Giving Thanks

While we're not huge fans of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner (Monkey's vegan and Seal's vegetarian), we do appreciate the holiday as a chance to reflect on all the things that we have to be thankful for.

Whether it's a nice and cozy (although sometimes cluttered) Monkey + Seal cave to live/paint in, or the fact that we get paid to be creative, Monkey + Seal both have a lot to be thankful for. We're definitely thankful that we have the privilege of being able to keep up this blog, and that we have a super group of readers out there who support us. Thus, as a little thank you, we're going to offer 20% off everything in our Etsy store from today (Wednesday, 12am PST) to Friday the 26th, 11:59 PST. When you check out, use the coupon code: "tofurkey" to get your discount!

While Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on all the things in life that we generally take for granted, we believe that there should be more Thanksgivings - maybe one every month! We find it's always a good idea to reflect once and a while to put things in perspective, especially when things are looking tough. Sure, we might not have that "perfect" art job, or we might be having a creative block where weren't not even making art, but at least we have a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, and the privilege of being able to connect to others via the internet.

So take the time to give thanks for all the awesomeness in your life, and we'd like to thank you, our readers, our customers, and our friends and family for supporting our creative endeavors and helping us thrive!

Graduation

Yes, Monkey just had to silkscreen/heat emboss his cap

Today, Monkey + Seal will be graduating from the Academy of Art University. After 3.5 or so years of all-nighters, cutting mats, and painting like our life depended on it, we will be trading all that in for all-nighters, framing paintings, and painting because our livelihood does depend on it. While that may sound grim, in all honesty we get to paint, draw, illustrate, and generally live our dreams, so we're not really complaining!

Although we're excited about the commencement, we look at this milestone as a marker in our lifelong journey as artists. Now is the time to really focus our energy and move on to bigger and better things - to keep learning, to keep striving, and to keep moving forward. Graduating is a stepping stone that will open more doors, and create new opportunities for us. We'd like to thank all the people who have supported us over the years, whether it be financially, emotionally, or simply understanding why we always seem "too busy" to hang out. To our teachers, parents, siblings, friends, and everyone who came to our shows, bought our art, commented on our blog, followed us on the blog or on Facebook or on twitter - Thank you. We couldn't have done it without you.

Congratulations to all the other graduates who are all embarking on a new stage of life everywhere! Party, celebrate, and take a short breather, but don't let it get to your head and make you lazy or complacent. Keep on working and chasing after the dream.

Thank you AOD attendees! Next show announcement!

First off, a huge thanks to everyone who stopped by the Monkey + Seal table at the AOD con this weekend! A special shout-out to our buddy Seichi who selflessly let us borrow his car for take-down on Saturday and all-day Sunday. You rock!

Second, we would like to announce our next show: Noise Pop 2010's Pop N' Shop! We're super excited to be able to sell alongside SF Etsy friends Sagehealer and BeyondWonderland, and other fine vendors such as 3 Fish Studios, and the Milk & Eggs Co. It'll be on Saturday, February 27th from 12-5 at the Verde Club at 2424 Mariposa in San Francisco. Admission is FREE so be sure to stop on by! Woo!

THANK YOU!!

Monkey + Seal would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported us last night (and the past few weeks) to make Handmade Ho Down such an amazing success. Everyone who volunteered their time, bought stuff, just showed up and hung out, let us get out of class/work early, who dealt with Monkey's lack-of-sleep-craziness - we really couldn't have done it without you.

Seal sold out of a few of her prints and Monkey sold a bunch of ties and is almost out of an entire edition of prints. We made a lot of good contacts and met tons of awesome people. Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you at our next show!