World’s Greatest Toys!

KnittingFrau Jillian (author of Big Girl Knits and the forthcoming More Big Girl Knits) sent this nod to Jared (”Effing”) Brown, a master embroiderer who creates wicked pop culture embroidery.

Link: Article on Craftzine.com
Link: Jared’s Work (Flickr)
Link: Knittingfrau’s BLog

Very cool!

Benjamin

Here is your Daily Mego Adoration for Tuesday, March 18, 2008: Otto Lange’s Captain America Oil Painting!

While working on the book, I was fortunate enough to meet Otto Lange, a brilliant artist with a shared passion for vintage toys… especially Mego. Otto is a successful fine artist, well-known for his pop culture-oriented oil paintings that are priced reasonably enough for those of us who appreciate unique works of art — but lack the requisite funds — to actually acquire.

Otto painted one such piece of fine art that got me hooked… a gorgeous representation of the Mego Painted Cowl Batman head. After purchasing the original painting, I contacted Otto and told him about World’s Greatest Toys!, which was then only halfway done. Otto immediately signed on to create some original works of art for the book, and I’m just thrilled with his contributions. One of Otto’s paintings in the book is a full-body, oil-painted portrait of Mego’s Captain America:

It’s hard to capture Otto’s wonderful detail in a JPEG, but here are some exquisite details, which give you an idea what the piece looks like in person. Take, for example, the neckline (below left), which includes a ’stray’ thread. If a stray thread doesn’t say “Mego,” I don’t know what does.

Painted in 2006, “Mego Captain America” is 8.25″ x 10.75″, Oil on Gessoed Panel. If you are interested in acquiring the ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING, please contact me.

You can see more of Otto’s gorgeous work at his Web site: OttoLange.com. While you’re at it, be sure to check out his hysterical blog, Making Art the Otto Lange Way.

Benjamin