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Painting inspiration for ceramic bunnies
Kozy really likes this particular handmade washi paper she finds in her hometown, where paper has been made for nearly 1000 years. Each one with different pools of pastel color, and speckled with gold flecks that shimmer in the light.
After a long stretch this year of being focused on things besides painting (ceramics, ceramics exhibitions, learning to adult in Japan, farming, trying to figure out how to transition our business to being technically based here in Japan, etc), she set down to get back into painting mode to create some artworks for an exhibition at Giant Robot’s GR2 Gallery in Los Angeles called “Circles” that is on view now (and pretty great actually! So many talented artists, as is the norm for Giant Robot shows).
She based the paintings on a drawing of a massive school of #bunnyfish Dan made many years ago (it reminded us of our days living in a little 2 bedroom apartment in Santa Monica, CA the waves of nostalgia when revisiting old artworks is intense!).
If you can’t get to the show in person, the artworks are available here:
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Kozy’s new exhibition of her bunny primitive ceramics is opening TONIGHT, May 6th, 2023 at Nucleus Portland in Portland, OR, USA! “Out of the Ashes” presents 90 new handmade ceramic sculptures, fired in the traditional wood fired kilns in the countryside near our home in Yamanashi, Japan.
Kozy has been creating these small character figures for a decade now. Each figure acts as a personal idol or totem of sorts, imbued by kozy and dan with its own name and story, that reflect our own world and lives. If you come to see the exhibition and read their stories – one of them may call out to you for one reason or another!
The opening runs from 4-6PM at Nucleus Portland on Alberta (in the Alberta Arts district, 2916 NE Alberta St #BPortland, OR 97211) on May 6th and kozy (and dan) will be in attendance – so if you are in the area, come down and say “Hi!”
The exhibition runs till May 28th.
For those who are far far from Portland, sculptures are available for purchase online here: https://nucleusportland.com/collections/kozy2023
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We have made an extremely limited (between 12 and 20 prints, depending on the image) edition of signed and numbered prints on handmade washi paper for each of our Magic the Gathering Secret Lair card artworks.
Since all 10 of our card artworks were loosely based on Japanese ukiyo-e (traditional woodblock prints), with lots of nods to our home here and to Yamanashi (where we live and where kozy was born and raised), we thought it would be nice to have the artworks printed on traditionally made washi paper by a small company based here in Yamanashi (in the area where kozy grew up, which has been known for hundreds of years a paper making region in Japan).
There are a lot of images in this series, so we made a whole new collection in our web store for them (this is where we will also eventually be selling the AP cards that we have will draw/ paint on) – Have a look!
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Some of you have noticed this already, but this week we slipped the second, LARGER size edition of the “California Bunnywave” print into our web store. You now can choose between a large, 25 inch (65cm), signed and numbered archival edition of 123 prints, or the REGULAR size (close to the actual painting) 13 inch (33cm). They are both BEAUTIFUL, so just choose based on your budget and the size that best suits your walls!
The print is made from our recent painting that was sold at Giant Robot’s Lunar New Year exhibition in January, 2023 to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. In fact 2023 is the year of the WATER rabbit to be more specific, AND 2023 marks 20 years since we created our original “Uprisings” bunny wave artwork for the cover of Giant Robot Issue 28 in March of 2003, so it felt like the time to make another one finally!
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“Strength In Numbers (Bunny Avalanche)”
12 x 12 inches
acrylic gouache on board
2023
Kozy – We sent this painting off to be in an exhibition at COREY HELFORD GALLERY in Los Angeles.
Bunnies have been a recurring character in our artwork since the very first year of our career working together. Dan sketched up this illustration in December as the year of the Tiger (2022) was drawing to a close, and the year of the Rabbit (2023) was about to begin so as to commemorate this new lunar year, as well as “celebrate the power of cooperation to overcome daunting odds!” (Those are his words, I think he just wanted to draw more rabbits for all you @kozyndan rabbit fans out there!).
This work was made using the same process as the “California Bunnywave” – Dan drew the lines and colored it just how he imagined the final art to look in Procreate and then printed that illustration for me to trace the basic lines onto a 12 x 12 inch cradled board and then paint with acrylic gouache. I got use my new toy, a little USB chargeable airbrush, again for this painting. This is now my second time using an airbrush and its been fun to explore the new tool as I used it to make the snow in this painting. I tried to stick close to what Dan imagined and just got lost in the process – figuring our how to make the snow, and then all the brush painted lifework afterwards. Its actually a quite meditative process for me – and I find myself listening to a lot of meditative sort of podcasts and music while I do this kind of painting process. It was a lovely way to finish out the year! The “Art Collector Starter Kit” exhibition opened January 28th, 2023.Happy new Year to Everyone.
We are so grateful for your support!
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“Strength In Numbers (Bunny Avalanche)”
12 x 12 inches
acrylic gouache on
2023
Kozy – We just sent this painting off to be in an exhibition at corey helford gallery in Los Angeles. Bunnies have been a recurring character in our artwork since the very first year of our career working together. Dan sketched up this illustration in December as the year of the Tiger (2022) was drawing to a close, and the year of the Rabbit (2023) was about to begin so as to commemorate this new lunar year, as well as “celebrate the power of cooperation to overcome daunting odds!” (Those are his words, I think he just wanted to draw more rabbits for all you @kozyndan rabbit fans out there!).
This work was made using the same process as the “California Bunnywave” – Dan drew the lines colored it just how he imagined the final art to look in @procreateapp and then printed that illustration for me to trace the basic lines onto a 12 x 12 inch cradled board and then paint with acrylic gouache. I got use my new toy, a little USB chargeable airbrush, again for this painting. This is now my second time using an airbrush and its been fun to explore the new tool as I used it to make the snow in this painting. I tried to stick close to what Dan imagined and just got lost in the process – figuring our how to make the snow, and then all the brush painted lifework afterwards. Its actually a quite meditative process for me – and I find myself listening to a lot of meditative sort of podcasts and music while I do this kind of painting process. It was a lovely way to finish out the year! If you are interested in buying this original painting, please contact the gallery!
If you are interested in buying this original painting, please contact sherri @ coreyhelfordgallery dot com !
“Art Collector Starter Kit” exhibition opened January 28th, 2023! Happy new Year to Everyone. We are so grateful for your support! (at Hokuto-shi)
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Dan: The Forest card was a fun one for me. I sometimes like to think about what the forests of Japan (which are really EVERYWHERE in Japan) looked like long ago, before all the big, old growth trees were cut down and the forests replanted in neat rows of Japanese cedar and cypress (which is devastating to the land now – these forests have little biodiversity, their deficiencies have wide reaching effects – extending to a decline in river fish for instance). Occasionally you can still find a massive old tree, usually near a temple or shrine, but I like to think about how amazing these forest must have been hundreds of years ago (or even 90 years ago). Which got me to thinking of the Redwoods of my home state of California. I knew I wanted to draw a big old-growth forest, so I let my my imagination steer the artwork into an amalgamation of Japanese forests and Redwood forests. Kozy had done an alternate comp with a rainy forest with ninjas swinging in the trees that wasn’t ultimately chosen by the art director. I loved the idea of the ninjas (a childhood favorite of mine – what boy in the 1980’s didn’t want to be a ninja?) So I drew them into my final comp! Kozy did a bang up job beautifully re-doing my comp in ink for me to color.
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Dan – I knew really immediately what we should do for Mountain. Living in #Yamanashi its a pretty easy one to do. If you don’t know, Yamanashi Prefecture is a small prefecture bordering Tokyo prefecture and is essentially a big bowl – a valley surrounded on all sides by mountains including the tallest (Mt. Fuji) and second tallest (Kitadake) in Japan. Standing in the valley there is simply mountains in every direction.
The kilns where kozy goes to fire her ceramics, which is located in the small village of #Hirabayashi ( #平林 ), partway up the slope of Mt. Kushigata ( #櫛形山 ). From above the village you can get fantastic views of Mt. Fuji. The found out that the manager of the kilns, Okubo-san, is an avid Magic player, so we decided to feature his ceramics in the Mountain card. This was made easy by the fact what he mainly produces is a small ceramic replica of a particular kind of traditional pagoda-shaped protective charm. It was a perfect addition to our version of this spectacular Mountain View. Kozy loved the idea too, so she also worked on her own composition for the Mountain card.
While we ultimately went with my overall composition for the piece, I really loved the village she had created so I extracted the shoddily drawn village in my own comp and situated her village into my scene. At the very end I thought I wanted to have some more characters near the temple, so I imagined a warrior monk that has pet rabbits descending the stairs on the mountainside.
The Mountain card really is a scene that is very “Yamanashi” to us – its a common thing to drive up into the mountains (and perhaps hike) to find a view looking down into the valley with Mt. Fuji towering in the distance – and my does it look radiant at sunset!
If you are a Magic player or a kozyndan fan (or both!), consider pre-ordering a set! They are available only until January 6th.
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Ceramic Bisque U-Paint Bunny Rabbit with Egg ~ Easter Unpainted Ready To Paint
* Unfinished Item:
This listing is for an non-painted piece of plain white ceramic bisque cast from low-fire slip and fired to cone 0.04. This Piece will be in ready to paint condition and can be painted with acrylics or glazed and re-fired. Any images of painted or glazed items in this listing are for reference only, an example of what it could look like once finished. Please read titles & descriptions carefully.
* Painting services
We do offer painting services when requested if it is within our means and capabilities. Additional charges based on time, effort and material will apply. Have something in mind? Contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss the details.
* Custom Ideas & Requests
Feel free to contact me if you have custom ideas or variations to this piece in mind, I am happy to accommodate if it is within my means and capabilities. If the work effort, time, and material involved are similar, the price will be likewise.
* Handling Time:
Please check that the expected delivery time is okay with you before you purchase. In order to keep quality up and prices down, all of our ready to paint ceramic bisque pieces are made to order items, production will begin at the time of purchase and could take up to 30 business days to complete.
* Shipping:
Due to the delicate nature of ceramic glass, we will ship only USPS priority. We do offer combined shipping whenever it is possible to do so safely and economically. Feel free to contact us for more details.
* Damaged Items:
If your item(s) arrive damaged from shipping, please contact us within 24 hours. Please provide photos of the damaged product(s) and any damage to the box(es) they arrived in. Otherwise, if your item(s) arrive in satisfactory condition, please consider leaving a positive review.
* Our Goal:
To provide high quality ceramic bisque for our customers to paint and customize how they see fit. A fun and crafty way to express your imagination and creativity for all to see!
* The Process:
* Cast in a mold from liquid clay (slip)
* Carefully and professionally cleaned
* Detail re-applied when and if necessary
* Fired in a kiln to about 1,950 °F (cone 0.04)
* Inspected , cleaned further if necessary
* Ready to be packed and shipped
* Thank You:
Thank you for visiting Fat Cat Ceramics, a 2nd generation family owned and operated resource for quality ceramic bisque. If we have left out any details on any of our products that are important to you then please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions. Feel free to have a look at our other listings for more ready to paint ceramic bisque as well as many other goodies!
Tuulikki Bunny – red ceramic artwork
Worldwide shipping!
Ceramic bunny combining cuteness and toughness. ☆ Inspired by the world of art toys. Each piece is 100% handmade, ensuring that every bunny is special. ♡ MATERIALS: White slip cast porcelain with red glossy glaze and silver details.
♡ DIMENSIONS: L 8cm x W 11,5cm x H 27cm ♡ CARE INSTRUCTIONS: Hand wash with water and mild soap. ♡ MADE TO ORDER: Takes max 2-4 weeks to be ready for pick up or shipping. Thank you for your patience. ♡
Pick up
Free pick-up is possible from my studio in Kruununhaka, 00170 Helsinki. I’ll contact you once your order is ready and we can set up a day for the pick-up.
Worldwide shipping from Finland. It takes max 2-4 weeks for your piece to be shipped.
Donations
I donate part of my yearly revenue to charities helping with environmental issues & human and animal rights. Part of the proceeds from your purchase will go towards this. I’m also happy to hear suggestions for causes and charities you care about.
Plastic free packaging. Please reuse or recycle materials. They include cardboard, honeycomb paper (recycle as cardboard), silk paper and biodegradable packing peanuts which also dissolve in water.
