stamp people desk calendar (and give-away results!)

The Stamp People desk calendar is now listed on my Etsy shop. Details are HERE. Thank you for your encouragement and feedback in the long process of making and selecting the stamp people who went into the calendar.

Joanne Tomooka is the lucky winner of the give-away, and will get a free Stamp People Desk Calendar at the end of November. Congratulations, Joanne!

While the desk calendar can be ordered from Etsy, the Wall Calendar version is available on my Red Bubble shop. It features a slightly different selection of Stamp People on gorgeous, silky-to-the-touch paper stock. Unlike the desk calendar, which will be listed only until November 10, the wall calendar will be a permanent addition to my calendar series and can be ordered any month of the year, any year. You just have to be careful to set it to the right year and starting month before you put it into your cart.

Yes, I know it's still August! But winter comes early and stays long in Hokkaido, so we are already busy preparing ourselves and our homes to successfully endure the hardest 5~6 months of the year. Makes you want to move here right away, right?! Well, come for a visit at least. Really.

cover art

Pablo Picasso

For the cover of the Stamp People desk calendar, a horizontal image gives better balance than a vertical image. So I tried doing horizontal collages in the same style as the vertical cards, with a limited color palate matching the stamp being used. But, after several attempts along those lines, I feel in my gut that the cover art needs more dynamism and color.

So right now, I'm trying to choose between the two stamp people cards posted here. I did them on washi cards that are double the width of the ones I used for the inside pages of the calendar, so that I could fit more action and color without making them feel too cramped.

The postage stamps themselves (from old Czechoslovakia) are about twice the size of most of the stamps I used for the images on the inner pages. I could give you the full context that inspired my images-- passages from which I distilled the words used on the cards. But you can easily google them to track down the sources. Is that mean? heh heh

Anyway, if you have a preference for the cover art, let me know. I sure do appreciate all the feedback you gave me on which stamp people to use for the inner pages. I love it that so many of you are participating in this project.

Ernest Hemingway

request for input and a give-away!!!!!!

I'm thinking of making a limited edition Stamp People desk calendar for 2018, and I need your help in choosing the images to go into it. Please link to my portfolio on RedBubble and choose your TEN favorite Stamp People images. Then list them in order of your preference in a comment below. Name them by the words in the title brackets (baby, cyclist, Lincoln, etc). This would be an ENORMOUS help. THANK YOU. (I also have some as-yet unpublicized images I plan to include, so the final selection will include some surprises.)

In appreciation for your help, I will put the names of everyone who leaves a comment into a deep bag and randomly pick out one name to receive a free Stamp People desk calendar by the end of this year.

a harvest of etegami

Considering that autumn is my favorite season in Japan, and that it provides an abundance of inspiration for etegami, I have no excuse for posting so little of my new work these past few months. So today, let me give you a peek of some of the fruit of my autumnal labor.

The top photo shows the fourth and last in the series of seasonal recipe sets I was asked to create this year for the bilingual newspaper, The Japan Times- ST. The series began with a set of four lily bulb (yurine) recipes published in January; continued with the edible wild vegetable (sansai) set in April and the pickled plum (umeboshi) set in July; and ended in October with the persimmon (kaki) set. Each set stretched my meager artistic talent and taught me a lot about problem-solving. I received some often-encouraging, always-stimulating feedback from readers and newspaper staff. It was a wonderful job.

Half-way through the year, I came to realize I was not going to find the time to create a new desk calendar for 2016. Once I accepted that fact instead of fighting it, I felt lighter and happier. And guess what? At the end of September, everything suddenly fell into place, and ideas that had been percolating in the back of my subconscious allowed me to capture and express them in etegami. 

Combined with a few works from my archives, I ended up with two new desk calendars. No doggies or kitties-- or even barnyard animals-- this year. My theme this year is impactful quotes from the Bible. One calendar is a collection of all Japanese etegami, the other is all English. And though the theme is the same for both, the images are completely different.  They will not be listed on Etsy except by private reservation. Contact me by email, Etsy message, Twitter, Facebook message, or whatever, for a reserved listing.

I was also kept busy this year with more than the usual number of custom orders, a trend that may take over the bulk of my work next year. The final photo is of a very special custom order, a project of which I was honored and moved to be a part. The Japanese words say "Strength and Courage." And that's about all I am free to tell you for now.

new etegami calendars

I made three new desk calendars for 2015. The Cat calendar and Dog calendar are also available as wall calendars, but I think the etegami look their best in the desk calendar size. They're all listed on my Etsy shop, so please click here for details and check out the sample pages. I'll be taking orders until November 1. The calendars will ship in late-November.

sniffing dog and cloud-gazing cat

These images will be going into my new Etegami Cats and Etegami Doggies desk calendars for 2015.

barnyard series (chickens, pigs)

I've enjoyed the feedback many of you have given me on my barnyard series. I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to them all.  So far I've got goats, lambs, ducklings, barn owls, chickens, donkeys, cows and cow pats!, cats, pigs, and others I can't remember right now. Oh yeah, I'm working on honey bees too! My barnyard calendar is almost complete. (happy dance)

new etegami desk calendars

Please check out my new Etegami Cats and Etegami Dogs desk calendars. Each features 13 of my etegami, including the cover photo. If you'd like one, order before August 31 to get the best price.