Just got my copy of The Dark, a great new picture book from illustrator extraordinaire, Jon Klassen and Lemony Snicket! After a rambunctious and coffee-fueled reading of the book, my fellow illustrators and I had our books signed. Mr. Klassen was also kind enough to pose for a photo with two giddy fans (me, with the mustard sweater, Misa Saburi in the white vest). It was nice to be celebrating the launch of a new children’s book yesterday since it was also Hans Christian Anderson’s  birthday. Hooray! Now, to find some cake…

Look what the cat dragged in! Yay! New samples from Mudppupy—these are available online at the Mudpuppy online store. Coming soon to Manila!

Every year, Chopsticks NY has an open call for cover artists. Chopsticks NY is magazine about experiencing Japan in New York. For 2012, they decided they will have 3 designers illustrate their covers—myself included. It’s pretty great to see that this year’s finalists are so different in style from one another. The organizers made all 3 designers create a cover with the theme Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year), for a reader’s choice award (and presumably, the opportunity to do the first cover for 2012).  Please take a moment to vote for the cover of your choice (um, preferably mine, hehe), and read the magazine too! ありがとございます！

The first two images below are the covers I made in order to make it to the final 3, and the last image, is the cover I created with the Oshogatsu theme.

Wept through the entire, final episode of the Harry Potter saga, ate a great Japanese meal, met up with old friends, saw a wonderful collection of Jim Henson’s doodles, puppets and films, made a filpbook and had some ice cream. One of the best weekends ever!

There are enough people writing and raving about HP7 part II, so instead, I will focus on Jim Henson’s Fantastic World. The show, now currently on view at the Museum of Moving Images is a nice little introduction to the life and work of the talented and big-hearted genius of puppetry. There are storyboards and videos of early commercials, as well as the puppets who starred in them. Some of the show’s standout pieces include: the video of a crazy creature teaching Kermit how to scat, and an early animation piece of a cool cat set to a jazzy score. There are also intricate costumes and pieces from his extraordinary collaboration with Brian Froud—The Dark Crystal, and a few short clips of Fraggle Rock. It was too small a show though to really capture all the things that Jim Henson did and his influence on television and education. There was a fleeting mention of Labyrinth, and hardly any mention of Jim Henson’s Storyteller (which I think is one of the best things he ever created). Still, it was great effort by the Museum of Moving Image to put this show together. It’s about time someone thought to honor the man who really blazed the trail for educational programming.

We weren’t allowed to take photos of the exhibition, however, we WERE able to take a few stills of the installation at the lobby by Artist Chiho Aoshima, animated by Bruce Ferguson—stunning!

Yay! I’m so proud to have been able to collaborate with one of my favorite magazines on kids stuff—lmnop of Australia. Check out their awesome new issue all about BOOKS and download the bookplates I designed for them. Happy Reading everyone!

My belly and I eagerly await the opening of this film! It starts screening at the Film Forum on Saturday, July 27 and runs until August 9th. I found this little gem through  a lovely review by Sanura Weathers on My life Runs on Food. Click on the photo below, to watch the enticing trailer of El Bulli: Cooking in Progress.

The happy folk of Friends with You have descended upon New York City and are shooting rainbow trails wherever they travel. Today was overcast, but there was plenty of color and peals of laughter at Rainbow City—the inflatable wonderland at the end of the High Line. Go visit and have a ball. Try your best to avoid the magnetic pull of their kiosk brimming with plastic toys, totes and enamel badges. My sole complaint is that the jumping rooms (inside the giant happy shrooms) are only for kids. They should have one just for adults (or at least for a few hours), because we want to play too!

I created this illustration to help raise funds for the victims of the Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan. 100% of all profits from the sales of this tee will be donated through the Japan Society of New York.

On this drawing are the words Ganbatte Kudasai or “Do your best/Don’t give up!” Please lend your support. The prints and tees are available for purchase at society6.

I can’t urge people enough to go and see the wonderful new show at the Japan Society called Bye Bye Kitty. As the title indicates, it is a farewell to the notion that all contemporary art in Japan is kawaii. It makes for a wonderful counterpoint to another great show organized by the Japan Society in 2005 called Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s exploding Subculture curated by Takashi Murukami. Bye Bye Kitty is a wonderful mix of media and styles—featuring glass-coated taxidermy, to paper cut-outs and video installation. It explores darker themes and issues facing Japanese society today.

Standouts of the show include Makoto Aida’s giant mural of a mountain of salarymen and office detritus stacked on top of one another, which hangs alongside a another piece by Aida (though very different in style and palette) called Harakiri Girls, and finally the quiet, melancholy and beautiful acrylic paintings by Tomoko Kashiki, who look as if they would fly away and disappear if you blew at them.

I thought it best not to post too many photos as the show is best seen and experienced in person. You can even treat yourself to a delightful cream puff afterwards at nearby Choux Factory on 1st ave. More on that in another post. The show will be up until the 12th of June, 2011. Visit the Bye Bye Kitty website to learn more.