Reaching the finish line

August was supposed to be my “rest month”, but it turned out to be the month of working on my mural for High Bridge Grounds for Art’s September 13th event. And, despite the fact that it’s 4 feet x 8 feet (1.2m x 2.4m), I am getting close to done! It’s a bit of a headache – part of my UV paint is still backordered, and I’ve even dipped into my fabric paint supply to extend what I have, but mostly smooth sailing. This is a goal I set for myself early this year, and I’m really happy to get to see it through!

Here are some pics of work-in-progress – there will be a separate post for this piece when it’s done & ready to transport to the site. 🙂

The Patreon link is here, and shows the DoodleGrid work which happened early in the whole process, to get Falkor’s head sketched in right. (FYI, my Patreon is a ghost town, so if you feel like following me, I super duper appreciate you!)

Wacky summer of indoorhood

I love the outdoors, but not summer, SO: I am not only working at the food pantry and working on my painted minis, handcrafted mimics, upcycled clothing and various vendor booth fixes/buffs, I am also committed to finishing a 4 FOOT BY 8 FOOT MURAL by Sept. 3. Who committed me to this? Me, of course. Am I regretting it? No. Am I ready? NOPE.
Forgive me while I run around screaming for a little while. At least it’s indoors, in the A/C.

Coffee and Creatures returns on August 31!

I am amping myself up for a show on August 31st, my first in a month! I actually really love doing shows and meeting folks, but outdoor shows in the deep summer are not my happy place. So, as we wind the clock around to fall, I am re-emerging.

I am setting up a newsletter & email list thing, fyi. I recognize that in order to stop the relentless tide of trash going into the environment, we ALL need to be trash artists. So if you think you fit this description, or would like to, sign up! I am gonna teach classes somehow, too.
Topics would be things like:
+ How to pick secondhand clothes to modify without making yourself cry
+ How to know what kind of trash can turn into monsters
+ How to upcycle toys into new monsters, weapons, terrain
and other stuff like that!
I am planning on some in-person stuff in NJ, but am considering the surrounding NY/PA/CT area, too.
Yes, I want to be a trash artist. Show me how!

Packing!

I have a bunch of new creatures for the folks to see this weekend – I also have a hefty pile of curated thrift & vintage in the Goth Closet, which will be in a bin to rummage through to your heart’s content.


Misfits x fake fur vest is going to be up for $75, and is not part of the Goth Closet. I am bringing some work in progress pieces too! If you happen to visit me, I might ask you your opinion, ask you who your fave Aqua Teen Hunger Force lil guy is…but no pressure. I’m just genuinely curious about what my faire friends think! I may also sell some of the bigger leather jacket art as patches in the future, so let me know your thoughts.
I’d also love to know if folks would pay $5 to have a patch sewed onto their battle vest, etc! If enough folks want to, I’ll bring my sewing machine to fairs & do some sewing for my friends without sewing machines or sewing skillz. If you wanna learn to sew, also let me know! Maybe we’ll host a skillz class at Flemington DIY or something!

Painting Eyeballs x 2

Every few months, I need to stock up on new eyeballs for creatures, so it goes a little like this:

  • Hunt around the thrift store, looking for clear glass pebbles – acquire them.
  • Sort them into good eyeball pebbles, and bad eyeball pebbles
  • Paint a bunch of eyes on scrap paper or plastic wrappers from the trash
  • Sign “painting eyeballs, painting eyeballs” to the tune of “Making Christmas” from Nightmare Before Christmas
  • Go to sleep, or impatiently wait for the eyeballs to dry.
  • Glue them together.
  • Fix the ones that got blurred when I didn’t go to sleep, or was too impatient to wait for them to dry.
  • Voila, eyeballs.
a bamboo tabletop, upon which is some glass pebbles, and some handpainted glass eyes. They don't look great, because I got impatient and put them together while wet.

Test display and packing done for Darkside Market!

weird little green fuzzy blob with a glaring pale green eyeball has a curly copper antenna with the Coffee and Creatures logo at the tip
The booth rough setup, with merchandise arranged to test out placement of sellable merch and location of risers.
A display of spooky items arranged with a tall cabinet in back, as well as an ornamental light fixture, and some smaller graphic boxes and figurines.

I am SO tired! This ended up being a full week of market prep (including creating 2 new pieces when I should have been writing up pricing). Earlier in the week, my brilliant friend and fellow creative, Shannon, helped me get my logo burned in to a weird lil display for the booth:

 And I have a small set of tags with the logo on as well!
The car is fully loaded up for tomorrow, and it should be a really amazing time. The vendors don’t always have the best view of the music stage, it depends a lot on where you get assigned, but I’m gonna try and get out to see what the burlesque show is like because it looks SICK!

When/where:
Saturday Feb. 15 @Broken Goblet in Bensalem PA