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It has come to my notice that I can't post photos from my cell any more. Don't know whether this is a Posterous thing or a G-mail thing...?!?!

Posted via email from manikmoon's posterous

Mugs

So, as I've explained, I've left the dreary world of retail display, a field that, by and large, has devolved into a position of jumped up shelf packer, the object being - to get as much stock on the floor as possible, without piling it too high that customers will knock it over...

I've done some silkscreening before and intend to get back into that, perhaps stretching my abilities to more experimental pieces as opposed to simple t-shirt designs, playing around with half tones etc.
In the meantime, I've invested in some equipment that takes printing on objects one step further. The one thing I can now print on to is a mug! A bit of design and manipulation on the computer and my cartoons can appear on drinking utensils of various size.

I can bung photos, slogans and my own illustrations on the mugs and I see me having a lot of fun with this - everyone wants a personalised coffee mug- don't they? Well, if they don't, I'm gonna have an awful lot of mugs in the kitchen cupboard..hahahha! The finished product is really quite splendid, good, strong colours and totally dishwasher safe - years of drinking pleasure!

Initially, I'm working on ideas based around dogs/cats as Candi is running her puppy/dog classes from home so I see a bit of a captive market there. I want to look at limited runs of 'arty' mugs, perhaps featuring local artists' work and I want to explore small runs of souvenier type stuff as well. I'm thinking a few (local) band related ideas could come to mind as well.

Damn Cats

Don't get me wrong, I think I prefer cats to dogs, somewhat independent (except when I'm typing /reading/eating/sleeping), cool and calculating.

Tubby, is my old lady, around 14 years old, she's had me since she was a kitten. She was an only child and had ample teat to sustain her and hence , got a little rotund (her longer fur added to the effect) and my daughter christened her Tubby. She's survived dogs, rampant strays and a house burning down.

She grew to be a slip of a thing, eats like a gannet but doesn't gain weight. Recently I noticed her swearing profusely whilst tucking into a bowl of nosh, in some instances getting so upset she'd not eat! So, off to the vet, and as I suspected, Tubby's got a rotten tooth, inflamed gums being a result. Now, a cat of Tubby's vintage can't just go have the thing out, nope, the anesthetic could kill her. One full dose of anti-biotics to start with.Blood tests show that her thyroids dicky and her kidneys are wonky, so they have to be stabilised before any extraction can take place (the vet says the damn thing might just fall out anyway.)

So now Tubby's (understandably) a picky eater, what with the tablets ground into the food and then laced with anti-biotics its essential she eats. So now we have a cat who won't eat what I put in front of her - she will  (and always has) steal scraps wherever she may find them - even the sink, so I fool her by putting her bowl in the sink. This worked for a while till she got wise to this.

Now my mornings are spent trying to trick the beast into eating. Tubby'll moan and wake me up for breakfast but now the games afoot. Special treats, gravy, marmite etc etc etc are all utilised in the quest to get cat to eat. Bowls placed in various location, food left in the cat tin (she loves to scoop the food out with a paw), different bowls (so it looks like, obviously superior, human food) - everything.
Eventually she does - and then wants more.

Damn cats!

Back in the saddle

Next week sees me launch of on my own steam again after a fruitless (somewhat involuntary) return to retail display. The lack of posting here is probable evidence of my state of mind as of late, trolling into the airport everyday in order to either pack/repack shelves, install/repair crappy shopfitting or cater to the unsubstantial whim of someone higher up the chain, blah.

Anyway, bygones, as from next week I'm dusting down and resurrecting my silk-screening and in addition to that I've invested in equipment to print on other things like mugs, plates, puzzles etc and a badge making set-up...

The mind boggles at what I can put images on - and from that, what I can create to suit each medium. Essentially I'll be creating stuff to supplement Candi's puppy training operation and then grow from there as I familiarise myself with the mediums.

All in all I see more time on hand to continue my cartooning/illustration aspirations. First up, get cracking on Marc Latilla's script!