Me and Phineas P Pooterbutt, headin' out to No Coast Craft-A-Rama

Exciting news! I will be a vendor at this year's No Coast Craft-A-Rama in Minneapolis! Well, I guess that's not really news, as the show is this Friday and Saturday. It's just that I've been pretty busy getting ready for the show, and have had very little time to update this blog. But seeing as how the No Coast website now links to this from my listing under the 2007 vendors, and this site is on my new business cards I just got printed for the show, I felt maybe it's time to do some typically crappy writing and post some new images. Who knows, this may eventually become a regular habit. (Yes, it will, my inner "mother's voice" tells me.)

Anyway, the other exciting news is that I am now partnered with Phineas P Pooterbutt, and will be producing beautiful new cartoony toys and such under his name. He is quite the goofball recluse, but a complete gentleman. Our first collaboration together is the new line of Frumpee Fairees. These are little characters made in reaction to the endless array of high maintenance super model fairies. Phineas and I felt little girls are bombarded with too many images of waifish fairies who spend more time throwing up and applying make-up, and getting into little fairy catfights over who bought which dress first and who stole whose man. So we came up with Frumpee Fairees - fairies who don't give a crap what they look like when they head out of their fairy tree homes in the morning to look over you each day. So, while other prissy, stuck up fairies are too busy color coordinating their wardrobe for the day, Frumpee Fairees are ready first thing in the morning to keep watch over you.

There are currently the regular Frumpee Fairee bean bag characters, as well as the smaller Frumpee Fairee Wee Wee's, both of which will be at No Coast Craft-A-Rama this year. Each one is made from individually sculpted and handpainted polymer clay parts, so each one is completely unique. This will be the first public appearance of the Frumpees, and I'm anxious to hear what people think of them.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope to see a lot of you at the No Coast show. Take care.

My first blog, by Meng, age 34

Well, here it is-my very first ever blog. Like you couldn't tell just by reading these first few lines and looking at the layout. I assure you the writing and design will improve over time, as does any repeated task. My first drawings as a child of the Death Star and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars were pretty damn crude. Certainly nowhere near the quality of Ralph McQuarrie's paintings. But I persevered. Now, don't get me wrong. My work is still not even close to matching his talents, nor any of the other artists who inspire me every day. But over many years of drawing, painting, sculpting and sharing that work with others (family, friends, teachers), I have grown and improved.

I guess that's a very short (and very possibly cheesy) way of starting this blog site. This site is yet another way to improve my skills as both a visual artist and a writer. Sharing recently made artwork and getting feedback, as well as meeting other artists who will go on to inspire me further, are all going to help me grow as an artist. Just bear with me awhile, and this site will become very fun. And as soon as I can find them, I will post those above-mentioned Star Wars drawings.

If only just to give Mr. McQuarrie a sense of relief.