I finally got my pony, but it just happens to come in the form of a batik tjap.

I’ve wanted one of these for a long time, I had never even seen one in person, just very small or unspecific photos online or books. I wanted to make one, even, but had no reference for their construction.

I managed to snag a set of three from my favorite auction site, and even though they are not in mint condition, they are awesome to behold.

Made by some serious craftsmen, these ’stamps’ are fashioned from copper strips and wire to be used in the applying of wax to make batik patterns. And what craftsmen they are. I could never make something this amazing.

And to allow for others like myself, curious seekers, I’m supplying these big ol’ detailed images so you can see what went into these pieces. Really, they are art.

I plan on having the next Tiny Run design be one of my own, and this image is the beginnings of a workup of what I’m aiming for. I rather like that I really have no idea if it’s going to work, or how many more things will change as I progress forward. At least two things have changed as of today. The process is fascinating.

I also added a new gallery page at the front of the site, soon to be joined by a few more gallery pages. I realized that I really need one visual reservoir of all the things I’ve done. I had hoped that the flickr site would be something along these lines, and over time, perhaps this will be the case. But I have quite a few items from years past that need to be seen as well.

It seems strange to me that many, close to all, really, of the things I have made have gone out into the world. Who knows how they have help up, if they now have pit stains, how the purchaser feels now a year or more later. Unlike threadless or many web comic authors that I read, I don’t get any photos back from people with my shirts on. Not really. Casey and her sis showed up wearing theirs last year and that was awesome…other close friends still wear shirts from the set I gave out at Christmas years ago. I appreciate the love, but sometimes I cringe when I see them. “So amateur,” I think to myself. So perhaps no pictures is better? Or would it only motivate me to do even better?

By the end of the week, a trial version of the batik of this one should be done. The final version might have a screen print over it, something I’ve been longing to mix with batik for a long time. It won’t be the medical text in this image though, something else. The tentative title of it:

“sometimes everything seems like a band-aid on cancer.”

It’s actually a hearty blend of a few of my own ideas and inspiration from others.  It has been simmering for a while, so the flavor should be excellent.

Please go and take a look around, participate in purchases or the animated gif contest, and let me know what you think.

Thanks to all…

I’ve got projects coming out of my eyeballs now, and the new favorite is almost ready for the unveil.   It should be interesting, but more importantly, it will be fun, has been so far.

More more more.

We just passed through the annual muse-about-life time of year, and I was as useless as usual in the face of it. Another show went by as well just before that, quietly, while snow raged about and blew blew blew. But that was some time passed now, and all the gifts have been doled out (including the frog above), and all hangovers have been remedied (and perhaps by now repeated).

I wonder if we could somehow capture that end of year feeling everyday, keep it pure, but repeated, so that every morning you think, “from now on I will go to the gym/be a better person/make more frogs/enjoy lollipops/do my morning pages/call/love/breathe.”