Random Hallmark Moments: Rainbow Brite

   Here it is... my entry in Hallmark Cards' headquarters art show featuring dozens of artists, each with their own interpretation of RB! Rainbow Brite was created by a Hallmark artist in 1983 and was wildly popular, with animated TV series, live action TV, Macy's Day Parade float, multiple Emmy awards, dolls, toys, games, sheet sets... you name it, this girl was likely on it. It's kind of mind-boggling.

    I will readily admit that although I liked some of the characters back in the day (before I developed a lil' thing called "taste"), I am not a fan of the character design style of RB and her contemporaries. This includes Strawberry Shortcake, Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Dolls... the styling looks dated and doesn't hold up well against modern character design. But they were modern for their time. My goal with this piece was to keep enough of the hallmarks of the characters to make them immediately recognizable, but to update their style, with a Japanesey "chibi" or "kawaii" look, and costume updates like shifting the color palette away from those hideous primaries, and making the arm and leg cuffs transparent.
   Here is "the making of" the piece, step by step... including the fancy chocolate and sauvignon blanc which clearly aided the process. Considering how infrequently I get the opportunity to paint (not since Hallmarket 2013, and before that... who knows!), I needed all the help I could get. LOL!

   I completed the piece during the Sochi winter Olympics.That was my background noise. It kept me going longer and gave me a front seat to all the snowboarding action.

Keoki + the Ski Patrol Dogs

   While grabbing an après-ski Starbucks coffee at Northstar, I noticed a large photo hanging above the fireplace: "Nine dog sunrise", with nine Golden Retrievers sitting on a ski lift. Upon researching the photographer, Keoki Flagg, I found that Gallery Keoki sits in the village at Squaw Valley and features other, similarly-charming canine portraits. Keoki does a great job of capturing the joy on these working dogs' faces. Here's Rasco:

   And here are the two ski patrol dogs I met down at Heavenly, on top of the Dipper Express lift at the ski patrol station. Meet Madeline & Boulder. Adorable!

   My dogs would LOVE to be here with me playing in the snow. (And until I get a little faster on the board, they could practically run alongside me, too!)

It's Dangerous to Go Alone

   Here it is, the painting that got me back into painting after a four-year plush extravaganza! I was surprised at how easy—and frankly, how fun—it was to get back into it. And I'm pretty happy with the results as well. I truly enjoyed creating this piece!
   It's called , aka "Hitori de iku no ga kiken desu", aka "It's Dangerous to Go Alone", and it depicts the hero of The Legend of Zelda, who had been pursuing a couple of Octoroks, who cunningly led him to meet their mama.
   The game was created by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto (do Mario and Donkey Kong ring a bell?), and originally released for the original, 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. It will always hold a special place in my heart: I sunk a lot of hours into it when I was a kid, and it is a true classic that still has a great influence on gaming today.
   Here are some in-progress photos that show my painting coming to life:

The drawing, which I transferred onto canvas after laying down a base color

Finished lifework has been painted

Starting to fill in the color (and making decisions along the way); initially I considered making this a full-color piece, but in the end I liked the dramatic impact of limited color

Filling in the Big Octorok

Starting to bring Link to life

TA-DAAAA!!!

   It's already on its way to the classic video game-themed show at Gallery 1988: Venice, opening Friday, September 16 in Santa Monica, CA. Over 90 artists will be participating, so there will be tons of variety as usual. Here's a teaser. Here's the evite, as well as the evite from their VG show earlier this year, which I also love.

Kiwano

   I love shopping Whole Foods produce for their unique selection. This is a kiwano. It's spiky and dangerous. Eat it before it eats you!!! And how much does Mr. Kiwano look like the Eyezon plush I created for the Max Toy show???

Poolside

   It's pretty rough out here in LA, but somehow I think I'll manage. Can't wait to jump in...

Van Nuys Composition

   Waiting at the Flyaway Shuttle terminal for Kelley to pick me up, & noticed this composition from my seat. The weather here could not be more perfect, so I'm happy to wait outside!

The land of palm trees & traffic jams

   Actually, the traffic isn't too bad yet (for 9 am on a Friday), but Kelley told me that next weekend they're going to shut down part of the 405, which will displace more than half a million cars, and chaos will ensue. So glad I came out here when I did!

LAX

   Thankfully this time I flew into a terminal where the construction was completed... SO much easier than when I flew through here on the way back from Alaska!

G1988: Opening Tomorrow!

Crazy 4 Cult Book

Photo by Cool & Collected

 The new book is getting a ton of press already: very exciting!

Purchase the book on Amazon

...and a calendar?!

Titan Books

What Culture!

Guardian UK

Moviefone interview with Jensen

Crazy 4 Cult 5: I'm Too Old For This Sh**

   The next installment of the popular annual show, Crazy 4 Cult, is opening 7/8/11 in LA at the incomparable Gallery 1988. For a change, I will be in attendance for both the opening and the special book signing on Sunday, 7/10. So excited to be a part of the show... now if I can only avoid being eaten by my own artwork... I give you Audrey II, otherwise entitled, "Feed Me, Seymour."

Crazy 4 Cult is Coming Soon to a Town Not Very Near Me

   Opening soon: Gallery 1988's latest installment of the "Crazy 4 Cult" art show! The difference from years past is that there will be a book signing on July 10, following the opening on July 8. And as luck would have it, some of my work is featured in the book, so I've been invited out to join the panel of artists. Yay, long weekend in LA!!! Kelley, tidy up the guest house, I'll soon be on my way...

Hyper Hobby

   Thanks to Mark Nagata and the Max Toy 5th Anniversary show, my work made it into another Japanese magazine: Hyper Hobby! (Interior image, bottom right corner... right where your thumb goes so you can't miss it, right?!) すごいね。ありがとう、マルクさん！

Link to more info  /  Link to more photos

Max Toy + Max Luck!

   My plush are back from their Tokyo vacation... Looks like Lady Maxx and Eyezon sold, but Captain Maxx is still available. Mark Nagata, who created the characters for his Max Toy Company, wrote some great posts about the shows. Wish I could have been there for the opening, but given the timing with the catastrophic earthquakes and the tsunami, it's better that I hadn't planned on it. 

About my work  /  About the show

   And by some crazy stroke of luck, I'll be in SF in time to see the show in person!

   And if that wasn't weird enough, get this: tonight I was shopping for a new business suit to wear to the meetings in SF later this week. They're kind of important, so I wanted to look really sharp. While I was in Banana Republic, I got both an email and a phone call informing me that Diddy Dirty Money had cancelled. I've had this ticket for weeks and was really excited to see them for the first time.

   I made a mental note to come home & check their tour dates to see if I could catch another show, like Chicago or St. Louis. I looked. And they will be playing in SAN FRANCISCO one of the nights I'm there, and tickets ARE available! I got mine. The venue is walking distance from my hotel. And my other ticket will be refunded—minus service charges, because as we all know, Ticketmaster is evil. And I'm Even Steven!

The Kaiju Cometh! かいじゅうが来ますよ。

Meet Kaiju Eyezon

    I started studying Japanese around 2003 for a couple of reasons. First off, I had not yet visited Japan and desperately wanted to do so, but was apprehensive because if I didn't know the language, I was afraid I'd waste precious time on the trip being lost. Secondly, I dreamed of showing my work at a gallery in Japan someday and figured I'd need to know the language to work it out.
   So I studied for 5 long years, once or twice a week in the evenings during regular semesters, on top of a very full-time work schedule, and put in 8-12 hours per week on completing the homework assignments. I also worked with a private tutor over the summers. When I think about the amount of effort it required, it's hard for me to think of how I managed it all. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible if I didn't thoroughly enjoy it. It really is a fascinating and challenging language to learn, and you simply have to put in the time.
   Flash forward to winter 2010. First, my plush renditions of Hallmark's founder's grandsons made its way to Japan for the company's 100th anniversary. Then my friend (and co-founder of Super 7 Magazine) Mark Nagata contacted me to see if I'd participate in a show he was putting together... that would be traveling to Japan. AND my work will be alongside my favorite vinyl toy designer, Touma!!! Blew my mind! Check out my collection.
   I'll post more pics of my three plush submissions soon. Here's the press release:

"Celebrating Max Toy Company’s 5th Anniversary, on April 2nd & 3rd, 2011 there will be a group art show at Design Festa Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The show will feature art by Japanese and Western artists, each using Max Toy characters,  Captain Maxx or Lady Maxx as their subjects. There will also be exclusive toys, prints and more!  Artists confirmed include: Japan: TOUMA / KAIJIN / NAWOKI KARASAWA / HARIKEN / YOSHIHIKO MAKINO / TAKESHI ONAKA / NAMIKO SONOBE / TERESA / JoBo;LuBo / MIROC / TULIP / REN OTORI / TOMOE and more to be announced! Global: RALPH COSENTINO / SEBASTIAN CURADEAU / HELENA GARCIA / DANIEL GOFFIN / MARK NAGATA / JEN RAREY/ MATT WALKER and more to be announced!

Design Festa Gallery, Harajuku, Tokyo (map). The work will also be featured in Play Times Magazine and Hyper Hobby Magazine

The celebration and show continues, traveling to Double Punch Gallery and Store in San Francisco, California, on April 23rd , 2011 for the US premiere. Also on April 23rd at Double Punch will be the " In Living Kolor, San Francisco " tour event !!! Featuring Matt Walker / Dead Presidents Designs, the event will include many custom figure artists, all painting live with Monster Kolor paint for the first time in the US !!!  This is the perfect chance to see these amazing artists at work and to try your hand at using Monster Kolor!"

www.maxtoyco.com
www.deadpresidentsdesigns.com
www.doublepunch.com
www.designfestagallery.com

My bio:

ジェン・レアイー
ジェンは、創作ディレクターであり、イラストレーター、ぬいぐるみアーティストでもある。
趣味は、旅行、スキューバダイビング、ヨガ、そして2匹の柴犬（アキとテイラー）と、山にハイキングに行く事。 日本の文化や、キャラクターデザインが大好きで、近年は日本語の勉強もしている（すごいね。）
彼女の作品で幸せになってくれる人がいれば、彼女自身も幸せ！
米国ミズーリ州、カンサスシティ在住。是非、ブログをチェックして下さい。

Funny or Die sighting

   Check out this new video on Funny or Die, written by G1988 co-owner Jensen Karp to promote the current "Is This Thing On?" art exhibit, running through the end of the month at Gallery1988 (Melrose)! (Warning: not safe for work.) And, yes, that is my plush Bret on the left side of the screen, behind Michael Cera, at 0:50. So now I can claim that Michael Cera, Tony Danza, and Nick Kroll have definitely seen my artwork. Coolio.

Is This Thing On?

It'll be on this Friday!

'Til then, here's some press for my upcoming show.
And another one. And you can see my plush here.

The Plush Sale Cometh

   Gallery 1988 just returned a big box o' unsold plush to me, and in the next few days I will be listing these guys at a great discount. So if you accidentally left someone off your Christmas list, now's your chance! We're talking animals, video game characters, kaiju kitties, Shaun of the Dead and more! Check back soon...

The Humans are Dead

   Here's the big reveal of my work for the "Under the Influence: Is This Thing On?" show that opens at G1988 on January 7, 2011. It's entitled, "The Humans are Dead" and depicts Bret & Jemaine, those wacky New Zealanders from Flight of the Conchords! While I think it would have been wise for me to travel to New Zealand to do some research prior to creating these, I had to settle for watching both seasons of the show. The guys have removable robot heads and sullen looks, just as in the premiere episode of the series. G1988 blog

Exciting news!!!

   Just got the word that two of my plush creations will be featured in a book celebrating the pop culture themed shows of Gallery 1988! "Red Stapler" (Milton from "Office Space"), 2008 and "You've Got Red on You" (Shaun & Ed from "Shaun of the Dead"), 2010 made the cut. Both were for a series of shows celebrating cult films.

   The publisher will be releasing the book at the same time as the opening of Crazy 4 Cult's newest installment: July 8th, 2011. And they're getting some incredible people to write up their favorite parts of the exhibit (including some of the buyers of our pieces to give us a quote about how they've enjoyed in their house since the purchase). Kevin Smith will also be writing the book's foreword. LA, here I come!

   And in other gallery-related news, I will also have work featured in "Is This Thing On? A Tribute To Funny People" at Gallery1988:Melrose to kick off 2011. The show will open January 7th and will feature over 100 artists creating artwork portraying some of the best classic, vintage comedians—and emerging stars! The line-up for this show is incredible and the gallery is partnering with FunnyOrDie.com as their exclusive press outlet. Wow. Kinda pinching myself that they keep including me in the madness. I won't say yet who I'm portraying, just that I couldn't be more excited about it!