Monsters on Main Street

Howdy! Just thought I'd post a few photos of my custom critters for the Monsters on Main Street show that opened last Friday night at The Rusted Nail Gallery in Mesa, Arizona. I so wish that I could have been there to have seen everyone's work, but I'm sure my little guys had a fun time...

Monsters on Main Street was an open platform show, thus we were able to submit whatever customs we chose to work on, as long as they ended up being monsters. I decided to use two SDCC special vinyl toys from Super7- Steven the Bat, which became Graffiti Bat, and Big Sal, which eventually changed into Forgotten Sal.

Hope you like them!

Graffiti Bat

Forgotten Sal

Monsters on Main Street runs through 5 May 2012.

The Rusted Nail Gallery
158 W. Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201

Monday: Closed
Tuesday - Thursday: 11 am - 7 pm
Friday: 11 am - 10 pm (2nd Friday of each month)
Friday: 6-10 pm
Saturday: 11 am - 10 pm
Sunday: Closed

Friday Finds: 10 Feb 2012

Howdy! I've decided to use Fridays to showcase some my favorite vinyl toys, handmade goodies, and other fun stuff. For today, I've chosen six items from three biggies in the designer vinyl toy industry- Super7 Store in San Francisco, Tenacious Toys in New York, and TOYSREVIL in Singapore. Happy shopping!

Leroy C
Super7 Store

DokuDuo
Super7 Store

Funko Pop Uglydoll Ox
Tenacious Toys

Bossy Bear Pink Kaiju
Tenacious Toys

Evil Olee
TOYSREVIL

Go-Gashapon-Power-Go Capsules
TOYSREVIL

On His Way...

My Custom Pocket Mummy Boy is on his way to Super7 in San Francisco for the Mummy Mania! Customs from the Crypt Show.

Bon voyage mon ami!

2012 Works in Progress...

Happy weekend everyone!

Thought you might be curious as to what I've been working on...

In this first photo, you'll see Pocket Mummy Boy from Super 7, Mummy Boy's coffin, and an Oomoo, from Chris Davies, of floatingwoo.

The custom Pocket Mummy Boy is for the Mummy Mania! Customs from the Crypt Show at Super 7 later this month. This custom contest/show is a bit different, in that they are requesting our figures to be painted, not sculpted, because the winners' pieces will end up being actual production toys. I often like to do some sculpting on my custom pieces, but this time, I decided to add a custom coffin, since sculpting will be out. I may decide to give my Mummy Boy a GID skull necklace- we'll see...

The Oomoo, is a sculpture created by Chris Davies, comprised of a gypsum casting formulation with acrylic fortifiers. Chris and I are both members of the Etsy Ugly Cute Team, and he was truly awesome to offer up some Oomoos for our team members to work on. You can read more about our collaboration here: http://floatingwoo.blogspot.com/2011/04/collaborative-art-project.html. The texture of the Oomoo was amazing to paint on, and I really like the idea of using something that is environmentally-friendly as well. I would love to work on more of Chris' pieces in the future.

The next photo shows a blank Bud from Jamungo that I am working on for the Aerosol Warfare/Crewest Blow Up LA Show, in February. I just picked my Bud up the other day, and will get started on it asap. I'm thinking something along the lines of my Graffiti Domo, but with a different twist... This show will be going on tour to Los Angeles, back to Texas, then Chicago and New York, which is very exciting and amazing exposure for all of us! Since the customs will be shipped around to various places, I'm taking that into consideration concerning the sculpting as well.

You'll also see some small wooden boxes, that will soon be varnished and have monsters perched on top of them. I started making these "Monster Boxes" a few months ago- the boxes can be given as a gift by themselves, or, they can also be used as a "gift box" to give presents in as well. They come in all sizes and colors, so naturally, I'm trying to finish a bunch in time for the February 4th First Saturday Arts Market in the Heights, just in time for Valentine's Day...

You can see some of my finished Monster Boxes here, from WHAM 2011: http://culturedcrittercollective.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-art-wrap-up.html

The last photo below shows the last two Monster Boxes I'm working on and another view of Mummy Boy's coffin:

I'll post some more photos in the next few days!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone- the critters and I hope that you've had a great start to 2012 so far!

You might be wondering what we'll be up to this year- here are a few hints:

2012 has been very exciting so far and we can't wait to share it with you!

Stranger Factory

Howdy everyone! It would seem that I have taken a longer break than I had intended... I hope you are all having a great summer, in spite of the horrendous heat!

During my break, I travelled to New Mexico for a week to visit the parentals, and while I was there, I made sure to stop by Stranger Factory, in Albuquerque, which just opened 3 June 2011. What a place- I squealed when I walked in and saw the selection of vinyl toys and art! This is for sure the only place of its kind in NM and even in the Southwest! Stranger Factory is owned by artists Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters, of Circus Posterus.

I had missed the opening of Kathie's solo show, "Sweet & Sorrow", but her work was still on exhibit and it was thrilling to view her pieces in person. Most of them were sold, which was extremely exciting, especially for the future of this awesome gallery/shop. In addition to the gallery space, the shop houses a huge variety of designer vinyl toys and plush, including several Super 7 figures, as well as Dunnys, Uglydolls, Scavengers, and other limited edition pieces from the Circus Posterus artists. I was beyond excited to take home a mini-Skelve and Leroy C, as well as some other goodies. The gallery has shows already booked through 2012- I'm hoping to attend many of these on my future trips to NM as well, in addition to scooping up whatever awesome new critters they will have available...

Many thanks to Justin for being so kind and letting me take these photos- this is just a sampling of the collection of work on exhibit. If you are in the area, make sure you stop by!

Stranger Factory
109 Carlisle Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
505-508-3049

Kathie Olivas, "Sweet & Sorrow"

Lollipop Girl
Oil Study on Panel

Black Masao
Acrylic and Oil on Fiberglass

Guarded
Oil on Canvas

Unresolved
Oil on Canvas

Encrusted Elizabeth
Mixed Media on Fiberglass

Purple Greeter
Acrylic on Cast Resin

White Bear Kuma Skelve
Acrylic and Oil on Cast Resin

Golden Bear Kuma Skelve
Acrylic and Oil on Cast Resin

Purple Masao Skelve Cat (4-Legged)
Acrylic on Cast Resin

Purple Bird w/Bowler Hat
Acrylic on Cast Resin

Pink Masao
Acrylic on Cast Resin

Crusty Mega Skelve
Mixed Media on Cast Resin

Squid Armed Girl Study
Graphite and Acrylic on Wood

Bear Boy Study
Graphite and Acrylic on Wood

Lizzie Series: Memento
Mixed Media on Fiberglass

Orange Bird
Acrylic on Cast Resin

Other pieces at A Stranger Factory:

Snackcake Head
Colin Christian

Boo Skelve
Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters

Purple Bubblegut
Chris Ryniak

My critter purchases:

White Shadow Mini Skelve
Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters

Leroy C
Invisible Creations/Super 7

The guys!

Valentine's Day is for Critters!

Today I have decided to showcase a few of the fun critters created for Valentine's Day! And a couple who like to take holiday photos...

First up, is Harvey, the Love Monster. Harvey was created by SquirrelMomma, for the Etsy Plush Team Has Heart Fundraiser. The Etsy Plush Team organized this online fundraiser to benefit the International Children's Heart Foundation, an organization that works to bring aid to children in developing countries with congenital heart conditions. 100% of the sales from these critters will be donated to the ICHF. Yay- critters with conscience!

Here is Harvey's story from SquirrelMomma:

Harvey the Love Monster is VERY excited about Valentine's Day (actually, Harvey is excited and hyper about pretty much everything). This little green monster has got his big heart ready, and all he needs now is to find someone to give it to. Someone who understands his major caffeine addiction. And doesn't mind when he jumps up and down on the bed at 3 a.m., singing "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine" at the top of his lungs.

How cute is that? Of course, Harvey has now come to live with me... Several of these adorable critters are still available here, in the Plush Team Shop. Adopt a critter for a good cause!

Next, we have the elusive Rose Vampire vinyl toy, created by Josh Herbolsheimer, produced by Super 7.

The Rose Vampire has become one of the most sought-after vinyl toys in the designer toy community. During each extremely-limited release, this toy sells out within minutes of being posted! I've tried a few times to secure one, but I've been unlucky... until now! Last Friday, during lunchtime, I was poised at my computer, ready to hit the "add to cart" button, and then to zoom through Paypal... I also had My Plastic Heart's window open and ready to go as well. It was all very exciting! I was successful on my first attempt, and was pleased to receive the shipping confirmation, even on the same day. So after all of that madness, there are still some left... UGH! Guess they decided to make a few more available than usual for V-Day... I'm still happy that mine will arrive in a few days.

Oliver wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day:

He's my custom Oh No Sushi originally created by Andrew Bell. Some critters don't always have the best of days:

And last, but definitely not least, Happy V-Day from Holiday Badtz Maru:

Have a fun day everyone!