October 2010 - Page 4 of 11

Exploring the 5 Senses!

This winter, Jamie Shelman will be offering a 5-week course for those who are looking for a way to keep the creative fires burning, meet and connect with new artists, and be inspired to make new work!

The course is entitled Exploring the 5 Senses: Jamie’s Winter Challenge, and is taught by artist/illustrator/Pikaland Artist Bootcamp instructor Jamie Shelman, with guest appearances by artist Tom Meyer and yours truly. I won’t be teaching this course, but Jamie is, and she’s a fantastic teacher! For those who are looking to incorporate your senses into your work, she’ll teach you how to become more aware of how each sense can be interpreted through your art.

Find out more about this course (and where you can enroll!) on Jamie’s blog. Classes start Nov. 15th and space is limited, so grab a seat early (plus there’s an early bird special that’s happening right now!)

Announcing: Pikabooks!

After months of dreaming and planning (and lots of sneak peeks!), I’m so happy to announce that Pikaland will be publishing limited edition books and zines under the moniker Pikabooks. Becoming an indie publisher was a natural next step for me, as I was in the publishing industry for the past 7 years, and I’ve never quite gotten over my love of printed matter.

With Pikabooks, we’re also dedicating a portion of our profits to First Book, an organization that focuses on providing books to children in need in an effort to combat illiteracy. I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of books given to me when I was growing up, and it made me who I am today. I wanted others to have the same opportunity as I did, and it made sense to donate to a cause that would be able to change the world, one child at a time.

For our inaugural zine, my dear friend and artist Mogu Takahashi has drawn a lovely zine entitled Chotto Omoshiroi that teaches you how to speak Japanese! The zine will be bundled with an A2 size poster for you to pin up your wall, and is available in a limited edition of 200. You’ll also be happy to know that with each set that you purchase, one child will get a book in return.

And not only that, to celebrate the launch and also to thank you for all your support, please use the coupon code YAYPIKA to get 10% off your order!
(Please note that the coupon code expires this Friday, 22nd October.)

To get your copy of Mogu’s zine + poster, please head over to Pikabooks!

Sponsor giveaway: Marie Larkin

Marie Larkin is an Australian artist whose work focuses on pretty, feminine characters that are reside in a fantasy world. Her recent collection features endearing whimsical stylised female figures with expressive, and almost sad faces; holding on to their tiny treasures ever so tightly.

She’s giving away a set of six gift cards that is valued at USD$30, and ONE lucky Pikaland reader will have them in time for Christmas! 😉 Just comment on this post by the 26th of October and we’ll go through Random.org to determine the lucky winner!

*UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks so much for participating. The winner of this giveaway is Mola, as generated by random.org