I am happy to announce that Nikki and I have launched our Etsy Store just in time for the holidays. At last you will be able to purchase original artwork and prints of our work online. With our prints selling for $10 each, I think it's a good alternative for this holiday season considering that many of us are in a tighter financial position this year.

We will be adding more items to the store in the near as well as distant future. And don't forget, our art books are also still available online at very affordable prices.


In addition, Nikki has been putting some time into her DeviantArt account, and is accepting commissions through it as well. You will see a lot of new artwork from Nikki on there, and a lot of older works that have not been previously posted online.


Our hope is that this venture will help us financially also. Many of you already know this, but Nikki and I have both become suddenly unemployed... just in time for Christmas! In between hunting for other work opportunities, we are expanding our art sales to try and compensate for things a bit. Your help would be greatly appreciated!

When I got up on Wednesday morning, one of the first things I did was to go to the newspaper dispensers by the house to grab the new issue of Encore. It's a free local indie rag, and one of the primary sources of information about cultural events in the Wilmington area.

The cause of my enthusiasm was the article on our recently created art books, written up by Encore's art writer extraordinaire Lauren Hodges. The whole article is very positive really, which is something I could use right now, and it seems that I have even been promoted to "raconteur." To read the article, simply click on the above image for a larger version.

On Monday I will also be doing a brief appearance on WHQR, the local public radio station. We should be on at about 12:30 pm. It's an informal little talk about my art, the books and upcoming book signing.

The book signing for our two art books will take place on Wednesday, July 30, from 6 to 8 pm. We'll be holding it at Old Books On Front St, and we'll also have prints and originals for sale that evening. Now, our supply of books is somewhat limited, so if anybody who's coming wants to guarantee themselves a copy I suggest purchasing it online. You can go through the links in the sidebar, or go directly to our Lulu Store.

Hope to see you there!

Nikki and I have recently launched two art books. Both of these books are available for sale online through Lulu.com, as well as local stores.


Paintings, by Michal Wisniowski


Paintings is a 44 page art book featuring my selected work from 2000 to 2008. The book contains 16 full color images of my paintings. To see a preview, or purchase the book for $19.99, click here.


Doodles, by Nikki Wisniowski


Doodles is an art book of 19 pages, with full color artwork by Nikki Wisniowski. It features 17 selected works done in pen, watercolor, and illustration marker. To see a preview of Doodles, or purchase the book for $14.99, click here.

Both books are available locally at Old Books On Front St, as well as Sawgrass Gifts. If you purchase one of our books either online or in stores, or have already seen it, we encourage you to write a review on Lulu.com for the appropriate item by following the above product links.

The good folks at Focus on the Coast magazine have published a wonderful article on the Coloring Stories for Conscious Children project. Written by Joel William Fernando, the article outlines the process behind making this book along with its challenges and small triumphs.



Complementing this nice piece of journalism are Fernando's photos which he took the night of the opening. The photographs are viewable on the In Focus website, or in a picasa album here. If you look hard, you might even find me in one or two of them.

Update: Looks like I got the jump on Focus on the Coast with this post. But now they put the article on their site as well. So you can either read it here, or head on over the online version of their article!

Update: Apparently the link is no longer valid. I tried to search for the article on their site, but it doesn't seem to be up anymore.

At the time of the opening it felt like a few things were left till the last minute, and we were all pushing to get things done on time. In the end, it all came together, and I'd like to call the night a success. We were able to sell a pretty good number of our books, and attracted a substantial crowd that night. Thanks to Brian, we've got a decent Flickr photo set for your enjoyment as well.



Rated "G" showcases the artwork of Wendy Kowalski, Brian Sillman, Michael Webster, Jamin Belmont, myself, and the stories were written by Joel Finsel. More details about the project were previously mentioned here and here. The books turned out quite well I think (pictured above). Again, they are limited edition hardcover coloring books, almost entirely hand-made by the artists. They feature a linen cover, silkscreen printed by Laura Venters, and all those who attended that night received copies signed by all the artists involved. In fact, a few signed copies still remain, but will be the last that include all of the signatures.



It would appear that there has been very good press coverage for this event. Not only did we get a great article about the show in Encore by Lauren Hodges (pictured above, and linked), but we were even on the front of the Star News' Today section (pictured at left, linked). The column was written by Amanda Green, so thanks go out to her as well. In addition, Focus on the Coast will be publishing another article about this exhibit in their upcoming issue, and that piece will be written by Joel Fernando.

For anyone who hasn't had a chance to see the show yet, its closing date has been extended till November 8. And if you're wondering where ERA Gallery is located, I'll make it real easy for you and provide this lovely little map. So if you want to know what all the buzz is about, now is your chance. I do believe it's a worthwhile endeavor, otherwise I would not be a part of it. Once you've seen it, feel free to comment on this post and tell us your thoughts!

For the last several months, in preparation for the upcoming show at ERA, I have been collaborating with five other artists on a coloring book. To elaborate, the show is going to be called "Rated G," and will feature three elements from multiple artists. The first element is a quilt which each artist designed and was then made by a regional quilt-maker. The second element is a painting, for which each of us created a paint-by-numbers pattern. And the third element is the aforementioned coloring book.

Local writer Joel Finsel contributed five short stories, and each of the artists created illustrations for one of the stories. The title of the story that my illustrations are for is "Ruby's Slippers." It centers around a young girl named Ruby, and features a kind of coming-of-age theme. The above image is the first illustration for the story. Yoshitoshi Abe fans might recognize this a little homage to that artist quoting an image from Lain.

The coloring book will come in two forms. First it will be available as a limited edition hardcover at the night of the show's opening on September 28. There will be only 50 of the limited edition books to purchase, and whatever does not sell that night will still be available at ERA. Moreover, UNCW's print lab will be taking over the project in creating a more widely available paperback version of this book. We expect that to be available early next year. The price of the paperbacks will naturally be much lower than the limited editions.

I will probably upload a few more of my own illustrations here in the future, and we'll see about including the story that goes along with it. No promises on the latter though.