Sunday, December 18, 2011

Holiday Shopping...


I'm so happy to say it's been one of the busiest holiday seasons EVER for MamaRobot. Thank you SO much to everyone who decided to gift their loved ones (or themselves!) with some of my art. My shipping deadline for Chritmas delivery is fast approaching. For NYC dwellers who haven't had a chance to get to everyone on their list, I wanted to mention you still have a chance to grab some MamaRobot goodies. Head to B. Conte in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. You'll find a special assortment of my creations for a very limited time as part of the Holiday Artisan Bazaar. I took a peek at the selection on Friday night, and it really is a beautifully curated group. I've been way too swamped to do any other events this season, so I'm happy I got the chance to participate by proxy in this one! Happy shopping :)

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Inspiration


I've been meaning to pop in on my long-neglected blog to show off my friend Miguel's Etsy shop. The image above is from one of his pieces, The Siren of Fortune. All his pieces are hand silkscreened. We've got two of them hanging on our walls, and I can tell you they are beautiful, crisp and bright, and I never get tired of looking at them.
I hope all of you have a lovely Thanksgiving. This year I'm especially thankful for my health. After a 2 month long bout with asthma, I'm finally feeling better and ready to party!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Orange and Yellow


I kept noticing these two colors all weekend. The little sculpture on the right is a tiny chair I designed in the children's education lab at the Museum of Modern Art.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

first watercolors


One of my favorite things to do with Penny lately is paint with watercolors. The only rules I give her are:
(1) No black.
(2) Rinse your brush between colors.
(3) Look for a white spot to lay down a new color.
And then I let her go to town. When she's done I take a 5 x 7 mat (using it as a viewfinder) and move it around the painting till I find a nice composition, mark it, cut it out, and voila! A fine abstract piece, courtesy of a 2 year old. We've been giving them out as birthday cards.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Can't Keep Johnny Down

They Might Be Giants held a contest to make a video for their song, "Can't Keep Johnny Down". Here's the winning video.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Rainbow City


I love that my daughter is old enough now to enjoy some of the things that I enjoy. Above is a picture from a trip to Rainbow City, an art installation on the High Line.
I've become a big fan of staying home on holiday weekends. I was in dire need of rest and quality time with the family, and I got big doses of both.
This painting sold at the most recent Too Art for TV show, but if you like it there is now a print available in the shop. I'm thrilled with the way the print turned out. That yellowy tan took ages to get just right in the painting and was nearly as hard to color correct in the scan, but I was so psyched when it inched its way out of the printer. Looks perfect.
And finally, if you've ever wanted to try a Gocco, I'm selling mine from my Telephone Road shop. You've probably heard that these cool little machines are no longer being made, so if you're interested, grab it. I'm including an awesome stamper accessory I bought that lets you Gocco your WALLS, if you want! (Or just wood blocks, as I did).
Hope your July is off to a fantastic start.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Treasury


Made a treasury this afternoon. I love red-orange so much. You might notice it says the curator is Telephone Road and not MamaRobot. Telephone Road is my new vintage shop that I'm running with my mom. She's got lots of rad old stuff in her house and is looking to divest, and I was itching to make a well-curated, well photographed vintage store, so check it out. There's only a couple of lunchboxes there now, but I'll be listing more stuff very soon.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Inspiration

Since my last post I've accepted a design job that is taking up most of my time and creative energy. I'm really enjoying working in a studio again after over a 2 year hiatus, though it'll be awhile before I have the luxury of making another Kindle book. Until I have new work of my own to show, I'd like to share some things that have really inspired me lately. The first is this short film by the brilliant PES.

I'd also like to thank everyone for all the Father's Day orders. If you'd like to get a card or a shirt for your favorite robo-lovin' dad, there's still time to order!

Monday, April 4, 2011

West Elm recap


This is what my merch looks like inside a West Elm store. Even without a 6-ft. table to lug around, I was reminded of how much work even a 3 hour event can be, and how much preparation is required. But it was so much fun to set up with more space and more furniture at my disposal than I've ever had. It really was like having my own store for a night, with lighting, music, and, best of all, lots of customers! I want to thank everyone who came by to say hi and take a piece of MamaRobot home with them. I hope you all enjoy your purchases and come see me here real soon!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

West Elm


I'm excited to announce that the nice folks at West Elm have invited me to set up a MamaRobot pop-up shop this Thursday night! If you're in the NYC area, please stop by and check out the goodies. I'll have a limited selection of prints, buttons, magnets, shirts, and greeting cards, all displayed on gorgeous West Elm furniture. Think they'll let me walk out with a lamp?

Monday, March 21, 2011

Too Art for TV 5!


If you can get to Brooklyn this Friday, come see Too Art For TV 5. 40 artists from the animation industry will show off their personal work, ranging from paintings to sculptures to film. It's always a fantastic assortment of exciting stuff, plus music and beer and crowds of fun people. A perfect Friday evening. Follow the link for specifics. See you there!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Surprise


Hi there. Here is the third and final painting I made for the upcoming Too Art for TV show. If you're in the New York area, please come see my work along with paintings by 40 artists from the animation industry.
If you're an artist or someone who appreciates handmade things, please check out Handmade for Japan. They will be holding an auction next week to raise money for disaster relief. This is a great way to show your love for the people of Japan.
Finally, thanks to every customer and supporter who helped my Etsy shop make it to 1000 sales. I appreciate it so much. If you've ever purchased a MamaRobot item (or left a comment on this blog, or included an item of mine in your Etsy treasury, or retweeted a sale I was having), know that you've helped make my dreams come true.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Uninvited


Here's another painting for the upcoming Too Art For TV show. I'm still really loving pairing large animals with birds. I like how birds are so small and soft and yet can be a bit sinister too. Especially when you get a bunch of them together.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Too Art for TV 5


This is the third of three paintings I have in the upcoming Too Art for TV exhibit. The theme of my paintings is "Parties gone wrong". This painting was supposed to be about an awkward encounter at a party, but the way it turned out almost seems as though these two were in the middle of a private discussion that you, the viewer, has interrupted. Either way, I like it.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Robot Alphabet


Big news today! I have compiled all of my Robot Alphabet prints into a picture book that you can download to your Kindle or iPhone! Follow this link and take a peek. If you don't have a Kindle you can get the Kindle reader app for free. That way, you can see the book in full color, too. I've priced the book at $2.99 but you can also download a free sample. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know how it looks on your device. I would love to hear what you think about my latest venture!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Subway Art


Like a lot of New Yorkers, I'm not a huge fan of the MTA. But they manage to get some pretty cool art down in the subway cars. This piece by Duke Riley really stopped me in my tracks (har har).


I love everything about this piece: the detail, the whimsy, the off-white/off-black combo...I stared at it the whole way home. Click on the images for a larger view. Here's a link to buy it if you'd like a piece of NYC on your wall.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mid-century love


I swooned when I saw this treasury on the front page of Etsy this morning. For the last year, I've been keeping an inspiration folder on my computer desktop. It's been a wonderful tool in developing my style and I highly recommend it. Whenever an image really strikes me, I file it away. It takes two seconds and when I'm lacking inspiration I just open up my folder and browse. One thing I've discovered is just how much I love mid-century modern design, and this collection really nails it.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Y is for Yellow


Y is for Yellow, and all the rest of the alphabet, is now up in the shop. I'm feeling happy today because it's raining instead of snowing. My fig tree is sprouting figs. My latest painting is coming together. It's still light out at 5pm. A friend who was supposed to move away is staying here after all. All good things, and many more to come. For you too, I hope.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Snow days


Though it's bright and sunny today, my computer dashboard is forecasting more snow for this week! If you're going to be stuck inside like me, check out the sale section of the MamaRobot shop. I wanted to make room for new stock, so I discounted some items by half! Enjoy, and stay warm!

Friday, January 28, 2011

King and Queen



Taking a moment to look away from the mountains of snow out my window and show you K and Q, now up in the shop. Plus, now if you buy 2 prints, you can get $5 bucks off each additional print!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Umbrella


Penny is napping, and I used the downtime to add the letter U to the shop. I had a brainstorm this morning (I get all my best ideas in the shower) to take all these alphabet robots and make an animated film! I haven't made a film in about 10 years, but this one would be pretty easy I think. Plus, I'm married to a super-talented music/recording expert who is easily bribed with a plate of chicken parm.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

O


Today's letter is O! And it's up in the shop right now! Once I get through the entire alphabet (or maybe before) I'm going to add discounts for buying more than one letter, in case people want to buy a few for their child's initials, or one for each sibling, or maybe the whole alphabet! Stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Dirty!


As promised, here is D for Dirty! Today was really dark, rainy, cold and slushy. I had to really do a lot of tweaking with my camera and Photoshop to take a decent picture. Enjoy, and if you know somebody who would love a dirty robot, go check it out the shop!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Gimme an A!


Letter A is now up in the shop. This was one of the first, if not THE first, letter I tackled in my Robot Alphabet project. In the beginning I thought every letter was going to be really robot-y, and the first few letters are (i.e. a for antenna, b for buttons, c for cables). But some of the words I came up with were a bit of a stretch, not to mention difficult to illustrate. So my rule became that the robot had to either BE the word, or BE DESCRIBED BY the word. So D became Dirty, for a dirty robot. (Maybe I'll share that one tomorrow.) And I went on from there.

Monday, January 10, 2011

B and F


B and F prints are now up in the shop! F is one of my favorites because while designing it I realized I was going to have to get creative with robot anatomy if I was going to design 26 distinct robots.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

H and W


H and W have just been added to the shop. Hooray for letters!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!


For those loyal enough to be checking up on my long-neglected blog, I'd like to share some new additions to the Etsy shop: Robot Alphabet prints! This is a project I began last July and finished up around October, taking breaks here and there for freelance work. I hope you all like them as much as I do. Happy 2011!