Kidrobot San Francisco is proud to present Dunny artist and painter, Julie West for a Sketch Session on Thursday, April 7 from 6-8pm. Come on down and get a custom sketch just for you. Bring in your favorite Julie West toy, a sketch book or scoop up a MUNNYWORLD figure when you get here.
Columbus, Ohio is home to the Rivet toy store and art gallery and for the month of October, they are graciously hosting a breast cancer benefit group exhibition, REMEDY. 14 of today’s top artists have created works inspired by the theme and will donate 25% of exhibition sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The opening reception was this past Friday but the show will be on display through October 31.
Mugo is not your run of the mill designer art toy. In fact the Mugo Player is a functional art toy/ flash drive/ Mp3 player that blurs the lines between art, toys, music and technology. Like most platform toys, Mugo has a limited edition artist series available including the works of Shin Tanaka, Julie West, Paulo Arraiano aka Yup and Touguri. This simple 3.5-inch tall character is 1.8-inches wide, comes with 2 gigs of memory, some ear buds and features all of the music controls in the face. The DIY white and black version is just waiting for you to customize. Download the template to practice or submit your art work and join the Mugo community of artists. Right now they are only available for $50 for the blank and $60 for the artist series on the Mugo website. Be on the look out for more artist designs by Frank Kozik, Jon Burgerman and Scott Tolleson coming sometime before the holidays.
UK born, SF based artist, Julie West will be exhibiting her new solo show, Itsy Bitsy at myplasticheart in NYC. As the title suggests, the show will focus on new paintings and custom figures created in a bite size scale, with an emphasis on her sharp attention to detail. Julie will be in attendance during the opening reception on August 27 from 6-9 pm.
Julie West was born in the winter of 1975 in the Midwest. She spent her childhood taking art classes and volunteering at a local art gallery. She then went on to study art and graduated with a BFA in Illustration in 1998 from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Julie started out as a traditional media artist - using primarily acrylic, gouache, and technical pens. After spending a few years working as a print and web designer, various computer and design related elements began to surface in her work. Now her work is created with traditional means about half of the time - the rest being digital or a combination of the two.
Her work relies heavily on people and environments. Often quirky, bizarre, or ironic, Julie looks heavily at the way people live and define themselves, as well as the environments which they create for themselves. Studying these details, often reveals the unique moments that make us human.
After moving to England in 2005, Julie now spends her days in her studio, quite content that she makes things all day.
Shop for Julie West products at kidrobot.com.
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Be entranced by the newest Dunny series, Dunny Fatale, featuring designs from 18 prominent and talented female artists. Some are cute and sweet, others are bold and cruel, but all are irresistible. Each blind boxed 3-inch figure retails for $7.95, comes with a trading card and some include accessories. Dunny starts available now at select retailers, Kidrobot stores and on kidrobot.com.
Artists in this innovative series include Alex Anderson, Catalina Estrada, Klor, CW, Aiko, Kathie Olivas, Wendi Koontz, Koralie, The Baroness, Anna Chambers, Amanda Visell, Amy Ruppel, Julie West, Toofly, Junko Mizuno, Aya Kakeda, Tara McPherson, and Sara Varon.
For today January 28 only, purchase a case of Dunny Fatale and get an exclusive colorway of the 3-inch KLOR Dunny while supplies last. Check the map to find the nearest participating retailer!
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Never be a victim of unrequited affection with Love Bunny in your life. Artist Jeremyville’s super soft limited edition plush measures 16-inches from ears to feet, has embroidered freckles & eyes, appliqued hearts on his chest and feet, and retails for $29.95. He also comes with a full-color, 8-page comic book by the artist. Fall for Love Bunny at select retailers, Kidrobot stores or kidrobot.com.
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We asked Julie West: What’s your favorite toy? She replied with this 8-legged fellow:
My favorite toy is a stuffed octopus. It was ordered out of a catalog by my Aunt (in - law) and it’s meant to hang in the bathtub (with suction cups) for some bizarre reason. It also has a smaller, baby octopus sewn to its head, because I guess that is where baby octopus live? We tend to hide it around the house so we find it in unexpected places. I am not sure why, but it’s definitely developed its own personality and is one of the few things we are taking with us when we move to the US.
See more of Julie West products at kidrobot.com. Julie contributed to Dunny Fatale, which goes on sale Thursday, January 28.
