The River’s Cascade, Under the Blossoming Plum

Featured Art and events

The River’s Cascade, Under the Blossoming Plum The River's Cascade, Under the Blossoming Plum

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu 2012

Featured Art and events

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu 2012 Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu 2012

This Hunger Shall Not Be Satisfied (Futakuchi-Onna)

Featured Art and events

This Hunger Shall Not Be Satisfied (Futakuchi-Onna) This Hunger Shall Not Be Satisfied (Futakuchi-Onna)

Postcard Pack Strikes Back

Postcard Pack 3 - Now available in the shop!

Postcard Pack Strikes Back Postcard Pack Strikes Back

Cold as the Winter Wind, Sharp as a Fox (Yuki-Onna)

Featured Art and events

Cold as the Winter Wind, Sharp as a Fox (Yuki-Onna) Cold as the Winter Wind, Sharp as a Fox (Yuki-Onna)

The River’s Cascade, Under the Blossoming Plum

January 6, 2012 in Art - Recent Work, Featured, Japan, ` | 1 comment

The River's Cascade, Under the Blossoming Plum cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 8 x 10 inches
medium: cut paper on illustration board

There was a time, eons upon eons ago, before the earth had fully cooled or I had graduated from junior high school, when I drew dragons. Daily. In math class. Typically surrounded by broken swords, shattered shields, and bristling with spent arrows. I’m fairly sure this is the first dragon I’ve drawn since those hallowed days of yore.

One of the things I enjoy most about doing the artwork is the research, long before pencil touches paper. Often, pieces such as this, where I know ahead of time what the subject will be, but not the concept or emotion, are the most difficult to get a firm grasp on. I have to ask myself, “What does a dragon mean to me, metaphorically, conceptually, emotionally?”. Aside from my inner (and still very much alive) middle-schooler who just thinks dragons are awesome.

Thus begins the research into the myth, mythology, and symbolism of the subject matter. Granted, it might appear that I’m wasting vast amounts of time surfing the web, but I assure you, that is not so. For example, The Japanese dragon is usually drawn with three claws. The Chinese dragon has five – at least the one which represents the emperor does. In both traditions (and Japan’s draws heavily from China’s, while also making it uniquely its own), the dragon is associated with water.

One of the thoughts inescapably running through my brain for the past couple months has been the earthquakes and tsunami of the past Spring. In my original sketches, I played up the ideas of a more violent clash between earth and water, along with a morally ambiguous wyrm. In the end, it is more appropriate that 2012 be represented by an auspicious water deity.

I’ve been playing alot recently with layering. It’s most obvious in the waterfall, which becomes more multi-hued and complicated where it merges with the dragon. The big lizard itself is an experiment in layers to push and pull certain parts of the creature back or pull them forward. Some areas of scales are above the line-work, while others are beneath.

To rip a page from the incredible Karl Kerschl, here are some of my favorite dragon-y things:

  • The Hobbit
  • The constellation Draco
  • Dragonball
  • My coolest belt
  • this calendar:

The 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar, interior(you didn’t really think I’d be able to resist the self-promotion, didja?)

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu 2012

January 4, 2012 in Featured, Japan, News | Add your comment

Happy New Year!

After moving to Fukuoka, it took a little while for me to get my aging engine warmed up. Happily, that period seems to be sliding behind with the new year, and I am fully revved and roaring into 2012.

2012 cut paper art calendar available now We begin with the 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar. It began its life as a project on Kickstarter, where it was successfully funded. Printing is finally done, and the first few batches to the Kickstarter backers have all been shipped out. Happily, there are still a limited number of calendars left!

Calendars are available from the shop at US $30 apiece, including shipping. Jump on over and click the red “Buy International” button for everywhere outside Japan. If you want to buy more than one copy, please contact me; maybe I can help you save a little money on shipping! For those of you in Japan, the cost is ¥2500 (shipping included). Just select the “Buy Japan” button.

まだ切絵カレンダーの在庫に余裕があり、1点2,500円（送料込）で販売していますので、お買い求め頂けます！口座振込みでのお支払いをご希望の方は、Eメールでご連絡ください。Paypalでのお支払いをご希望の方は、下記にある赤字の「Buy 日本」ボタンをクリックしてください。

Next up is the 新春クラフトマルシェ / New Year’s Marche Crafts at Seibu Shibuya. This group show of some of my newest art was a last minute addition to the schedule, and I’m afraid that I didn’t have much time to let people know about it. I myself was unable to take the trip north to Tokyo, but one of my good friends snapped a photo of some of my work. You can see it here.

Coming Soon, there’s a bunch of new art that very few people have ever laid eyes on. There’s a very cool interview I had the pleasure to do recently that I can’t wait to share with everyone. Not to mention all of the little, secret projects that are coming together to make 2012 an amazing, art-filled 366 days.

This Hunger Shall Not Be Satisfied (Futakuchi-Onna)

December 12, 2011 in Art - Recent Work, Featured, Japan | 5 comments

This Hunger Shall Not Be Satisfied (Futakuchi-Onna) cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 8 1/2 x 15 inches
medium: cut paper on wood

Kechi (けち) is one of the most useful Japanese words you’re ever likely to find. It means cheap or stingy, but isn’t limited to just money. It expands to include emotion, time, and helpfulness among others.

Futakuchi-onna (two-mouthed woman) is all about the kechi. In one tale, faced with a food shortage, she stuffs her own child while letting her stepchild waste away. In another, she withholds food from herself, trying to please either her miserly husband or her own stinginess. Self-denial manifests as a separate ravenous mouth on the back of her head, grumbling and mumbling and, finally, satisfying itself.

It’s difficult not to associate the Futakuchi-onna with modern eating disorders and standards of beauty. Hunger-abstained bursts out from the flesh gibbering and gnawing – a metaphor for either the cause or the disease. All grabbing tentacles and unthinking appetite, the jellyfish seemed the perfect choice for the zoological avatar.

Details: Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks For the Support!

December 5, 2011 in Exhibitions & Events, Japan, News | Add your comment

2012 cut paper art calendar pre-orders availableThanks to all of the amazing people who backed the 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar Campaign on Kickstarter.com! Because of your kind and generous support, the campaign was a success.

Thus, with no further ado: Pre-Orders for the 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar are now being taken.

update — The 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar is now available for purchase. Please check the Calendar Shop for a preview and to order. 2012年切絵カレンダーご購入頂けます！カレンダーのショップからご閲覧・ご購入頂けます。

Of course, for those who backed the campaign; your copy is already being held for you. If this is the first you’ve heard of the calendar tho, there are still a bunch unreserved. Want one? I don’t blame you. Here’s how you reserve a copy or two:

That’s it. Easy, huh? It looks like the calendar will go for around $30 USD, worldwide shipping included. I was hoping to offer it for less, but the exchange rate isn’t playing nice.

As for the calendar itself, the first draft was sent to the printer two days ago. The first (and, God willing, the last) color proof should arrive tomorrow. I’ll make any corrections necessary to the color, and fix any dumb mistakes I may have made (I haven’t found them yet, but they are surely in there). Then a week or so later, I should have the calendars in my hands. There may be a second color proof in there too. Time will tell.

Until then, enjoy the front and back covers (above), and the March spread below. Those are the right dates, yes?
2012 cut paper art calendar pre-orders available

2012年切絵カレンダー販売キャンペーン

November 15, 2011 in Japan, News | Add your comment

アップデート — 2012年切絵カレンダーご購入頂けます！カレンダーのショップからご閲覧・ご購入頂けます。

2012年切絵カレンダーの販売を・・・・いつもと違うやり方で試み中！

本当に販売できるかどうかは皆さんのご協力にかかっています。11月22日までに「キックスターター・ドットコム」という、こちらのサイトから事前注文してください！カレンダーや切絵の魅惑のビデオ説明付き！
☞ 2012年切絵カレンダー販売キャンペーン

「いつもと違うやり方」はどういうことかというと、これまで米国のこちらのサイトからカレンダーを作成・販売していたのですが、今年は日本の地元印刷屋さん（ポストカードの印刷をお願いしている）でカレンダーを作ってもらいたい！と思っているのです。ただ、最小ロットが100部なのです。

キックスターター・ドットコムでは事前に注文してくれる（あるいは、資金を募金してあげようという素敵な）ファンを募り、事前注文の額が一定のレベルに到達できたら、カレンダーやその他作品の実際の印刷にこぎ着ける仕組みになっています。私の場合、世界各地のお客様100人分のカレンダーを印刷しお届けするには少なくとも2,200米ドル（約20万円）必要ですが、それを事前に募りたいのです！11月22日までに2,200米ドル 募れなければ、このプロジェクトは不発に終わります。2,200米ドル以上募ることができれば、事前注文頂いた皆さんから事前にお支払頂き、2012年カレンダーを印刷してお届けします！キックスターター・ドットコムでは、下記のようにカレンダーの事前注文（30米ドル − INOSHISHIカテゴリー）だけでなく、その他販売物の事前注文や、ただの支援金！も受付けています！ Read the rest of this entry »

Media Blitzeroo and an Interview Too

November 14, 2011 in News | 2 comments

Having lived with myself for as long as I can remember, I have to admit that, even to this day, I am constantly fascinated by the enigma that is myself. Then, on other days, I find myself about as exciting as dry toast. If you are also in this latter group and would prefer not to know anything more about Patrick Gannon, artist person, you need not read any further.

On the other hand, if you think that reading me chattering on about paper and life would enrich your day, then I heartily welcome you to dive in!

Gratifications
First, I need to thank a couple websites for thinking my work was kinda neat, and telling folks about it:
The good folks at Visual News started the lovefest. (Thanks!)
TrendHunter kept it going. (cheers!)
and Neatorama brought it home. (ありがとう!)

Exhortations
No blog posting this month would be complete without a touch of shameless self promotion. If you have somehow escaped my haranguings thus far, your luck has just run out. Hop on over and check out The 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar campaign (or read about it on PaperCuts).

Confabulations
Now we get to the meat of the matter and suck the marrow of the broken metaphor. Spanish newspaper and website 20minutos.es were gracious enough to interview me. Topics covered include paper, Japan, the groping of artwork, and analog versus digital. Presented in Spanish.

I took 5 years of Spanish in school. Sadly, the moment I jammed a few Japanese words into my noggin, all the Spanish came spilling out. For those of you, like myself, who are liguistically-challenged, I present the questions and answers in their original, unedited maximum verbosity.

At the time, this article was on my mind. Read the rest of this entry »

A Multimedia Extravaganza

November 13, 2011 in Exhibitions & Events, News, W.I.P.s | Add your comment

cut paper art calendar campaign on Kickstarter.com
For the first time since I turned fourteen, I am starring in a video. Unlike those videos of yore, there is no music, nor am I flailing away on old plastic barn-paint bins pretending I was playing the drums. Also unlike those ancient moving images, the modern variant is neither on VHS nor mortifyingly embarrassing. At least not yet. Ask me again in ten years.
cut paper art calendar campaign on Kickstarter.com
This video was made to support my Kickstarter campaign for The 2012 Cut paper Art Calendar. I admit to feeling a bit silly talking to my computer. Also, I think I sound a little like a late-night infomercial. On the plus side, the video does give a brief glimpse into the process that went into making a piece that nobody who doesn’t live with me has ever seen. One day, that piece (see the sketches!) will grow up into the great and powerful dragon which will represent the entire Zodiac for 2012… not to mention January in the calendar.

You will also get to see my face. Check out the video.

The campaign itself is going fairly well. With 9 days to go, we’ve raised almost half the funds we need to print the calendar. If you’ve been holding off, yes, your support is still needed. My appreciation goes out to everyone who has pledged, commented, or emailed. Thank you!

Join the 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar Campaign (updated)

November 1, 2011 in Exhibitions & Events, Japan, News | 5 comments

cut paper art calendar campaign on Kickstarter.com

update — The 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar is now available for purchase. Please check the Calendar Shop for a preview and to order. 2012年切絵カレンダーご購入頂けます！カレンダーのショップからご閲覧・ご購入頂けます。

There’s a long, long, sometimes tedious story behind this post, and I still haven’t decided how much to tell, and which details will only bore the pants off of you. So, lets begin with the pizzaz!

The 2012 Cut Paper Art Calendar is now available!…sort of. This year, I’m printing the calendar myself, using local printers here in Japan (the same folks who do such a great job on my postcards!). To do that, I’m going to need a bit of a hand from all you guys. And when I say “hand”, I mean the one reaching for your wallet. So, please hop on over to my Kickstarter project and pre-order a calendar. Or two. Or a baker’s dozen. While you’re there, bask in the glorious rewards I am offering (ps: they are named after the animals of the Japanese Zodiac).

update: I forgot one of the most important points! Like all kickstarter campaigns, the 2012 Cut paper Art Calendar is an all-or-nothing affair. Money only changes hands (and rewards only rewarded) if I reach my goal of $2200. Kickstarter collects the money after the campaign ends on November 22nd, 2011. Thanks!

After that, go forth and share this happy news with your friends and relatives, neighbors, arch-enemies, pets, beautiful strangers whose eyes catch yours on the street, and the other 7,000,000,000 people in the world.

About the calendar
For the next twelve months, you will find yourself in a strange, familiarly alien world. It is a world of shadowy forests and living stone. A world where the sea and the wind wear faces; where great and eternal animals converse with colorful spirits. Where, in 2012, a dragon is the waterfall it bursts from.

Mostly, it is a world of paper.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and that brand new image (my first ever cut-paper dragon, and the first drake I’ve drawn since middle school) graces January. The other 11 months each feature one of my favorite pieces from the last couple years. This year, I’m planning on rotating in two new pieces for February and March, so let me know if you have any favorites!

Hopes, Dreams, and monotonous tedium under the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

Postcard Pack Strikes Back

October 14, 2011 in Featured, News | 8 comments

Postcard Pack Three by Patrick GannonWhen I was a youngun’, one of my favorite books was a simple, but effective little tale called something like “Good News Bad News”, which followed one young man as he went through a fairly rough day. First, he fell out of an airplane: bad news! Onto a haystack: good news! With a pitchfork in it: bad news!, etc… until either he got home safely, or was torn to pieces by a herd of irritable porcupines. I can’t remember which.

My week has been like that. Porcupines included.

Good News! Postcard Pack Three is now, at long last, available. You can find it in the shop, along with Packs One and Two.

Bad News! My printer has died. Ignominiously during an attempted coup. As such, the new postcards will have to ship without nifty packaging for the time being. Also, all invoices will be handwritten. By me. Think of them as autographs.

Good News! Even better, all fifteen (15!) postcards are now available in one MEGA-PACK for the ultimate in cut-paper art card-iness. No longer will you have to decide which cards you love most.

Bad News! But what if you want to share your favorite with all your friends, or hang a copy on every wall…and the ceiling?

Good News! Not a problem! For the first time, I’m experimenting with 5-of-a-kind packs! Just scroll down to the bottom of the Postcards Page, and choose your favorite card from the “larger image”. You’ll get five! If this option proves popular, I’ll add a ten pack. If not, I’ll quietly disappear it and deny it ever existed. Thoughts?

Bad News! The Japanese Yen (¥) is so darn strong that I’ve had to bump the shipping price a tad. It sucks, I know. I kept it small.

Bad News! Remember that dead printer? Well, until it gets fixed, I can’t make any more Prints. I’ve got a few in stock (check the print page for availability), and then they are gone. Until I get a new printer. And I’m gonna level with you; that might take awhile seeing as I just moved across the country. Not to mention that my computer is starting to act a little rebellious too. Yeah, big bad news, but there may be a golden lining…

Good News! The art for the 2013 Cut paper Art Calendar is done! This year, I want to try something different, namely using Kickstarter to cut out the middleman and make the calendar myself. Look for more news very, very soon. Of course, if it doesn’t work out, it could turn into bad news… hey, are those porcupines?

Cold as the Winter Wind, Sharp as a Fox (Yuki-Onna)

September 22, 2011 in Art - Recent Work, Featured, Japan, ` | 4 comments

Cold as the Winter Wind, Sharp as a Fox (Yuki-Onna) cut paper art by Patrick Gannonsize: 8 1/2 x 14 3/4 inches
medium: cut paper on wood

Look, if you dare, into the mesmerizing, frosty gaze of Yuki-Onna, the winter woman, the temptress of the snows. Feel the chill creep up your shivering spine. You hands shake from the frozen air and the arctic fear. Will you go to her when she beckons you out into those cold, cold wastes? Will you welcome her icy breath? Will you surrender your dimming warmth as she encompasses you in her pale arms, comfortless wintery lullabies gliding you off to frost-tinged sleep?

Lafcadio Hearn introduced me to Yuki-Onna in his fantastically spooky collection of ghost-stories and yokai-tales, Kwaidan. That frosty mix of mercilessness, loneliness, regret, and love stayed with me, defining Yuki-Onna. Like most folk tales, there are numerous versions of Japan’s Snow-Woman; icy temptress, lost soul, killer, lover, ghost, goddess.

Cut-paper is, by definition, a hard-edged medium. For reason’s I will probably never understand, I always find myself trying to push this very dry, very sharp technique to be wet, oily, and, in the case of Yuki-Onna, soft and translucent. Always a fun challenge. The pale skin tone, with the wood grain visible underneath, was achieved with at least four layers of two different kinds of washi paper.

Detail views follow: Read the rest of this entry »

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