3.03.2010

HINAMATSURI



On March 3rd, Hinamatsuri is celebrated in Japan.
It is believed hina dolls protect girls from bad luck.

1.28.2010

Yoroshiku 2010!

Maybe it's too late to say Happy New Year, but I realize this is the first entry since the year has changed. It's been over 2 months since the last update as well. Sorry to have neglected it for so long. We've had a few more entries at our other blog Cycle Mumbreeze. We would like to try and update here more often, but you can also check there although that's a more bicycle oriented blog.

I am back in Portland once again. Our Etsy shop lineup during my trip to Japan was greatly reduced as I couldn't take all the work with me. It was unfortunate as that was the best selling time of the year. Too bad we missed out on the sales, but we're also sorry that we couldn't offer all the variety of work we had. So, the gift giving season passed while most of the work just sat in my Portland quarters.

paper mache selection

That situation is now remedied. Now that I am back in Portland, I have all the work with me again, so our Etsy shop is once again filled with all our finished work. I have taken photos of some of them.

paper mache selection

paper mache selection

Many bikes are once again available including also the tricycle and cargo bike.

I have been making figures of actual animals as well.

Paper Mache Tiger

I first made this tiger as 2010 is the year of the Tiger.

Pink Tiger

and then a pink tiger just for fun.
(both of these have been sold)

feeding time

Then I made 2 weasels and a raccoon dog. The big white figure is work in progress and it's not an existing animal. The weasels and the raccoon dog are available still on Etsy.

I have many more figures which will be finished soon as well.

Although the gift giving season is over, personally I like giving gifts to people whatever the time of year it maybe. When I see something that I think might be perfect for someone, that I think is the right time to give it rather than following convention.

In Japan we say "yoroshiku" which is sort of the default greeting on many occasions like the first meeting of the year. I'm not sure if there is an exact translation for it, but it means something like "let us have good relations". So, we say to you "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" (onegaishimasu is like "please") for this year of the Tiger. We hope that we will finally settle down (and live in one place together!) and be very active with artwork this year.

11.20.2009

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

We've been a bit busy this week, so we haven't been able to do these everyday. We have another busy week coming up, so we may not be able to update daily, but we'll do them when we have the time.

The last collage by Kao had six collaged faces, so I made 6 characters with them. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger) The picture above has all six of them, but I thought some of them could be a piece by itself. Here they are below.

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/21/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/20/09

Heroes again

Heroes again...

11.06.2009

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/07/09

11_07_09

It found it with the bicycle.

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/06/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/06/09

From Coney Island to a grass field in Portland!

11.04.2009

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/04/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/04/09

Today's version brought to you by Mumbleboy, featuring dolls Kao made.

11.03.2009

11.02.2009

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/02/09

Mumbreeze Collage Tag 11/02/09

we started a "collage tag" with one of us making a collage and then the other takes it and collage it further the next day. Kao started it yesterday with this one. We will keep doing this daily and see what happens. You can follow the progress daily by checking the blog here.

10.29.2009

the "restructuring" of Mumbreeze shop



If you've checked out our Etsy shop recently (since an hour before this writing), you might have noticed the number of items there have drastically been reduced. Down to just three in fact.

Well, we're not closing shop or down-scaling our efforts or anything. I, Kinya aka Mumbleboy will be flying over the Pacific Ocean once again to Japan and as much as I would have liked to take all the items with me, I have too much stuff already (including many bars of chocolate requested by Kao) to take with me and will not be able to take them with me. Sorry to give no notice of it if you happened to have been eye-ing some pieces there. I will be making new work as soon as I'm over there and also reviving some old pieces as well, so little by little the number of items should increase just in time for the holidays. We can definitely make custom work if you so wish, so please don't hesitate to contact us, if you have an idea for something we might be able to make.

Thanks for reading and as Mumbreeze are once again united, hopefully we'll have lots more to share with you soon.

9.11.2009

P.I.Y by Emi Kazama

P.I.Y. @ emi

P.I.Y. @ emi

P.I.Y. @ emi

This P.I.Y. is by Emi Kazama.
Emi does illustration and graphi design and is one half of Ameiko with Kao.
Emi's P.I.Y. figure has a very different approach with colorful dots and a golden glitter, but if you look closely, it has a mischievous looking face on one side.

Emi also did the graphic design of the goods at the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale.





emi kazama
http://nhi-web.com/menu.html

ameiko blog
http://ameikoblog.blogspot.com/