Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hine Mizushima Interview and Giveaway

The second I saw one of Hine's pieces I immediately gasped and smiled. When I asked her to be in my button book and she said yes, I immediately gasped and clapped my hands. The second I read that she had also applied to Plush You! I gasped and jumped up and down. Her work is simply amazing. She is one of those people I think a lot of people are watching and on the edge of their seat wondering what she is going to come up with next. I really enjoyed interviewing her and hope you enjoy reading it. Leave a comment here with contact info for your chance to win one of her amazing camera camera cases!



S- For those Plush You readers who might not know who you are, can you give us a
little background information on you

HM- Hello! My name is Hine (pronounced [hee-neh]) Mizushima. I was born and raised in Japan. I majored in Japanese traditional paintings at an art university, and worked as a designer/Illustrator for paper products in Tokyo. Then after I met my husband, we decided to move to Rome, then Paris, then NY. And two years ago we moved to Vancouver, Canada with our lovely son, and at the same time my creative life was completely changed! I was always just an Illustrator, but now I'm a PSMAVA (Puppet-Stop-Motion-Animation-Video-Artist) and a (slow) crafter as well, and I just LOVE to make things..



S- You have had various bouts of fame, with your video for They Might Be Giants, to your plush creations making the rounds on various craft sites. Why did you decide to get into plush work?

HM- I've never thought of getting into plush work before. I didn't even know what "plush" meant! But when I started to work on the second stop-motion music video for a They Might Be Giants kids DVD a year and a half ago, the wife of one of the band members, Robin, who is a talented musician and also a super crafter, made some great needle-felted number-shaped puppets for the video. So I wanted/needed to make other characters and the props with the same materials to go with them. That was the beginning. It was actually a lot of fun and easy to create 3D stuff with felting wool! Since then, I have been getting into plush work little by little. My plush always has wire inside, so you can pose them however you want!



S- How did you start working with They Might Be Giants?

HM- First of all, I have to say that I REALLY love their music! One day, I stumbled upon 'How to make stop-motion video with your digital camera and iMovie' on the Internet. So I made a video with tiny puppets for their music, just for fun. Then I tried to post it on their My Space page, but I didn't understand how it works. Then I found 'send message' button instead, so I simply sent them the link of my video. Then a few days later, they contacted me, asking me to work on a video project with them! I REALLY freaked out, of course.... I'm working on a different project with them now.



Read full interview here

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would love to win a camera case! Every time I try to get one, I'm always too slow!

paperfoxling@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Oooo, I would absolutely love one of her camera cases! Thanks for having the giveaway.

You have worked with They Might Be Giants? Wowza! I saw them in concert about 15 years ago or so. Awesome.

doot65{at}comcast[dot]net
Elizabeth

Margie Oomen said...

Hine is such a wonderful inspiration to us all . Her imagination is larger than this earth. Thanks for posting this interview.

lookwhaticando said...

I would love to own one of her pieces. :)
www.Plush-a-holic.blogspot.net

Kimberland Designs said...

I love Hine's work! I'm always admiring her camera cases and phone cases. I would LOVE to win one!!! Her work is so awesome!

Kimberley =)
pup_p_love@hotmail.com

Kitty Vane said...

I can't believe I've never bumped into Hine's work before! Thank you for posting this interview and introducing me to such cool plush!

kitty.vane(at)gmail(dot)com

flurogoddess said...

Oh wow!

This work is amazing!

I would looooove a camera case

jenniferlfee @ gmail.com

Jessica said...

Thanks for the Hine interview--I love her work!

jessica[at]crabtreestudio[dot]com

Church of Craft Athens said...

These are so cute!

Anonymous said...

EEKKK! *Squeals* =D

Adorable, adorable, adoreableeee!

zlyn88(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Hine is truly an inspiration for anyone doing something creative. I absolutely love her TMBG videos. She has a style that is so wonderfuly cute and unique. Her artwork always puts a smile on my face!

arachnid_flame@yahoo.com

Cyndy Eng-Dinsel said...

Very cool. That fits with my love of lomography!! http://www.lomohomes.com/cynister I have an LCA+, supersamples, a couple of holgas..it would blend right on in. Thanks for posting the great find! sdinsel@yahoo.com

Kimberly Pye said...

So cool! I hope I win!!

kimberlypye at gmail dot com

Nesa said...

I would love to have her camera case. Hine's work is just superb, she bring felt work to a whole new level and her works are so inspiring. Thank you for the interview.

kati said...

I was familiar with the camera cases from seeing them around but not Hine's plush work. She definitely brings a natural talent to her work.

Jane said...

Hine's work is amazing and wonderful, my kids and I love what she's done with They Might Be Giants too, it's so funky and original.

Robyn Wade said...

Her work is so amazing. Thanks for posting the interview!!

veganknitter(at)gmail(dawt)com

Anonymous said...

loves it! and i would, i'm a photographer :)

brook [at] brook-pifer.com

www.brook-pifer.com