So I\’m back in Seattle now. My trip to NYC was a lot of fun but of course I\’m glad to be home to my wife Jenn and to be working. The show was a lot of fun. I got to meet a handful of some of the best names in the urban toy industry including Paul Budnitz and Huck Gee. Most of the artists I met were really cool and down-to-earth. I got to the show at 6 and headed right in as a VIP. My brother Chris joined me and we were one of the firsts to show up. Which was good cause it gave us plenty of time to view all the Munnys while the crowd was small. I went up and down the wall of Munnys taking pictures of each one. On the second pass I realized that the chain with the dunny heads was missing. I inquired about it to The Toy Baroness and she recovered it from the box downstairs. I then proceeded to place the chain of skulls on my piece and basically alerted to everyone that I was one of the artists. Now that it was known that I was indeed an artist, I was then interviewed by Mike who works on the Kronikle about my Munny. It was a little weird being interviewed especially on camera. He just basically asked me a few questions about the Munny and I just basically looked like I had never been on camera before. Then Chris and I were talking about Andrew Bell\’s piece and Andrew Bell came up to us and thanked us for the nice things we were saying. We talked for a little bit and that\’s when I started my mission of obtaining as many autographs as possible. I pulled out my blank Munny I purchased before going to the show and Andrew was very cool to create a little drawing on the back. After that I got to talking to Carlos East of The Beast Brothers. Carlos was super nice and we talked a little shop while he proceeded in creating a masterpiece on my Munny. I think he was determined to show up all the other artists that I might get autographs from. Carlos is a twin and both he and his brother are artists just like Keith and I. Next was Huck Gee. Again, talking shop a little and getting his autograph. On and on it went. At some point I managed to introduce myself to Paul Budnitz. He was really nice and said my Munny was great. I said my favorite was Kronk\’s piece. Kronk created this brilliant Munny that was fashioned after an aged porcelain jar. It was absolutely beautiful. Paul agreed and said, \”yeah, I bought that one.\” After joking about why he hadn\’t bought mine I let him go and he then said, \”by the way, love your maiden shirt.\” I thought this was awesome cause I had just explained to my brother the night before that I was going to wear it to the show because when I do it never fails that maiden fans come out of the woodwork. So Chris and I got a good laugh out if it. Eventually two hours went by and the non VIPs started coming in. Soon after while I was getting a signature from an artists, another autograph hunter whose picture I have above came up to me and politely asked me if he could borrow my sharpie. I was like sure thing. He would continue to return and then borrow it all night long. Which was perfectly fine with me, but more on that later. I got a chance to meet Coolvader (he was on of the other 5 winners) and we talked some shop and also talked about the school we both went to, Ringling. He was really cool and we talked about possibly combining talents and having me do a sculpt and him paint it, as I can sculpt and he can paint so much better than I. I hope that happens but you never know. They had a open bar at the show. Did I mention that? I only had two but it loosened me up a little. Maybe a little too much as the next time our autograph hunter asked to borrow the sharpie I was like \”if you want I\’ll sign you Munny too.\” He laughed and went on. After some time Keith, Stacy and her friend finally got in and I went to go show him my piece for the first time. As I was showing them it the autograph hunter came up to me in astonishment and was like, \”you mean you really are one of the artist? Dude, I thought you were joking… could you please sign my Munny?\” It was all very funny, me signing an autograph. I joked about how my drawing skills lack and it was just going to be a basic signature but I don\’t think he cared. So I signed my first autograph and it was surreal. Later on he came back with a couple friends and they requested an autograph too. I was more than happy to do so. I can\’t imagine that ever getting old. It\’s extremely humbling and flattering to have that experience. So anyways, the show was a lot of fun. I met some great people and felt like a rock star for a night. I received so many compliments on my Munny. It really was a great departure from reality.

The next day I went back to leave some business cards on the desk, a little depressed that my piece still had not sold. The following day I went back again after Keith, Stacy, their neighbor Dave and I had brunch. Later that day I met up with Mackenzie (an ex-coworker at my last job) at the gallery so that I could show her the piece. That\’s when the piece sold (read my last blog entry for more) and I became one very happy man.

That\’s about it. Munnyworld was a great time. I\’ve since been commissioned to do another piece. Hopefully things will continue to progress for me. It\’s been an exciting last couple months and I\’d love to keep it going.