The Big Plan

Welcome to The Dream Shoppe, where one can buy dreams and stories. My name is Kimberly Tsai, and my pen name is Raika Mikata. I am a concept artist for stories, and this is my Senior Thesis blog for Otis College of Art and Design.


My thesis will have 9, 12, 15, or 21 pieces, and I will either do 3 stories with 7 artworks or 4-5 stories plus some stragglers. Please note the mindful usage of the number "3", for ; it is a number of much personal importance to me.

Stories will include Dreamfallen (Reality based with Fantastical elements), Dark Hearts (Dark/Fantasy/Reality based), and possibly a children's educational cartoon I've been planning. I wish to include a sci-fi/steampunk genre to further expand my promise as a versatile artist. I might include the animation of one of my characters dancing to Daft Punk however I doubt if I have time.

If I have time during winter vacations or after school, I'll make "Angi Kai," an AMV I've been thinking about using clips from Avatar: The Last Airbender timed to E.S. Posthumus' "Pompeii."


My idea for the overall concept came from a dream. In the dream, I was working for the first time in a shop that sold miscellaneous items. One of such items were black postcards that were positioned near the front door. They were later stolen by a man, however I later found out that this was okay; their purpose was useless unless one actually bought it.

When I awoke, I turned the dream into a story, and gave the black postcards even more meaning. I decided that they were not just postcards, but in fact portals that could transport persons to the actual shop itself, and the only person whom could use them was the person whom it was addressed to in the first place. Such was the nature of The Dream Shoppe, and such is the idea behind my own senior thesis. I will be sending out black postcards as invitations to my own Senior Show and will be giving them out during the show as well.

I also revamped my website in preparation for the show, so if you have the time do drop by!