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Peeky peek

propeller and wings - a tiny glimpse into the current painting in progress.
propeller and wings - a tiny glimpse into the current painting in progress.

More images at flickr.com/photos/mykeamend (many images from start to this… nearer to finished state). I still have a way to go… once it *looks* finished is when I *really* start working.

This piece will probably not be complete till just before the holidays, and I will hopefully be through the proofing stage by mid-January. Afterward, I’ll be finishing up a book cover for someone I can’t yet name. Here is hoping the coming year will be spent more on art for the sake of art, more on illustration for authors, and less on programming/technical/web design work for others.

Clients: don’t take that personally.

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The Rescue Limited Edition Giclees current count

Cropped image from "The Rescue"
Cropped image from "The Rescue"

I was asked earlier today what the status (particularly current remaining count) of the 32×22 (full sized) giclees are, and since I feel it may interest repeat visitors and new visitors alike, I thought it would be good to repeat the information given here:

Of 50 to be made, ever (no “Second Editions”, no “Bonus Editions”, no “Super-duper Extra Golden Millennium Editions Plus!!!”), minus the one I am keeping for myself, 10 remain.

Of those 50 “the Rescue” giclees, 2 have been stolen (1 disappeared in shipping and was replaced with the next print, 1 was stolen from an owner), 2 have been destroyed (1 accidentally, 1 purposefully).

That leaves 46 existing, meaning only one in 139,417,298 people planet-wide will have one of these things when they are gone.

I am saving 3 for upcoming gallery shows, 1 for myself, and I keep 1 print on hand for every print that is in transit (to have a replacement on hand for those who order, just in case something goes wrong).

So, when another 5 of these have sold, they’ll be out of stock online, and I think they’ll have pretty much seen their last Holiday season here.

I say these things not to pressure anyone into buying, but as a heads up. And my refusal to release future separate editions, is to protect and ensure the value of those prints purchased from me.

I do 1 set of full-sized limited editions from each of the three support types (metallic, canvas, and fine art rag paper), and any open editions of any of those support types are at a reduced size – and of course un-numbered and un-certified.

Thank you for visiting – thank you everyone who has purchased prints here (and enabled me to make artworks for a living) – and thank you everyone else who has made this possible – for every blog, every article, every friendly link or friendly mention, for every url scrawled out on a bathroom wall, and every child named “MykeAmend.com” – You people are incredible, even those of you which don’t exist but might.

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Black November Sale extended, Holiday Hours info

My extended Black Friday/Black November Sale is being extended through December 14th, 11:159PM PST.

I now have a somewhat better idea how our holiday plans will be, and am making December 14th the cut off date for prompt shipment in time for the holidays.

I tend to ship quickly, but prefer to play things safely – so this is what I see as the absolute latest date for holiday orders, factoring in foreseens such as custom stretching and mounting, signing, embellishing, varnishing, packaging, and unforseens as well.

Though the sale prices end on the 14th, I will continue taking orders and shipping through the 23rd, and will resume shipping again on January 1st. I still may be able to get later orders out in time for the holidays, but highly recommend ordering before the December 14th cutoff date.

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Old Becomes New

It was brought to my attention yesterday that there were a number of prints which were not available in the current incarnation of my site – the result of starting anew on the store I suppose.

Looking through the collection, and cross-comparing, I’ve found at least 40 available prints of at least 15 artworks which never made it back to this site when the rebuild was done.

I’ve added a few tonight, and may add a few more soon. Mostly these are my darker works from over previous years.

I’d also like to start moving ahead and making screen printings of a lot of my engraved images, though I am not quite sure if I am going to make special screen prints for wall hanging, t-shirts, or other items in this course – I believe I will be leaning more towards the t-shirts, bandanas and patches – as I’ve already giclees of most of the engravings.

There will also be some books returning. I am remixing my comic book, starting from the ground up in a lot of places, deleting scenes, adding new ones – and leaning more towards the serious and slightly comedic intended work – less towards the wacky shock humor bit it had become. I’ll have related merch for that when done, but if anyone is interested in any of the remaining comics (there were only 100 of which printed), well just go ahead and contact me for those.

My children’s book, 2 years in the not-making, is next on the slate – I do however have two painting commissions to finish (one of which a book cover for a fave author), and some book illustration (interior work) to do for another author friend of mine.

Anyway – I see a lot of great things coming for this site, and will have a lot of news to give in the coming year. I have a good feeling I will find more time to get more of these projects off my plate come January – but for now – watch for the release of two new paintings (and giclees from them) sometime between December 25th and January 10th.

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Sepia Saturday – Free drawings

On Saturday November 28th of 2009, Spend more than $100 My Store, and receive an original 8.5 x 11 inch drawing, drawn on 400-lb 4-ply archival bristol board in pencil.*

Pencil sketch for example of general drawing style, not one of the drawings offered

*Terms:

1) The theme and style of the image will be chosen by the artist according to your purchase, and made to mesh well with your purchased items. For example: A purchase of a giclee of “The Rescue” might yield a drawing of an airship, while purchase of a couple of “Conception” prints might produce a drawing of mechanical insects.

2) The artist reserves the right to end this promotion should an unforeseen high amount of interest be expressed in the form of purchases (but will still make good on all sketches owed up to the point of cancellation).

3) Drawings will be shipped with their corresponding purchases, and as a result there may be a delay of up to one week on shipping (but only if there are a lot of drawings to be made as a result of this promotion).

4) Offer Ends at 11:59:59 PM Saturday November 28th, 2009, Pacific Standard time.

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Goggley Stripey Elf – By Liz Amend

My sister in law Liz Amend makes these incredible fairy figures, and figures by her are always in rather high demand. This one, I just *had* to post here, as it has stripeys and goggles and a very cool nut-shell helmet. It is available here on Ebay.

Harden is an intrepid explorer and photographer and it looks like he is off on another adventure! He wears a little acorn cap (sculpted of polymer clay) and goggles. He has a tiny camera to capture all the amazing things he will see, maybe he might even see a human! Harden measures about 7 inches tall from his head to his toes, but will measure taller with his stand (not shown).

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November Sale

Winter is on its way, and in order to make our Holidays better, yours and mine, I am holding a big November Sale.

Giclees are the main thing on sale this month – some of which there are less than 15 of remaining, ever, out of 50 that will be out there in the world, ever.

Beth and I would like to get into our apartment before winter hits, which will require a new electrical box, having the stove connected, and a lot of work and investment all the way around. Help us towards this goal, and help yourself to prints at the lowest prices we can ever offer.

Now is your best chance this year, perhaps ever, to get these prints for yourself, friends, or family. Not only are the prices incredibly low, but reserves being what they are, some of these may be gone completely by the month’s end.

I’ve organized a section in the store for this sale, click here, or look for “November Sale” in the store categories (lower right side of this page).

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Steamcon and Vampire Ball Aftermath, plus: Sorry if I gave you the Plague

Cold… very cold. I’m probably burning up though. A bit dizzy, very hungry… no food in the house really, and it’s too late for delivery. We have two cats, a bag of rice, and I am sure I can find something resembling soy sauce if I look hard enough. I am however trying not to use up my options.

I’ve read up on this H1N1 thing: Next stage: My head pops off and sprouts tentacles, and then we all have to deal with Kurt Russel until the end of the thing. In Grand Rapids… lots of shelter. I need only kick a Yeti out of his ice cave.

Right now I must go outside and start yanking distributor wires, as per the President’s mandate on flu, second after “going back to school”…

… or so the dancing ad ladies on myspace tell me.

Steamcon, as I hear, went incredibly well. I am reading rave reviews about the event, and was informed by the promoter that we sold most of the prints we had sent there. A serious thank you to all you people who made purchases there, and another to the promoters and everyone who helped, from organizers to patrons – you are all incredible.

What?? Why wasn’t I there? Where was I?

Well, aside from having the flu very bad, which isn’t an excuse because that happened afterward – but something you should consider when you think about rattling my cage…. aside from having the flu… Well, even with month’s of notice, there was no way Beth and I could scrape together what was needed for flights to Seattle and hotel stays and shipping our things to Steamcon. We are artists – and as a result, our budget, after saving up – was more or less the “We have $20 for gas and $40 for tickets (if we don’t worry about next week) WEEEE! Let’s go” variety…. which was perfect, considering there was just that sort of event in just driving range, on just that night… with Voltaire, Bella Morte, Versailles, and Hellblinki Sextet (for these great acts links below)

… If it makes you feel any better… I got the flu.

[BONUS! – some pictures, pre flu]
Vampire_ball001
I am not this short, nor is Steven (of Ego Likeness) this tall (though he is tall) I am sitting
on the floor, unaware that Beth has been waiting minutes for me to notice the camera.
At the Table, moments before, Donna (Ego Likeness) had mentioned really liking our interview
in Weird Tales Magazine. I was surprised – actually, I had given up on seeing that
interview see print – forgot to ask when it was being published. I suppose they interview
well in advance, or have to push things back and forward as editors and magazines do.
Maybe they had to edit all the crazy out of mine. Anyway, it was a very nice surprise, and
having such news given to you by a favorite musician…  who just happens to have
copies of the mag… even better.
Vampire_ball002
Opening Band: Versailles. I liked them, will have to give them a closer look.
Vampire_ball002
Donna Lynch. Looks so much better in person, yet I have many more bad photos on my flickr
account.  I am not good at show photos with a point and shoot, not at all.
Vampire_ball002
Hellblinki Sextet with Voltaire. Not the same as the Skeletal Orchestra, I’d imagine,
but not better, definitely not worse – just a different sort of awesome.
Vampire_ball002
Voltaire‘s eyes started to glow, and then snack foods appeared on all the tables.
This may not be what he was trying to do… and perhaps I should be glad for this.
Vampire_ball002
Valerie from Hellblinki Sextet posing for Bethalynne. Aside from the band putting
on a fantastic show, they were all pretty damned amazing people in addition to their music-ness.

More bad photos at flickr.com/photos/mykeamend

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Pieces to be Available at Steamcon

This is a listing and gallery of the original artworks and prints I plan to have available at Steamcon, pending their approval.

Steamcon, is a large Steampunk-themed event held in Seattle Washington on October 23rd-October 25th of 2009 at the Seattle Airport Marriot hotel; It will be an amazing event, though, sadly, I will only be there in spirit.

I have however spent all weekend hand-embellishing many of the prints I am sending to the convention – look for them mixed in with the standard prints (labeled the same, and equally priced). Some are easy to spot, some not so easy.

If you are interested in grabbing prints there, please , I recommend you do so early and make the print shop your first stop – I was only able to send 50 prints total, which amounts to 5 or less of each print.

… the originals of course are even more rare – one of each in the world and all – so please take a look at the art show. Quick-buy pricing is available for all, but each only until the first bid is made.

Clicking any image below will give you  a better preview of originals and prints available.

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