The Uncounted Year

The Uncounted Year

Let’s tear the bandaid right off, shall we?

There will be no 2018 Cut Paper Art Calendar. Sorry.

I can’t even begin to explain how disappointed I am. The Cut Paper Art Calendar has been one of the pillars of my year since 2007. The first couple of years, I self-published the calendar through Lulu. That was weird. In 2012 we made the jump to Kickstarter and never looked back. 

Coming into this year, I knew timing was going to be tough. But I was hopeful I could put aside enough time to make the Year of the Dog art and lay out the calendar. Then stuff happened.

Big Stuff.

My daughter was born (technically last summer, but it still counts). I’m making art when she’s sleeping. We moved from Fukuoka to Osaka. Then we moved again. Also to Osaka (area) - this time to a place with closets. 

I was invited to join an exhibition in Israel called Paper Heroes that opens the end of this month (or the beginning of next). New art was made.

Right now, I’m hip deep in a secret project that is really exciting, but if I tell anyone about it I get turned to stone. It’s in the contract.

So, that’s a basic rundown of the major stuff that’s been happening. In between those things there have been commissions, local exhibitions, etc. All-in-all its been an amazing, hectic, often sleep-depriving year that I wouldn’t trade for anything. 

The only downside is that I just couldn’t shoehorn the calendar in with all of the other craziness. 

The Plan

Back in 2007, when I printed the first calendar, the goal was to finish all twelve of the zodiac animal artworks. I still want to do that. After all, there’s only two left: the dog and the boar. 

The next calendar will (and I reserve the right to change my mind about any of this at any time) be the full cycle, from beginning to end, from Rat to Boar. 

After that, I’m not sure what will happen. There’s a ton of non-calendar projects I would love to explore from art books to crazy laser-cutting projects. It’s going to take some time and some research and some imagination. 

In the Meantime

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone who backed my Kickstarters, bought a calendar, or wrote to express their love for the art or give me much-needed advice. I’ve met a ton of amazing people through this project over the past decade, and your support has been heartwarming. Some of my favorite new artworks were commissions for fans who found me through the calendar.

Prints, postcards, etc. are available via my online shop.

I’m always open to talking about commissioned work. 

Have a great year!