Ken's Dollhouse

'Tis the season (to wear ugly jumpers)

2009-12-02T00:38:00.001-08:00

I have just finished my xmas card for the year, this one will be going out to all my loved ones. Hope they don't think I'm too much of a Bah! Humbug! (but honestly, if you can't do it at xmas when can you?!)

Cute Kiddies

2009-11-26T00:29:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait I did recently of a little cutie, Ashton (I have to be honest, I secretly wanted to steal him). This little sweetie is going to be a real heartbreaker...watch out girls!

You can never have too many t-shirts...

2009-11-26T00:20:00.000-08:00

Again with the looking through things I have done this year... I found this pic from New Zealand Music Month.

The "Manu Doll" t-shirt was designed as an entry to the competition and ended up winning! Thanks playschool for letting me poach your ideas (and ofcourse for approximately 3 years of entertainment on TV when I was a wee tot!) and thanks to all the tourism stores around the country who sell these little dolls; New Zealand's answer to Cupie.

It still gives me goosebumps when I see people walking down the street wearing my t-shirt! Quite an addictive feeling so I'll have to do more of this t-shirt stuff!

Computers and stuff

2009-11-24T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a little bit of logo work lately and came up with one that I'm actually pretty happy with. It is a logo for an online Trademe Store, selling homewares and other goods and offering "great deals online."

Although the final logo ended up a bit of a change from my original design (so much of a change that I really don't like it...), the original concept that I came up with is shown below.

The next step was to add a slogan "great deals online," which meant a few changes to the original logo.

The slogan isn't the best I've ever heard and I think detracts from the simplicity of the original idea, but nevertheless fits in with the given instructions. The little mouse proved really popular too!

Overall, what a fun little project and a great exercise in being able to let go of my original ideas to satisfy the client's wishes...

Spreading the love

2009-11-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

I was being productive at work yesterday, trolling the internet for new gems and generally making very productive use of my time, when I came across a really fantastic charity website.

The website is created by a guy who wants to help the poor children of Africa (sounds so cliched but it's true) in a completely genuine and transparent way. Utilising all the free media available to him (twitter, facebook etc) in a really clever way, Steve is spreading the word and showing first-hand exactly where your money goes.

I am currently embarking on a project to create some t-shirt designs for LearnAsOne to wear in their videos and to help spread awareness fo the campaign. Watch this space as we work together to create something really exciting!

The website itself is weel worth a look too... http://www.learnasone.org/

There's no board like a snowboard!

2009-11-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

Right now the Ride Snowboard Art Competition is starting up again for another year and I am thinking about what crazy ideas might work this year. When I visited the website I was really happy to see my last year's design (which was a finalist) still up on their website!

I am sure it will soon be superceded by the next lot of zany creations, so am putting it up on here as a little reminder of how much fun it was :)

And the final product...

2009-11-21T19:38:00.001-08:00

Here are the photos of the tshirt designs below when they were actually printed. Not black and white as I had expected (and not too impressed with the sad face lines on my feathers), but still a pretty good outcome.

It's in the stars...

2009-11-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

I was flicking through some stuff I have done over the past year and came across these pictures, which I did for Max Fashions earlier in the year. They are based on zodiac signs (although my own personal slightly off the wall versions...) and were part of a collection done by 3 seperate artists/designers/whatever we want to call ourselves really!

The tops were selling in store for a good 6 months or so and it has only been recently that I have gone in and not seen them still hanging around somewhere. Guess I had better do some more!

Leo- My favourite one, looks like a lion has been here... The placement of the clawmark is over the heart. Wow, deep.

Virgo- My second favourite one, the best euphemism I could come up with for virginity without putting a chastity belt around the bottom of the tshirt!

Scorpio- My best friend's sign so I had to make it look good! This image was designed for placement along the bottom of the tshirt.

Libra- The most difficult one to put together. Apparently women don't like scales, I wonder why...

I'll put up some pics of how the actual tshirts turned out soon.

T shirts rock

2009-04-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

I am currently riding a wave of excitement having just found out that my design won one of the spots for NZ Music Month, which means that the designs sported on the racks (and hopefully alot of backs too) will be designed by yours truly! Check out www.mymusicmonthtee.co.nz for a view of the two winners. Can't wait to see them on the racks and I hope you all grab one!

Art is not just on canvas

2009-03-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

Check out the Rise Snowboards website for the finalists in their 7th Annual Snowboard Art Competition. The top 30 were on display at Times Infinity Gallery in Seattle for the entire month of February and mine was lucky enough to be in the top 7!
For a look, go to www.ridesnowboards.com/sbac7 and see the design entitled "Queen of Hearts."

Beautiful Babies

2009-03-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

I have just completed a new portrait of one of the sweetest little babies, Amber. Having done a few baby portraits I have seen rather a few babies, but she is just so cute! If you know a special little person who would look good as a portrait, feel free to contact me.

Teahouse Adventures

2008-12-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

Last sunday myself, Liv and Alex decided to go exploring. This idea took us to a quaint little place called Matakana, about an hour and a half north of Auckland and very familiar to many foodies who travel there on sunday mornings for the farmers' markets.

Matakana is a lovely little village full of things like fresh blueberry icecream, op shops, vintage stores and boutiques, pubs, pottery and an enchanting little teahouse by the name of Brookview.

Set in a restored villa (with an interesting story behind it) amongst manicured lawns and well maintained gardens, this teahouse was tranquil and lovely in a way that is very rare in today's world of fast food and gourmet restaurants.

The three of us selected from a large and enticing range of teas available, accompanied by lovely fresh scones served with jam, cream and little paper doilies! Although we had spent the day pigging out and were too full to eat more, the ladies at the next table enjoyed a high tea that looked delicious, served on those delicate silver three-tiered trays my grandmother used to have. The decor was lovely, the staff were friendly and the whole experience was utterly delightful.

If you ever need a break or would just like to spend a lovely day in the country, the Brookview Teahouse is a really great place to go. We loved it and if you appreciate dainty things, you will too.

Reindeer and Friends

2008-12-12T21:55:00.001-08:00

It is officially silly season. Crazy women fighting each other off for their desired item are filling the once peaceful shops of Auckland...and I am afraid.

Nevertheless, it is still Christmas and therefore time to spread the love (just not to the scary women jostling for position in the checkout queue). So today I am introducing Reindeer and friends, who will be greeting all of my family and friends when I mail my Christmas cards, probably the day after Christmas. Oh well, the thought was there...

I just hope I don't get a Reintoaster for Christmas.

2 weeks to go...

2008-12-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Today is exactly 2 weeks until I fly out to Canada, which is the main reason I am starting this blog. The countdown is officially on and to start it off I am saying hello to the blogging world!

So... hello world.