Sunday, March 30, 2008

A Happy Return to Kahawa

Hey Shoppers for a limited time, that time being April 1 - 13th The Alphabet Shoppe will be hanging out at my favourite coffee house in the city, Kahawa. Located just steps away from The Cloak and Dagger {just East of College and Bathurst on the North side of College}. We'll be showing all the letters that I've got en masse. As for the prices you will have to come and check it out for yourself as prices have been seriously reduced on the alphabets due to the recent financial pitfalls we have experienced at both of the Shoppes.
So if you have a little one, a recent addition to a friend's family or just like looking at bright beautiful letters while drinking great coffee this is the time for you.
There will be no reception or event.
Check out some of the letters below and don't forget our beautiful lil'sister blog the Alphabet Shoppe.

There may be one more announcement this week regarding work from Fables that is still available.

Until then I remain your humble madcraftsman,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com


Saturday, March 29, 2008

Karen Found It


"Karen Found It " is a fantastic antique shop located in Mirvish Village right across from the Victory Cafe
and only steps away from The Beguiling and Suspect Video . If you are looking for incredibly well priced vintage home decor and accoutrements you can't go wrong here
You especially can't go wrong because for the next couple of months Karen Found It will have lots of paintings of antique toys, letter sets and such, courtesy of the madcraftshoppe. This summer we will also participate in car free Sundays in Mirvish Village via Karen Found It, where we will sell STACKS of letter sets.
She was also telling me that she may get a fishtank full of fish so the kids have something to look at whilst you browse for yourselves. I can't stress how cool the stuff she has at the store is folks.
Dates for Car Free will get listed here at a later date. Oops! Here they are in me moleskine , so it must be a later Date right now.
MIRVISH VILLAGE PEDESTRIAN SUNDAYS
June 8th, July 13th,Aug 10th. please forget to bring your car or people will look at you funny.
Karen Found It Wed-Sat 11-6, Sun 12-6

OOOH Here is the Final Design and it is boss

The first in the madcraftshoppe's {that's where you are now} clothing line. This is a exclusive limited run that is getting printed so I don't starve this month and must be reserved via email.
T Shirt is avail. in men's large or women's medium,
White shirt with navy ink, twenty dollars each
Currently reading, "Blood Kin" by Ceridwen Dovey, which is a South African, Afrikaner name I assume, her name is the most beautiful new word I've ever hurt my mouth trying to say. I would name my daughter Ceridwen but if I was calling her name across a field by the time I figured out how to say it right, she'd already have joined the circus. The book is painfully human and simple, my favourite style.

The Canadian Girl project continues


Canadian Girl six SOLD and seven
twelve x twelve inches,acrlyic on canvas
SOLD
Or subscribe to Canadian Girl monthly and I'll send you four {that's one a month for four months} for three hundred dollars. Return to this post at a later date as I've collected dozens of quotes from people about how the Canadian Girl makes them feel, imagine that Walrus magazine.
Here are a few to get us started...
J.P wrote
Good boots for standing on an east coast beach. No way would I think that was the Pacific - although I'm not sure why I'm so certain.

D M wrote
I've always felt that this picture conveys the same feeling of other Canadian icons like the railroad trilogy, The Rheo's Northern Wish...comfortable in the face of a giant chunk of land

K P wrote
if walrus publishes, will canadian girl be worth millions?? because there's a version of her in my living room right now, and i could stand to be a millionaire. it's the east coast for me, too. the wind is brisk and probably stings. her hands are tucked in firm and close, and her eyes are a little watery. cheeks and nose rosy, but they go with the outfit. those are posh gum boots for a 7-to-12-year-old. waiting for something... a sign or a mood to pass. lonely. but the kind one seeks out.

R I wrote
This makes me think of the shores of Lake Ontario. Not far from me, down the hill towards the Beaches.On the small crest of sand; a foot or two high, above the shoreline, looking out across the vastness of water. Wearing her flag, facing the U.S. to the immediate southeast.

K P wrote
funny - with my east coast setting, i was just thinking, "is she looking for england?"
D A wrote
I bet she's playing some mean-ass recorder on the other side - probably the theme to friendly giant....although its obviously to windy for anyone to really tell...

P F wrote
I am really loving how the bottom of the flag aligns with the horizon of the ocean...this piece makes me feel rather wistful myself.

A Y wrote
A delicate ballance between arty and party - perhaps a comment on federalism. With the beret and red party boots she has a Montrealer's fashion sense, but tellingly she is wrapped in the Canadian flag.

A P wrote
She looks as though she's waiting for someone to come home.

D A wrote
Maybe its a boy in girl's boots who's taking a wiz off of the clif. What would that say about federal politics????

A S C wrote
I think it is a lake.And the flag seems to smother her ,rather than comfort.Is it holding her back?Is she free to move her arms?A northern lake,above the tree line.I hope the flag gives her warmth.
Currently reading "Angle of Repose" Wallace Stegner, one of the best books ever, the ending is a wee cheap, all is forgiven in the writing though.
Send your thoughts on the Canadian Girl to me via emal at madcraftshoppe@live.com or leave a comment here, God only knows we haven't had a comment in a long while, but we do get lots of email, we'll do a mailbag section next month so send us your thoughts. {Lord that sounds lame}
A.S Hahn

A-E Alpha Dragons

Top Red Dragon A-E, Green Dragon A-E
approx Twelve inches x Thirty inches
acrlyic on canvas w/frame
Two Hundred Dollars each

Gathering from the response over at Facebook, where I sell lots of work to lots of people all over Canada, if you want one for your child or a child's friend , or anyone else under three foot tall, you should get in touch with Shay very soon. My email is all over this place.

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Canadian Girl

Canadian Girl, fourth in the series
twelve x twelve inches
acrylic on canvas
SOLD
When I think of icons or images that I feel succeed, graphically, emotionally, something that resonates, images that people continually tell me that they love, she is always in that conversation.
Everytime I paint her she's a little different, the wind on the flag is stronger, her hair longer, the sky darker or lighter, depending on my mood, once she even stood in front of a fire.
For the next couple of weeks I will add another Canadian Girl to this site and we can track the changes together.
To reserve and share your thoughts on her, contact me here,
A. S Hahn
and as always don't forget our sister site for children of all ages

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Mad Craft Shoppe TShirts



TShirt Design for the Mad Craft Shoppe {that's me}. Shirts are white with navy printing, limited run of twenty shirts, five Women's Medium, Fifteen Men's Large reserve now.
Sets, Hot and Cold taps, six x six inches, acrylic on canvas, fourty dollars a pair.
Hot and Cold Running Love Taps, same msrmts. sixty dollars for the set.
When I am fiscally adjusted I will write for days, until such times, my succinctness must suffice.
Let me say, I love these, yes they are "home decor" oriented on the surface just thik a little more, if they were hanging in your home, what do they say to you ?
Can't wait to hear from you readers.
A.S Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Friday, March 07, 2008

Insomnia and plastic toys



Medecine Set Two,
each piece is Eight x Ten inches, acrylic on canvas,
set of three one hudred dollars, set of six two hundred.
Plastic food for Hungry Painters One
eighteen x eighteen inches, acrylic on canvas
two hundred and fifty dollars
Plastic Food for Hungry Paniters Two
sixteen x sixteen inches, acrylic on canvas
two hundred and fifty dollars.
My mind is mercurial, this is no surprise to anyone who knows me, follows this site etc. Then suddenly when I fixate on something I can't move from it. These pieces are certainly a testament to that.
I will say more later, or is more necessary?
hurray, tomorrow is my birthday
A.S Hahn

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Letters and Sets on a Snowy Day






Here is a great new set of Steel Wool packaging from the ages, which makes me laugh every time I look at it and two new "Alphabet Shoppe" sets. The Steel Wool set is Eight x Ten inches {times three} forty dollars each or the set for one hundred dollars.
The slate A-E set are eighty dollars, five x seven {x five}
The horizontal are the same as the slate

A set of five Six x six inch letters or numbers is seventy five dollars, you can order any comination, it is a minimum order of five letters.


Done in this "School House style, not the more complicated style of the Twelve x Twelve inch Alphabet Shoppe paintings, which are Sixty dollars each, or three for one hundred and fifty dollars.


news to come, just in the middle of doing some more TShirt design work.

Shay.