Philip Nicholas Barbato was born in Smithtown, NY, the last male descendant of a proud family of farmers, in 1976. By the age of three he enjoyed memorizing design details of automobiles and pointing them out to his mother. This is mostly irrelevant, except to indicate Phil’s instinctive inclination towards order and control in art. Also, it was pretty obvious that he was not going to be a farmer.

Though proficient in math as well as art in high school, Phil did not want a life of calculation and chalk dust. He thought art would be the easier path. He entered Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Art in the fall of 1994. This turned out not to be the easier path.

After an extended stay at VCU, where he earned a BFA in Sculpture and Extended Media with a Film minor, Phil settled in Richmond, Virginia and into a working life. He held several jobs, each one a variation on the theme “Creative Professional.” His artistic ambition, however, did not rest.

In his late twenties, prolific and successful artist friends (and jealousy) motivated Phil to rededicate himself to his career. He began painting regularly and experimenting with plush. He discovered his work had the power to make people giggle and point and say things like, “I want that!” This was a good thing.

Throughout the mid aughts, Phil sold his art at the Bizarre Market and group gallery exhibitions in Richmond. Over the last 3 years, he has branched out to regional and national shows including: The Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philadelphia, Renegade Chicago (part of an Etsy Plush team group booth), The Brooklyn Lyceum Market, and Crafty Bastards in Washington, D.C.

In 2009, Phil had his first solo exhibition at Gallery5 in Richmond. Plushozoic presented a collection of plush works as a natural history exhibit, complete with artifacts and informational posters. Phil also got to be on TV.

Upcoming exhibitions include Quirk Gallery and World of Mirth in Richmond, Virginia.

Currently, Phil is at work in his home studio, painting, sewing, drawing, or staring out the window imagining what it’s like to be a farmer.

OMG Cuteness!

Last month we introduced you to the awesome that is the Baby Octopi. The world gasped and awed collectively, and the universal question was “Could anything be cuter?”

And while it is a tough to imagine, there is ONE possibility. Ladies and gents, we’d like to introduce you to this month’s cuteness:

Baby Apes!

Baby Apes think you're pretty adorable too.

Like Little Apes hit by a shrink-ray and then sent through a trans-cute-ifier, these Baby Apes dial the cute to 11.

I understand if you’re two breaths from a cute-coma, overloading on the fuzz and the sweetness. How are mere mortals expected to resist?

Where we were and where we will be

So, you ask, how can you get your hands on some of this cute for your very own? Glad you asked my friends, glad you asked!

This past weekend, May 15th and 16th, we were in Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing for the Art Star Craft Bazaar. We had a blast, sold tons of Baby Octopi and made new friends.

June Calendar

That bear looks familiar, doesn't it?

In June, we’ll be at our usual gig next to Quirk Gallery on Broad Street in Richmond for First Fridays on June 4th, 6-10pm.

On the 12th, we’ll be in Arlington, VA for the Ballston Art Market in Welburn Square.

Saturday the 19th, we’ll be at the Saturday Stroll crafts market in Richmond, also in the Quirk parking lot, from 11am-4pm.

And finally, in conclusion, we’ll get to the end

If you can’t make it out to see us in person, don’t forget you can always order online at Etsy, fan us on Facebook (where you can also see our full, constantly-updated calendar of upcoming events), or twitter us at @whiskerbears. If you don’t see exactly what you like in the online shop, drop us a line, and we’ll work it out.

We’ve got some big show announcements coming up in July, so stay tuned for those!

Have a great start to the summer! See you soon!

Phil, Meghan & Ella (who likes to take all the credit for inspiring the cutes.)

It’s been far too long since we’ve sent out a monthly update. Now that the craft show season has officially arrived, it’s high time we checked back in and let you in on all the new stuff.

Updates:

First, the big news: we are the newest members of the Richmond Craft Mafia! We’ve jumped right in and are helping out with the prep for the upcoming Spring Bada Bing show (Sunday, Apr 18, Plant Zero, RVA). If anyone wants to volunteer to help out at the show, please let us know. We’re thrilled to have been “made” in the RCM, and can’t thank everyone enough for their warm welcome.

The almost-as-big second news: Meghan is now running her own monthly craft show, as part of the Saturday Stroll event. Saturday Stroll occurs on the 3rd Saturday of every month, and encourages Richmonders to come out and support their local retailers. The craft show happens in the parking lot next to Quirk Gallery, from 11 am-4pm. March 20th was the first show, and the next show is April 17th. The show is gently curated to highlight local and regional independent artists and crafters. So come out every third Saturday, and meet the awesome people making things in the area. If you’d like to participate as a vendor, please email Meghan at: saturdaystrollcrafts at gmail dot com.

By popular demand we’ve got prints of the “Yes Bear” paintings for sale, for just $15! These are high-quality prints on archival 8.5 x 11 paper. You can see them all (and buy them all!) here.

And our newest monsters are these ridiculously adorable octopi. Try and resist the cute, I dare you!

Schedule:

There’s always lots more stuff at our booth than you can find on Etsy, so come out and see us. We’re applying to all kinds of art shows in the mid-Atlantic, and if you know of one, we’d love to hear about it.

Here’s where you can find us through April:

March 27 – Tooth and Nail show – 11 am to 7 pm – Velvet Lounge – Washington, DC

April 17 – Fool for Art – 10 am to 5 pm – John Tyler Community College, Midlothian campus – Midlothian, VA

(If you’re paying attention, this is the same day as the next Saturday Stroll. There will be artists at Quirk; however, this event was already on our calendar, so we’ll be at this instead. No reason why you can’t hit up two fabulous art shows in one day, even if we can’t!)

April 18 – Spring Bada Bing – 11 am to 4 pm – Plant Zero – Richmond, VA

If you’re not in and around Virginia, just wait until May! We’ll be doing lots of traveling up and down 95, so stay tuned for those shows.

And finally:

Want to keep in touch beyond our newsletter? Follow us on Twitter, fan us on Facebook, and keep an eye on Flickr.

Happy Spring y’all!

-Phil & Meghan

The new site is a WordPress blog with the OMG-so-awesome (and free!) ComicPress theme and ComicPress Manager plug-in to make updates and management a breeze. I redesigned the templates to simplify and keep the comic in the forefront. That said, I couldn’t resist going a little designy. It’s certainly a mild evolution over the old Tumblog. Someday I hope to do a more comprehensive design, but sometimes you gotta just get these things done!

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Phil.

If you still need some presents to round out your eight crazy nights, or maybe you subscribe to other festivals of decadence and celebratory merry-making at the end of the month, have we got the answer for you! Starting tonight, Richmond’s Craft Mafia is hosting their annual Handmade Holiday at the Visual Arts Center (here is a map).

Tonight’s preview show is open to the public (with a $10 suggested donation to support our lovely host site, the VisArts Center.) Tomorrow it’s free to get in, and you’ll get to shop the wares of 42 local craft-type peoples. Get something for your brother! Your mother! Yourself!

The pertinent details:

If you haven’t already heard, there will be a special guest star appearing at the booth this weekend. If that’s not enough, we’re giving out free candy canes! (Awesome, I know.) And you can meet Toda, the giant flying squid, complete with wings and goggles.

This is our last show before the end of the year, so come out and see us! If you’re not in the vicinity, please stop by the Etsy shop for your funky gifting requirements. If you haven’t checked it out in awhile, you might have missed our scarves, hats, custom apes, OMG Bear! digital print, and other new awesomesauceness. Orders through next week should arrive before Christmas, and if you order after that, we’ll ship every darn day in an attempt to get your orders to you on time.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for a crazy 2009!

-Phil & Meghan & Ella the wonder-pup

New Apes!

The weather is looking a little frightful, but these new monsters are so delightful! Come by the booth and mention this blog post and we’ll give you 20% off your purchase! Here’s the deets for the weekend beat:

Friday – Charlottesville
3pm to 10pm
Downtown Mall
We’ll either be at The Southern (located in the former Gravity Lounge Space) at 103 South 1st Street, or we’ll be set up at The Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar (aka Tea House), located at 414 East Main Street. We won’t know for sure until we arrive this afternoon, but the two locations are just a short walk apart.

Saturday – Charlottesville
10am to 5pm
Downtown Mall
We definitely will be at The Southern on Saturday.

Sunday – Richmond
12pm to 6pm
Gallery 5, 200 W Marshall (a block north of Broad and Jefferson)
$2 admission (to benefit the Fan Free Clinic and Gallery 5, they need a new roof!)

We have some new apes, prints, and a slew of monster scarves and hats. Hope to see you out there!

I picked up my new shirts yesterday and I’m pretty excited about it. Big thanks to Jenny and Carly at Affordabilitees for making them happen so fast.

You can grab one online at the Etsy shop. And in person at the DC Craft Mafia Holiday Heist, the Charlottesville All-Star Holiday Show (Dec 4 and 5 on the Downtown Mall), or Richmond Craft Mafia’s Handmade Holiday.

Hey everyone! I’m doing a webcomic called I Heart Bears. It’s about some bears and it’s totally rad. I’ve been doing it for almost 4 weeks now and I’m having a lot of fun. Check it out!

It’s Whiskerino time again. That means I’m growing a beard from a clean shave for 4 months and taking pictures of myself every day. It’s a narcissist’s dream.

The last Whiskerino was a boon for me creatively and is the inspiration behind Whiskerbears. This time, I’m excited to see so many old friends and I’m already inspired again. I’m working on my photo skills more this year. Shooting in RAW and “developing” them in Photoshop. It’s fun.

I’m not going to set any lofty goals this time, like a Whiskerbear for every day or anything like that, but don’t be surprised to see some beard-inspired art flowing forth!

Huzzah!

I just got back from Gallery5 where Plushozoic has been de-installed. It was a little sad, taking apart something I put so much effort into, but overall it was an amazing experience. I mean, I got to be on TV!

Here are a few lessons I learned in the process of creating the show:

• The cost ($65, in my case) of a vinyl sign for the wall is all-encompassingly worth it. It looks muy professionale.
• The majority of the traffic for a gallery show (at least in this city) happens on opening night, so make sure your price list is prominently placed and legible from the get go.
• Poster Tack doesn’t stick shit to a painted brick wall for more than a day.
• Foam core is second only to duct tape as the most versatile substance known to man.
• Spray adhesive gets on everything within a 10 foot radius (including you) no matter how careful you think you’re being with it. Use it outside. My sewing table is still tacky.
• Fur or fabric slipcovers for plinths and pedestals are faster than spackling and painting and they look friggin sweet.

Sure, I wish I could have sold a few more pieces (I mean, seriously, what am I going to do with an eighteen-inch, wire-armatured, prehistoric Whiskerbear mounted to a furry plinth?) but I’m glad to have the inventory back in time for Crafty Bastards.

I want to thank Amanda, Kim, and Kevin from G5 for all their help and support. Extra special shout-out to Tiara for sewing loops in all my plushies on the Friday of the opening. Crucial! And thanks to all the people who helped whose names I’ve forgotten. Seriously, there are a lot of people there!

You guys need to support Gallery5, even though they’re in a registered National Historic Landmark, they operate entirely on donations and private funding, with no help from the state or federal government. Plush they’re just awesome people and they have very good shows there and a pretty amazing and ever-changing beer selection.

And I have to thank my BFF, Oura, and little Max for helping me finish the paint job. I would have been painting right up to opening night, if not for them.

My lovely wife, ever the crafty business mind, is working on a plan to get the Plushozoic show into other galleries. Keep watching this space for a press-release or something like that.