Monster Dan

Monster Dan is my sister Mollie’s boyfriend, and this portrait was part of a set that I gave her as a birthday present. Dan has “always alarmed” eyes that he uses to stare down his students (he’s an English teacher) and of course a Conjunction Junction button that I bought off of eBay.

Monster Dan measures 5.5 x 7.5 inches and was made using 39 cent felt squares, googly eyes and faux fur fabric wrapped around the back/stand portion of IKEA’s Ribba picture frame. The stand was left over from my original monster portraits, which only used the frame portion.

Monster Mollie

Monster Mollie is my sister, and I made her this monster portrait for her birthday. Dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes (with an extra eye added just for good all-seeing measure) sit above her bear trap chompers. Don’t want to get in the way of those while she’s arguing or going for the last slice of pie.

Monster Mollie measures 5.5 x 7.5 inches and was made using 39 cent felt squares, stuffed animal eyes and faux fur fabric wrapped around the back/stand portion of IKEA’s Ribba picture frame. The stand was left over from my original monster portraits, which only used the frame portion.

The Goodie Monster Is Here

Just in time for Halloween! Over the weekend my friend Mark and I put the finishing touches on the Goodie Monster: a vending machine filled with healthy, tasty snacks. Not only does it taste good, it looks good too. Check out the full project process and see more pictures of us sewing and painting nonstop to create a green fur-clad monster complete with a mountainous environment where pears fly south for the winter. Read more >>

Monster Portraits

I’ve been thinking about monsters lately, so I decided to get them out of my brain by making some monster portraits of my new compatriots over at Jelly Helm Studio. I admit, I wasn’t sure how these would be received. When a child draws garish representations of their family members a mother can’t do anything but reply “Oh, honey, these are wonderful!” But when a grown woman likens her workmates to monsters, well…

Luckily the response from Jelly, Mark and NJ was delight and guttural exclamations (also of delight, I assume), after which we hung the family of frames outside the studio door. Why yes, we have a security system on premises: four fake monsters.

After debuting the quartet I asked their human counterparts for a first impression interview which are transcribed below, and are 90% accurate to what was recorded on my iPhone during the interviews.

Ten Second Interview with NJ the Intern
Bureau Representative: What were you thinking at the moment this portrait was taken?
NJ the Intern: Erm. Hmmm. Ugghghhh. Tphhht.
Bureau Representative: Unsure?
**NJ reaches out and softly strokes his fuzzy tan fur**
Bureau Representative: How does it feel to touch yourself?
NJ the Intern: Um. Uhhh. Uggg. Feels good.
Bureau Representative: What sound is your little mouth making in this portrait?
NJ the Intern: Glerm.
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