Kitschy Katz Blog

Photo by Bethany Surber

Someone asked me which was the very first Kitschy Katz? In all honesty I have always thought Salt & Pepper to be really the same (like identical twins except for opposite colors???) so I will have to say Salt and Pepper. If you really want to be technical, Salt was born first. This is because I would paint the original Kitschy Katz white since it was the best color to show  surface flaws. With the modeling light at a 45 degree angle I would slowly rotate the kat looking for flattened curves or rough sanding marks.The procedures were shape, paint, and cast then look at the results. Finding the flaws I would repeat the procedures over again trying to create the perfect shape. In the end I realized that at some point although I may not have created the “perfect” piece I had actually created something that I was very proud of and that many people like. Perfectionism can drive an artist crazy.

What can I say but I sincerely apologies and will try to do better with this blog. I have no excuses for not blogging. I need to get over the idea that these words need to be of monumental importance for it the blog to be relevant.I have started Facebooking (made up word) and have actually enjoyed the social interaction. In reality it is just mini blogging and talking to my friends. Many things have happened the last year and a half. Some were good and some not so good. From today on I will try to let you know what is going on and have some fun along the way.Hopefully we will have the website changes finished within a couple of weeks so we can offer some new Kitschy Katz products. I figured that if I just wait till the website is finished then that is just lending to the procrastination even more.The thing I realize about myself is that I am a very visual person. This might explain why the writing of words was so difficult. Nobody is perfect so might as well try to be timely. Bear with me as the struggling artist within tries to sculpt his words.If you like the mini blogging style of Facebook look us up at   https://www.facebook.com/kitschykatz

One of the most asked question I get is how did I get into this cat business? I always liked making things which is probably why I spent most of my working life as a commercial photographer. Building sets, painting walls, and making props were always the most fun parts of image making. Having photographed for a lot of manufactures I always thought I would start some type manufacturing company after I retired from photography. With business taking a drastic change after 9/11 I started sculpting a little art deco style cat figurine. My assistant at the time liked the design and suggested that if I kept the high quality I could have a nice little collectable. Not knowing what a collectable was she showed me samples of other items that people collected. I sought the advice of a couple of my manufacturing clients and probably despite their warnings plodded along designing what was to become Kitschy Katz. The little cat statue kind of took a life of the its own and became my manufacturing company. I spent 2 years working on it part time and then figured that if I were going to pursue this as a business I needed to do it full time. Rather than waiting to retire from photography I spent another 2 years finalizing the design and producing the initial series. Since cats (at least the lucky ones) have nine lives, we proudly call our first series The Original 9. I hope you like our little cats. If you are curious about anything else please leave me a comment and that may end up to be my next blog!   Ken ~ KatMan ~

Well it has been one year since I launched Kitschy Katz and finally I am writing in this blog. I know, I know, shame on me but hey what can I say… I am a visual type person. Anyway after 1 year of selling I figure that the least I could do is to start writing about what I know best which is Kitschy Katz and me, Ken Wong. I think if I can keep it short, write about what I know and be sincere then I probably can’t go too far wrong. Also if you have any questions about Kitschy Katz or me please feel free to ask. This will give me good blogging material and I won’t feel so weird talking about myself. Just to let you know I try not to take myself too seriously so I don’t expect you to. I have been told that I am an artist with quite an imagination and I know I tend to think of a lot of things at one time. If you comment please don’t be too hard on my writing skills since I don’t want to get writers block by trying to get every word perfect. If you are reading these then you are probably one of my friends and I won’t be able to keep you from making fun of me. Hey this writing thing is not so bad. Actually its kind of therapeutic and thank goodness for spell check! I would like to thank all my old friends and all my new friends for all their love and support. I am proud to be an artist and I am blessed to be loved. Ken ~ The KatMan ~

Welcome to KITSCHY KATZ BLOG!

KITSCHY KATZ and WRAPSODY invites you to a special Kat Signing event on April 26, 2008.

Meet the artist Ken Wong, find out more about the exciting Kitschy Katz collectables, and get your favorite KK figurine signed by KD Wong.

Whether a cat lover or an art lover there is a purrfect Kitschy Kat just for you.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday from 12 to 5 pm at Wrapsody (310.378.6374)

1815 S Catalina Ave, Redondo Beach, CA.