Garden Party

In 1992, the year after I graduated NYU Film School, I met my husband, Ed Mironiuk. Eleven months later we started our own company, Cha-Pow! digital ink and paint, coloring animation for Coke commercials, Cartoon Network pilots and Saturday Night Live, to name a few. In late 2005, as a hobby, I started Cuddly Rigor Mortis LLC, hand making plush dolls of my own creation. I had never sewn anything before in my life. I was lucky enough to have been included in gallery shows (Gallery 1988, Rivet Gallery, etc) and magazines and fans found me from all over the world. But after 3 and a half years of sewing the same patterns over and over again in my spare time, I felt the need to expand my set of characters. I decided to put away my sewing machine and pick up a paintbrush. I had taught myself how to paint when I was eleven and it's been a constant calling. No longer limited by the constraints of plush design, the range of Cuddly characters quickly grew to include food, real and imaginary animals, and charming botanicals. Again, I consider myself lucky that my paintings have been featured on top design The Japanese American National Museum presents Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty, the first large-scale Hello Kitty museum retrospective in the United States. Organized as part of the global icon’s 40th-anniversary celebrations, the exhibition examines the colorful history of Hello Kitty and her influence on popular culture. Hello! includes an extensive product survey, with rare and unique items from the Sanrio archives, alongside a selection of innovative contemporary artworks inspired by Hello Kitty and her world. Hello! is curated by Christine Yano, PhD, author of Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty’s Trek Across the Pacific, and Jamie Rivadeneira, founder and owner of the Los Angeles pop culture boutique JapanLA. Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.