CRAMMED ORGANISM OPENING AT CRANKY YELLOW

I was not able to attend but it looks like it was fun and super busy. I grabbed these picks from Crammed Organisms Flikr pics.

CRAMMED ORGANISM SHOW JUNE 6, 2008

What an awesome show!!! I went to the first of the four Crammed Organism shows at Star Clipper Saturday. It was so much fun to see people's work in person. I got all giddy seeing the work of people I admire. I'd have to compare it to seeing a movie star, as cheesy as that sounds. I took more photos and they are on Flikr. Feel free to grab any that you'd like and post them on your blogs or websites. I tried to get as many shots as I could. Enjoy: )

GEARING UP FOR CRAMMED ORGANISM

I had some cards made up for the shows that I'm getting ready to send to Cranky Yellow. There's a sticker on the back with all my info. I haven't done these in the past but I think I'll start doing them now that I've got a few shows coming up this year.
I'll be at Star Clipper Comics on Sat. June 6 for the opening night of the show. So if anyone is going and liked to say hi just track me down.

BEST $.85 I'VE SPENT

I happened to come across a rummage sale this past weekend and found these sweet little bird salt and pepper shakers. They will look great in my studio with my other ceramic figurines. The colors are even the colors of my studio. I haven't done any thrift store or rummage sale shopping in ages. So this was a great find. I love searching for this kind of stuff as well as old sewing and craft books. With being pregnant and now having the baby around it's hard to get out and search. I'm lucky to be getting done what I am getting done.
I actually found these guys in St. Louis. I was in town to visit family and dropped off my work at Cranky Yellow for the big Crammed Organism show coming up in June. I love there shop and got to see some of the work that has already arrived. So far what I've seen looks great. I can't wait to see more. It looks like I'll be able to make the first showing on June 6th at Star Clipper. I hope to meet some of the plush artists then.

READY FOR CRAMMED ORGANISM SHOW

MOMO (Missouri Monster)

NELLIE

OZARK HOWLER

PIASA
Well I've completely finished my monsters and they're ready to go. I'll be dropping them off in person, in St.Louis so it will be nice to see the Cranky Yellow people.
One project done and on to the next.

TAGS

Today, besides painting the shadow boxes, I worked on the tags for each creature. They are all the same. Here is what the front and back of the tags will look like. I just thought I'd do something real designy and slick. The tags have the definition of cryptozoology as well as a brief description of each creature.

NELLIE & PIASA

A large cat like creature attacked a man as he was picking flowers in his garden in Decatur, IL in July 1917. Over three months NELLIE, as it was named, terrorized the community leading to groups of 300+ men searching the area. Sightings continued and hunters found only sets of large prints. That same year, a car hit NELLIE on the highway. The party rushed back to town to summon the police. By the time they returned NELLIE took off over and embankment and was never seen again. Many believe that NELLIE may have been misidentified as a large Puma or escaped zoo animal.

The PIASA or “giant bird that devours man” as it was named by local native Americans, was discovered near present day Alton, IL. In 1673 Fr. Jacques Marquette was introduced to this tale by the local tribe located along the Mississippi River. Marquette described the creature as large as a calf with horns like a deer, a beard, a face like a man, the body covered with scales and a tale so long it wrapped around the body. Legend describes the PIASA as a birdlike creature who could carry off a deer but had a taste for human flesh. Fear throughout the tribes spread. Today the creature is immortalized in a painting on the rock bluffs just north of Alton on the Great River Road.

I've got all four done now and I'm finishing up the frames for each them. Each frame measures approximately 11x17 and each plush sits pretty snuggly inside with about an inch of space all around them. So far I'm pretty happy with how they are all turning out. Once they are all done I'll post more pics.

MOMO & OZARK HOWLER

Here's a quick pic of my interpretation of Momo and the Ozark Howler and a brief description of them.

The OZARK HOWLER is a legendary creature said to live in the remote parts of Missouri and surrounding states. The creature is described as being as large as a bear with stocky legs, shaggy black hair and horns, with the cry of a wolf. The OZARK HOWLER has only been seen at night so it’s unclear on exactly what color he is but most will say black.

Local legend states that MOMO, or the “Missouri Monster”, is said to have originated in Louisiana, MO around 1972. MOMO is described as being a hairy half-ape, half-man creature standing about 6 to 7 ft tall. In 1972 a large creature was seen covered with blood carrying a large dead dog in the town of Louisiana, MO.. During a two week perioid neighbors told stories of dogs that had disappeared in the area. Terrible odors also emanated from the sighting areas, as well as eerie howls. As quickly as the scare started it ended. Many believe that MOMO was nothing more than a large rogue black bear.

I've gotten pretty far on Piasa and hope to have him don today. I purchased all the wood yesterday for my shadow boxes so maybe I can get started on those this weekend. I can't wait to see them in the boxes and get good photos of them.

MORE CRYTOZOOLOGY SKETCHES

I've finished working on Momo and the Ozark Howler I mentioned in a previous post. I hope to get a picture taken of them tomorrow. I don't have the shadow boxes made for them. I thought I'd wait till I have all four complete before I start that. But I can at least show you the two I've completed even without the boxes.
Here are the sketches for the other two creatures. The bird like creature is called Piasa and the cat is called Nellie. Again these creatures of Cryptozoology are local to the midwest, mainly the St. Louis area. I'll give their full story when I have them complete and I have good pics taken of them all.

CRAMMED ORGANISMS SHOW

4 unique venues, 4 different shows, 1 massive collaboration.
Don't forget!! The deadline to apply is fast approaching. You have under a week to apply. Click the link to the right to apply. This is going to be huge!!! Looks like a lot of people have applied already. Can't wait to see everyones work.

CRYPTOZOOLOGY

Well In between feedings and changings I've managed to do some sketches for the Crammed Organisms show. I've put Hansel on hold because I need to get going on these four pieces for this show since it is first. Since the theme of the Crammed Organisms show is Fairytales, Folktales & Folklore I've decided to do pieces based on local folklore. The scientific term for these creatures is CRYPTOZOOLOGY, meaning the study of evidence tending to substantiate the existence of, or the search for, creatures whose reported existence is unproved, as the Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness monster. Here are sketches of two of them. The blue guy is Momo or the Missouri monster and the orange guy is the Ozark Howler. I'll tell you more about their stories later. I'm thinking these pieces will be hangable in a shadowbox. So the pieces won't be super three dimensional but a little more flat. I like the idea of plush hanging on walls rather than standing on your shelf where they just get lost. I think if I stick to these colors they will really pop against the black background of the box.

WORLDS LARGEST PLUSH SHOW!!

Yippee!!!!! I can finally talk about this killer show that's going to take place in St. Louis this June. I am one of the judges for this show and I am super honored to have been asked to be involved. Here's the low down:
Crammed Organisms is the world's largest plush show!
Nowhere on earth have so many stuffed creatures been collected under a single banner! Asia cowers before the might of
Crammed Organisms, Europe shakes in its boots, South America secretly yearns for such glory, and North America glows
with pride as tons of cotton fill its streets and cloud the sky!
Fairy, Folk, and Fable (the three F's of Crammed Organism's 2008 theme) have been terribly absent from St Louis and
even the world itself! Without stuffed representations of our hopes and dreams we stand no chance of ever achieving
them! How can you possible afford to miss such a thing? What sort of person are you anyway?
Crammed Organisms, is being hosted by multiple independently owned businesses here in St. Louis.

There is a ton more info at CrammedOrganisms.com
I have posted a link on the side here that will take you directly to the APPLY ONLINE PAGE.