Oscar, The Bionic Cat: We’re big fans.

Oscar, showing off his super new bionic back legs.

Oscar, a handsome English gentleman kitty, lost the lower halves of his back legs in a farm accident in October of 2009. In a ground-breaking feline first in Britain, the two-and-a-half year old cat was perfect candidate for a new surgical procedure that could save his life, bionically.

The BBC produced a short documentary of Oscar’s groundbreaking surgery & recovery, the below is a short snippet:

Taken from The Straits Times: Oscar lost at least one of his nine lives when he was run over by a combine harvester last October – but eight months later he has regained a spring in his step. The prosthetic paws were fitted by neuro-orthopaedic surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick, in a three-hour operation involving grafting the replacement legs onto the stumps of Oscar’s remaining bones.

‘The real revolution with Oscar is because we have put a piece of metal and flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone,’ said Dr Fitzpatrick, who carried out the surgery last November.

Oscar, climbing the stairs with his little bionic paws, no problem.

‘Oscar can now run and jump about as cats should do.’ His owner Kate Nolan said: ‘We had to do a lot of soul-searching and our main concern has always been whether this operation would be in Oscar’s best interests and would give him a better quality of life.’

Playing with a toy like nothing happened. Oscar rules.

Dear Oscar, keep a sharp eye on your remaining 8 lives little dude. Rock on.

New poster released: The New Pornographers in NYC!

Hot-cha! 2-color, all hand screenprinted poster for The New Pornographers' show at Terminal 5 in NYC. (click to purchase or for more info)

I’m a little late to post this, my apologies. Summer brain seems to have taken a good hold of me lately when I’m not working.

Anyhoo, here is our latest poster, and we’re pretty danged excited about this one. We’re a part of The New Pornographers tour poster series for their Summer 2010 tour. A tour series is where a band commissions a different poster for each stop on their tour, and it’s always a treat to see the variety of work, as well as it being a super way for fans to connect to that night’s show.

Details:

Hand screenprinted poster for The New Pornographers with The Dodos, and The Dutchess & The Duke’s show on June 19, 2010 at Terminal 5, New York, NY.

One of our long time favorites, The New Pornographers. Huzzaah! We are really excited to be a part of their summer 2010 tour poster series, where the band has a different gig poster artist do a different poster design for each stop on the tour. Plus the neato line up of bands on this tour, and, being that we’re super down with NYC, winner winner! So hey chum, you are looking at my all hand screenprinted poster for this awesome line up of bands. It’s my 2-color, suggestive and rockin’ all hand screenprinted poster with tender pink and midnight black, hand mixed and non-toxic water based screenprinting inks.

Like all of my posters, this limited edition silkscreen poster is signed (by me) and numbered in a limited edition of 240. Size: 16 x22 inches (39.4 cm x 55.9 cm.) Paper: archival Cougar, White 100lb cover weight.

This poster was sold by the band at the show on June 19th at Terminal 5, and it’s now available on my website here too for $20+ shipping. Got questions? Email me! allison [ a t  ] strawberryluna dot com.

Here are a few process photos that I took while printing too, and there are more in my Flickr account here as well. Or, just click on any image below.

A dozen types of pink to find The One.

1st color printed, looking all abstract.

2nd color (black) screen after a print pull.

Close up & detail photo of the lace of her stockings. (click for more info)

New poster released: Beach House

4 color, all hand screenprinted poster for Beach House (click for more info or to purchase)

We love Beach House, so so much. Semi ethereal, almost otherworldly-ghostly quality that I (of course) really dig, You’d have to close your ears hard not to notice that their lyrics often involve the sea, salt water, and drifting oceanic themes, like a ghost-ship, the kind that are found abandoned at sea carrying on alone.

And therefore, you are looking at my all hand screenprinted poster for the incomparable Beach House. It’s my 4-color, all hand screenprinted poster with ocean-sky blue, deep sea blue, and timber brown hand mixed and non-toxic water based screenprinting inks. The dark ocean blue overprints the timber brown of the ship to make a 4th color, overprint magic!

These posters were sold at the show. Didn’t get one there? Lucky you, I have a few copies left for sale. This limited edition poster is signed (by me) and numbered. Edition of 98. Size: 16 x22 inches (39.4 cm x 55.9 cm.) Paper: archival Cougar, White 100lb cover weight.

Now available at my website here.

And, here are some process photos for you below, also more are on my Flickr account too.

1st color screen, ready to start printing. (click for more info)

1st color being registered. (click for more info)

1st color for Beach House poster, detail. (click for more info)

2nd color ink in the screen, ready to start printing. (click for more info)

Registering the 3rd & final color to be printed. (click for more info)

Overprinty goodness in the waves over the ship on my Beach House poster. (click for more info)

Our Rock For Kids live webcast Poster Artist Interview rescheduled for 6/17, hooray!

Tune in on Thursday June 17th at 3pm EST (2pm CST & 12 noon PST)! Click this link to watch & get more info about our live strawberryluna / Hero Design Studio webcast interview!

Phew!

So, it’s back on and it’s going to be a blast.  Myself (hellooooo strawberryluna, silly) and our friends at Hero Design Studio have teamed up with the fine folks at Rock For Kids & Clay Hayes from Gigposters.com as a part of the Rock For Kids live webcast Poster Artist Interview Series.

Our two studios, strawberryluna and  Hero Design Studio, are going to interview each other and also take any and all questions from the public during our live webcast interview. The fun starts on:

Thursday, June 17th at 3pm EST (2pm CST and 12 noon PST )

Click this link here to watch the interview live at Vokle.com.

Also! In support of the fantastic work that Rock For Kids does, we are proud to announce we’ll be donating 20% of our online sales to Rock For Kids from Thursday June 17th to Friday June 25th. Help us help Rock For Kids!

We will be taking questions from anyone & everyone who is participating in the webcast, so log into Vokle.com to be able to ask away. Or, if you just want to watch the interview live, there’s no need to log in, just watch the stream. Though let’s be honest, interacting is more fun than just watching. Right?

Me, aka strawberryluna will be interviewing Hero Design, and vice versa, as well as answering your questions too. It’s gonna be fun.

So, set your watches, calendars, egg timers and sun dials and tune in for our turn in the Rock For Kids & Gigposters.com organized Poster Artist Interview Series. All of the interviews are being webcast live, via Vokle.com.

The Rock For Kids Poster Artist Interview Series:

Jay Ryan –  on Wednesday, June 2 @ 1PM CST  –  you missed it!

Geoff Peveto / Decoder Ring Design Concern – on Monday June 14 @ 7PM CST  – you missed it!

strawberryluna and Hero Design Studio – Thursday June 17th at 3pm EST & 2PM CST  – tune in

____________________________________________________________________

More about the awesome Gigposters.com:

GigPosters.com was created and is maintained by Clay Hayes who resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The website launched in January, 2001. Showcasing the worlds largest historical gig poster archive, this massive online art gallery is home to thousands of designers from around the world. Visitors can browse and comment on gig posters, join the large community in the forums, chat, and purchase posters in the classified ads section. In 2009, GigPosters.com founder Clay Hayes also authored a groundbreaking book, Gig Posters Volume 1: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century (<— availble at this link) published by Chronicle Books. Since 2001, Gigposters.com has been the Internet’s first and best resource for rock-show poster art; their massive online database showcases more than 90,000 posters from 7,000 different designers, including all of today’s top poster studios. Gig Posters Volume I highlights the 700+ best examples in their collection, including 101 perforated and ready-to-hang posters for bands such as Radiohead, Wilco, the Decemberists, the Shins, Arcade Fire, Sleater-Kinney, and more. Among the many designers contributing to this collection are Rob Jones (of White Stripes fame), The Decoder Ring (house artists for Modest Mouse), Patent Pending, Tara McPherson, strawberryluna, Hero Design, and more. Packaged in an oversized 11-by-14-inch paperback, Gig Posters Volume I is a spectacular compilation of rock show art (and one hell of a cheap way to decorate a dorm room or apartment).

More about the very rad Rock for Kids:

Rock For Kids is a non-profit organization that provides support, hope, inspiration and assistance to underserved children and teens. Realizing that music can be a positive motivator in a young person’s life, Rock For Kids provides free year-round music education for children in need. Rock For Kids positively impacts and celebrates young lives by offering access to safe and constructive learning experiences through which children may challenge themselves, build self-esteem and explore their own creative potential. Realizing that music has the power to transcend challenging situations and transform lives, we envision a community inspired by its youth as they develop self-esteem and confidence through access to music education. We believe children can inspire their own families, become leaders among their peers and take on the world as well-rounded and motivated individuals.

The Rock Poster Artist Interview Series is brought to you by:

POSTPONED Rock For Kids Interview, not PWND, we promise!

(click for more info)

POSTPONED!!!!! 😦 Due to technical difficulties 😦

We are so sorry to announce that this interview has been postponed due to multiple technical difficulties. We’re super sad, at the same time, we all know that the rescheduled event will be amazing and totally worth the wait.

We promise.

Stayed tuned for the rescheduled date, which will most likely be next week June 10th or 11th.

This is a super fun thing to announce. Ready? OK! We will be teaming up with the fine folks at Rock For Kids & Clay Hayes fromGigposters.com as a part of the Rock For Kids live webcast Poster Artist Interview Series. Our interview will be on Friday, June 4th at 1pm CST (2pm EST)

Here’s the situation: Rock For Kids & Clay Hayes are doing a live interview with us here at strawberryluna and our friends Hero Design Studio, and since we are both going to be in NYC on the 4th for Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn, we’re going to do this interview Bill O’Reilly-style ( “____ it! We’ll do it live!”)

That’s right! We will be live wifi-broadcasting from our laptops on the fly from a TBA sweet spot in New York City. A hint: it’ll probably be in Manhattan. But we don’t even know where we will be broadcasting our interview from yet. Got any favorite free and awesome wifi-spots in NYC that you love? Give me a holler, we’re on the hunt for one! (No, really…we are…seriously. Send your wifi suggestions.)

Also! In support of the fantastic work that Rock For Kids does, we are proud to announce we’ll be donating 20% of our online sales to Rock For Kids from Thursday June 10th to Friday June 18h. Help us help Rock For Kids!

We will be taking questions from anyone & everyone who is participating in the webcast, so log into Vokle.com or watch the interview live via the viewer below, and ask away! strawberryluna will be interviewing Hero Design, and vice versa, as well as answering your questions too. It’s gonna be fun.

So, set your watches, calendars, egg timers and sun dials and tune in for our turn in the Rock For Kids & Gigposters.com organized Poster Artist Interview Series. All of the interviews are being webcast live, via Vokle.com.

The Rock For Kids Poster Artist Interview Series:

Jay Ryan –  on Wednesday, June 2 @ 1PM CST  –  tune in

strawberryluna and Hero Design Studio – Date & Time TBA likely 6/10 or 6/11 – tune in

Geoff Peveto / Decoder Ring Design Concern – on Wednesday June 9 @ 1PM CST  – tune in

More about the very rad Rock for Kids: Rock For Kids is a non-profit organization that provides support, hope, inspiration and assistance to underserved children and teens. Realizing that music can be a positive motivator in a young person’s life, Rock For Kids provides free year-round music education for children in need. Rock For Kids positively impacts and celebrates young lives by offering access to safe and constructive learning experiences through which children may challenge themselves, build self-esteem and explore their own creative potential. Realizing that music has the power to transcend challenging situations and transform lives, we envision a community inspired by its youth as they develop self-esteem and confidence through access to music education. We believe children can inspire their own families, become leaders among their peers and take on the world as well-rounded and motivated individuals.

Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn reminder! Come say hellos!

Just a quick reminder that I will be in Brooklyn, NY this weekend at the fabulous Renegade Craft Fair, and so looking forward to it!

Renegade Craft Fair is one of the premiere independent DIY showcases of all things art, craft, and handmade. Renegade Craft Fairs are held in several cities across the US every year – including Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Austin.  The fair is known for being one of the first events of its kind, and for having the top-notch indie-craft artists and designers who travel from all over the map to participate. Renegade got its start in Chicago’s Wicker Park in the fall of 2003, and has spread like wildfire ever since.

With over 300 artists coming together in historic McCarren Park in Brooklyn to sell our handmade work, this year’s Renegade Craft promises to be as amazing as ever, if not more so. There will live music and live craft demonstrations, as well as an hourly raffle of goodies at theEtsy booth too. AND!  Renegade Craft Fair is wide open to the public and 100 % FREE to attend too.

I’m going to have tons of new prints and posters and test prints, as well as lots of other new goodies too. So come say hi! We love love love meeting new friends at shows!

Check it: strawberryluna, Booth #65. Write it down  Click the below to see a larger map image.

Click the above to see a larger version of this map!

The Details:

What: Renegade Craft Fair, Brooklyn

When: June 5th & 6th, 2010

Where: McCarren Park, in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY at Driggs Ave + Lorimer St. + Bayard St. + Union St. (as above)

Cost: FREE!!!

Why: For cream of the crop handmade awesomeness.

And here is the photo of our little pup Sprite, helping me pack up some of those new Test Prints I mentioned, featured on the Renegade Blog:

Sprite: The best 17lb assistant ever 😉

New poster released – Vetiver at Sasquatch Festival 2010!

2-color, all hand screenprinted poster for the band Vetiver's show at the 2010 Sasquatch Music Festival. (click for more details or to purchase.)

Just released and ready to go! This is my new poster for the band Vetiver, from their Sasquatch Festival show this past weekend at The Gorge on George, Wa.

2010 is the 4th year in a row that I’ve had the pleasure of working with Sasquatch in their poster series that they arrange with the top poster artists from around the country, pairing them up with their favorite bands appearing at Sasquatch each year. We couldn’t be happier that we were paired up with a great band like Vetiver!

This is my 2-color, all hand screenprinted poster for Vetiver with deep brown and sunset-orange, hand mixed and non-toxic water based screenprinting inks. These posters are signed (by me) and numbered. Edition of 90. Size: 16 x22 inches (39.4 cm x 55.9 cm.) Paper: archival Cougar, White 100lb cover weight.

I design & hand screenprint my prints and posters. If you have any questions, just let me know!

My new poster for Vetiver is now available at my website here.

Below are some process photos of this poster being printed by me at my studio, click any image below to see more at my Flickr page too.

Films to burn screens for my Vetiver poster. The left / lighter one is too light, the right / darker one is perfect.

1st color of my poster for Vetiver's Sasquatch Fest show.

Getting set up and registering the 2nd color of my Vetiver poster. (click for more info.)

All done! 2 color, hand screenprinted poster for the band Vetiver. (click for more info.)

Steeltown Stock, poster art show opens this Friday, June 4th!

There’s a new poster show in town, and it’s going to be rad. I’m thrilled to have been asked by the excellent Pittsburgh arts blog Steeltown Anthem’s Mundania Horvath to be in Steeltown Stock, a big fat cool showcase of local printmakers and poster artists.

Steeltown Stock opens this Friday, June 4th at the <C> SPACE COLLECTIVE on Penn Avenue (4823 Penn Avenue, 15224) with an opening reception. Posters and prints on display as well as other prints will be available for purchase, many directly from the artists themselves. How cool is that?! (Unfortunately, I won’t be able to be there for the opening reception since I will be in NYC for the Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn, but I will definitely be around for the closing reception on Friday June 25th, so stop by then too.) Posters & prints will be available for sale throughout the duration of the show, but will be in limited quantities for sure.

The many faces of Pittsburgh printmaking and design will be represented at the Steeltown Stock gallery show at the <C> Space Collective from letterpress to silk screen, block printing, and more all wrapped up into one rad talent pool of illustration and design printed by hand and locally by working Pittsburgh artists.

Steeltown Stock Details:

Location : <C> SPACE COLLECTIVE at 4823 Penn Avenue, Pitttsburgh, PA 15224

Show Opening reception : Friday June 4th from 6-9pm

Show Closing Reception : Friday June 25th from 6-9pm (Last chance to purchase prints before the show closes.)

Participating artists:
strawberryluna
Bearded Studio
Black Sheep productions
Justin Flagg
Phil Mollenkof
Andrew Paul
War Admiral Press
Stewart Williams
Rachel Sager
Cara Kleid
David Pohl
Diana Hurd
Michael Cocco
Sam Thorpe
L2 Design Collective
Sapling Press
Wall-to-Wall Studios

And here is an abbreviated sneak peak at some of the works & artists showing at Steeltown Stock, (click any image below and be sure to visit Steeltown Anthem for more images and info.) Images below courtesy of Steeltown Anthem.

“Tour De Yinz – Part Deux” Digital by Justin Flagg

"Black Angles" show poster by L2 Design Collective

“Pittsburgh.” 16 x 20 screen printed by Phil Mollenkof

“Typewriter” by Cara Kleid

"St. Vincent" 16x22 screen printed by strawberryluna

“Life Lessons” 9.5 x 15.5 3 color screen print by Rachel A. Sager