Little Otsu regular & good friend Jennie Smith is having an exhibition of her work at Rena Bransten Gallery simply titled, “Drawings” in San Francisco March 11-April 10. The opening is on March 11th from 5:30-7:30.

Rena Bransten Gallery
77 Geary Street (between Kearny and Grant Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94108

images from Rena Bransten website

This is a must-see show for anybody in the vicinity of the Twin Cities. The duo who make up Landland, Dan Black and Jessica Seamans (whose LO projects include Annual Planner Vol. 3 & 4 and A Collection of 10 Postcards) will be showing their amazing posters, CD packages and other things they’ve made and Jes’ band, Best Friends Forever will be playing.

“Soft Targets: The artwork of Landland”
February 27 – March 23
First Amendment Arts
(1101 Stinson Blvd at Broadway, NE MPLS)

Grand opening Saturday February 27, 7-10pm
Live music from Best Friends Forever &
BRLSQOTHEQUE DJs
all ages, free admission

SOFT TARGETS
First Amendment Arts is pleased to be displaying a collection of posters, CD packages, and other pieces of art designed and screenprinted by Minneapolis thing-makers Landland (Dan Black & Jes Seamans). With their studio conveniently located just two doors down the hall from First Amendment, Landland has been cranking out tons of gorgeous work and they will be lugging over every single piece they’ve created since their move into the 1101 Stinson Blvd warehouse in 2007. Performing live will be local pop rock outfit Best Friends Forever, featuring Landland’s own Jes Seamans on bass and vocals.

LANDLAND
Completely disregarding the standard template of what a rock poster should look like, Landland’s aesthetic comes from a different world—unusually sized prints, muted color schemes and obsessive drawing mark the steady stream of posters they produce for First Avenue, the Triple Rock Social Club, The Varsity Theatre and assorted basements and hole-in-the-wall spaces in the Twin Cities and across the country.

There is rarely anything simple about their work from the five layers of ink they routinely pull across their prints or the days at a time Dan Black will spend drawing a spyrograph pattern from memory. And they never take the easy way out—there are no puns based on band names or half-hearted attempts to interpret the music abstractly. Instead they create micro-worlds of fantastical domestic structures, scaffolding, decaying rollercoasters, train wrecks and swarms of ghosts. In pursuit of designing advertising for rock shows Landland end up creating works of art—each a singular finished statement that looks like the work of no one else.

The charming and talented Gemma Correll is visiting the States from across the pond and was kind enough to take time out of her San Francisco stay last week to design a window display for our storefront! Working diligently–from cutting and painting in our crazy basement to lots of hanging and arranging in the window–Gemma created this delightful display for Valencia Street to enjoy. Thanks Gemma!

We had extra room when printing the new edition of Keri Smith’s Non-Planner Datebook, so rather than let it go to waste, we made some awesome notepads! We’ve got a design each from Martine & Keri and you even get your choice of color. Plus they’re a nice compact size that can easily fit in your pocket or bag. Hooray for paper!

We now offer FREE shipping for US orders $35 & up! Check out what’s new: http://shop.littleotsu.com/collections/new

Special holiday hours:
Monday 12/21 open 10:30am-8:30pm
Tuesday 12/22 open 10:30am-8:30pm
Wednesday 12/23 open 10:30am-9:00pm
Thursday 12/24 open 10:30am-6:00pm
Friday 12/25 closed
Thursday 12/31 open 11:30-4:30
Friday 1/1 closed

Place your order by Dec. 18th and choose USPS Priority Mail shipping to receive your order by December 24th (US orders only, USPS does not guarantee ship dates).

If you’re in Portland today, Sunday 12/13, please join us at the Oregon Convention Center for Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Holiday Sale. We’ll be in booth 16 with our friends from APAK and offering show specials. It’s free to get in and open from 11am-7pm so come on over and say hi!

Today, Friday 12/11, is our last day for free domestic shipping for online orders over $25! You have until midnight tonight to take advantage of this offer, so get your orders in soon. Today is also the last recommended day to place international orders for arrival by the 24th. For domestic orders, we recommend placing your order by the 15th.

For those of you in Providence, tonight (Thursday, 12/10) is the opening for Jo’s show The Uses and Misuses of Animal Spirits at 5 Traverse Gallery from 7-9pm. And across the country tomorrow, Martine will be having her opening in Seattle at Nancy from 6-9pm. Fun, food, and great art abound!

Jo Dery / Martine Workman