Art and Heartache

No, not the book Jane Austen never got to write but close.

This is the story of the nice little piece of, yet unfinished, embroidery above.

If you follow me on Instagram (and why wouldn't you: @kenguroo) You have seen it in progress and may have recognized the design from different places (like the very last post before my long hiatus for example) but here is the full history:

the original sketch

If you are an artist or a craftsman /woman, you know what I'm talking about. You have an idea. Its good. Its exciting, you cant wait to start! you put hours, days maybe months or years of your life into it and then something goes wrong. An accident, it breaks, you spill something on it, it tears, it's gone. It can not be mended and neither can your heart.

As a digital illustrator I had my share of devastating crushes and freezes that left me staring unbelieving at a dark screen, knowing that I haven't saved for a while and it's all gone. its sad, its frustrating, it will ruing your day but no one suffers more then the ceramic artist.

And this is where it all started, as a sketch for a wall plaque design in my ceramics sketchbook.

So I started building the plaque and it took FOREVER. I don't know how long, more then a month. I finished it and I was happy. 

the late plaque 

Here is the sad part: If you are a ceramics artist and you can't afford your own kiln or, like me, you live in a 5th floor rented apartment and a huge fire hazard like a kiln is a huge no no, you have to use a communal kiln in a public ceramics studio, which, in New York City means a tiny space with a lot of people and kids. anyway long story short, sometime between firings it broke into million pieces and so did my heart.

Dramatic I know, what can I say... but eventually I got over it and perhaps slightly obsessed with it. I just really like it. So here it is as a color silkscreen, which you can still buy here (shameless!)

left: 3-colors hand pulled print right: b/w design for embroidery pattern

And if you scroll two posts down you can see my iphone case.
Did I mention an obsession?

So here is the latest craze, kids. My love of all things Scandinavian has brought me to cross stitching. It works perfectly with my designs and I LOVE it! It's addictive, it's relaxing, you do it while you watch tv... It's low-tech Candy Crush!

Anyway, I am still testing and perfecting the pattern but when I'm done it will be available for sale on my etsy store and you too can become a love sick Jane Austen heroine embroidering by candlelight... or while watching Scandal. Same thing.

...hello?

Well it's been over a year. I know. I apologize to you, 3.5 people who still check in randomly. I don't have any excuse really except that I am lazy and keeping an online presence, a Facebook/ Instagram/ Pinterest/ Flickr presence, while pretty much necessary in my profession these days, is HARD. But the truth is that even though maintaining a blog is the hardest, it is also my favorite. So I'm back, I guess.
I can't promise to write every day or even every week but I do promise to keep you 3.5 lovely people updated about whats going on with me artistically. That's it. Good to be back.

New iphone case

New case design for my new iphone 5. Could be purchased soon for all iphones in light grey on black (like this one) or black on white. Will let you know when its available. Stay tuned

Monkey and Elephant 2

Got an early copy of the second book in the Monkey and Elephant series: Monkey and Elephant Get Better. The book will be officially out in the US on March 12th. You can get it through Amazon here. You can also get the first book right now here. You can also see some pages from inside the book here:

2013 calendar

I am so so happy with this new calendar. It started with a zodiac illustration project that was cancelled in the middle and I liked the way it came out too much to let it go so I turned it into this calendar wich you can buynow in my Etsy store.

New print for sale

This is a picture I took of houses in Union Street in Park Slope Brooklyn where I was walking my dog a while ago:

And this is the illustration I made based on it. It is now for sale on my etsy store. Its pretty big (18x12 inches) and came out really nice. I really like the colors, they are pretty true to the original atmosphere of the street.

Etsy store relaunched

My new and improved Etsy store now open for business! Featuring original ceramic art, silkscreen prints or digital prints. All lovingly made by yours truly for all your holiday shopping needs. A perfect gift for a special beauty-loving someone in every budget! Come take a look
www.etsy.com/shop/kenguroo