The 2012 Holiday Ornament Contest!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

Here at Wallyworld, it’s an annual tradition to encourage all of my Wally fans to come up with the new holiday ornament design.  My all-time favorite came two years ago when Kelly Garvin put together Christmas and bedbugs for the timeless classic seen above.  This is everything a good ornament should be: timely, funny, easy to draw and something that my customers will actually buy.  So the race is on!  You have a little over a week,  until midnight of Thanksgiving (11/22/12) to email me your ideas and come up with a winner. The person(s) who think up this year’s design will receive a free ornament, valued at $12.50.  To see and/or purchase some of these amazing yuletide treasures, jump on over to the ornament section of my online store!

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Following that music muse right off a cliff….

Posted on November 1, 2012 by admin

OK, I’ll be the first to admit that these new mugs are even weirder than my normally weird pots.  I don’t know what got into me.  I’ve done lyrics on pots before and the problem has always been that the words sound great in the music but come across as a bit hackneyed and lame on the pots.  So I said to myself, “Whoa!  What if I use totally lame lyrics to begin with and just go with it!”  So go with it I did. Below you see the world premier of a new series of pots that celebrate pop music’s cheesiest and most trite songs.  I only made a few of these mugs and the only place in the world they are for sale is in my online store.   The triple threat of lyrics in this awesome set come to you via Boy George, Frank Sinatra and Lionel Richie:

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Apocalyptic clowns?!!!

Posted on October 25, 2012 by admin

So if the world as we know it does come to an end when the Mayan calendar runs out this December, Wally and his doomsday merrymaker buddies will be ready to restart civilization with a bunker full of laughs and seltzer water!  Honestly, I sometimes wonder what makes me come up with weird designs like this.  But if you happen to have a friend or family member who is a clown, and you are looking for the perfect gift to cheer them up, get on over to our online store and pick up a mug, plate or bowl with this crazy new design!

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What if they had an election and Mercury went into retrograde?!!!

Posted on October 18, 2012 by admin

Here at the Wallyware headquarters, we are always searching for new niche markets to cater to.  Over the past few years, Robin (my oldest daughter) has helped me appreciate the wild and wacky world of astrology and tarot cards.  I still don’t believe in this stuff, but I fit the profile of a Libra perfectly.   So I guess half of me is buying into it while the other half is viewing it with a skeptical eye.  The Mercury in retrograde phenomena is a really fascinating concept.  What’s really happening is that the planet Mercury is moving backwards in the night sky.  But what astrologers say is happening is all kinds of mayhem: things break, people have trouble communicating, and everything has a tendency to get all wonky.  I love the idea of a “the shit’s gonna hit the fan” event that can be predicted just like clockwork.  So when is the next time Mercury goes into retrograde?  Tuesday, November 6th: the day of the election.  YIKES!  You heard it here first. Tell everyone you know that they only have 18 days to prepare for the worst and they can purchase one of these new mugs at our online store.

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Keeping busy with the Big Chili Cook-Off awards.

Posted on September 6, 2012 by admin

We’re having a really good summer here in the sales department at Wallyworld.  One reason is a series of large orders from the Keith Fleming Gallery in Port Clinton, Ohio.  Over the past few months we’ve shipped them hundreds upon hundreds of pots and they are now my top-selling gallery for 2012.  It’s great to have such an amazing new account!  The other reason my sales are up right now is that the buying mood overall is a lot better.  A lot of the new accounts that I took on in the past year have been re-ordering steadily lately.  If you have been reading this blog over the years, you will note that this is significantly better than the dark days of 2008 – 2010 when I had to take a job with the U.S. Census because my business was so slow.  So every time I hear Mitt Romney ask that rhetorical question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” I answer with a resounding, “Yes!”  Those rhetorical questions can cut both ways, can’t they?

So here’s a nice little “How To” photo essay on our yearly ritual of making the Big Chili Cook-Off awards.  This is a fundraiser for the mountain area volunteer fire departments in Evergreen, CO. I’ve been doing these awards for ten years now, and it’s a great event to be a part of.  This year we made ten of the “chili chalices” and six bowls with a total labor hour tally of over forty hours for my assistant and I.  Each piece has original cartoons that go with the theme of the award (e.g. “best showmanship” – fire-breathing bikini roller skate chili).  I always gripe about how much effort these pots take, but by the time the kiln rolls out, I’m really happy with the results.

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Some people really have a way with words!

Posted on July 26, 2012 by admin

When I heard the words, “retroactive retirement”, I knew it would be a good starting point for a workplace themed mug.  Last week Ed Gillespie, Mitt Romney’s senior campaign adviser used this term in a CNN interview to explain how Mitt Romney wasn’t in charge of Bain Capital during the years he sort of was.  It’s confusing, isn’t it?  While I realize this issue is just a blip on the map the history of United States politics, I’m excited to offer a porcelain mug that commemorates the failed talking point.  I only made a few of them, and they are available at The Evergreen Gallery and my online store.

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“The plate’s the thing”

Posted on July 20, 2012 by admin

I’ve been doing Wally cartoons for so many years, when somebody asks me if I’ve done a Wally cartoon about a specific topic I’m sometimes uncertain whether or not I have.  Has Wally ever had a Shakespeare adventure?  I’m pretty sure he hasn’t, and I’m surprised it took me so long to do a joke about The Bard.  It’s such a fertile ground for Wally humor: a poodle on a balcony barking out, “Oh Wally-O, Oh Wally-O, Where art thou?”  The canine humor possibilities here are huge.  I did the above design for  The Blue Heron Gallery in Ashland, Oregon as per their request.  They’ve been doing a great job selling my work this summer, and Ashland has a Shakespeare festival with plays and events happening from June to September.  If this design gets a good response, I’ll probably do more jokes like it.  So if you happen to go to Ashland some day, be sure and drop by The Blue Heron and use that “Oh, Wally-O where art thou?” line when you walk in the door.  I’m sure they’ll love it.

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THEY FIND LIVE SHEEP INSIDE SHARKS ALL THE TIME!

Posted on May 23, 2012 by admin

This is definitely one of the weirdest design ideas I’ve come up with in quite a while.  For the record, I didn’t think up the words for this one.  That credit goes to my wife, Lori.  We were having dinner with our daughter, Robin and I don’t exactly remember the context of the conversation but when Lori said, “They find live sheep inside sharks all the time” Robin and I both laughed a lot and marveled at what a weird picture that sentence paints.  So many questions!  How does a shark come in contact with a live sheep?  Can sheep hold their breath for days at a time?  It all just boggles the mind!  So a few weeks later, I immortalized this story on a mug and now it’s for sale in my online store.  I only made four of them as I’m not expecting it to be a runaway best seller, but you never know what hits with the public these days.  I sure like it a lot and I’m drinking my coffee out of one these days.

Father’s Day is just around the corner, and my weird pots (see above) would make great gifts for your weird dad.  This morning I put together a “Father’s Day Gift Ideas” section in my online store.  It’s got over twenty funny pots that just might be the perfect item for you perfect pop.  All of these items are in stock (as of today) and ready to ship.  We even do “No Frills Gift Wrapping” for just 75 cents, so get on over and get your dad something fun!

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Why does that man sit on his porch and drink coffee all day?

Posted on May 9, 2012 by admin

The idea for this mug came in an email from one of my customers:

Dear Tom:

For years I had a “Sleep is for wimps” cup at my desk at Intel. I was appropriate since I would arrive by 5:00 am and usually depart around 7:00 pm (such was the life of a facilities manager). Now that I’m retired my mantra is “Every day is Saturday” (my working neighbors hate me when I use it as my reply to their inquiry into how I’m doing in retirement).  Maybe you can use this line for a cup for all the new retirees joining my ranks.

Regards,
Gary Gibbs
Portland, Oregon

What a great story!  I’m truly honored to have had my work on this man’s desk and I hope this new mug has the kind of cartoon he was hoping for.  I had to throw in my take on retirement because my coffee table has been littered with AARP magazines and AARP junk mail for the past few years.  I love the way some of the articles in these publications are downright moronic (e.g. “How to pick a secret password for your online accounts”)  So much for the worldly wisdom that comes with age, eh?  This mug is available in both male and female styles at the online store.  Now, go mow the lawn or take a nap or something!

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Three galleries well worth visiting, Doggonit!

Posted on May 2, 2012 by admin

Wally always goes on the wildest and coolest adventures, mostly figuratively but this month literally.  The Guilford Art Center in Guilford, CT just received a shipment of seventy fetching Wally pieces for their “Hair of the Dog” pet-themed art show that opens on Friday, May 5th and continues through June 24th.  If you happen to be out in that neck of the woods on Saturday, May 19th you might want to check out their cocktail party fundraiser that will benefit the Connecticut Humane Society.  Special guest for the evening (along with Wally) will be Jill Abramson, Executive Editor of The New York Times and author of The Puppy Diaries. Ms. Abramson will sign copies of her book, which will be available for sale.  Schmoozin’ and boozin’ with animal lovers, what could be more tail-waggin’ fun than that?!!!

If you want to see an excellent selection of Wally’s greatest hits and newest adventures, go to the Show of Hands Gallery in Denver, CO.  I delivered a bunch of excellent pots there a few weeks ago and I’ll be making another delivery next week.  They do a great job displaying my work and it’s always fun to drop by and see the amazing selection of fine craft that they carry.  Get your paws on over there!

The Evergreen Gallery in Evergreen, CO has been carrying my work for almost twenty years now and this month they are featuring my ohata kaki red dinnerware in their “Studio to Table” show that runs from May 1 to July 1.  They also have a phenomenal display of Wallyware and I’ve been doing a good job of getting them all of my latest designs within just a few days of each kiln unloading.  This isn’t too difficult as they are just ten miles from our home/studio!  The weather has been absolutely fantastic up here in the mountains this spring, so if you feel like taking a trip to Evergreen Lake, be sure and check out the latest art in downtown Evergreen.  Just don’t strap Wally on the roof of your car on the way home, OK?  He would much rather ride in the car with you.

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