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THURSDAY 02 JUNE 2011 // WOODCUTS BY ROMAN KLONEK

When Roman Klonek introduced me to his artwork the other week via email i literally fell off my chair. Ya'll know i'm a sucker for wood and well, Klonek combines woodcut techniques with some pretty nice looking graphics. Simple but bold, this Polish born artists works have a reference for old fashioned cartoons, especially Eastern European Styles. In the 90s Klonek studied Graphic Arts in Düsseldorf, Germany and discovered a passion for woodcut printing. And, for almost 10 years now he's been creating posters with a wide range of whimsical creatures, mostly half animal/half human, and in some pretty awkward situations. You will find a bizarre balancing act between propaganda, folklore and pop in his work. He works together with friends in a studio in Düsseldorf, Germany called Studio Dadaluxe. Check out more of Klonek's work at www.klonek.de

WEDNESDAY 01 JUNE 2011 // SORRY FOR THE RADIO SILENCE FOLKS!

OK! So, according to my calendar (unless it's wrong) it's the 1st of June and i haven't updated this blog since bloody March (eeeeek). And if i'm any good with my maths (which i'm not), that's almost 2 and a half months since the last time you read some new words from me on this thing... that's if you're still reading this thing?? Anyway, i'm super sorry for the radio silence and for neglecting this here blog which i know loyal fans of Wooden Toy enjoy and visit frequently. Why? Well, it's not because i haven't wanted to or because i have better things to be doing with my time in fact it's far from this. Well, sort of. You see for the past 6 months someone very very dear to me has been fighting terminal cancer and well, without going into too much detail here, the world that i live in lost a true bloody champion only 4 weeks ago now and my life for the past few months has been going through a terrible spin cycle. It's been a very sad and tough time for me and as a result certain things in my work life have suffered as i try to pick up the pieces. But if there's one thing i've learnt from this experience more than anything is to love your friends and family and appreciate every day with them for they are the most important things in life. So... friends of Wooden Toy - thanks for your love, your support and your patience. It's good to be back!

WEDNESDAY 01 JUNE 2011 // ILLUSTRATIONS BY DOUGLAS BICICLETA

Douglas Bicicleta is an illustrator from Brazil, a place that just seems to continuously breed some of the best artists in the world. The government must be slipping something in the water over there because seriously... this shits good. Psychadelic GOOD! Now, there's not a lot of information to be found on this artist on the indanets which is frustrating when you're trying to write a 'blurb' about his work. He doesn't even have a website but makes up for this by having a good amount of work on his flickr site. Check it out >> here <<

TUESDAY 22 MARCH 2011 // THE ART OF FANTOME

Adam 'FANTOME' is a UK artist making some pretty sweet screenprints, goccos and all round rad artwork. I bloody LOVE this GAGA poster design above. On his website Adam sez "A couple of years ago something in my head snapped. I had grown tired of producing pretty insipid work on the computer to pay the bills; the late nights and tight deadlines tied to a mac on autopilot, pushing pixels had begun to mess with my mind. I kept seeing a recurring image of a younger me - standing in the garden of the house I grew up in with pens and pencils instead of fingers and a smile on my face. It reminded me why I had started making pictures in the first place, because it was fun." I think anyone that's creative can relate to this memory and we know that this urge can make us all drop what we're doing and pick up the pencil or pen? Why, because it makes us happy. Well said. You can check out the art of FANTOME at his website www.fantome.co.uk where you can buy tasty treats from his shop.

FRIDAY 18 MARCH 2011 // NEW TIMBA SMITS ONLINE STORE

ALRIGHT FOLKS! I've finally gone and done it. I have a new ONLINE SHOP over at my portfolio website for all things Timba related. It's the first version so i'm starting things off small and building it up over the course of the next month and a bit so keep a look out for exciting new updates. But...to start things off i have released a limited run of ONLY 79 A1 screenprints of the two artworks above. HEY GIRLS BECOME PREGNANT TODAY! and FONTOPOLY which are among the most popular of my pieces to date. So, you'd better get in quick because once they're gone... they're gone! And, as a welcome gift i'm giving away a free LYRICS AND TYPE ZINE with every order to the first 50 customers. So get online do it, do it! www.timbasmits.com

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