Rebirth and Daily Doodle #1

Hey guys!

Sorry for our blog-death. Real life came knocking with a bazooka in hand and a ready-to-fire attitude, so Jonathan and I had to start talking negotiations with that reality check. It was tedious, that encounter, but I think we're at the end and nearly at some resolution of peace.

I'll be honest with you: I couldn't get a loan for my 2009-2010 school year. So, all of my plans that I've been organizing for the past year or so have collapsed underneath me. I've had to re-evaluate my situation, and my future...which is heartbreaking. So, you know that beautiful Savannah post a week or so ago? Yeah, it's not happening. We won't be going to Savannah in September...it's postponed indefinitely. *sigh*

Needless to say, I've been depressed. Jonathan's been depressed. And at this present moment, we're just getting our footing again. So, please accept our apology while we go back to the drawing board...both literally and figuratively.

In the meantime, enjoy our daily doodle series! This one is quite literally an oddball. :-P
It's just a quick digital dude.He'll at least act as eye candy for this blog post...but probably nothing else. haha



Adios for now!
-Kateri Joe

The Lovie-dovies with a Positive Outlook

('ze Arts)


('ze Jonathan)


('ze Zebra)

Sometimes we all just need a reminder of what we love.
For me, it's as simple as Jonathan, Zebra, and 'ze arts. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. :-D

How about you? What inspires you to keep going?

A Little Musical Inspiration

Greetings all! Jonathan here.

Today I thought, since Kateri has shown everyone who inspires us visually, I would bring to everyone who inspires us musically! The group is a Japanese visual kei band called: D'espairsRay.

They completely rock my socks off and murder them. Check'em out and enjoy!

Catch you fine folks on the flip side!

P.S. We are human...Slightly insane, but human

Hello, everyone!

This pair of mad scientists have been reminded of a nasty reality. We won't go into detail, because we'd hate to bore you guys to death with the woes of a college student. But, we do just want to remind everyone that it is human nature to feel put down and to need that extra push to work harder for our dreams.

Today, we'd like to post something that is part of our dream - more specifically, Kateri Joe's dream. Here is a video that isn't particularly inspirational, but when we see it, it reminds us to push harder for those dreams that people say are unobtainable. And we encourage you to find a video, or anything that reminds you of even your most far-fetched dreams, that has the same effect on you. :-)



Good luck with your dreams, and know that they are never worth giving up on...no matter what walls you have to crack to reach them.

Until tomorrow,
Kateri Joe and Jonathan

P.S. We'd like to offer an apology to all of the wonderful blogs that we follow (especially the ones that follow us back, haha). We haven't had a chance to take a peek-si-poo at our Google Reader, so we've been missing some awesome stuff on your blogs lately. :-( But don't worry, we're dying to see what you're up to!

Influence of the Week: Edward Gorey

A few weeks ago, Jonathan started talking about Edward Gorey...and I, being absolutely clueless, just wrote it off as some modern-day artist who did comic books or something. I didn't think much of it, until Jonathan told me more about him.



Edward Gorey, born in 1937, made a name for himself as an self-taught illustrator in the mid- to late 20th century. A lover of black and white that rarely dabbled in color, his pen & ink creations were witty, clean-lined, and definitely quirky. He also took his creativity to the stage by doing costume designs for various plays. By the end of his life in 2000, he had managed to create his own alphabet art book known as The Gashlycrumb Tinies, create the animated art for the opening sequence to the PBS show Mystery!, and won a Tony Award for his costume designs for the 1977 production of Dracula. Despite his vast array of artistic expressions, he always stuck to his Victorian-influenced, pen & ink designs.


(Ah! That last one is a bit creepy, considering that my nickname is Kate! haha)

I won't make the mistake of not knowing who Edward Gorey is again. His work is unique, and refreshing at that. And now, I find myself dabbling in his style with Dr. Bubonic and other little doodles.

Anywho, I hope that I've shown you something that has shown your interest. I do have to ask, though, did you know about Edward Gorey before now?

Someone please tell me "no", because I feel like a silly-head for not knowing about him sooner, haha!

Until tomorrow,
Kateri Joe

Saturday's Mission Repose

Today, we shall share with you something that we just get the giggles from. *tehe* Check it out! "Sasuke", also known as "Ninja Warrior" in America, is just what an artist needs to unwind. This Japanese show documents world-class athletes and commoners alike as they try to overcome a physically challenging, four-stage obstacle course. It's RIDICULOUSLY hard to get to the final stage: After 22 competitions, only two people have managed to complete all four stages of the obstacle course!

Here's a video showing just how hard the first stage of Sasuke is! From this clip, you can see just have funny, yet exciting and suspensful this event is on the viewer. It's intense!



Can you see how we got hooked?

Until tomorrow!
-Kateri Joe and Jonathan Engi

Progress Update: Experiments 743-747

Why, hello there, little ghostly buddies!

We think it's time for you to see what exactly has been going on in our lab.

We've been working on artist trading cards....

(but obviously not TOO much)

..and making a spectral geisha!

(Isn't she just...charming!?)


We've been playing with Dr. Bubonic...

(hehe, Edward Gorey, you are an amazing inspiration.)


...and making bizarre watercolor circus animals!


(He's holding a sign that says "Word" by the way. :-P )

Above all, we've been taking it a bit easy. Curses! We pooped ourselves out during the first week of having an open shop by pumping out a slew of products...but don't worry. We're re-energizing as we speak!

Anywho, what do you think?

-Kateri Joe AND Jonathan

So, I know we're still learning about one another. It's early in our relationship, but I can see this going somewhere...

I guess it's time to tell you the story of Savannah.

Savannah, Georgia is where Jonathan and I call home. Sure, we'll go to bed tonight in Arkansas. But, it's no longer home. Our hearts were stolen by Savannah.

Can you see why?

Anywho, this is getting too serious. So here's a picture of me, and my normal state of goofiness!

Mwhahaha...

Wait, don't go away! That wasn't supposed to scare you off!

Ahhh, come back!!

(until tomorrow
-kateri joe)

Personality...Pa-Pa-Pa Personality!?!

Hola, little peanuts!

Today, I feel like getting down and dirty. I feel like getting...personal...

You guys hardly know the mysterious Kateri and Jonathan!

So, without further ado, here is a proper introduction....just for you!

I'm Kateri Joe, and I'm goofy.

I paint, draw, doodle, write...la de da, la de da. I basically do whatever I have a whim to do, which lately is more painting than anything else!

And, here's Jonathan Engi. He's goofy, too. :-P

He's an overall artist, who is like me: He just does what he feels he can do! Lately, he's been doing Edward Gorey-esque illustrations.

We're a couple, and we've been glued at the hip for five years!

We actually opened Peculiar Curiosities on our five year anniversary, in case you didn't read that blogpost. :-P

Our first child is our blue & gold eyed tabby cat, named Zebra!

She appreciates our strange creativity.

Our lab is located in foothills of the Ozarks, sort of. We're in Arkansas. But, we will be shipping out to Savannah, GA soon...but that's another story, for another time.

Does that cut on some of the mystery? Goooood. *mwhahaha.*

'Tis all you get for now...this post is getting too long. But, we'll try to reveal a little more out ourselves every day. Promise.

May I have your tickets, please?

Oh, hello! Jonathan here!

Come to take the tour, eh? Welp, I'll be your guide through the wondrous depths of Peculiar Curiosities' fine establishment! If you happen to get lost in the twisting and winding corridors, stay put and don't wander off as I'm sure someone'll be along to get you...eventually

Today, my friends we'll be exploring deeper into the catacombs of the laboratory! Feel free to look about, but do stay close and don't wander off too far. We had a containment issue earlier with one of our experiments named, Loki. If you happen to see him, DO NOT APPROACH HIM!! He may look cute, but he certainly is not the cuddling type. Also if he happens to approach you, stay out of his reach and immediately run in the other direction as quickly as possible!

Moving on! Over here, we have my latest pieces of work:

Vampire Hunter G (the G stands for Garlic)

Isabella, the sassy latina leader of the Splatter Girls

Spookshow, a ghastly winged specter

And that concludes the tour, folks! Hope you enjoyed this little trip into the lair of Peculiar Curiosities! If you liked what you've seen be sure to stop by the main office and check the entire gang of Splatter Girls and all of our other delightful experiments.

http://peculiarcuriosities.etsy.com/

'Til we meet again! Farewell!

A Quick-ze Update

Hey, hey!! HEY!

Sorry, I'm just a little excited. So, down in the depths of our lab today we managed to discover a new love for artist trading cards and pin-up girls. You'll see the product of those discoveries later on this coming week.

Our little shop did get some fantastic promotion, though.
http://milwaukee-mommy.blogspot.com/ MilwaukeeMommy was kind enough to add us to her blog page.
http://twitter.com/art4thehomeless Art4theHomeless tweeted about us!
And, we now have 10 people that have hearted our shop!! Cool, huh?

OH YEAH, Jonathan and I did leave our lair to go out and take advantage of a 30% off sale at our local art supplier! SaWEET!

Okie dokes, sorry to be so short. My mind is racing with new ideas, and hopefully you'll get to see the fruit of that labor soon! Thanks for reading, little potato chips!

Adios, until the sun rises again!

P.S. I just had to say THANK YOU to Jennifer Magnesi http://jennifermagnesi.blogspot.com/ for starting to follow us, our first follower!! :-D

At Work, Eyes Burning!!!

Hello! It's just 'ze monster 'zat is Kateri Joe here, and I feel like I am about to die.

Well, not really, but I am pretty pooped. Bookmarks, bookmarks, bookmarks...it seems as though I am drowning in a lovely goodness of paper and lamination. But, 'tis okay. That's a happy death.

It's better than being squashed by a tornado, that's for sure! The Peculiar Curiosities lab got to deal with tornado warnings, with one twister landing only a few miles away. CRAZY, crazy. Somehow, someway, we kept trudging along throughout the literal storms to bring some new stuff to the shop! Like I said, bookmarks!!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26391713 'zats one of them, ah ha!

Tomorrow shall be a day of MORE BOOKMARKS!! (dun DUN dun!!!!) Oh, and some PRINTS!!! (dun DUN DUN!!!) And maybe, just maybe, some ACEO cards!!!!! (dun, DUN, wait...wha?)

Yes, yes, yes, I've happily come to the conclusion, with a little help from some friends, that ACEO cards would be fantastic for the shop. So, maybe, just maybe, tomorrow I'll have some to show you. *evil laugh*

Okie dokie, artichokie, Jonathan is all a bustle with work and I....I shall get ready to sleep.

Oh, and P.S: We had a MAJOR fail with our Facebook Fan Page. It seems as though it has been suspended because of a user error. (Yeah, my user error. I didn't realize I couldn't have a second account for the fan page.) Sooooo, keep a look out, we should be creating a new one!

Until we meet again, adios!

Something wickedly fantastic this way comes...!

Greetings to all the lovely peeps across cyberspace with all your marshmallowy goodness!

It is I, Jonathan, emerging from the mysterious Peculiar Curiosities' underground laboratory and I come baring gifts to tanalize your eye sockets and tickle your brain stems! ...or destroy them, which ever comes first...

As Kateri has already stated - Peculiar Curiosities has opened its doors and awaits to seep into your very being, filling it with its gooey visual love! And what love it will be! Currently, deep inside of our labyrinth-like workshop Kateri and myself are laboring away at our newest creations. Be sure to stop by and take-a-look-see at our wonderful experiments!

Till we meet again, my marshmallowy friends!

Today is THE Day

Simply put:

WE'RE OPEN!!

http://www.peculiarcuriosities.etsy.com

We're starting small, but soon, friends, we will have many more items to present to you. This is just the tip of the huge, 90-tier wedding cake.

Speaking of weddings, or marriage-like things, today is also a special day for Jonathan and me. It's our fifth anniversary!

Anywho, check it out and tell us what you think.

Adios for now!
-Kateri Joe

The Ongoing Process of Making

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking...

Hello, once again! I'm Kateri, the girl introduced by the lovely Jonathan in the previous post, and I just wanted to update everyone on our progress with Peculiar Curiosities!

So, our gypsy selves have been working away to bring something interesting to present to you. Thus far, we have some vast array of characters that will hopefully delight, or at least intrigue, your appetites. With that being said, we intend to open our doors on Wednesday, June 10th! Surprise!! That's TOMORROW!

In the meantime, I'd like to tantalize your tastebuds with a little peek-si-poo at what we're up to!

Okie dokie, artichokie! Now, it's off to work for me. We'll see you on June 10th!

Experiment 626

Greetings and Good Morning to all! I'm Jonathan, co-founder of Peculiar Curiosities - an enormous, brightly colored pinata filled with wondrous little treats for your viewing pleasure! All you have to do is whack it with a stick!

WAIT! NO! Not really...that was just a joke. Put, put the stick down... There you go...

Anyway, this post is just to introduce myself and my amazingly talented lover of 5 years and fellow artist, Kateri. (think of battery, but with a K.) Together, with a lot of hard work, extremely long hours, a dash of Cajun voodoo, a splash of insanity to add a little spice and, of course, with the love of a very cute fluffy kitty named Zebra, we formed Peculiar Curiosities!

So, stay tuned and keep your optical orbs glued to your computer monitors as we'll be updating our blog and twitter page with what we're currently concocting within our laboratory of madness.

Till next time! Good night? Morning? Which ever one you choose, I'm off to make beautiful sweet love to a pillow!