First Annual Etsy Birthday Yearly Celebration of the Year!

That's Shayla up there on the top left next to the weird lookin' guy in glasses

I am now a year into this journey called Etsy and it has been great!

I have to give credit to Shayla (my wife) for getting me into the whole thing, but I have enjoyed it from the start. If you know me, you know that I have stacks of sketchbooks, piles of paper scraps, and hard drives filled with images and ideas. The flotsam of an over-stimulated and addled brain locked into 2 dimensions. Left unchecked and un-channeled this tendency results in little more than a increasing lack of space and organization. Given focus it can be liberating.

Etsy has become an outlet for some of this profusion. A home for these fragments to congregate and have a purpose. Shayla made the suggestion that these ideas and experiments could be made into prints. That is how Interrupt.Etsy.com was born.

Not too long ago, I had the chance to appreciate the positive effects of this when the blog ManMadeMarket was kind enough to interview me on their site! This is definitely a high-point for me. I have lots of new ideas for the second year of Etsy and stacks of old ones just waiting for a good home.

-CJM

3 Watercolor ACEOs

Yesterday I offhandedly mentioned to Shayla that I would like to try watercolor, and before I had finished my thought she had prepared an entire setup – complete with palette and 3 ACEO sized pieces of paper.

I have not used watercolor before (as a kid maybe, but not during my adult life) and it was a lot of fun.

These 3 pieces are the result. I thought it would be fun to try and do my logo freehand in watercolor, since it is such an angular and geometric design, and watercolor produces organic, irregular edges and tones.

-CJM

Shifting Gears

There is so much happening right now. I find myself approaching the last third of the year while illustrating a book, helping to organize an art exhibit/benefit in San Juan Capistrano, learning workflow management the fast way at the studio I work for, and creating new prints for my Etsy shop.

It is a very exciting time!

I will be posting bits and pieces of everything I am working on here. As well as some previously completed work and prints.

One of my latest is Phi Palette. Take a look at the Etsy listing for more detailed views.

-CjM

Fat Ninja Standing

A ruthless assassin, so well trained, so exceptional in skill, so focused of mind and body… that even a weight issue can’t stop him!

The concept for this character was developed a number of years back while I was still in college. My wife Shayla really liked him, and she encouraged me to make some prints. I now have Fat Ninjas available as prints and postcards and the response has been incredible. I am definitely making more, he is a lot of fun

-C

Suspended Highway

Although I used photoshop to enhance this picture, I can assure you that this road can be found in Kauai. It is surreal to be driving along through the trees like this. The entire isalnd is an exercise in beauty. Even traveling from one location to the next you are treated to scenes like this.

-C

Unseen Currents

I took this picture hiking along the Na Pali coast in Kauai. It’s a remarkably beautiful place, and accessible only on foot. There is a beach just out of frame, Hanakapiai beach lies below and to the left a bit. As we made our way down to rest there, we passed a sign stating that unseen currents had taken the lives of over 80 people there. Beautiful and deadly.

-C

Field Collage

My wife and I have a number of great photos from our trips to Hawaii. This piece is composed from several of these images. This ended up looking great on the post cards.

-C

Tangent 1

Au.Tu.Mn