Venusta Orchard Spider Plush

We've been in production mode for the last few days, building up our stock for future fairs, new stores and yes, the holiday season. In the spirit of keeping creative, I decided to take some time to create something new and different. We've been spotting lots of interesting looking spiders around our new home, and I decided to make a (much larger) plush version of one of the prettiest we've seen. It's a Venusta Orchard Spider, and it's got amazing green and yellow coloring with brilliant orange markings. It's completey harmless, and we're glad it's around to eat insects. For a sense of scale, the front legs are 14" long, and he seems pretty comfortable hanging out in a tree. Enjoy!

Octopus Clock @ The Fool's Mansion

On display at The Fool's Mansion in Salem, MA is a new piece I created for their themed "From the Depths" art show. It is a plush octopus that is clutching an antique clock face. I outfitted the clock face with a new, working mechanism. After creating the giant, plush cuckoo clock for Etsy I have wanted to play with more functional pieces. The whole thing is about 18"x18", so a pretty good size. Gubicza has also provided an original wood cut for the show of a sea captain. The gallery opening party is tonight from 8-10pm.

Giant Plush Office @ Etsy

It's finished!! The 9 week long project that Brian and I have been working on is coming to a close. We've been planning, cutting, designing, painting, sourcing materials, hammering and learning new skills. When Etsy asked us to spruce up some small rooms in their corporate office space, we jumped at the chance. The rooms are tiny (5' x 7') and are used by staff to make private phone calls. When we arrived, they were bare and uninviting. Now, they each feel like a unique universe.

Brian chose to design an amazing Evil Villain's Lair (see below). Since the space was already small, I wanted to play with scale even more. What if everything in the office was larger than life? My specialty is plush, so I set to work on making giant plush office supplies. Here are some more detailed shots:

Vintage Royal Typewriter

Red Swingline Stapler & Vintage Black Telephone

Red Swingline Stapler

Vintage Black Telephone

Etsy Coffee Mug

Plush Cuckoo Clock

Cork Board & Thumbtacks

Many thanks go to:
Rob Kalin
Sarah Starpoli
Brian Gubicza
All of my studio mates for looking at everything along the way, whether they wanted to or not. :)

Next up - the photos of the third room to come this weekend!

Villain's Lair @ Etsy

The first of three rooms that Brian and I are creating for Etsy is complete! Enjoy the Villain's Lair!

More photos and full description over at Brian's blog:
http://goobeetsa.blogspot.com

New Exhibit - Collaboration with Bren Bataclan

"Baha", a new exhibit featuring paintings from artist Bren Bataclan (http://bataclan.com), will have its opening this week. In addition to Bataclan's paintings (many depicting the heroism, resilience and compassion of the Filipino people during the recent floods), 15 plush pieces based Bataclan's regular, whimsical characters will make their debut. Bataclan asked Zooguu to create the first 3D plush versions of his characters, and we were delighted to have the opportunity (and the challenge) of interpreting his work.

Join us for the celebration:

Thursday, March 11, 5:00PM to 9:00PM

The Harbor Art Gallery @ UMass Boston (in the McCormick Building on the First floor)
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125 US

Documentary - Tuttle 2 Texas

Gubicza and I were interviewed today by documentary filmmakers! Heather & Michelle were here from London, traveling from Boston > Austin interviewing people about how the internet has changed culture, community and business. We had a great time talking about how we use the internet for our business, how a lot of our real-life friends were internet friends first, and we even showed them how we make animals! We wish them luck on the rest of their travels, and thank them for including us in their journey.

http://heathertaylor.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tuttle-2-Texas/307800467715

Gallery Shows - December

We will be in a few gallery shows, pop-up shops and traveling to three different cities during the month of December. Here are two highlighted gallery shows with openings this week:

Luv-able + Hug-able
December 3, 2009 - January 9, 2010

Gallery Hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730 NYC 10012

Opening Reception Dec. 3 from 6-9pm

There will be work from over 50 plush artists at this show - you don't want to miss it! Plus, they're all "medium & mini" size, so they'll be extra cute. Gubicza and I created a series of plush robots specifically for the show. Here are Brian's design ideas, and the finished 3D toys that I made:

Another gallery show is in Salem, MA and is featuring artists' interpretations of Krampus for the month of December.

The Fool's Mansion
137 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970

Opening Reception December 5.

Twist Fair Tomorrow

I will be attending the Twist III fair in Northampton, MA tomorrow night (Friday) and Saturday. It should be a great time: wonderful handmade gifts, drinks and even a DJ! More info. on their website.

Robots For Luv-able + Hug-able Plush Show

Here's a sneak peek at the first two robot plush for Gallery Hanahou's (NYC) upcoming Luv-able & Hug-able Plush show. There will be five robot designs in total, but I wanted to share the first two as soon as they were ready.

Join me at the opening of this amazing show on December 3!

South End Open Market - Halloween Style!

Yesterday, Gubicza and I traveled up to Boston to participate in the annual "Market of the Living Dead" - the last outdoor SOWA Open Market of the season. I've been having so much fun playing the LEGO Batman video game this summer, that I couldn't wait to make my own LEGO Batman costume. I was even fortunate enough to win first prize at this year's vendor costume contest! There was some stiff competition this year in the form of gorillas, Col. Sanders, The Corpse Bride, and zombies of all shapes and sizes with gruesome handmade makeup effects. There was even a customer costume contest this year, and the winner made an amazing "construction worker impaled by a traffic cone" costume. Here's a few pictures of my costume, but check out the entire Market flickr set to see more: