Urban Bud

Yay- I'm almost finished with Urban Bud, for the Blow Up LA! Aerosol Warfare show at Crewest.

All I have to do is varnish him when I get home... Guess what? His monster necklace glows in the dark!

He gets dropped off tomorrow at AW to make the trip to Los Angeles with the rest of the customs and art. Bon voyage buddy! :)

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!

Scheduling and Shopping

Guess what? A few of the monsters are at the Grand Canyon this week with one of our friends for a photoshoot! We'll post plenty of photos upon their return, but I thought you might want to see them before they left:

Here is a sneak peek of the critters' 2012 schedule, so you can start planning when/where to stop by and visit us this year:


Cultured Critter Collective 2012 Schedule

28 January-6 February 2012
Mummy Mania! Customs from the Crypt
Super 7: San Francisco, CA
http://blog.super7store.com/super7-presents-a-mummy-boy-paint-contest


4 February 2012
First Saturday Arts Market
548 West 19th Street: Houston, TX
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


4-26 February 2012
Blow Up LA!
Aerosol Warfare/Crewest: Los Angeles, CA
http://www.aerosolwarfare.com/
http://crewest.com/

7 April 2012
First Saturday Arts Market
548 West 19th Street: Houston, TX
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


5 May 2012
First Saturday Arts Market
548 West 19th Street: Houston, TX
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


25-27 May 2012
Comicpalooza
George R. Brown Convention Center: Houston, TX
http://www.comicpalooza.com/


September 2012 (dates:tba)
Valerie G Solo Show
Glitter Karaoke: Houston, TX
http://www.glitterkaraoke.com/


Btw...we know you all like to shop, and we'd love it if you'd check out these awesome toy stores, galleries and local businesses, who are currently hosting a variety of the critters as well as lots of cool goodies from other artists:


Tenacious Toys
http://www.tenacioustoys.com/default.asp

Bean Pot Toiz
http://www.beanpottoiz.com/

The Fridge
http://www.thefridgedc.com/

Sculptures By Design
http://sculpturesbydesign.com/

Homespun Houston
http://www.homespunhouston.com/

Above the Radar II

Above the Radar II opened this past Saturday night at The Fridge, in Washington DC. Curated by Luna George, this exhibition has travelled from Crewest, in Los Angeles, and contains more than 100 works of art by over 40 artists!

Featured artists include: 2wenty, 4sakn, Bash, Bron Theron, Bytedust, Caleb Aero, CANLOVE, Champ, Chor Boogie, Contra One, Crash Manson, CS Navarette, CYFI, CYRCLE, Daniel Perez, Defer, Deih, DENZ One, Dersk, Destroy All Design, Drast, Dread, Dril One, Each, Else, Lydia Emily, EnikOne, Enoe, Eone, Ezra, Heaven, Homo Riot, Hungerman, Hydra, INEPT, IROK, Jeanette Paredes, Jero, Joe Iurato, John Carr, JTS, Julietta XLF, JW Pippen, Kophns one, Man One, Mar, Mas, Max Neutra, Mear, Meex, Michael Pizarro, Nils Jawa, Nineta, Phers, Phever, Pichi & Avo, Political Gridlock, Pose 2, Revel, Rick Rodriguez, Rome, Sand One, SCOTCH!, Sergio D, Shai Dahan, SMEAR, Steve Martinez aka Pablo Jimenez, Such, Thomas the Messenger, Two Rabbits, Valerie G, Vanae Rivera, Victor Malagon, and Vyal.

The gallery at The Fridge looks fantastic- I so wish I could have been there... Here are the critters after they were unpacked, along with the awesome paintings and plush toys of Bytedust:

A few photos during the set-up for the show:

Oliver looks happy on his pedestal!

In addition to the gallery portion of this show, many of the artists also have merchandise for sale in The Fridge's retail shop. I got to send over ten of my new monster necklaces- yay!

On 6 November 2011, there was a mural workshop with the artists Else, Dread, 4sakn, as well as curator Luna George, at “The Bridge Spot” in Garfield Park on Capitol Hill, near The Fridge.

Luna George and Alex Goldstein, Gallery Director, will be at The Fridge to give a curators talk the following Sunday, on 13 November 2011 from 2-4pm.

Above the Radar II runs through 3 December 2011. If you are planning to be in the DC area- come check this show out!

The Fridge
Rear Alley
516 1/2 8th St SE
Washington, DC 20003
202.664.4151

Gallery Hours
Wednesday–Thursday: 12pm–7pm
Friday–Saturday: 12pm–8pm
Sunday: 1pm–5pm

Photo credits: Luna George

Critter Fall Schedule

I'm still hoping to experience fall this year- how about you? It's awfully difficult to picture the colors of changing leaves and the nice, crisp weather when the temperature outside is 102! Grrr! It's definitely during times like this that I miss my fellow New Yorkers and the awesome autumn weather...

The monsters were so warm, they got lost looking for ice cream:

Regardless, the critters will be very busy this fall- I've included their schedule as of 1 October. Maybe if we all hope really hard, autumn weather will come!


Houston Area Events Coming Up:

1 October 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


17 October – 5 November 2011 (Exhibition)
21 October 2011 (Auction)
24th Annual Dia de los Muertos Retablo Auction and Exhibition
Lawndale Art Center
http://www.lawndaleartcenter.org/


5 November 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


12 November 2011
Avenue CDC: Art on the Avenue
http://avenuecdc.org/art-on-the-avenue/


18-20 November 2011
Spacetaker’s Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM)
http://www.spacetaker.org/wham


3 December 2011
First Saturday Arts Market
http://www.firstsaturdayartsmarket.com/


Out of Town Events:

1 October 2011
Mission: Munny Show
Lift Designer Toys and Art Gallery
http://www.liftdetroit.com/events2


13-16 October 2011
Toy2R USA/Tenacious Toys Booth
New York Comic Con
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/


5 November 2011
Above the Radar Tour
(curated from Crewest Gallery, Los Angeles, CA)
The Fridge
http://www.thefridgedc.com/

Off to L.A.!

Today I mailed off three critters to Crewest Gallery, in Los Angeles, for the Above the Radar exhibit, which opens 2 April 2011:

Xiong Mao (2010)

Fortune Rabbit (2011)

Oliver (2010)

At least they don't have to go through the humiliation of TSA screening...

Please wish them well on their adventure and send lots of good thoughts that they will arrive safely:

Bon voyage mes amis!