Stupid Creatures
News
SSC Kit users made a video!
April 24, 2008
AAWWWW!! I'm touched!!This one was made by youtuber TMARINEO
And this video shows a creature made by a fan, INDICARAINBOW, and given to her mom..
Etsy, Jobs and stuff
March 30, 2008
So, the Etsy shop is going pretty well. I've got more to upload and I'm hoping Ian's gonna be ready with some stuff soon too. He's making some really great figures right now, you guys, and I can't wait for you to see 'em.I've just applied to the Piedmont Craftsmen and the Carolina Designer Craftsmen guilds here in NC. My portfolios will be reviewed this April. If I get into these guilds I'll have great opportunities for shows and conventions. It'll be a good thing for sure.
The client for the vinyl sculpts job I did last winter has hired me again. I'll be revisiting one of the vinyl characters and producing a plush prototype of it. My deadline's the end of April. Gotta bust arse on this one!! It's not without its complexities!!
The same client has been acting as a rep for my portfolio out in the Big Toy Company World for several years now. He'll be pitching my stuff to a new prospective producer this Wednesday. Wish us luck. We have a good feeling about this one!!
Today, in a few minutes, actually, I'm going to get up and put on running shorts to run the ING half marathon here in Atlanta with my brother James. It's raining. We'll be fine. At least it isn't sweltering.
What the eff does "ETSY" mean anyway?
March 15, 2008
Well well wellllll Look who went out on a limb and joined the hugest online craft bazaar in the whole wide.. WE DID!!Sho nuff!
We've only got one item listed so far, but there'll be more coming, just you wait.
Have a look at the shop and give us some feedback!
John
I got the sculpts job shipped off today
February 04, 2008
What a relief. This morning I had a nightmare about missing my shipping deadline. I was up last night till midnight finishing up. I'd come to a point at which I just said forget packing tonight, I've got school to teach in the morning and I've got to sleep.I set my alarm for 5 a.m., and sure enough I awoke at quarter till. I'd been sleeping fitfully anyway. I know I'm prone to want to sleep later when I set an early alarm, even when time is precious, so I can't say I truly fell asleep last night.
I dreamed I was in a sprawling, contemporary mansion with a nondescript brother who was neither James nor Joey (my real-life brothers), my step mother Janine (as herself), and an old man I'd never seen before.
I dreamed my car was stuck in my bedroom, and that my bedroom was flooded with water. I'd missed my shipping deadline, and I thought for a brief, relieving moment that I could just send the shipment the next day. But then the thought occurred to me that my client NEEDED the shipment the next day.
I announced I was going to drive to So. Cal. myself and drop the package off in time. I'd drive all night if I had to.
My step mother, in her reliable, realistic way went (paraphrase) Come on, John. L.A. is 6 hours away by car (it's actually several days away from Asheville). Just send it tomorrow. Let it be a day late. And anyway, your car is swimming in your room. How did you plan to drive it?
I woke before my alarm. I was relieved, but still tense. I fished a shipping label from a previous shipment to this client out of an ocean of unfiled paperwork on my desk. It still had his current information on it. I was relieved. I stuck it in the inside coat pocket of the jacket I planned to wear today. I made myself a nice breakfast, brushed my teeth a full two minutes, dressed and left for the studio.
I shot crisp, new photos of the set of sculpts and individually bundled each item in the same stuffing I use for my creatures, and wrapped each pile in a page from an old MAD magazine. I labeled each one and boxed them in sets.
Into the car they went, with a stuffed toy as a thank-you token for my client. There they stayed till this afternoon when I packed everything up in one big box and FedExed it to its intended home.
So. Wish my items luck. May they hit their mark and attract more work for me in this field. The experience was harrying and amazing. My skills were pushed, challenged and ultimately augmented.
If my client hires me again, I will work for him. Ball's in his court. Or it shall be when he gets the package.
Just stressing a little.. The good kind, but still..
February 01, 2008
So. I've got a really great client out in LA. He wasn't always a client. He's a talent broker who has been pimping my portfolio to folks who could give me a toy/animation contract. I won't go into detail. Nondisclosure and all that.So he recently hired me to do the original sculpts for a set of accessories for a line of toys he's got going. Once again, hush hush, nondisclosure and all that. You'll know soon enough so let that be that.
I'm working with polymer clay, Super Sculpey to be exact. It's a great, resilient material. The work is tiny and extremely detailed. I can sculpt like nobody's business, but I've never worked so tiny before. And because this job could invite similar work if I nail it, I've never stressed so badly over the details.
Anyway, I'm shipping it all out Monday and I can't wait. It's high time I got back to sewing and filling creature orders. So, that said, wish me well as I finish all this up. There have already been revisions out the wazoo (my client has seen preliminary photos of the whole process and his feedback is awesome), so I'll be glad to get the finished shooting match out the door and into his waiting hands.
That's it for now!
Myspace Hiatus
January 30, 2008
Hi, Everyone..Just to let you know, I'll be taking a 2-week break from Myspace to test a theory. I've got some software that tracks and catalogs my browsing trends, and it says I'm looking at a lot of elicit material. I know I'm not, but I do know that myspace presents gratuitous dating ads featuring these great, flopping boobies with giggling women attached to them and various other links to stuff I never pursue. I'm gonna see how a break from myspace affects the assessment of my browsing patterns. If you want to write me at Myspace, please do. I'll check back in soon. Otherwise, drop email me at john (at) stupidcreatures (dot) com. If online networking sites are your mainstay, you can also find me on Facebook and Livekite.
I'm working on a new order form
Hi, Everyone.It's high time I revamped my custom service. For several years now I've asked only a blanket price per stupid creature, but now each order will be priced case by case.
We'll start with a simple, two-sock creature at a base price. You will be given a limited number of basic features that we can arrange how you like (within known physical laws), and one freebie from a list of provided features. Extra features, like more arms/legs, wings, horns, a tongue or extra eyes, can be added a-la-carte, and will be priced per feature.
The base rate is going to be less than what I'm asking now. Theoretically, more people will react well to the new price and place more orders for simpler creatures that we'll have no problem cranking out quickly. And should a customer want a more elaborate creature, we will be glad to provide, because we'll be receiving compensation for the extra work we're putting into the piece.
Customers can still request a remake or an imitation of a previously-made creature, and will be able to predict its cost based on the price of any added features necessary to imitate the desired item. Know what I mean? For complex creatures like Christinabelle, who features 8 legs, a skirt and a purse, you may want to drop us an email first to see how much such a monster will cost you before you go filling out your order form.
For our ready-made items, I've set up a shop on Etsy.com. We have yet to fill it with anything since we're under contract for a different job right now and haven't been sewing since the holidays. We'll be featuring our Slow Children Playing, ready made items like Hidey Berrz and Lullards, and other stuffed creations we think you might like.
We think all of you will like the new direction Stupid Creatures is taking, and in the meantime, we welcome your feedback.
Very busy artist.
January 26, 2008
Hello.Some things: If you want to sell the work you make from my book, you can. Just don't call 'em Stupid Creatures, give 'em different names (besides Syd, Wronky, Estelle, etc.), and try to make new and different creations.
Production items, such as lullards and hidey berrz (see previous post) are on hiatus while I reorganize some things in the studio and in my head.
To those whose custom job orders I received last month (December, '07), I'm beginning the work this weekend. Thank you for checking in. I will post more detailed updates as new things occur.
To those customers who think they've waited too long for their custom job: Bear in mind, at any given time no matter when you place your order, you're probably 10th in line or so. Buying custom art is not for the impatient. Please abandon the notion that plush toy design is easy and/or quick just because it's plush. For some artists it might be, but I wager our products differ remarkably in appearance and detail.
And a note about materials: The very best way for you to know you'll like the color and the pattern of your Stupid Creature is to send me the item you want me to transform into your monster. I get the most outlandish requests for prints, patterns and colors which might not even exist. And while I tout this service as "custom," recycling and reuse are almost part of the Stupid Creatures doctrine. Gimme old stuff, important stuff, to make your monster from. It comes down to the fact that I'm mot charging enough, and you're not paying me enough, to go on vast global searches for the materials of your dreams. I often go out and buy extra items (notions, decorative bits) for specific creatures when I think the piece might benefit from it, but that's not part of the package.
Oh, and on a related matter: Please allow for some flexibility with your design requests. If you're too rigid with what you want, chances are you're not gonna get it. Why? Usually because you don't know anything about sewing, and have sent inadequate materials.
I prefer this: Give my monster three arms
To this: Give my monster three (3) five-inch arms with pink paws that are 1 inch long and with three toes apiece. Space them one inch apart with the third one twisting slightly as if he's looking at his watch. Oh yeah, give him a watch. A digital one with embroidered numbers indicating that it's tea time...
Get it? The former allows me to fulfill your requests more creatively. The latter is so rigid and complex that what I make will very likely not match what you've got in your head. Give me a little breathing room, and your monster might just get extra details like toes if I see the piece needs 'em or will benefit from 'em.
So anyway, I'm gonna fold some laundry and head back to the studio. Love to all.
It's been a long time, everyone.
August 02, 2007
Today I'm expecting family. We're headed to TN tomorrow for a huge gathering of relatives, some of whom I've never met. We've probably not got that much DNA in common, but it'll be nice to meet them. My grandparents are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary and my dad is turning 60. It should be eventful. I'm still taking my computer with me 'cause I've got book deadlines.So, speaking of, I'm working on a new book with two other artists, Ian Dennis whom you know from Stupid Creatures, and plush art veteran Jenny Harada from New Jersey. Lark has asked us to put together a stuffed toy book for preteens, and give the items somewhat of a functional edge. It's gonna be a smash. We've all made the toy samples for the book, and I'm finishing up my instructions today. Next on my agenda are diagrams for all the projects, and illustrated scenarios in which to place images of the toys popping in and out. It's a lot of work but I'm glad to have it under my belt.
And in the world of custom orders: My faithful customers, I wish I could just say I've been lazy, but that's far from the truth. I've been scrambling to eat and pay my bills. I ran out of stuffing last week and have not been able to afford more. I'm sending out some invoices to people who need to pay me, and I promise the waits for all outstanding orders will not be long. One of these days, my entrepreneurial side will flourish and I will quit running my business like a schizophrenic artist.
So that's all the news for now.
Except: to make it clear, I'm lifting my restrictions on selling the work you make from my book. Try to keep it original and do your best to mix it up and not follow the patterns to a tee. I believe in all of you out there and if you find inspiration in my book, I'm gratified, and I don't feel I've got the right to stop you from your endeavors. Blessings and best wishes. If anyone gives you grief about idea theft, lemme in on the conversation.
Take care, everyone!!
MedEx toy show and other updates
December 06, 2006
Hi, everyone. I encourage all of you committed participants who are myspace members to subscribe to this blog. Here are some things you gotta know:
1. We need you to drop a line to medex@stupidcreatures.com so we can start a mailing list about the show for the definite participants. You can just send a line that says "yes I'm in" or something to that effect.. Feel free to divulge your deepest darkest if you so wish. We are, of course, doctors. Ha.
2. We want to update this profile and our links page to include a list of definite participants. Participants are encouraged to provide us with URLs to your website, online shop, flickr site, myspace or wherever you might best be found online so your listing can be linked up with your site.
2.5. On the subject of links, John's reworking that ancient, dusty page. If you want to be linked, email his flat caucasian arse and say "link me," or thereabouts. Include a basic category for your link: are you a gallery, a design firm, an individual artist (specify genre), a group.. you know.
3. The dates of the show have changed. You've now got a bit more time to sicken the world with your medical misfires. We're waiting on PUSH (the venue) to etch the dates in stone, but the show will open in the middle of March, and end the middle of April (that's tax time, everyone).
4. As the opening day is still a tiny bit nebulous, the entry form with all the terms has, of course, not been posted. This is a good thing. We'll post the entry form's availability as soon as it's ready.
That's it for now..
J and I
YES I WILL SHIP TO AUSTRALIA.
August 22, 2006
A recent piece of press in an Australian newspaper, the Sunday Times (out of Perth, I think), implies that I do not ship to Australia. The truth is that I simply have not YET shipped to Australia, as no Australian has placed an order. The day one does, I will gladly ship to Australia without reservation.I've had the opportunity to clarify to a couple of interested Australians, over email, the truth of this matter, and have encouraged them to spread the word. Anyone reading this is welcomed to do the same.
Many, many thanks!!
The thing about selling the creatures you've made from my book..
July 20, 2006
Okay. My book's been out for about a year, and several people have written to ask me if they can sell the creatures they make from my techniques.The answer, unfortunately, is no.
In the front of the book, on the page facing the dedication, is a copyright notice stating (paraphrase) that the techniques and instructions in the book are for personal use only, not for commercial use, without the author's written consent.
I won't be giving any consent any time soon, unless you're Ian Dennis, who works with me and has come up with his own techniques which I myself will not be copying.
Anyway, consider also that this copyright notice was the doings of Sterling Publishing for the protection of their and my intellectual property. Originality is your best defense against a possible cease and desist or worse from a huge international corporation.
If anyone needs any suggestions as to which techniques in my book to avoid in his or her own work, read the following:
Avoid making your stuff look like anything from the patterns for Genevieve, Claude, Syd, Jordan and Estelle. That means avoid mimicking their ears, arms, legs, heads, tails, bones through the head or bodies.
The concepts of multiple legs, multiple arms, tube shaped appendages of any kind, and bones through the head are all totally public domain and legal for anyone to produce. What will snag any artist is making their execution of legal techniques look too much like the work of someone else.
And while nobody can copyright the concept of big lips, do try to make your mouths look different from mine.
I'll do my best to help you stay creative and get your own thing going.
Thanks everyone!!
Please don't anybody worry..
June 27, 2006
My website looks like it's gone. It isn't. I've just been without the use of my computer for a week now, and in that week, I suppose I was warned of the need to renew the stupidcreatures.com domain name. It all blinked out. No warning, or none that I had any power to heed, having had no machine for a week.So, I've renewed my domain name. I don't know why my site has not yet been restored. I have no way of even checking my email right now. I'm waiting on the good word from my friend-become-web tech to advise me.
In the meantime, I don't know what to tell you guys. I'm sorry about this untimely viewing of the proverbial dirty underpants. I swear I haven't gone out of business. I'm just slightly stunted right now. Maybe the site will be all up and running tomorrow..
Perhaps in the meantime I'll try to tinker..
Ready Made Creatures Need Love Too!!
April 07, 2006
When we aren't handling custom jobs, Ian and I quell our monster making urges by making stupid creatures whether people tell us to or not. We've got quite a few to choose from. Click their names to see them for yourselves!! Creatures with ** beside their names have child safe doll eyes instead of buttons, and are safe for babies, teething children or anyone with a propensity to gnaw.When you think of eyes, think of **Bruce. As he has no nose whatsoever, he must visually ascertain the scent of something by analyzing its ambient discharge on a submolecular level. This is done by focusing all six of his eyes on to his subject matter. Too much of this narrow-band focus has been known to burn holes in things.
The quadrupedal **Dirk is a living testament of blunted idiocy. He is currently working towards his associate's degree in bubble blowing. We anticipate his early graduation in 2014, if he can stay on task and keep track of his sudsy water.
Next there's the four-legged, blobby-horned Glovinnidy Ester Montreve, a Sunday School teacher from Barbecue Alabama. She has 8 kids, all grown, and 3 grandbabies on the way. She enjoys making fudge and weaving straw hats.
**Monagroana is 8 and an early bloomer of a high school senior. She enjoys picking up ambient psionic detritus on her antennae and sorting it out into cohesive strands of gossip. She hopes to swim with the manatees one day.
Classic Fantastic Ned Wetty, a rare breed and a discontinued Stupid Creatures design, is perfectly witless and content to oil rusty wrenches at the factory where he works. We assume he's in his late 40s.
**Peppamink and **Paddy are brother and sister, though it's unclear as to which sibling is which.They grew up in the Czech Republic and Ireland, respectively, and use their stripes as camouflage when hiding in candy stores.
Ramses, the Self Aggrandizing Gas Bag, is the ruler of no known municipality, yet demands that monuments be erected in his honor. He lightly jets from place to place, buoyed by his own flatulence and sense of self importance. We think he's a nutter.
Anton Xavier Scrapeyshard learned to dance when he was just 5. Since then he has entertained crowds numbering in the high tens, upwards of perhaps twice. His wings are a graft from the remains of a sylph, and his black tulle tutu is probably French. The non-skid pads on his belly and arms make him an excellent hugger.
When we first met Steve he was waiting for a bus that never came. We found him charming with his penchant for memorable anecdotes. He swears he's only 30, but his sagely wisdom would convince you otherwise.
When **Swain materialized in our medicine cabinet last Thursday, we were, needless to say, quite surprised. But this mysterious pixie of a stupid creature has proven to be a reliable sounding board for our many prescription drug abuse problems. Make her your companion and you'll leave the pills behind for good.
**Yuri is an amphibious Swamp Swami from a distant corner of someplace vague. His age is incalculable, as is his near photosynthetic love for the sun. When he can't be bothered to help you sort out your religion, Yuri spends his time knitting with strands of astral energy. He's made a truckload of sweaters.
All of these ready made creatures can be purchased in the Gallery. We use PayPal, so anybody can partake. Thanks a ton!!
ASU Fiber Arts Students visit the Stupid Creatures Studio on March 24.
April 04, 2006
This news is a wee tad overdue.
L to R, Emily Purser, Ian Dennis (seated) Blake Nowlin, Emily Dixon (holding Noot), Michael Mull (holding Ned Wetty), Prof. Jeana Klein, John Murphy. Photo by Anabelle Ecter.
On March 24, Fiber Arts Adjunct Prof. Jeana Klein from Appalachian State University brought her advanced students to Asheville for a museum and gallery tour. Among their stops was a visit to my studio. I was truly flabberhgasted to be asked to speak to the up and coming generation of new artists about art as a career and the basics of starting and running a business. We stuffed ourselves with homemade cookies and plenty of coffee. My brother, James, from Atlanta, was visiting that week. In addition to helping me organize quite a hefty backlog of ignored duties, he gave his own words of wisdom to the visiting students. He's an accountant, see, and had plenty of information to submit about the very real and important financial aspect of running any businesss. We all had a great time.
Prof. Klein emailed me later and said this:
"John--
Thanks SO much for sharing your time, knowledge...and cookies and
coffee with me and my students. (We're going to send you a real
solid-mail thank you note, in the near future, too.) I really
appreciate your honesty and candor, and think the students did, too.
Good luck in all your art-making endeavors.
Take care.
Jeana"
And they DID send me a big old envelope full of thank you notes written and sewn on handmade paper. They sent socks and buttons, all of which will find purpose in my collection of materials. It's all great stuff. Next time, maybe we'll all have a sewing fest and create a gigantic collaborative monster. Any other college profs reading this are welcome to bring their own students by any time.
A completely validating word from a fan.
Mr. Murphy,I have 5 cats...well now 4.
My oldest cat, Smokey was my guy. We were a team- he was my living stupid creature. Anyway, he became very ill with a cancerous type infection in his mouth and after months of trying to heal and deal with it I had to make the hardest decision ever.
Smokey was humanely euthanized and passed away peacefully on my lap 1 week ago today. He was 15.
=^..^=
It was equally as heartbreaking explaining to my children why Smokey had "to go"... ugh...guilt. So all week I had been in the dumps. My sister decided that she'd take me to Barnes and Noble to get my mind on other things.
I'm in love with PEZ dispensers and on my way to the collectibles books I catch a glimpse of this funny looking creature on the front cover of a book. I stopped dead in my tracks and grabbed it off the shelf.
and read the title aloud..."Stupid Sock Creatures:Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-Off Socks"
...and I laughed.
...and laughed, and freaked out the lady next to me looking at some gardener type book, and laughed some more.
I couldn't put your book down. And I realized for that moment in time I was ok. Furthermore, I began to feel inspired - something I hadn't felt in so long. Not only are your creatures fantabulous but the whole idea that as an artist you have the capability to evoke emotion and thought from your creations, your work.
It's the reason I love art...and for that Mr. Murphy I say "Thank You" not only are your Stupid Creatures uplifting and funny and can make any shitty week disappear, your work is a prime example of how artists spin the web of creativity... and the natural evolution of such desire can be enjoyed by others.
AWESOME!
THANK YOU!
[Name Withheld]
I sold a piece in Chicago.
March 06, 2006
Gosh. I know it's a good thing to actually make a sale. It truly is. But I'm sad. I was actually hoping I'd see Wilmot again. Check this out. According to the Rotofugi website, he sold.This is, of course, good. I've made a sale at a stinkin' awesome plush show at a really neat designer toy store in a great city, so I guess that means I'm "in there." Runnin' with the big dogs.
I should see if they want to sell my book there. But I liked Wilmot quite a bit. His counterpart, Arden Thackery, Jr., is also a fave of mine, but I had hoped the two of them would stay together. Perhaps whomever bought Wilmot will realize the half-done effort and go back to get Arden. At least then I'll know my fraternal twins are still together.
Ah.. I feel a bit better now. It's hitting me that my stuff sold at a primo location for indy toy design. Yay. Let's keep this up.
It took me 3 years to find the right assistant. Ian is Here and He Is Workin' it..
February 26, 2006
My new stupid creatures coworker Ian is turning out to be the perfect addition to my staff of just me. He's still in training but design-wise he's ready to start processing orders on his own. We're going to be working today on stitching a monster together that he's cut and arranged. I'm expecting fantastic results again.What this means for the Stupid Creatures business is that we'll be able to crank out orders faster and take on more. Our goals, though, are to keep the custom service around for those who continue to seek it, and make more ready-mades to buy right off the website (which I've had NO TIME WHATSOEVER to make recently) while we develop a line of mass marketed stuffed toys to sell wholesale in shops and online.
I'm so excited. Ian and I have similar backgrounds, both majoring in ceramics and using clay as a venue for our first monstrous creations. Yes, Ian makes monsters (and aliens and robots) out of clay just like I did in college and hope to continue doing soon (the ceramic itch never goes away once you've found a niche for it). He wants to see what the plush world is like and graciously accepted an offer to assist me in my current efforts which will lead to his, and my, escalation in the art of stuffed toys.
I'll be updating the contact page to include his photo and, if he so desires, a link to his myspace page (I'll go ahead and stick him in my top 8 so you readers can find him easily from my page). We'll also put together a gallery of the creatures he's done in training just so you all out there can start salivating along with me.
Updates will, of course, continue to be posted. Things are really busy in the studio and I've seen no typical post-holiday slump. I'm grateful for that but still amazingly swamped considering the creatures are only one part of my art life, one that I admit requires a lot more maintenance and care than I feel I've been able to give at the moment. Thanks again to all of my patient, dedicated customers. I'm grateful for the life you've given me for the past 3 years.
In Plush We Trust
November 11, 2005
Hi, Everyone. I wanted to announce my participation in the plush art show, In Plush We Trust, that opens at the Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago on Nov. 18. Shawn Smith, another plush artist out there in the industry, has curated this event. I myself won't be able to make it to the opening but I encourage any of you Chicago readers to attend.I was very pleased to be invited to participate. As you well know, my medium and my muse has been socks. This was a new opportunity (not my first) to work with actual fabric. I was really sweating not having Adobe Illustrator to make my patterns with. In fact, I was kind of panicked about it, but with the deadline for the show approaching, I just went for it sans pattern or plan and wound up creating Arden Thackery, Jr., and Wilmot H. Trexler. I think they're pretty rad.
The neat thing about this show is that every participant was sent the exact same materials to make his or her plush item(s) out of. We were allowed to use whatever eyes we wanted and one other item of our choosing like hair or colored fabric (notice the monochrome). I didn't wind up straying from the prescribed materials (save for the eyes) 'cause I think my boys are pretty complete as they are. I considered some faux fur pants or something, but why bother. I would have overdone it.
With any luck, this show will attract some attention and maybe some business or future gigs. I learned a lot about making better 3-D figures out of fabric, something that has been somewhat intimidating in the past. I look forward now to plowing through my many bags of scrap fabric that I swear I'll use one of these days. I've made other non-sock plush items, but I have to say that Arden and Wilmot are my best yet. I look forward to many more.
To Apple and Beyond
October 11, 2005
Computer's off again to the Apple folks. This time to fix the screen that went completely black after sending the computer off for a month of hurricane-delayed repairs. Wish me luck everyone. And I'm turning 30 on Friday so everybody send me blank checks.Rejoice I tell ya..
October 01, 2005
My computer came home, albeit practically a different machine. The repair list was extensive. About six parts were replaced instead of just the two I knew I needed: the casing and the optical drive for reading DVDs. Unfortunately the hard drive was completely erased. I backed up most of the essential files on it, which was good, but things I didn't think to back up ('cause I was optimistic) were 2 years worth of digital photos, 20 gigs of music and a bunch of bootlegged software that, due to enhancements in security protocols, are nearly impossible to bootleg again. I can see my files, but without software like photoshop or adobe illustrator, a lot of them can't be accessed or worked on.So, I reinstalled my operating system, which was a great setback in functionality, and I reset what preferences I could. I reloaded a bunch of my music, restored some software I actually owned. I set up my email and internet protocols anew and resolved to start from the ground up. I'm going to pursue my replacement software legitimately, provided I can get a small business loan (I'm taking a class on writing a business plan).
So, today the fog of frustration lifted and I feel incredibly fresh and happy and auspicious, even in light of my computer's screen having now just gone completely black after flickering madly for several seconds. Two restarts have failed to restore any image to the screen, but it's got this faint horizontal stripe towards the bottom so I can tell it's "on." Back to Apple the thing goes likely Monday. Once again the phone rep at the apple support line sounded apologetic. Now that hurricane season is over, he says I should have my computer within 5 days of my sending it off. I will pursue a LOCAL repair first before embarking on another potentially inexhaustible wait.
Pain is temporary, thank God. All things work together for the greater good. I look forward to what happens next. In the meantime, it's back to piggybacking off of other people's machines and sporadically tending to my business matters. Ugh. Bear with me some more, everyone. Thanks to my sister Julie who actually reads this blog.
There's no place like Apple. There's no place like Apple.
September 22, 2005
Okay, so I seem to attract these kinds of unbelievable circumstances like a wet lightning rod. Apple tells me that my computer is at a repair facility in Houston TX. Houston's being evacuated because of hurricane Rita. What I thought was a replacement parts ETA of last Tuesday has been drastically downgraded to "wheneverthefxxk." I asked if since Houston is being evacuated, does that mean my and everyone else's machines that are there could be destroyed? The Apple rep told me that all the machines are or have been stored in a safe facility where they'll be accessible later. Words meant to comfort, I'm sure. How much later I can expect my computer is anyone's guess and only for God to know. I've given it up. It's out of my hands. But I'll look online for maps of Rita's predicted path and hope for the best. EVERYONE PRAY. Not just for my computer but for the safety and quick recovery of everyone in the path of this new storm. And for the rest of the nation in its possible aftermath. Infamous Katrina was a category 4 hurricane. Rita's a 5.An Apple rep just rang me!!
September 20, 2005
A nice lady from Apple called to tell me that in response to the escalation assigned to my repair job, the new ETA for the needed parts was supposedly "today." Of course, the proof will be in the pudding. If the parts arrived today, we may see a repair tonight or tomorrow, with a shipping-out of my computer sometime this week. Cross your fingers everyone.. I might finally be seeing Jordan's other bank.Apple said they're gonna...
September 19, 2005
... do a Global Search for my parts. At this point, had I known that after three effing torturous weeks I'd still be waiting for my repairs, I wouldn't have dug this bottomless pit in the first place. The computer functions, it's just got a bit of loose casing and won't read DVDs. So far there's been the original order for the replacement parts my computer needs and an "allocation" for the parts, which means they've placed a new order with a new supplier (with exactly the same non-results as the first order). Now Apple's doing a global search. They're going to search every Apple store and the like for the parts I need. I was told I could expect a call tomorrow or the next day telling me any sort of news about the order. In the mean time, I could be doing design jobs and illustrations. I could be advancing my website, working on marketing, developing my plush patterns. I could be developing pages from the graphic novel series I'm drawing (the storyboards and script notes are all on my hard drive).. but I'm dead in the effing stagnant water. To everyone out there with an apple: if you need repairs, have them done locally. Don't send your computer off right now. Who the hell knows when you'll ever see it again.More delays from Apple
September 16, 2005
All the phone answering people are truly nice. Today the one I spoke with had sort of an apologetic tone. After 10 business days elapsed, Apple put out an "allocation" on the parts my computer needs. This means they've sought other suppliers for the parts since the original order STILL has not arrived. Even with a brand new supplier, Apple still says there's no ETA on the parts. This is incredibly frustrating. The phone rep told me that hurricane Katrina had something to do with the delays. I guess all their manufacturing facilities are on the Gulf Coast. I had no idea. What bothers me is that the Apple reps claim to receive new parts every day, even on the weekends. Yet mine are never among them. I wonder if my parts arrived and got stashed somewhere by mistake or lost. I just want my machine back. I need it to run my business. Piggybacking on other people's computers is not doing it for me. I have clients to serve and things to do.Still waiting on computer repair
September 12, 2005
It's dementing. It's been 12 days now that I haven't had my computer. I need it for my career. I called the Apple people to check the status. I was told they were waiting on a replacement optical scanner for the DVD drive. That was a week ago. I called again about an hour ago and was told they were waiting on a replacement exterior part.. the "top case" or something. After impressing the importance of my computer's return to the representative, he put me on hold to speak to a different department. I spent half a freaking hour on hold and hung up frustrated. Those of you who pray can ask for a speedy return of my machine. Thanks to my customers and clients for your patience and understanding.I won't be online for a few days..
August 30, 2005
Hi, everyone.. My computer's going byebye for some service as of tomorrow (the 31st) so please bear with me till it gets back. I won't be emailing or handling PayPal issues. Maybe I'll jump on someone else's computer while my machine's off in mac land having a facial. But just in case I'm not, please understand why. My phone still works (the number can be found on the contact page), so if you need to call, feel free..Blah de blah..
Thanks!!
Click-And-Buy Creatures!!
May 29, 2005
Hi, Everyone. Go to the gallery page. I've got a surprise for you. READY-MADE CREATURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO BUY RIGHT OFF THE PAGE WITHOUT HAVING TO PLACE AN ORDER AND WAIT TEN MILLION YEARS. Yaaay. More will come and if sales do better this way, I might just make this the new standard. Of course, I hope to continue offering the custom service to those who still want it. We'll see how it all goes.Point A is a tiiiiiiny, shrinking dot near the horizon.
April 18, 2005
Hi, Everyone.It's time to step the game up a little. I'm bringing in some summer interns, with any luck, to help me crank the orders out faster. It's high time I stopped trying to be Atlas to this creature career. With interns comes a need for a bigger studio. With my book coming out soon, and available for pre-order now, I need to prepare for a rush of new consumer interest and potential increased business. This means I need some more equipment for these intended interns to use.
What this also means is that I've got to increase my business savvy. I'm going to be taking some classes starting mid summer. I'll need new licenses, probably an attorney, definitely an accountant, and, heck, perks and benefits for the interns.
In anticipation of the book's release, several places in Asheville have already started booking me for workshops and demos, which means more time spent away from making the creatures, among other administrative and logistical holes to putty over.
Needless to say, I gotta rethink the creatures' rates. I tried raising the prices before but I think I was a bit extravagant. We can argue the validity of charging tons of money for a custom handbag over a custom stuffed novelty item if you want. Personally I think if you like someone's skills and talents enough, you should pay what it's worth. Heavens, most of us designers and artists are still paying off our educations. I'm no different from some of the big name designers out there (and certainly no less talented), except that all my work is one-of-a-kind and custom and quite a bit of theirs is mass produced. Granted, we do have to consider the market value of what we do, and I have, and after 2 years of barely earning my monthly expenses (with demand for the creatures in no significant decline), and forseeing the necessary augmentations to my business "game" in the near future, I think my new rates are justified.
In addition to the current custom service, I'm going to continue offering freelance illustration, which is coming my way more abundantly these days. I'm working also with Big Bridge Advertising to create pitch books for both, the book, and the various stupid creatures brand extensions that I have in mind.
Your thoughts are always welcome. If I've signed my death warrant with these new rates (which I kind of doubt), so be it. this career is a gift from God and it's not exactly up to me how long it lasts and where it'll take me next. Ultimately, my service to God and humankind in this world is my primary concern, not the attention I get as some author or artist or guy-with-a-kooky-idea. I'm not afraid to let the stupid creatures go. But in the meantime, while the stupid creatures are my life, I have to be smart and consider the future. Thank you for being here with me. May you and others like you continue to visit.
Take care, Go in Peace.
More digital than ever before
April 01, 2005
Hi, everyone.Please take a moment to notice my contact page. The phone number for Artemisia Gallery, which hosts my studio space, is no longer posted. I wasn't clear enough that this number was the gallery's number, not mine, but you could find me there if you needed me. It turns out that a couple of my customers called the gallery and were a tad less than friendly with the Artemisia staff, who have absolutely nothing at all to do with the Stupid Creatures buisness, and therefore are able to do nothing more than say "yes, John's here, hang on a sec," or "no, he's not, can I take a message?"
I'm getting a cell phone. Ugh. Yes, "ugh," but it's a business decision that I had to make. It's like a chalky aspirin, tough to swallow, but it'll do its job despite the onset of Reye's Syndrome (a metaphor for the alleged cell phone brain cancer).
As soon as I know the new number, I'll post it. But for now, those of you who need to contact me, please do so at the evening number posted on the contact page. The gallery number will remain on the voicemail recording in case you do need to reach me there. But please bear in mind, Artemisia does not and cannot speak for Stupid Creatures as a business or for me as an artist. Artemisia only takes my rent check.
On a lighter note, my studiomate Ben Betsalel, a muralist and portraitist was given a fantastic review in Asheville's Mountain XPress about a recent show of his that opened here in town. Those of you who can, pop over and pay it a visit. Having only known Ben a few months I've already seen his painting abilities really expand since the first few he did over at Artemisia. Ben's also great to have around for bouncing opinions and ideas off of, and just for company in general. The other day he was playing his guitar for a friend, showing off a song that I thought for sure was a cover (it wasn't). Ben's talents are multiple!
Take care everyone! Go in peace!
Burnout, Ambition and Thoughts on Expansion
March 28, 2005
Hi, Everyone. Much has happened since the soot incident. Everything's back on its feet at the homestead, and of course, nothing at the studio was affected by the furnace backing up.I'm home now from a research trip to southern Idaho. My collaborator, Brandon Mise of Blue Barnhouse, and I are working on two graphic novels for our new label, Bimini Comics. One of which, a title Brandon created called Being the Adventures of One Uther Smith, takes place in part at a farm inspired by that of Brandon's uncle Dave in Idaho Falls, north of Pocatello.
In my life I'd never seen such farm features as a pivot or an irrigation canal, or the canal's subsequent ditches. The visual references Brandon and I gained were better than if we'd stuck our noses in encyclopedias and now I can't wait to get started.
So, over here in Stupid Creatures land, things are rolling along at an exciting and fast pace. I'm running my stupid creatures business, single handedly (that's about to change), I'm working also as a freelance illustrator (which is unexpected. I just keep getting jobs, presumably by the grace of God.. who knows), and I'm working on the two Bimini Comics titles.
Among the illustration gigs I have are an ongoing ad campaign for Asheville's popular organic food restaurant Rosetta's Kitchen. In the form of a single-tier comic strip, superheroine "R Star 5" rescues the innocent from making unhealthy eating choices and wards off vile tempters, like the Deep Fat Friar and the Trans Fatties. For this project I've been outsourcing by the advertising company Big Bridge here in Asheville. I'm doing one strip a month in trade for marketing help for the creatures and my book, which'll be available in bookstores June 1, according to the people at Lark.
I'm also helping Michigan filmmaker and 6-year friend Tim Richardson with art for the website of his parody film Dork of the Rings. I'll be drawing, or rather sketching, cast member mugshots for their reference page, and I might even be doing a t-shirt image or two.
In addition, the editor of French magazines Cine Film(s) and Series TV (site under maintenance) has commissioned me to do an illustration marking the relieving end to the very unnecessary Star Trek: Enterprise series. The drawing will run in Series TV probably this summer. This will be my first illustration published in another country and I'm very excited for the opportunity! Especially since it will help announce the discontinuation of the show's blaringly out of place soft-rock introduction song.
Among other projects will be a repeat order for 5-foot-tall Monkey customer, Paul Consalvo of CT, who's now ordering a big Siamese cat. It's not due till August so I've got some breathing room, but not much.
When I'm not sewing or drawing I'm designing invitations and arranging the details for the book release party which I hope to hold at the home of my studio, Artemisia Gallery, in the middle of June after the book's come out. I've never planned a big party like this before so I'm kind of flying a little blind. Gotta get the basics: food, drinks, music and tons of books to sign.. and somehow convince a bunch of industry bigwigs, magazine editors, toy company execs and media reps to come to the party.
I've been making the creatures now for more than 2 years. They've been my bread and butter for about a year and a half. I love making them and I hope to continue doing so. But as with any major undertaking, even ones we love so much, we humans suffer burnout. And I'm afraid my customers have fallen victim to my loss of steam. At the moment I'm building up simple resolve to finish my orders and concentrate whatever time and resources I've got on my other projects.
I'm off to enroll for classes at Asheville's legendary Mountain Micro Enterprises, a school for small businesses. It gives an 8-week program that educates business owners on the ins and outs of company ownership. I could really use that kind of help. And I'm also off to the SBTDC who can help me hook up with the local colleges for some summer interns. It looks like I'm gonna need it.
I'll be changing the nature of my business to encompass everything from the creatures to illustration to special orders for sewn items, like the monkey and Siamese cat. I'll be wanting interns to assist with all my specialties, hopefully other up and coming artists who want to also develop their business skills. I'll be needing help with both production and administrative duties (the drudgery).
So, that said, I wish you all well and I'm glad you continue to visit my site to check up on things. More news later as it develops! Go in peace!
The Sootening
December 21, 2004
I love it how on the Simpsons, whenever there's a horror movie its title ends in "-ening." For example, The Bloodening, the Redeadening.. heck, those are the only two I can think of right now.I've adopted that little suffix to help name significant occurrences in my otherwise harried and interesting existence. For example, one time my 2-y-o pal Toby (he's my favorite short person) threw a fit for a good (what seemed like an) hour I called it the Tobening. When in one day I managed to slice off part of my fingertip with an exacto blade, significantly stab myself repeatedly with sewing needles, and got a real hoodelally of a paper cut, I called that day The Cuttening.
The real humdinger of the "-enings" just occurred last week, though. The furnace in my house backed up. None of the exhaust fumes from the burning oil could escape through the flue pipes as per design, so the path of next-least resistance was through the vents where the heat normally comes. Essentially, anywhere air could travel, soot traveled. Everything exposed to air was exposed to soot. Everything my housemates and I own is covered in a black haze. Thus, The Sootening.
Thank God (seriously, not the hackneyed catch phrase) I've got my downtown studio. Not only were the creatures, socks and other supplies spared their own Sootening, my physical person was as well. These past few weeks (or really, since mid November) I've been in the midst of my Christmas Rush, and for all intents and purposes I've been living here at the studio. Finally got the last package shipped out today.
This Thursday, the 23rd, I'm heading East to see my family for several days. While I'm there I'm going to be designing changes to my web site, which will be posted by my usual web weaver John Paul Davis, who's responsible for this blog's availability to you. I hope to have the changes up and running before too long.
Most of the changes will be to make the ordering process a bit clearer and easier, involving a web-based form instead of a downloadable order form which sometimes doesn't work for people. It's also time to introduce the book I've been writing for 8 months, and the comic series based on the creatures. In addition I want to make available other services I can now provide with my trusty sewing machine; handbags and stuffed animals out of material other than socks. I badly need to update my links page too. And most importantly, I'm going to change the Murph page into an About page 'cause I think it's too me me me me me-centric, you know? I can say what it says in much fewer words.
So, to thank for the site-improvement suggestions is Krissy of biggerKrissy.com She's another indy plusher who got out of her 9to5 routine to do her own thing. Our stuff is completely different, but we have similar sensibilities. In fact, I think she's got a better handle on marketing and product development than I do.. Heck, I'm just sitting here making creatures anytime someone asks me to but Krissy's got lines of stuffed oddball monsters, jewelry and fashion accessories available not only on her site but in shops around her region. You oughta check her out.
So, to weather the Sootening, I'm living once again in my old room with my friends from Blue Barnhouse. I have no idea how long it's going to take the cleaning crew to get our house in a livable state again. I haven't ruled out the worst case scenario that I'll have to move. At least the creatures are safe, and at least there's a moldy, dusty legless sofa for me to crash on here at the studio if I need to. Heck, at least there's my printmaking friends who welcomed me back into their home when this happened.
So hopefully after the Christmas break I'll come back to a clean home, free of any toxic fumes. Wish me luck everybody. I'll close with an open compound word: Renters Insurance.
Constitutional bans won't change a soul.
November 03, 2004
Well, conservative heterosexuals got their way and turned marriage into a political matter. The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness now more than ever apply to only certain people.Why? I honestly have no idea. I am completely stumped as to why the manner in which two people-in-love decide to combine their lives is important enough to the American public to become a matter of government policy.
I think this ammendment is a misappropriation of the constitution's "power." Truthfully, I was a daydreamer throughout most of my social studies and history classes but I understand that the constitution was drawn up to protect people's rights, not truncate them or set up provisions to ensure less freedom for people doing no harm to anyone else.
So, people who know me personally might find this opinion strange coming from me, having lived my life. Without going into too much detail, if my experience has taught me anything, it's that an individual's freedom to experience and decide is invaluable in the process of human emotional/personal/spiritual development and the pursuit of truth. If people mandated a bunch of policies to change the entire nation Christian, for example, such a mass conversion would be in name only.
Government policies have no power to transform the hearts and minds of human beings. Some people call themselves Christian because they were raised that way, and others do because they've had a transformation experience with Christ himself. You can be raised in a Christian home and still not be a Christian. I personally know many people who've had such an upbringing, but haven't had the "conversion" experience that culture, rearing and weekly endoctrination alone cannot provide. Calling something Christian doesn't make it Christian, unless you're in art history class categorizing works of the early northern renaissance.
Or for example, you can go to a novelty shop full of new merchandise, fresh off the Taiwanese conveyor belts not even a week ago and see an item that's "totally sixties." It wasn't made in the sixties, it isn't 40 some-odd years old, it just looks that way. To truly be vintage sixties, an object has to be a relic from that time frame. For a person to have had a "sixties" experience, he or she would have had to live during that decade, and be cognizant of events current at that time, and likely have a changed world view or self awareness as a result.
The same thing applies to truly being a Christian. You can fill your home with Christian memorabilia, have a porcelain Jesus on every horizontal surface and a scriptural quote above every door frame. Heck, you can even spout Christian buzz words like "God Speed You," or "Let's Pray About That," or "Amen" or all that Glory and Honor and Praise and Haleluluiahaiiah or however the heck it's spelled and still not be a Christian.
An individual has to be transformed (as and when God sees fit) via the Holy Spirit in a way no human/government/political/legal or social institution can mandate. It doesn't happen for anyone the same way, and it doesn't happen when anyone expects it to. A lifetime of "doing the right things" and raising your kids to recite catechisms or memorize verses and hymns will in no way, shape or form guarantee their personal transformation by God. No human has that power. No system of beliefs, idealism, or agreed-upon collective code of living has any power to transform an individual's soul.
And given my hunch that the constitutional ban on gay marriages was put in place as a means to generate incentive to not be gay, the same can be said for mandating paper laws regarding a person's sexual development.
People aren't gay because the government gave them a right to be. People don't decide to turn into homosexuals because there isn't a law telling them not to. For whatever reasons it just happens. Being gay is never a choice. The homosexual population will not decrease in number as a result of passing a law here and there.
In other words, ensuring that gay people will never have certain rights will not somehow magically reduce the number of gay people in the world. Nor will it snuff the potential for homosexuality out of the human equation. This ammendment will do nothing useful to anyone, as it changes or improves nothing whatsoever for married heterosexuals, or heterosexuals who intend to marry. The constitutional ban on gay marriage is arbitrary, cowardly and, honestly unconstitutional
I heard something somewhere that somehow the "sanctity" of marriage would be compromised if gay people were given the right to marry. I just don't understand. I think the whole "sanctity" argument is largely religious, and just as laws governing traffic lights have no effect on what people do inside their churches or synagogues or around their bonfires, granting gay people next-of-kin status, health benefits and, heck, I guess, a china pattern would affect nobody's relationship to God, or God's relationship to the world.
It certainly wouldn't make heterosexual married couples any less married. If people are worried that gay married people will somehow dry up the governmental financial benefits that straight people enjoy, shouldn't then more straight marriages be feared by the public, renounced in church or alltogether banned by the government?
No longer transient.. for now..
November 01, 2004
HI Everybody.. I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. There was a time when I was an especially chatty writer. Maybe some of that will return. Who knows.Please checck the contact page, everyone. My information has changed again, from address to phone number. The Stupid Creatures are now members of a studio/gallery in downtown Asheville by name of Artemisia. It's a great place. For you locals, it's on Lexington Avenue across from Tops For Shoes (for you tourists, check out Tops for Shoes. I bought my Roos there. Haven't had a pair of those since I was eight.)
So I'm no longer sharing a space with Blue Barnhouse, but that doesn't mean I won't continue to work with them. A side project of theirs that I'm involved with is a comic series based on a short story BBH co-owner Brandon Mise wrote some years ago. I'm very excited about this series as it's already pushing my artistic limits. I've been wanting to dust the shelves of my drawing skills for some time now. Making the creatures, or really, working in anything sculptural, is great for enfleshing one's knowledge of volume and mass for the purpose of making more convincing drawings, but if you're not drawing regularly (and I mean more than just my voracious, incessant, almost obsessive sketchbook work), the skills go a wee bit limp. But it's like, as they say, falling off a bike. I'm not rusty anymore and the work is going to be phenomenal. Especially since Brandon and I are beside-ourselves fortunate enough that accomplished comic artist Nye Wright will be the colorist on this series.
I'm just overwhelmed and blown away by this customer's amazingness..
August 31, 2004
This is the sort of compassion and patience I certainly don't deserve, surely didin't expect, but am just blown away to have received. Read what a very kind customer said in response to my update about her order status:Oh, John, you sound like such a nice young man!
Well, if I had placed an order for a mass produced item that I saw advertised in, say, Redbook, I would probably not have been nearly as nice : - )
But since it was in Readymade, I figured that what happened was that you probably got swamped with orders and was having trouble keeping up. At that time, I didn't even know you were a big successful entrepreneur with your own web site and everything. I had this vision of you trying working a whole other full time job and coming home to this mountain of socks and orders and wondering how the hell you would ever get them all done.
So I just sort of settled in for the long haul. I knew you would get to mine eventually.
Your creatures are just wonderful, and I wish I knew more peculiar people so I could give them to everyone for gifts. I might just do that anyway, it sure beats the old standby gift certificate to Old Navy.
So, yes indeed, please go ahead and make me something nice!
And in the future, I will just order them right off your web site, because that is probably easier for you, correct?
Warmest regards,
(Customer)
ps
So tell me about this book! Should I be giving my relatives gift certificates to Barnes & Noble so they can buy it?
HALLELUJA! Somebody GETS IT!!
August 24, 2004
Dear John:I just found your website, and it's on of the most original ideas I've
encountered in a long time. When I can afford it, I;m going to order me
a few, but for now I just thought I'd drop you an e-mail of
appreciation.
Regarding you pricing - I think that $120 is actually a fair price if
you are really spending 8 hours per item, plus business overhead. This
is unique art you're providing. At $40 each you're making $5 / hour,
which is under the minimum wage. Maybe $120 is too large a hike all at
once, but a higher rate is justified. (Even if I can't afford it!)
Best,
Laura Shapiro
To everything, turn turn turn
July 20, 2004
If you visit the order page, you'll find that my rates have reverted to reflect recent press.But don't you worry. Soon I shall have my comeuppance.
HAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!
Among certain realities...
July 19, 2004
-------Original Message-------> From: xxxxxxx
> Subject: cost
> Sent: Jul 19 2004 01:12:49
>
> what? 120 bucks? I just looked at
> this site last week and it was 45 bucks, I was gunna have one made.
> but, 120 is waaay too steep. Good
> luck.
> [name withheld]
Hi..
Really sorry if I've disappointed you.. The demand for my creatures right now is huge, and indcreasing the cost is the usual way a company rises to meet such an influx of new business. Of course, customers who've already placed orders are "granfathered" into the going rate at the time their order was placed.
As it is, the wait for a creature, because of the number of orders, is long and impossible to determine, and that's completely unfair to the customer, So I'd like to get caught up a bit, you know?
In the meantime, I'm going to be doing some improvements to the website, creating a few extra customer service goodies, making better merchandise for the cafe press shop, and looking for some assistance.
Perhaps my price hike was a bit drastic. I have to say I went with my gut. Have you any pricing or "tactical" suggestions, given my situation? Consider the time invested in each creature (3-6 hours designing and creating, then at least 2 hours of billing, shipping and "presentation" stuff, then the cost of all the materials, officey things, internet stuff, and sewing materials, whether or not socks are provided).
Your input has been valuable, and your concern will likely be shared by others. I'm grateful that the stupid creatures have been so well received and I certainly hope I haven't jinxed myself.. We'll see what happens from here!!
Thanks so much for writing.. I wish you the best and I hope to hear from you in the future.
Murphy..
Learning new tricks to update the website
July 17, 2004
Hi..I've learned how to post new pics to the gallery. You'll find about 10 new ones, and you'll notice that some of the less stellar ones have been deleted.
Among the new ones are Ehlbeck, Thinker, Guwelda, Cami, Hlab, Frapp, Bertl Novack, Ehlbeck, Joanie, Fred Wetty and Gug.
It's about time I updated the gallery. There are so many creatures out in the world that I haven't photographed and will likely never make it into the gallery. This is something I intend to correct. I need to buy my own digital camera so I can take care of gallery updates on perhaps a biweekly basis.
So, enjoy the new pics and let me know what you think.
Love ya..
Murph
Emailing a Gleepy Fan
July 07, 2004
Hi.. A customer and I just had a really great interchange. I had to share this with the rest of you. It's just beyond great when someone "gets" what I'm doing and actually writes to tell me. Read on.-----Original Message-----
From: murphy [mailto:murphy@stupidcreatures.com]
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 10:30 AM
To: New Customer (name withheld)
Subject: Re: Have socks safely settled with you?
You are, bar none, the nicest lady in the universe. I really enjoyed your email, and moreso your order form with the brief tale and description of Gleep. What a wonderful childhood companion!
Yes, your socks are here and they're in line for production soon. I've been incredibly backed up because of the book I'm writing about the sock monsters. Hopefully your creature will be a collector's item soon once the book is out and about.. [Hmmmm. We'll see about that..(nothing wrong with hoping, right?]
I've got an order for 8, an order for 9 and an order for 7, plus 2 orders for 2 and about 3 single orders ahead of yours (God Save the Queen that's a lotta monsters!!) so I'll get to yours ASAP. Progress reports will be sent.
If you have any other questions, please let me know. Thanks for the confidence your letter instilled. Every now and again I need a boost. I really appreciate it!!
Thanks,
john
(And here's her response)
Hey, thanks for your email! I suspect that you know a thing or two about niceness. :) Yes, Gleep was one of my most cherished stuffed companions when I was a girl. Funny, I was trying to remember any of my other stuffed animals (and I had many), and I could only come up with a few. There was my first teddy bear, named Lady Bear. By the time I was 7 or 8, her soft white fur had turned grimy from being handled so much, and her feet and ears were bound up with aging masking tape. She had a jingle bell sewn inside one ear which tinkled gently when you picked her up and carried her against your chest. She had brown glass eyes and she wore a light pink pinafore. Then there was a large Steiff frog that had been given to both my brother and me. It seems like we just looked at it a lot instead of actually played with it, maybe because that signature Steiff “fur” looked prickly. Gosh, I know there were lots of others–I even went through a phase where I gathered all my stuffed animals at bedtime and went to sleep with them all perfectly arranged around me on the covers–but I honestly can’t remember a single one. But Gleep–now there’s a name, and a creature, that you just don’t forget.
I can’t wait to see your book on the stupid creatures–you can be sure I’ll buy a copy. Thanks so much for telling me my place in line, and please, no worries about when you’ll get to my order.
I can’t quite remember what I wrote on my order form, but I am glad that it gave you a little boost! Even as a 34 year old, I am still drawn to stuffed animals, especially unusual and beautiful ones, and yours are among the most wonderful and imaginative that I think I have ever seen. When I woke up early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep (neither could my husband, but neither one of us knew the other was awake), one of the things I pondered was the age at which we stop playing with our toys. A book I’ve been reading on animal behavior (specifically dog/owner dynamics) says that, like humans, dogs retain a sense of playfulness and the desire to enter into games into adulthood. (There is a specific term for this that I can’t quite remember now.) Thank goodness! I guess, though, that in humans the desire to play gets pushed down by the idea that we have to be dignified and grown up and not look silly. Your creatures have got me started thinking about why I still like stuffed animals and which elements of play I have given up at this point in my life in order to conform to notions of maturity. I have decided that it’s still OK to like stuffed animals and throwing Frisbees and going on rides at the fair and swinging on swings.
If I didn’t quite say this before, let me say it now: what you’re doing is important. Thanks for sharing your art with the world! May your creatures indeed become things that people will seek after and collect.
Kind regards,
[New Customer]
More recycled than before, and Murph goes back to work
July 05, 2004
Hi..Happy fourth or fifth, whichever, since most working folks are taking today off. Not me, alas. The book is due in, now, less than a month, and I'm here inside on this beatuiful day keeping the dogs company while working on some diagrams that should have been turned in Thursday. I'm really excited about the next coming few weeks. I've got a lot to do but I really know I can handle it. I'll be working nonstop from here 'till my due date, though. This is not a complaint. I'm incredibly excited that my biggest project ever is almost finally finished. Of course, 6 months of editing await us (my editor, the art directors and me), and then there's production time which really consists of my book waiting in line for several months before actually printing. Expect the stupid creatures book to be on shelves in about 11 months or so. We've got a while, but I'm hoping to put up some sample pages on the site so you all can see exactly what's been keeping your orders nice and delayed.
Anyway, neat stroke of fortune: I went to buy more stuffing at this great place in downtown Asheville called Foam and Fabrics, Inc. They sell stuffing in quantities up to 30 or so pounds. It comes in humongous plastic sacks that are taller than my "six-two" and as big around as a refrigerator. The first bag I had was picked up for me by my friend Brandon (of Blue Barnhouse fame) who asked one day if I needed anything from downtown. I thought he was just gonna pick up a few pound bags or so, but no, there was this behemoth of stuffing waiting for me in the studio when I got home later. He didn't say anything to me.. just waited for me to find it and unleash one of my famous reaction noises (something like "EEEEYYHH!" but inhaling). Brandon just beamed, and I was amazed that this crucial supply of mine was available in a quantity so deserving of the qualifier "bulk." Anyway, three or four months later, I ran out of stuffing and went downtown with my good pals Steph, who lives here, and Holly, who came up from Charlotte for the 4th to mill around some and pick up stuffing while we were there. When I asked the really nice lady who works there (you gotta meet this lady. Her southern accent is strong, but smooth like silken tofu and resonant like a viola's middle C. She's always got the beginnings of a smile on her face and speaks with such gentle confidence you think she might have invented "certainty." I still don't know her name). Anyway, she informed me that there were two grades of stuffing. The first is softer and purer. The second is a bit coarser and has bits of fabric detritus throughout. I asked where it came from and why it was like this and she, backed up by her coworkers, said it was reused polyester from old sofa cushions. Much the same way we use recycled papers, plastics and metals, this stuff had been around before, was reclaimed and refined for resale. It fits so much better with my recycling intentions for the Stupid Creatures service. True, the stuff is a bit more coarse, but it has no less spring and give than the finer stuff, and the bits of fabric within are insignificant and can easily be avoided. I'm truly overcome! I'll be ordering this stuff from now on!!
Which brings me to the next point. The whole "from now on" thing is going to be a bit of a gamble. I'm going back to work full time soon. I don't know where, but I've got my resumes circulating around Asheville in whatever appealing design or art venues I can find. The Creatures are not a living at all. The individual pieces are priced at a level that can't earn me significant income, given the length of time involved in making one. So, I'm hanging up the Creatures for a while as I go back to work. You'll soon see announcements about a "sabbatical" I'm taking. This will be to curb new orders coming in while I finish the plentiful ones I have on the table. I'm also going to restructure the service to accommodate my working full time. I have no money and need a regular income once again. The time with the creatures has been incredible, and I've got a following, a book deal, so many new professional connections and a sound future, but I have to get back on my feet. I hope you all understand. When I come back from the sabbatical and have been working a few months, I'm going to cut back the number of monsters I can make in a day, and just go with that. I'll start a wait list and keep people better informed of when their creatures are on the cutting table.
The job I really want is the art director position that might open up at Lark Books, the publishing company that's doing the Creatures book. They're already giving me a few freelance assignments, so that'll be cool, but what I really want is stability. So wish me luck everyone. this is not goodbye, but do expect some changes. I'll be a full time artist again before too long. I mean, hopefully the preview of the Stupid Creatures comic in the book will generate some buzz and I can be full time cartoonist! I mean, I'll have plenty of work to do with my pal Brandon's comic, which I'm writing.. so who knows what will happen.
That's it for now. You all know where to find me: murphy@stupidcreatures.com.
Stupid Server
June 21, 2004
The whole site was MIA for a while; we changed servers. Everything should be functioning normally again, at least here. I make no promises about how things are functioning elsewhere.Changes coming soon
May 21, 2004
Hi.. Just a quick note for those of you who read this news page. I'll be announcing a sabbatical soon, which won't really be a sabbatical at all. I'm just going to stop taking new orders for a while so I can get caught up on the desperately backed up orders I already have. I'm also going to be changing the nature of the service by the time my "sabbatical" ends.Realistically, being the stupid creatures guy is not enough to make ends meet all by itself (regardless of the fact that it's more than a full time job), unless I raise the price of the stupid creature service. Anybody who reads this is welcome to offer an opinion about that. So, that said, as soon as my content for the book is turned in by late July, I'm going to go back into full time work, relegating the evenings and early mornings for making 2 stupid creatures per calendar day, no matter how many orders continue to come. Until the cash flow is strong enough to hire an assistant, I will continue doing all the work myself, and can realistically do no more than 2 per day while working full time. I'll develop a new way to judge how long you might wait for an order to be filled, rather than assuming it'll take 6-8 weeks, which has been a gross underestimate as it is. I'll also put new customer service features in place to ease the process for you all and make the wait more enjoyable.
It's been a great year, albeit chaotic, and I've learned a lot. I could not have done this without your patience and support. If anyone has any suggestions to offer, I'm always listening and happy to hear what you, my beloved customers, have to say.. since it's you guys who make this ship float in the first place.
Speaking of floating ships, I can't wait to unveil the comic series based on the stupid creatures. Blue Barnhouse's Brandon Mise is doing the lion's share of the writing.. and you guys, he's off-his-flipping-lid brilliant. My hat is off to him, and I hope to do as good a job with the art as he's doing with the writing. On the same note, I'll also be doing the art for a storyline he's been developing, and is now restructuring as a graphic novel. I can't wait to start working on it! The opportunities for expanding my drawing skills are tremendous. More on that later.
Just so you'll know, the "sabbatical" will run from July 15 to January 15. That's it for now.
Life is Toasty.
April 20, 2004
A very nice customer in Georgia gave me the following gracious commentary."Thanks so much! I DID get your message, and I meant to email you to say so, but obviously never did. (Shame on me). I look forward to meeting Toasty and then passing him/her off to my mother, the original owner. She will love it! Good luck with your business. I must say, I am very jealous. I am an environmental graphic designer with a tremendous urge to go off and do my own creative thing... one day! In the meantime, I can live vicariously through you! Again, I cannot wait to see Toasty, the retired terry cloth toaster cover. I'm thinking my husband's old boy scout tube sock is next.... ; )"
Sometimes I forget how truly lucky I am to be doing what I do. I'm lucky in so many ways and I hardly show any appreciation. That will change soon. I've been learning some life lessons since the last news update I wrote, which was pretty darned negative. Right now it's 20 after 7 in the morning and Meighan's alarm in the next room has just gone through its wake-up routine. It's got a high-pitched, shrill, electric trilling sound that fires off in two notes. We like to immitate it by going "awnk... EEENK... awnk... EEENK... awnk... EENK... awnk... EEENK..." and then it speeds up to "awnkEEENKawnkEEENKawnkEEENK" for a while before resorting to a plain old EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. At first it was perilously annoying, but now it's kind of endearing. I appreciate Meighan's need for a gradual wakeup routine. It's become a very familiar sound, kind of a hallmark of this new chapter of my life.
What really bums me out about my situation right now.. something I'm working to get over.. is that if for some reason Meg and Brandon all of a sudden couldn't support me, or couldn't have me here with them, I'd have to move back in with my parents. That's the gist of it. And it freaks me out. But Meg has told me repeatedly that I should stop worrying because I'm welcome here as long as I need to be.. that she and her family is happy to have me here and that they're glad to help. I'm so over the top lucky I just can't wrap my brain around it. It makes me weak in the knees sometimes. For the last week or so I've finally been free from the guilt associated with knowingly freeloading, which I'm evidently not doing. I do a fair bit of work around the house, since my hosts are rennovating little by little. We pick at least one house project a week (like sanding and priming the doors) and do it whenever while we all go about our routines. Meg has her accounting job, Brandon's starting to get letterpress clients, and I'm making creatures and writing a book.. and Toby, of course, is very busy being two years old. It's great. I'm working a career that I enjoy and that people enjoy (in fact, a shop here in Asheville, Diggin' Art, wants to start carrying a few creatures!!), and though I'm living off the grace of others now, in a few years' time I'll be able to return that grace to someone else who needs it. I've been given this kind of opportunity before by my former landlady/housemate in Oakland, CA. For more than 2 years, she pretty much freed me from any household obligation so that I could focus on my art. I mean, I paid rent and helped cook and did some cleaning but not nearly as much as she.. So one of these days I'd love to open my home and give stuido space or workspace to anyone with an aspiration and shallow pockets. He or she doesn't have to be an artist, just someone with drive, intent and work ethic. But I won't be picky and choosey. I believe in God, and I know that every chapter of my life has been a stepping stone to where I am now. I'll let the man upstairs keep arranging stepping stones. So that's that. Thanks once again for your orders and your support. I need to get the gallery updated and make a guestbook. That'll come later.