Have A Seat

("Have A Seat" 2013, wood and steel)

As I mentioned in my previous posts, tea parties and toys are a common theme for me, and what kind of low rate tea party would I be throwing if I didn't have proper Pee-wee Herman-esk furniture?

The over all theme of this piece isn't exactly original for me, but the work I put into it differs greatly form that of earlier sculptures. This was one of the first things I made using a proper sculpture studio and professional grade tools. For example, those spider legs are made of old windshield wipers. That's not a new idea. I've made at least 3 other sculptures using that same idea before, but the first time I simply stuck the wiper pieces to a metal rod with hot glue (they fell off after a few days) the next few times I tried epoxy glue with similar effects. This was the first time I had the chance to weld the wiper parts to steel rods. There's a lot of welding work on this piece actually, the two metal rods that make up the neck of the chair are welded into the wooden body on the inside, and the other end is welded to the back of the heart on top, which is also made of steel. There are metal hinges attached to the top of the seat cushion so it can be opened and used as a compartment, and the whole thing is welded onto a non-stick pan that I used for the base.

And the whole thing is perfectly scaled to seat a lot of the toys I make, which makes for some interesting photos.

Baby Oiks-a-lot is ready to party.

Little Mermaid

"I just don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad." ~ Ariel

This is rare for me. I don't often make things with a serious message, but  I just couldn't resist this time. 

I was watching The Little Mermaid on TV because I'm a gigantic nerd and Disney movies are always entertaining no matter how old you are. Anyway, right around the part where Ariel and Flounder are in that cave where she keeps all her human junk, she said that line, and of course I immediately thought of all the oil spills, all the plastic bottles and styrofoam, all the garbage bags and the soda can rings and god knows what other hazardous crap we're always dumping here and there, and I wondered what her collection would look like if she collected the kinds of things that people usually dump in the ocean, not sunken treasure or historical artifacts, but just regular common garbage. And of course, what better way to rip at your heart strings than by killing off the lovable sidekick. BAM! Right in the childhood.

Taking Notes Is Important

("Criminal Law Notes" 2013 ballpoint pen)

Taking notes is a great way to learn.... but doodling is a great way to fight boredom. I did fully intend to take notes, hence why I put a title on the top of the page.. but I'm afraid I quickly lost interest. Or perhaps these are my notes, but written in a strange hieroglyphic language that nobody else understands. 

More Tea, Mr. Cthulhu?

Tea parties and stuffed animals are very common themes in my illustrations. Even more common is the idea of small children in the company of by giant monsters. Children are small but they have big ideas. They constantly surround themselves with make-believe stories and imaginary characters, and that is how I like to draw them. Children also help to change the context of these pictures. If I just drew a giant grinning teddy bear or giant monster it might be considered negative and creepy, but by adding a happy child, the feeling changes. The monster becomes a protector, a friend. It takes on the air of a big brother or a guardian. This combination of big and small makes for a powerful emotional response. Like a gorilla playing with a kitten, it these gentle giants give off a feeling of fun, and peacefulness. I am planning to work on a few other illustrations like this, but with monsters actively protecting children form danger, bullies, or perhaps just other, less friendly monsters.

One of my hopes for after college is to find work illustrating children's books. 

Time for Tea

("Time For Tea", 2013-2014 multimedia sculpture)

What time is it? It's time for tea!

As you might have guessed this is not one of the pieces that I built from scratch. I bought the tea set, and the white gloves, and the clock was salvaged form an abandoned building. My dad works in construction/demolition, and every now and again he'll bring me something random and awesome from an abandoned house, in this case it was the head of a grandfather clock!

Interesting side note, some of the gears on this piece are bent slightly. This is because I opened the clockwork mechanism without bothering to learn about how they're put together. Apparently clocks have these crazy things called main springs which wind up tighter and tighter inside the clock as the gears turn. They are made of strong, thin metal coils with rather sharp edges... you can probably guess where this is going. I opened the clock work mechanism and the springs SHOT out, slicing many my fingers open. I'm all better now, but I still have some serious trust issues with clocks.... Despite my fears, I sallied forth to finish this piece, fingers trembling only slightly as I worked. 

The arms are made of mattress foam wrapped around a skeleton of thin steal rods which are welded to the inside of the clock. They're sturdy but still posable if I ever want to change the position.

The most common question I get with this piece is "How did you make the black gunk poring out of the teapot?" It's actually just hot glue form a glue gun, I painted black after it dried.

I do plan to take more pictures of this piece now that it's completed and mounted on my wall. My bedroom has horribly tacky striped wallpaper that makes an excellent background for it.

The sad thing is I keep looking up at it when I need to know the time, and then I remember that it's not a real clock anymore. I'm considering cutting out the picture of the globe on the clock face and putting a small working clock in there, but that's a job for Future Nick.

This week on MTV's Cribs

("Mount Mourning" 2013 Photoshop)

So I see you have discovered my secret layer. Mount Mourning! Located on the upper west side of Death Valley, this 136 room layer is equipped with the latest in evil technology. Complete with newly refurbished dungeons, acid pool, and a gorgeous view looking over scenic Doom river, this  magnificent layer makes castle grayscale look like a cheap blanket fort. It is the epitome of evil swag.

BFFs

("Best Friends Forever" 2011, Photoshop)

FIRST THINGS FIRST! I forbid any of you to look at this picture without this song playing in the background! 

Okay now that that's over, play THIS song next. It fits really well I promise.

Wasn't that just grand? You're welcome.

There isn't too much to tell about this piece. I was watching that new King Kong movie with Jack Black and what's her face, and I was watching the scene where King Kong is beating nine colors of shit out of the giant T-rexes and I was just thinking how nice it would be if they could all just get a long and be friends. And now they are =D That's the wonder of art.

If you have any suggestions for of other frolicking tunes, feel free to post them in the comment section!

Mr. Bunnsy

("Mr. Bunnsy" 2013, felt and cotton fabric)

I dare you to come up with a less creative name than that! Do it. You won't.

As I mentioned before some of my toys are made entirely from scratch. This is one of them. I used to call it an "Octo-bunny" which did sound a little better but then some smart ass had to point out that it only has 6 tentacles and now I just dishonest calling it that...

The idea for bunny-pus came form a trip to the fabric store where i found the black faded fabric i used for 4 of his 6 limbs, the stripped fabric is from a striped tank top someone gave me. I love using black and white striped fabric but it can be tricky to find. This toy has 3 different layers. The top layer obviously is the fabric, but underneath that, each limb is covered in soft mattress foam, and underneath the layer of foam is coper wire which allows the limbs to bend into any position. That means i can have Bunny-pus hang form the ceiling fan, wrap around a lamp post, or just prop him up on a shelf. Right now he's wrapped around a fan in my studio. 

Bunny-pus is definitely one of my favorite toy projects. He has that perfect combination of cuddly yet creepy.

Teddy Jaws

("Teddy Jaws" 2013, Multimedia with fabric & plastic)

We're gonna need a bigger toy box.

Some of my toys are hand stitched, completely from scratch. This is not one of those. The teddy bear was part of a collection of old stuffed animals given to me by a good friend. I have boxes and bags of hand-me-down stuffed toys in my studio which is really convenient if I have the afternoon off but no specific projects to work on. This was one of those times when I just picked up a bear at random, and held it up to various toy parts and pieces of junk that I have lying around. Eventually I held the bear up to this plastic shark's head and though "Yup" and reached for my hacksaw. I also have a collection of random bow ties to pop onto finished toys. I had been saving that striped one for a while, but I think it works really well.

This piece really sums up my the theme of most of my work. If you've seen the other posts in my blog, you've probably picked up on the pattern on taking something cute and cuddly, and twisting it into something creepy and strange, or vice versa.

In this case, a body that says "Hug Me" and a face that says "Feed Me"

We're All Mad Here

("We're All Mad Here" 2013, Photoshop)

I'm sure all you Alice in Wonderland fans out there are probably wondering,
1. Since when does the cheshire cat have batwings?
2. What the f@#k is this cat perched on?

1. It's called artistic licensee so shut up. My cheshire cat could totally kick your cheshire cat's ass.

2. To answer the second question, I should mention that for the past three years I've worked at a department store,  as a cart-pusher (I take shopping carts form the parking lot and bring them into the store). Like most stores, the one where I work has metal corrals in the parking lot where responsible patrons can place their empty shopping carts once they've finished using them. In order to help customers find these corrals (not that anyone ever bothers to look for them) there is a tall metal pole attached to each corral with a blue metal box on the top. The box has a white decal of a shopping cart printed on each side, like the one shown above.

As you might have guessed, I get very bored at work. Pushing shopping carts in and out all day gets sort of dull after 2 and a half years. So I tend to day dream a lot while I'm "working" and one of the things I often like to imagine is something popping out of one of those blue boxes (they're the perfect size for a jack-in-the-box, if not oddly decorated) or some sort of creature sitting on top of it like a gargoyle, or some massive bird of pray. I tend to imagine the latter more often due to all the flocks of seagulls and crows that actually do perch on those boxes from time to time.

I think about random creatures and things a lot while I'm at work, and there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing something I see every day in the real world being portrayed in an illustration. It makes the idea seem very real.  Like if I could go into my imagination this place would really be there, some twisted version of the department store with random creatures running around. It's a very exciting feeling for me and I would like to make more illustrations based on real places like this in the future, ones that put an imaginative spin on settings of my everyday life.

I originally called this piece "Shopping Cart Cheshire Cat" but "We're All Mad Here" makes a lot more sense considering this is based off of where I work. Between the obnoxious customers and the stressed out employees, it really can be a madhouse in there, but with less tea and more nonsense. I'm just happy I get to work outside.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

("Happy Birthday" 2014, Sharpie on a Hallmark card)

I did not make this card. I merely embellished it with a sharpie. It was originally an adorable teddy bear card, no doubt intended for the birthday of a small infant, or someone who really likes bears, but in honor of my Dad's birthday, and because I can never resist the urge to turn cute and adorable into creepy and somewhat disturbing, I decided to add some teeth, stitches, empty eyeless sockets, and the striped pattern on his lil' footsie wootsies! <3

Incase you can't make it out, the writing on the card (just above the skull and crossbones) reads "Have a cute and cuddly, warm and snuggly birthday."

I'd do it if I were you... that bear looks serious.

Day At The Circus

("Day At The Circus" 2014, Photoshop) 

Who doesn't love a day at the circus with their best friend?

This piece took quite a few days to put together but it was well worth the effort. The entire piece was inspired by the music of Nox Arcana, specifically his album "Carnival of Lost Souls", more specifically, his song "Calilope" which I highly recommend listening to, particularly while looking at this picture. It really is a very appropriate soundtrack.

And yes, that bear does have button nipples, and no he's not wearing a shirt. I don't censor my art. If you can't handle button nipples on a giant teddy bear then don't come to the circus. 

Drinks With Death

("Drinks With Death" 2012, Photoshop)

Welcome to the first post for my new blog. Huzzah!  I couldn't have picked a better picture to start with. This has been one of my favorites for years. Like most of my drawings, this one was originally just a doodle I did during one of my classes, but it really grew once I started toying with it in photoshop. You can still make out some blurry lines of text in the background. That's because it was originally drawn on the back of a syllabus. Some of the text bleed through when I scanned the drawing, but it adds a nice abstraction.