box Gator

Public Radio Fans

a forest full of mushrooms

A passel of punkins

Boom Boom Boom give me Room!

Hey Beautiful People! I have been working so hard getting ready for the big show next week Bunnywood at the Museum of Contemporary Craft that I haven't even had time to post the studio shots I promised! I have a whole bunch of them that I will dispatch at random intervals during the next few days. Mark your calendars for the opening next Thursday, November 6 from 5-8 pm.

In the meantime, I want to mention that I got a nice mention in Emiko Oye's Reware Blog today. She's an amazing artist with a show on display right now at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design. We virtually met last week when she placed an order on my Etsy site for Boom Boom Boy. Click here to see her incredible wearable work made with Legos©. I am thrilled to get to see this show when I am in San Francisco next January!

testing the train out

I set the train up on the dining room table the other day to see it run--one more week until I set the show up at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Choo choo!

helicopters everywhere!

I have been working steadily on my show for the Museum of Contemporary Craft, which will be installed in just over two weeks! I hope to have some images soon, as the painting process begins, but my sweetie showed me this fun image today by artist Olaf Breuning, and it reminded me of a piece I made for the tiny town that I'm working on for the MCC. Breuning's current show ranges in work from drawings to sculpture to site-specific installation, all of it fun and provocative, but this helicopter hairdo took the cake for me.

Calder's Cirque

Nice article in the New York Times about the work of Alexander Calder today, whose work has been inspirational to me for most of my life. Here's a film of his circus, which I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Don't forget to vote!

Brand new from the workbench--and just in time for the election, Democrat Donkey and Republican Elephant figures! Collect 'em all! (Visit my Etsy site for more details)

brand new from the workbench!

I have some fun new animals on my Etsy site, which were immediately spotted and posted on the Babygadgets blog. (They did a little bit of creative embellishment on the story of my original bunny suit, but we'll forgive them because it sounds plausible!)

here comes the train!

Today my doggie Weegee and I drove out to my Grandfather's house in preparation for my show at Contemporary Crafts. He's the authority in my life on the subject of model trains, and when I called to consult, he said he even had some parts he could lend me for the show. We then went to the greatest train store I've ever been to: Whistle Stop Trains in Gresham. They had an incredible inventory and I was able to buy the few other things I needed to get the train together this weekend. I should be done constructing pieces this weekend and will be ready to paint and do other finishing touches on this show before it opens in less than a month!

Birds + Their Dwellings
San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design | 550 Sutter St. | San Francisco | CA | 94102

This selection of juried works is inspired by the amazing variety of forms and colors of birds and the places they dwell. Found on every continent from the Arctic to Antarctica, birds have found an enduring place in our cultures as figures of myth, art, food and pop icons.

All pieces will be for sale in the Museum Store so make sure to stop by and make your selections early. The work chosen encompasses a variety of media including clay, glass, metals, textiles, wood and alternative materials.

October 11th - November 13th

Champagne Reception: October 11 3pm - 6pm

Can't join us? Check out images of the show on Facebook.

Participating Artists

Melinda Ainsworth
Rae Dunn
Renee Eaton
Sheila Ghidini
Renee Harris
Anna Lorich
Jennifer Martinelli
Chris Motley
Moxxy Designs
Mary O'Brien
Mark Orr
Hilary Pfeifer (Bunny with a Toolbelt)
Beverly Prevost
Barbara Prodaniuk
Jim Rosenau
Jan Schachter
Barbara Sebastian
Barbara Shapiro
Demetra Theofanous
Barbara Vanderbeck

Bride and Groom Elephants on lu lu belle

Our new elephant wedding cake topper set was just featured on a very sweet blog called lu lu belle. I'm happy to be in the company of the other great designs she writes about in other postings.

new Bunny with a Toolbelt logowear!

Now available at Cafe Press--t-shirts and other household items with our ever-popular bird on elephant sculpture! See the entire selection of Bunny with a Toolbelt logowear by clicking here!

We've got Style!

Some selected items in the Bunny with a Toolbelt line are available at the Wood Turning Center in Philadelphia, and I just found out that we were featured in today's New York Times (Style section) in an article about great places to check out in Philly.

more elephants to love...

A British company is producing a limited edition of the elephant furniture sculpture in honor of its designer Charles Eames' 100th birthday. Seems like a great use of the bent-plywood lamination techniques that made him and wife Ray famous with their classic chair. If you're interested in the work of the Eames duo, I highly recommend a dvd set with some of the fantastic films they made that give a glimpse into their work, home, and life.

rub a dub dub

I was searching the web for a picture of a panda bear because I thought it would be a good item to add to my line and needed a little refreshing on how their bodies look. In the process, I came across this interesting picture and had to share. Too bad the kids aren't having a little more fun! Maybe they were expecting something else.

Setting the foundation

I just found this fabulous huge piece of brown fuzzy fabric for my Bunnywood show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft this November. It came from one of my favorite local haunts, SCRAP, which sells all kinds of used stuff that's great for artmaking. I am hoping to get the train and more parts for the foundation in the next week.

magical forest

I made the forest for my upcoming November show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Here's the pieces before painting--I plan to make all of the work and then paint it in the weeks prior to installation.

the first of three

I am officially starting work tomorrow on my big window project for the Gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, which will be followed in short order by another window show in December for Guardino Gallery and then the MCC window will move upstairs into their Lab, simultaneously evolving into more of a holiday theme. Phew--just listing that sounds like a lot of work. I have been making some notes for many months, but am really excited to finally have time to get to the real work. Here are some images that will inspire the show. I'll post more sneak peeks as I make progress.

lovebugs!

I recently installed a customer's lovebugs in the family's stairwell. They bought 60 of them, enough to make a lovely loop in the 18' expanse of wall. It was a challenge figuring out how to get up there, but the end result was worth it.

sack full of devils

My Bride and Groomzilla figures were mentioned on a really fun blog called Sack Full of Devils. Thanks!

jet set bunny

I am pleased to announce that many of the items in the Bunny with a Toolbelt line will be featured in a book to be published this fall in Taiwan and Japan about dollmakers. Here are the proofs I received for the inside pages, but word on the street is that we will also be the cover art. Yay!

happy families

I made this special family for a wedding cake. Second marriages for both the bride and groom, and they wanted their kids to be included on top of the all-important cake.

new items!

I've been thinking lately about birds and their habitats--here are some pieces I made which will soon be listed on the Bunny with a Toolbelt site. Enjoy!

cute sushi!

flora and fauna sale, now on etsy!

Hey Beautiful People! I just started my latest sale on Etsy and the focus is birds! Click here to go see what one of a kind pieces I'm offering, some of which are in the image here.

At the HOP!

Hey Beautiful People!

Come join Art on Alberta this Saturday, May 17 for our biggest party of the year--Art Hop! This year we are featuring three artists in our quest to find Synergy on the street. The artists are Adrienne Cruz, Tripper Dungan, and Analee Fuentes. There will be over 150 art vendors, three music stages, sponsored by Siren Nation andGreat Magnet Recording Concerns , and a gospel stage down at the Terrell Brandon Barbershop at 12th Ave and Alberta. At 2:30 our beloved parade ensues, including March Fourth Marching Band, Tears of Joy Theater, a drum corps, a Pretty Dress Bike Entourage organized by Carye Bye, school bands from the Alberta neighborhood and more surprises. Art Hop runs all day from 11am to 6pm, and there's a free after hours shadow puppet show by Tripper Dungan at the Alleyway Cafe (2415 Alberta) at 9:30pm. Click here for more information about the 2008 Art Hop!!!(Programs with the most up-to-date information will be available at the event.)

A big shout out to Combustible Media, without whom this year's Art Hop would not have been possible. (or half as cool!) Thanks also to collage and the Oregon Arts Commission for their generous sponsorship.

I'm even going to have some of my work available for sale from the Bunny with a Toolbelt line--I'm sharing a booth with friends which will be somewhere in the 27th Ave and Alberta block near Bink's. I made a posse of Love Monsters and will sell them for only $20 apiece! (Special Art Hop Price for this weekend only!) Get 'em while they last and you are guaranteed to bring love and happiness into your life.

Kicking off the event is a special fundraiser for Art on Alberta--Cork, the wine shop at 29th and Alberta (who also sells beer and amazing bulk olive oil) is having a 2nd anniversary wine tasting on Friday the 16th. The cost is $10 per person and all proceeds go directly to Art on Alberta and all the hard work we do to preserve this street as the only arts-identified neighborhood in Portland! The wine tasting is from 5-8pm. Please come and help support my favorite nonprofit organization!!!

Indie Goodness Giveaway!

Hey Beautiful Person! Want to get in on a big bunch of free goodies just in time for Mother's Day? I was invited to take part in Scoutie Girl's "Indie Goodness Giveaway" along with 23 other top independent designers. I thought my love monster would be the perfect mother's day gift, so that's what you can get from Bunny with a Toolbelt. And did I mention this stuff is FREE???!?

Now here's what you have to do: go to the Scoutie Girl website by clicking here.

Visit one of these indie designer's websites by clicking on the links or images, browse around, find something you like, make a mental note.
Come back to Scoutie Girl, make a comment on their post about what you liked and where you saw it (no hotlinking necessary, just the website's name).
That's it! You're entered.
Repeat as many times as you like for each designer listed, make a separate comment for each one, and you're entered each time. There are your 24 opps to win this incredible bounty of handmade goodness, valued at $547!
To make it even easier, I'll break the big group down into more manageable, bite-size pieces...
Each day, for the next 6 business days, I will post a grouping of 4 donations, and you'll be able to enter on that post as well.
The Scoutie Girl Indie Goodness Giveaway ends Wednesday, May 14th at midnight. All entries must be rec'd by then to be eligible. One winner will be drawn - selected by a random number generator.