We are so excited to be interviewing our newest debut RCC artist, Nolan Pelletier, for this special Artist Spotlight post! Nolan is a breath of bold, bright, and beautiful air. He is a master of colorful and detailed work–often reminding us of styles and themes from many different eras of amazing art. If you haven’t had a chance to check out his styles of gift wrap, greeting cards, and bags–you WON’T want to miss them. The colors burst off the page, and inspire us to live our most colorful life! Read on to learn more about his work, sources of inspiration, and of course, his favorite drink. Thank you, Nolan! We love you!
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Tell us about your life in Canada! How did you end up there from Connecticut?
As a pre-teen I loved the charmingly low-budget 80s Teen Drama Degrassi Jr. High. I convinced my parents to bring me to Toronto to visit the filming locations, and thought Toronto was exotic and fun and exciting. In 2007 I moved here for art school. Now all my friends and my wife (Kaley—she’s also an illustrator) are here, so I’m stuck in Canada!

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My absolute favorites from that era are Naiad and Walter Einsel, Joseph Low, and John Alcorn. I was lucky to have the opportunity to get to know Naiad Einsel in the last few years of her life, and her art and life are a constant inspiration.
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What is your favorite piece of work you’ve created?
Probably the newspaper I illustrate, design, and publish, The Somnolent Garden Rambler. I distribute it for free around Toronto and New York. It was bumming me out that all my personal work was only being seen on tiny phone screens, so I wanted to create something that was tactile.  I’ve put out two issues so far, and would like to start work on the 3rd soon. It’s nice to have complete control over both the form and content of the publication.

Father’s Day is THIS SUNDAY (June 16th)! Are you ready? Not all dads love golf or grills, but we know all of them would appreciate a handwritten note from their kiddo, no matter what their age. It’s not too late to send them a note with love to show up in their mailbox. Check out our collection of illustrated Father’s Day cards. or scroll through some of the awesome ones below. We’re sure there’s one or two that will do the trick!

Reading this on Saturday night at 11pm? Don’t worry! You can grab up a Red Cap Father’s Day card on Paperless Post that will instantly show up in their email inbox on the big day. Dad doesn’t know how to use the ole’ interwebs? Well…we can’t help you with that one. …No one can.

Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers, papas, dads, daddies and pops! We love you!

We are so happy to report that Red Cap Cards is making an appearance the newest issue (90) of Frankie magazine! We love you, Frankie! For those of you in Australia–guess what!–you don’t have to wait. Pop over to your favorite fantastic newsstand and pick up a copy of Issue 90. For those of us stateside, we sadly need to wait just a teeny bit longer to catch this issue. The issue lands in the states on August 12th. OR, if you can’t wait, just order a copy here and they’ll ship it right out to you!

Our new release is finally here, and we can’t wait to show you some of the fantastic things we have been cooking up for you with our talented RCC artists. Summer is right around the corner (just a few weeks away!) so we wanted to get you started on some wild and colorful fun for the coming heat. And it’s going to be hot… Today, we’ve got new styles of cards, gift wrap, and gift bags, plus we are thrilled to introduce two new artists: Nolan Pelletier and Dylan Mierzwinski.

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Our artists never cease to amaze us: in their artwork, in their lives, and in their other creative projects. We’ve been falling head over heels for some of the ceramic work by a few of our brilliant artists and couldn’t wait to share it with the world! Josie Portillo recently had a show at the Xiem Clay Center in Los Angeles and we fell down the rabbit hole of inspiration! Check out a few of these amazing pieces that she has been working on:

Also creating enviable ceramic works is RCC artist, Danielle Kroll! One of the founders of the collaborative art collective, Beech Hall, Danielle often dabbles in playful ceramics like planters, baskets, bowls and vases. “Ceramics is a happy place because I don’t take on commissioned work in that medium,” she says. “Which also means that I don’t get to work with clay that much since it never takes priority. I still feel like I’ve only tapped the surface with that.”

Yelena Bryksenkova has also shared a bit of her ceramic work after a hand-building class at Still Life Ceramics, and we are in love. Tiny little handmade vessels, full of life and character. Head over to her Instagram to view more!

Josie, Danielle, and Yelena, each of you amaze us! Keep up the fantastic work!

There always seems to be something new and exciting brewing at Red Cap, and this time, we are delighted to introduce a new collaborating artist to you: Dylan Mierzwinski!

Dylan is a graphic designer-turned illustrator from Phoenix, Arizona, and a master of retro floral and botanical designs, as well as a savvy sewer/pattern designer and chef–check out her website! Dylan’s happy, colorful work for Red Cap is coming this fall and we can’t wait to show you more. If you can wait, and in the meantime, see below for some of the work she has shared on her Instagram that we fell in love with. Also, make sure to visit her website where there is a lot more work, plus fun links like the new Hey Dylan episodes (we’ve embedded one below) which Dylan recently created to foster a conversation and answer questions for fellow creatives. Don’t you just love her?? Get excited!

We are always so excited when our RCC artists release special projects like picture books! Today, we wanted to shine the spotlight on Kelsey Garrity-Riley, a multi-talented artist and Red Cap collaborator. Kelsey has not one, but THREE new books, and one is her author/illustrator debut! Take a look below for the goodies, we can’t wait…

Frankie’s Favorite Food 
by Kelsey Garrity-Riley
Tundra Books, 2019

This one is a delicious treat! When his school play calls for all of the kids to dress as their favorite foods, Frankie has a problem–he has too many favorite foods, and can’t decide which costume to wear! In this sweet picture book (also Kelsey’s author/illustrator debut), “readers will delight in the variety of foods represented and the clever performances full of silly word play and sweet camaraderie. In Kelsey Garrity-Riley’s author-illustrator debut, she shows the joy of food and revels in celebrating the way food can bring people together and inspire creativity.” We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy–preorder for its release date of August 20, 2019.

Borne to Ride: A Story About Bicycle Face 
by Larissa Theule, with pictures by Kelsey Garrity-Riley
Harry N Abrams Books, 2019

Another special picture book from Kelsey Garrity-Riley! This one was written by Larissa Theule, and follows the story of Louise Belinda Bellflower from Rochester, New York, in 1896. Set during the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the story follows one little girl who sets out to do everything that a little boy can do…including riding a bike. A brave, poignant story with gorgeous spreads that champion children’s accomplishments while teaching them about courage and history.

The Whirlpool: Stories
by Laurel Croza, with illustration by Kelsey Garrity-Riley
Groundwood Books, 2018

Not a picture book, but just as lovely! The Whirlpool is a middle grade collection that tells us the stories of five teenagers, a doll, and a squirrel, all who break out of the expectations placed upon them. Kelsey’s beautiful black-and-white illustrations adorn the pages and give life to these amazing middle grade stories.

If you follow us on Instagram or Twitter, you may know that we are half-way through our gift wrap sale and you definitely don’t want you to miss out! Through Sunday, enjoy 25% off wrapping paper with code SPRING19 at checkout! That includes retail and wholesale orders.

Take a look below for just a few of the fun papers that get us so excited. And get even more excited–there are even more designs to come in our upcoming release! You won’t want to miss them! Stay tuned…

How cool is this time-lapse from RCC artist, Carolyn Gavin?! Carolyn is hard at work getting ready for a special end-of-summer show at the Toronto-based Dianna Witte Gallery. The dates are TBA, so stay tuned, and we will let you know. See the time-lapse of this gorgeous 36×48″ canvas, plus a few other pieces from the show below. Amazing work, Carolyn!! Follow Carolyn Gavin on Instagram, here, and check out her pieces for Red Cap Cards, here.

Lucky us! Two fantastically fun things this week in one post, from two talented Red Cap artists: Kate Pugsley and Krista Perry. This week, we are excited to be showing off Kate’s brand new children’s book from Tundra Books, Mermaid Dreams, plus an inspirational artistic process tutorial from Krista Perry. Read on for more!

Have you caught a glimpse of Kate Pugsley’s new book, Mermaid Dreams? We are entranced! Full of color, brilliant sea creatures, and with an embossed cover (oh my, check out that detail) this is one we are going to pick up for certain! Am I the only one that held my ankles together in the pool as I swam and pretended to be a mermaid? It probably looked more like flailing than swimming, but the magic was there, right!?

The story: “One sunny Saturday, Maya and her parents visit the beach. Maya loves the beach: the warm sand feels wonderful between her toes. But it would be more fun if she had a friend. Too shy to say hello, Maya watches the kids play nearby, and slowly her eyes droop closed . . . When Maya awakens she has been transported to a magical underwater world. Maya admires the sea creatures flitting around her, and she discovers that she too has a beautiful tail. Maya is a mermaid! But who is calling out a greeting from behind that coral? Whose bright eyes are peering at her from the sea grass? Whose laughter does she hear? Could it be a new friend? Or just another sea creature?”

Mermaid Dreams by Kate Pugsley, Tundra Books, 2019. Preorder now–the book comes out on April 30th. We can’t wait to get our hands on it! The perfect gift to get a little reader ready for those summer swims.

Up next, how amazing to have a little in-progress tutorial from RCC artist, Krista Perry! Each of our artist’s processes are so different and we love being a fly on the wall, able to catch a glimpse and learn a thing or two. Krista offered to guide us through her process in the creation of  a personal piece, and we jumped at the chance… Take a look below, and thank you, Krista!

From Krista: The steps that I use to make a painting can be extensive, but nonetheless rewarding! I usually start with a couple quick thumbnails and then turn them into a finished drawing. When I’m sketching for a new painting, I usually have a pretty solid color scheme in mind, but still make color studies just in case experimenting with color changes my mind. Color studies also make the painting process easier to begin because you’re essentially making a color-by-number for yourself.

After drawing or printing my sketch to the size I’d like, I transfer it to the surface. I like to use red Saral brand transfer paper! Next, I paint all of the solid colors in. With most paintings, I’ll paint small details and line work last. This is a fairly straight forward technique that I’ve been following ever since I was in art school.

All of my Red Cap Cards work also follow these steps! I love working like this because it keeps me easily organized so I can focus on the best part — painting! KP

See videos of her process on our Instagram stories today, and definitely follow Kate and Krista for even more inspiration and art.

We love supporting our talented friends! Gallery Nucleus is a long-time buddy and fellow lover of art, illustration, and children’s books. They’ve got two amazing things in the works: a super-exciting Kickstarter and a special event, this Saturday with RCC artists, Jon Klassen and Christian Robinson!

First up, we are so excited about a new Kickstarter Project that Gallery Nucleus and some talented artists are cooking up. Artwalks: Kids Shoes Based on Kids Books is an exciting new idea by Ben Zhu of Gallery Nucleus, in collaboration with some of today’s top children’s book illustrators like Jon Klassen, Joey Chou, and Scott Campbell.

“ARTWALKS is dedicated to creating a platform based on adorable printed footwear to support and promote a variety of deserving children’s books and illustrators. This Kickstarter campaign is the beginning of our journey to develop a line of children’s footwear that will inspire a love for art and reading in kids one pair at a time.”

The idea that kids could be excited about wearing shoes with their favorite book characters on them is something we can definitely get behind! Click here to watch the full video about the Kickstarter and to add your pledge. Rewards include enamel pins, signed books, pairs of shoes and original art work. You won’t want to miss getting involved in this one!  

Next up, Los Angeles! This Saturday from 2-5pm, RCC artists, Christian Robinson and Jon Klassen will be participating in a joint book-signing event at Gallery Nucleus! Grab a copy of one of their newest children’s books and get them signed: Another by Christian Robinson and Circle, Square and Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen. Stop by, say hello and check out the rest of the gallery, which is a treasure-trove for art and illustration enthusiasts. Plus, there will be book readings, activities, photo ops and more. Until then!

Gallery Nucleus
210 East Main Street
Alhambra CA 91801

We wanted to write a post just to celebrate the amazingness of these two! Marsha and Michelle Robinson are twin-sisters and are both fine artists. Marsha Robinson (aka Strange Dirt) is a Denver-based RCC artist, with a beautiful collection of cards that we just can’t get enough of. Her work plays with the line between fluidity and order, and combines an architectural quality with nature and earth.

Michelle Robinson is a Seattle-based fine artist who utilizes boldly-colored geometric shapes and metallics to honor beautiful, organic bodies and abstract shapes and forms. Each artist creates work that is vastly unique to themselves, and because of this, we are so enamored by the fact that they are twins! How much talent can fit in a womb?

The artists have a joint art show coming up in June–more details on that to come, so stay tuned! In the meantime, enjoy the work of Marsha (top) and Michelle Robinson (bottom) below, and do visit their websites for more, linked above and below.

And we had to show off a few of our Red Cap Cards by Marsha Robinson as well! You can view her entire collection for RCC, here. Take a look below:

All images of Marsha Robinson and her work, courtesy her Instagram and website. 
All images of Michelle Robinson and her work, courtesy her Instagram and website. 

When artists band together, they can change the world! We are very excited for this upcoming children’s book from Scholastic UK’s Alison Green, Kind: A Book about Kindness, with a forward by Axel Scheffler (The Grufflalo), and pictures by 38 kind illustrators.

Each of the 38 artists gifted their work as a celebration of kindness to this project in order to benefit Three Peas, a charity which helps families that are forced from war-torn countries, specifically Syria. A donation from the sale of each book benefits the work that Three Peas does in these countries. Illustrators include our very own Red Cap artist, Lizzy Stewart (!), Melissa Castrillon (see her gorgeous illustration of a “kindness jar” below), Sir Quentin Blake, Chris Haughton, Birgitta Sif, Britta Teckentrup, Marianna Coppo, Nick Sharratt and more! You can get your own copy here, soon to be available at more locations. We can’t wait to get our hands on one, and are inspired by the kindness, beauty, and love that art can inspire. See below for a statement from Alison Green. Way to go, artists! #keeptheloveflowing

Publisher Alison Green says: “Kind is one of the most important projects I’ve ever worked on. I’m thrilled to be raising money for Three Peas, to support their vital work, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the response from all of the illustrators. I’m incredibly grateful to them for their generosity in donating the artwork for the book, and would like to thank Axel, in particular, for all his support in championing the project. This feels very much like the right book at the right time. With so much division in the world, it seems more important than ever to talk about kindness, and to offer children a positive, hopeful and empowering message.”

A new release is around the corner! We are excited to announce that coming this May is a new RCC line by illustrator, Nolan Pelletier! An illustrator and designer based in Toronto (and husband to fellow illustrator, Kaley McKean), Nolan is a master of colorful and detailed work–often reminding us of styles and themes from many different eras of amazing art. He has collaborated with an impressive list as well, from designer, Anna Sui (see stunning Fall 2019 image below) to the New Yorker, The Smithsonian, the Boston Globe and more!

We can’t wait to show you more and tell you even more about him, but for now, check out his website, Instagram, and some of these hand-picked images we love below!

The newest, long-awaited issue of Bright Lite magazine has finally arrived in the mailbox! This month, Bright Lite features four amazing and talented female Red Cap artists in their colorful and gorgeous, matte pages, as they discuss art, life, and mental health. If you haven’t taken a look inside this treasure trove–definitely get to your newsstand quickly!! Bright Lite is an independent magazine created for girls, ages 10 – 16, and we are so inspired by the the magazine’s mission. Here’s a bit about them straight from the source:

“Every issue, we strive to give young girls a place to express their experiences and reflections on a central theme. We, at Bright Lite, strongly believe that it is never too early to start communicating and connecting with one another.

Our bi-annual magazine will be a collection of submissions from girls all over the world, including photos, interviews, articles, recipes, crafts, journals, music and advice curated just for them.

Bright Lite is a safe space for you, me and everyone else. This is a place where you can express your thoughts, feelings and everything in between. We’re kind of like a giant shared journal.”

This month, the central theme is HEALTH. We had the pleasure of interviewing Kate Pugsley, Bodil Jane, Krista Perry, and Dinara Mirtalipova to discuss how art helps to center their lives and work as women and artists. Definitely pick up Issue 8 and check out the interviews, plus so so much more, like an amazing coloring page by Krista Perry, recipes, comics, articles and more. ALSO, make sure to take a peek at their super-cool website which has fun quizzes, horoscopes, stories and articles that are so fun and inspiring for young girls.

Thank you so much, Bright Lite, for including us in this issue. You are a sparkling gem!! See below for some pictures of this amazing new issue:

We are beyond delighted to introduce to you a special guest collaborator, Cressa Maeve Beer aka @beeragon! She is a self-described: “stop motion artist, video preditor, and queer dinosaur living in Brooklyn,” and has produced content for Refinery29, New York Post, Hearst, and MTV among others. We are so honored that she has used her amazing, breath-of-fresh-air talent to create a special series of stop-motion videos for Red Cap Cards! You may have seen a few popping up on our Instagram here and here with fantastic music by @a_sarr — but we know you want to know more! Using her trademark stop-motion Godzilla characters to perform haiku greeting cards by Johnathan Rice for RCC, she has created the most enchanting films that are pure wit and joy. Just take a look below! And read on to hear about her life, her creative process, and the best piece of advice she’s ever gotten. Be sure to check out her other work on her Instagram, @beeragon, or her website, cmbeer.com.

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Tell us about a day in the life of Cressa!
My mornings are really important to me – I tend to get more work done, and I can think a little more fluidly. Creativity comes a little more clearly too. I usually get up at 5 AM and try to exercise while I’m too groggy to realize that I hate jogging. After that I have a small daily ritual of making a pot of tea, journaling, meditating, and gratitude. Then I make breakfast (and on weekdays cook my lunch to take with me to my day job) and do a little personal work, whether that’s writing or editing a stop motion project – sometimes I’ve even managed to squeak out a short shoot before having to catch the train. During the week I work as Head of Post Production for the video team at the New York Post, where I’ve been editing and occasionally producing the last few years.

Here are some of my best pieces that I did, if you want to see what I shoot outside of stop motion:

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After work varies daily, but some of my favorite things to do are seeing a show at House of Yes, peruse Strand Bookstore, catch up with a friend over ramen, or just take a walk with my partner. Weekends tend to see me cozied up with movies, books, and probably hours spent with a camera and a little monster.

What defines you as a person and an artist?
I honestly have a hard time with self-definition, but if I were to aim for something, it would be to become a bed of flowers for people to discover and give them a smile when they need it most.

Do you remember being an creative/artist as a child? Do you have a specific memory of when you really knew what you wanted to do?
I was that kid on the playground who would dream up entire worlds and characters with elaborate backstories, subsequently bossing their friends around to act things out in just the way I would envision. My parents were serious movie buffs, showing me Godzilla vs. Mothra and La Strada in the same day, which I feel shaped a lot of who I am. I used to play Ray Harryhausen VHS’s, specifically Clash of the Titans, until the tape no longer worked. That, alongside catching Wallace and Gromit on PBS, got me massively into stop motion. I used to hijack my parents’ camcorder to create little frame-by-frame movies with my LEGOs, and usually that’s what I would end up turning in for school projects.

I also have a very vivid memory of when I knew I HAD to be a filmmaker. I was 14, and my parents decided to show me Apocalypse Now. I just remember being completely struck by the editing, particularly in the opening sequence, and having that be the first time I noticed a movie was the sum of its parts, and those parts could be manipulated into countless ways to create new meaning and illicit all sorts of emotions from the audience. I recall turning to my parents when the movie ended and saying “This, this is what I want to do.” They weren’t surprised.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?
My inner child has become my greatest inspiration and source of energy and creative output. It’s sad, but I feel as though as I got older, I ended up suppressing myself in a multitude of ways – in order to not be ‘weird’, or to just fit into a certain mold. Even if I was experimenting creatively and ambitiously pressing forward, I really put a restraint on who I was. I wasn’t able to really understand this until just recently. When I let my inner child free, and allowed myself to come out to play in the sunshine, things became brighter – fog lifted in my everyday life, and I was able to create things from a source of purity. It’s hard to describe. I’m an incredibly sensitive person, but I let myself be sensitive to any sort of joy, no matter how simple; the way a leaf perfectly falls from a tree above me, the soft smile of a stranger on the subway, the coincidence of finding a book on the wrong shelf in a store that ends up becoming your new favorite. I aim to view my life as my four-year-old self would: new, magical, and full of possibility.

Tell us about your stop motion filmmaking process. What are your favorite aspects? What do you find most difficult?
It’s a tedious, tedious, tedious, tedious process – but it’s extremely meditative, too. The movie standard is 24 frames per second – so that’s 24 pictures to create one second of animation. But it’s also not quite that mathematically simple either, because then things would be too robotic. It’s an odd balance of intuition and craft.

I’m sure I make a lot of other stop motion artists pull their hair out in frustration, because I tend not to do too much planning when creating something. I’ll have a general outline, and I’ll see it all in my head, but a lot of the final product doesn’t shows up until I’m in in the actual act of creation. A minute long piece might take me 10 hours to shoot, depending on how complicated movements are and how many subjects have to move in one frame. I also feel a lot of things out and change my mind constantly based on what I’m seeing happen – after so many hours, your subjects tend to take on lives of their own, and their personalities illuminate and guide your project. I’m certain that makes me sound a little crazy, but bringing these things to life and letting them ‘live’ in front of me is the whole payoff for hours of tedium. I suddenly have a sunny little world with little monsters to play in.

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Do you have a favorite piece or film you have created? Include link or photo if possible. I think the pre-screening bumper I made for Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn (above) is my best work, but my favorite is one of the bumpers I made for Cinepocalypse film festival in Chicago (below) that my darling friend Ryan Oesterreich runs.

It’s like everything I wanted to happen as a kid.

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What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
During an especially low point in college, a friend stroked my head and said ”It’s okay to be vulnerable.” I try not to forget that.

Any upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?
I just did a shoot with one of my favorite rappers, Fat Tony, and I have some other collaborations with artists I love popping up. And then some very special things for the upcoming Godzilla King of the Monsters movie, but I can’t quite be detailed yet about those. Mwahaha.

Obligatory Red Cap question: favorite drink?
My inner child is also an old lady, so my favorite drink is my first cup of green tea in the morning (right now it’s Kukicha from Physical Graffitea on St. Marks).

Thank you so much, Cressa! Again, be sure to check out her other work on her Instagram, @beeragon, or her website, cmbeer.com.

Join us this Saturday evening (March 2nd) from 5-7pm at Individual Medley for an exciting evening to celebrate our three new collections by Daren Thomas Magee, Jacqueline Suskin and Johnathan Rice for RCC. Enjoy some champagne, charcuterie, while we listen to poetry readings by Jacqueline Suskin and Johnathan Rice!

We can’t wait to meet you or see you again! It’s going to be a lovely evening–be there or be square!

Individual Medley
3176 Glendale Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323.665.5344

We are so very excited for our first of three upcoming Artist Spotlight posts, highlighting the newest artists, designers, and writers in our RCC family. We love these short interviews, because it gives us a chance to dip a toe into the minds of such brilliant creative forces.

First up: Johnathan Rice. A singer, producer, and writer living in Los Angeles, Rice has spent his adult life inhabiting different corners of the entertainment industry. Signed to Reprise Records at the age of nineteen, His debut record “Trouble Is Real” arrived in 2005, the same year he played Roy Orbison alongside Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash in Walk The Line. He spent the next ten years making records and touring the world.

In 2016, Rice started posting haiku poems on Instagram. The haikus gained a rabid following and led to the publishing of Rice’s first Book Farewell, My Dudes: 69 Dystopian Haikus by LA’s Hat & Beard Press. It became the fastest selling book in the company’s history, buoyed by celebrities like Mandy Moore and Anne Hathaway’s “readings” of their favorite haikus on Instagram and Rice’s appearances in bookstores, comedy clubs and concert venues nationwide. W Magazine called Rice “the beat poet of the Instagram generation.”

Do you remember being an writer as a child? Do you have a specific memory of when you really knew what you wanted to do?
I always remember being interested in words and particularly the combination of words and music.  I always thought of sentences in a melodic and rhythmic way.  I grew up between Virginia and Scotland, and I think that made me very conscious of the different ways people speak and all the varieties of accents, slang, patois, etc. I always pretended that I was a musician, and then eventually I became the thing I was pretending to be.  I loved the musicians who took daring risks with their lyrics: Shane MacGowan, Dylan, Townes Van Zandt.  Even though I’ve spent the majority of my adult life as a musician, I think at my core I’m really a writer above all other things.  

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?
There is a feeling inside me that I come into contact with sometimes. It’is somewhat elusive.  It’s not happiness or sadness or something I can even fully describe. When I am inspired, I am in contact with that feeling and everything feels right.  I felt it when I was a child, and I can still feel it now. I don’t know what it is. Do you?

Tell us about your writing process. In terms of creative work–is time spent working more spontaneous or do find that it is regimented like a job?
It’s both. Sometimes the best writing is very spontaneous and comes from an unconscious place. However, some ideas are meant to be explored beyond that initial flash of inspiration and chased around until one can fully understand and possess them. It’s a somewhat mystical thing, and I think that’s why so many artists are superstitious. Bad writing is also very important. You gotta write some real garbage sometimes. 

You are very successful in a wide variety of mediums including music and film. What is your favorite and why? Or do they each serve important elements of your life?
I don’t have a favorite. I consider whatever medium I’m working in to be part of the same body of work. I feel very lucky to have experienced so many different modes of expression. 

What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
“To live outside the law you must be honest”

Any upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?
I have a new record called The Long Game that’s coming out this summer.  I’m very proud of it.

Obligatory Red Cap question: favorite drink?
Gin and Tonic.

Thank you so much, Johnathan! To view more of Johnathan’s cards for RCC, visit his shop page here, or click over to his website, here.

Red Cap is entering into 2019 with a new look and a fresh perspective! Today, we are very excited to welcome three new creative artists into our collection. Along with a talented illustrator and designer, Daren Magee, Red Cap also welcomes two brilliant poets and artists of the written word, Johnathan Rice and Jacqueline Suskin. Our goal as a company is to continually strive toward innovation within creative expression. These collections will be showcased at this weekend’s NY NOW 2019 tradeshow at the Crow & Canary Booth, #7614. If you will be in town, definitely stop by to see these new gorgeous cards! See below for photos and definitely click over to our shop to see all three new collections. We love and are thankful for all of you! Keep the love flowing!

Johnathan Rice is a modern-day troubadour and brilliant poet of words, music, and art. His highly-anticipated and genius collection is poignant and astute, with a twist of magnificent snark! His words keep us laughing, delighting in the absurdity of the real world, with an unfettered truth that reflects ourselves back at us.  

Daren Magee is a visionary illustrator and designer from Ojai. A master of blending the natural with the supernatural, Daren creates thought-provoking work that inspires us to become closer together as humans and, in turn, connects us to a higher consciousness. His work infuses design with text to create a contemplative, thoughtful perspective that we are so excited to share.

Jacqueline Suskin is an award-winning poet, a dancer, a healer, and a woman connected with herself and the world around her. We are honored to release her collection of poems that offer us the inspiration to take a moment of pause to read, reflect, and read again. Her thoughtful and powerful words have the ability to inspire us, while grounding us in who we are, and who we could become.

We are so proud to help share this fabulous news from a long-time member of our Red Cap Cards family. Christian Robinson, award-winning illustrator of many books (Rain!, School’s First Day of School, Last Stop on Market Street, Gaston, and so many more…) is now debuting the cover and release date of his first solo picture book project: Another from Atheneum Books!!

Debuting on March 5th, 2019 — mark your calendars! — Another tells a story of perspective through wordless illustration. In “Alice-in-Wonderland” form, a little girl follows her kitty down a hole into a magical world all her own. And in a fun twist, you may find yourself holding the book upside-down and twisting it all around!

‘”When I think about stories that I gravitated toward as a child, I think of narratives that take you on adventures to other worlds, places in which anything is possible,” Robinson said in a promotional letter he wrote for the book addressed ‘Dear Observers,’ which he says “feels like the most accurate name for someone viewing a wordless book.”‘ (Publisher’s Weekly)

We absolutely can’t wait to get our hands on a copy and are delighted to see another creative project from such a wonderful human and artist. Hurry up, March 5th! We love you, Christian!

See below for some of our favorite shots of Christian’s work for Red Cap:

Today: two amazing honors/projects that we recently learned about and are so excited to share! Two of our artists: Becca Stadtlander and Bodil Jane have announced some amazing news on their Instagrams, and we couldn’t wait to hop on this blog and shout it from the rooftops!

First up, Red Cap artist, Becca Stadtlander has won the Golden Kite Award for her illustration work in the picture book, Made By Hand: A Crafts Sampler, written by Carole Lexa Schaefer–“A beautiful, one-of-a-kind volume invites readers to marvel at the time, effort, and care that went into creating handmade toys, tools, and treasures of the past.” –SCBWI

The Golden Kites are the first children’s literary award judged by a jury of peers. The awards recognize excellence in children’s literature in six categories: Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction for Younger Readers, Non-Fiction for Older Readers, Picture Book Illustration, and Picture Book Text. 

Congratulations, Becca!! We love you!

Next up, Red Cap Cards artist Bodil Jane is gearing up for a fantastic event at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, coming up on January 25th, 2019. Bodil created the gorgeous illustration (above) inspired by the collection of the Van Gogh Museum and Van Gogh’s obsession with Japan. During the event, ‘Vincent on Friday & Bodil Jane’, you can win the signed print and enjoy music and workshops that are curated by Bodil Jane.

We are dying to go, but send ourselves in spirit! Amazing work, Bodil! And if you’re in Amsterdam–make sure to make it to this gem. See below for Bodil’s statement from her Instagram:

How much do we adore Red Cap artist, Christian Robinson? Oh so very very much. And even though it didn’t even seem possible, we think we might love him even more because of his new collaborative project called, Coloring Without Borders.

This new bilingual coloring and activity book was created by 80+ artists, including Robinson, to help the immigrant families who have been separated at the Mexico-USA border. Not only is the work within the book amazing and inclusive, but it also seeks to fund Families Belong Together, which includes nearly 250 organizations representing Americans from all backgrounds who have joined together to fight family separation and promote dignity, unity, and compassion for all children and families. Via Families Belong Together: [Coloring Without Borders is] a collaborative coloring book created to benefit our work to permanently end family separation and detention, seek accountability for the harm that’s been done, and to immediately reunite all families that have been torn apart.

NPR’s Morning Edition covered Coloring Without Borders and produced an interview with Christian, which you can listen to here and a snippet of it in his animation below:

The proceeds from the coloring book go to the Families Belong Together coalition, and you can purchase it here.

We love you Christian, thank you for your meaningful, thoughtful, and loving work. #keeptheloveflowing

It’s just the third day into this sparkling new year of 2019. Have you made resolutions? Spoiled them already? Don’t work too hard, because the new year is all about perspective,  and we’ll give you ours: focusing on love and kindness will get you just about anywhere you want to go.

In the spirit of baby 2019, we put together some fun facts about the New Year to keep things light as you ease your way back into real life. So grab some leftover champagne, and take a look below. Happy New Year!

1. The first recorded New Year’s celebration dates back 4,000 years to Babylon, when the first moon after the spring equinox marked a new year.

2. The modern tradition of partying in Times Square for New year’s started as a 1904 celebration for the opening of the New York Times building! Over 200,000 people attended. 

3. Black eyed peas, ham, and cabbage are considered good luck if you eat them on New Year’s Eve or Day. The fattiness of pork symbolizes wealth and the peas are believed to bring good fortune because they swell when cooked.

4. January is named after Janus, the god with two faces. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is depicted as one looking forward and one looking backward. He is the god of beginnings, transitions, gates, doors, passages, and endings.

5. The tradition to kiss a person comes from old English and German folklore: the first person you came across in the new year could set the tone for the next 12 months.

6. To ensure a year of good luck, firecrackers and noisemakers became tradition in order to scare away evil spirits and protect prosperity in the new year.

7. Americans drink about 360 million glasses of sparkling wine on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. 

8. Speaking of Americans, the top New Year’s resolution in 2018 (and almost every year) is to eat better and exercise more—topping the list at 37% those polled in 2018.

9. 2,000 pounds of confetti are dropped on the crowd in Times Square at midnight.

10. Robert Burns took an older Scottish folk song called “Old Long Syne” and rewrote it in 1788, which became the New Year song we all know today. Auld Lang Syne means “times long past.” 

Sources: Patch.com, International Business Times

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us at Red Cap Cards. And Andie’s Alice too! Keep the love flowing into 2019…

Fa-la-la-la-la! 2018 is almost over, but there’s still just a few more days of of gift-giving, merry-making, and hall-decking to go. The holiday season gets us so excited, especially when we get to see what such creative hearts and minds are doing with our special gift wrap and gift bags! Check out some of the gorgeous packages below, with a few fun ones from our archive thrown in there as well. Thank you all for including us in your festivities and special occasions. We can feel the love all around us! #keeptheloveflowing

Time to take a look at one of our favorite Red Cap cards through the “real-life” lens! Our Life In posts are some of the most fun to play with and this one was just as sweet. Kitty Carols by Christian Robinson for Red Cap cards has been making holiday smiles for years, and today is no different. Check out the fun we had below! 

Ho Ho Ho! It’s time for another Arlo’s Book Club: The Holiday Edition! And don’t forget that you can always look back to some of Arlo’s holiday picks from 2015, 2016 and 2017, for some awesome holiday cozy-up-with-a-book ideas. This year, we are feeling jolly and have some fantastic holiday picture books that we can’t wait to share with you. Grab a blanket and a friend and let’s snuggle up!

The Gingerbread Man
by Bonnie and Bill Rutherford
Whitman Publishing Company, 1963
This classic cookie tale by powerhouse illustration couple, Bonnie and Bill Rutherford, teaches an important lesson: never trust a fox. Delicious freedom is everything to the gingerbread man…until he meets a violent end! If that’s supposed to teach us something, we’re decidedly ignoring it! So, pull out those cookie cutters and get your baking on after reading this one, and pay extra special attention to those intricate, colorful, vintage illustrations. Those endpapers! Plus, it has been rereleased by Golden Book, a classic for a new generation.

Josie and The Snow
By Helen E. Buckley, Illustrations by Evaline Ness
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Inc, 1966
The color palette of this book takes the cake! Stylized tones of pink, orange, aqua, lavender and grey make the aesthetic of Josie and the Snow super-special and a standout pick. We follow Josie as looks for an outdoor playmate (all of the animals are a no-go) and then as she explores the wintry outdoors, feeding birds, sliding down hills and making snowmen. A mid-century delight!

The Nightmare Before Christmas
By Tim Burton
Disney Press, 2013
Most probably know the story of Tim Burton’s, The Nightmare Before Christmas, but some smaller kids may be able to handle the picture book version a bit earlier than the film. Jack the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town sets out to “steal” Christmas (he means well), with disastrous results–don’t worry, Santa “Claws” come to the rescue. A creepy, silly, and brilliant story. Readers will recognize the whispy illustration style of Tim Burton.

Red and Lulu
By Matt Tavares
Candlewick, 2017
Two tiny winter cardinals are separated when their tree is chopped down to be the official Christmas Tree in Times Square. The birds are separated and it takes a Christmas miracle to reunite them again. Gorgeous, peaceful illustration that offsets the tension of the story. A celebration of New York City, love, and the spirit of the season.

Another Night Before Christmas
By Carol Ann Duffy, Illustration by Marc Boutavant
A new version for the ages! Former poet laureate to Britain, Carol Ann Duffy, writes a follow-up to “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Moore (1822) with fun and vibrant illustration by Marc Boutavant of Mouk fame! This time, the story is told from the perspective of a little girl, and can be found in a version illustrated by Rob Ryan.

It’s our favorite time of year again! Candles are glowing, ornaments are being hung, and hot cocoa is on the menu once again (extra marshmallows, please!). The holidays are the best time to find the some of the coziest illustration and art work, created by our Red Cap artists, or any number of the other amazingly talented artists out there.

We had so much fun going through the latest work in honor of the holidays, and even picked out a few pieces from years past for our collection of holly jolly illustration on the blog today. Take a look below and enjoy! Also, keep your eyes peeled, we are sure there will be more holiday inspiration to be admired in the coming weeks! Fa-la-la-la-la!