This time they featured the photos from mine and my husband’s recent day date adventure where we got to see a nostalgic masterpiece in person… the one and only Studebaker featured in The Muppets Movie!
So honored once again to be featured. Shout out to Craig Shemin, his writing talents, and the work of the Studebaker National Museum for keeping Jim’s legacy alive for all us lovers and dreamers! 🌈✨️
Being temporarily unshackled from the 9-to-5 has only fueled my treasure hunts, gathering curious bits and pieces to bring the ideas swirling in my whimsical, wacky brain to life. After collecting just what I needed, brainstorming functionality, and getting my claws to work, my first Jarster (👹+🫙) escaped my imagination and was hand-sculpted into existence. True to all of my Monstrosities, its personality shone through during the creative process, making me giddy (as usual), and before I knew it, I couldn’t stop myself from giving it a few siblings, each one revealing its own quirky personality as I sculpted it.
The base of these Mini Jarsters are 3″ clear glass mini mason jars (lid included) that I then hand sculpted into a loveable creatures. Each one having my signature Monstrosities look with big eyes, wild faux hair, horns, a toothy grin, spotty flesh and a touch of glittery magic. They are all pre-made and ready to open their heads (literally) to your secrets and protect your tiny treasures, hand written manifestations/wishes, herbs, dice, spells, trinkets, treasures and more all while bringing personality to your space. They are perfect for art collectors who want something beyond traditional art and crave a little fun and functional chaos in their decor.
Why You’ll Love Them: ✨ A playful blend of art and function, handcrafted to guard your secrets, stash and tiny treasures ✨ Each one has its own unique personality, allowing you to choose the one that matches yours ✨ Small enough to display on shelves, desks, altars, gamer tables, and more ✨ Guaranteed to spark smiles and conversations wherever they lurk, adding character to any space ✨ They are collectible creatures that no big box store has and therefore make for unique gifts
As pictured, four of these little Jarsters are pre-made and ready for their new homes! None will ever be remade the same, therefore once adopted, only you will own the one you choose. Claim yours online now in my Etsy shop before they are spoken for. Whichever ones are not adopted by the time I make my next art drop at Closet Collectibles will become available to see and purchase* in person at the store as well. Don’t miss your chance to add one (or more) of these whimsical little guys with monstrous personalities to your collection.
I saw the enthusiasm from my art collectors after releasing my Mini Monsterpieces. This inspired me to conjure up more bite-sized beasts. This time I decided to channel the joy that came from expressing myself (literally) when creating my Alter Ego 8″x10″ Monsterpieces.
First I let my dark, creepy, goth side come out to play. Once it was done working its macabre magic, my colorful, whimsical, hippie side took control. It manifested some light, zen, and a high on life grin. The end result being these two adorable, multi-colored Monstrosities straight from my artist soul.
Each one is made from a pre-wrapped (on wood) 3″ x 3″ canvas that I’ve transformed into a three-dimensional, cycloptic creature with a multi-toned hypnotic eye, wild faux hair, bumpy mole, natural shell bead fangs, glittery horns and multi-colored flesh.
Why You’ll Love Them: ✨ They are one-of-a-kind, handmade 3 dimensional pieces of art that will never be replicated ✨ They represent the full spectrum of the strange and magical soul of the artist who created them ✨ They can be perched on their little easels or hung on the wall ✨ They are great conversation starters and catch the eye of anyone who discovers them ✨ They are collectible, irresistibly adorable and will bring joy to you or anyone you gift them to
Which one speaks to you most? Or, like me, do both sides of your unique personality come alive when they’re together? Either way, don’t miss your chance to add one or both of them to your collection! Buy them online now in my Etsy shop before they are gone for good. If no one adopts them online by the time I make my next art drop at Closet Collectibles, they will be also be available to see and purchase* in-person from my Cabinets of Curiosities.
February is a very special time of the year for my husband Frank and I. For those who are not aware, we were born 6 days apart in the same hospital, so these past 2 weeks we found fun and unique ways to celebrate 45 trips around the sun for the both of us.
With me still being out of work I didn’t want to do anything too costly or too far away and I had heard about a new exhibit at the Studebaker Museum that was a little under 2 hours from us. Since my birthday falls two days before Valentine’s Day, we doubled down and made it a little day date adventure for that as well.
Now most of you may be saying “But Nicole, why the Studebaker Museum?” Well because a VERY special vehicle just happens to be on display there right now. A vehicle that an artsy Jim Henson obsessed geek like myself couldn’t help but feel all the feels from being in the same room with it…. aka the one and only original Studebaker from They Muppets Movie! The same car that Fozzie and Kermit take on their memorable road trip to Hollywood together. A vehicle filled with magic, art, hopes, and dreams! And maybe a few rubber chickens as well.
Not only is Fozzie’s car a very fun and nostalgic part of cinema history, it also plays a very fascinating part in both the world of engineering and puppetry arts. The car was actually outfitted to create the illusion that Fozzie was driving. They used a monitor hidden in the car’s bullet nose and the real driver in the trunk. With my husband being into cars and a tech in engineering he too was fascinated by seeing the mechanics of this in person. Seeing the car also takes you back to a very significant moment in Muppet history. The moment that Kermit and Fozzie meet Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Band for the very first time. With the help of Scooter on bubble duty, the band busts out the paints and brushes and while they jam out to “Can You Picture That?” completely transform Fozzie’s car into a far out escape from Don Hopper. An epic masterpiece and a colorful new beginning to a very groovy friendship.
Now to switch gears.. So right after the holidays were over, I knew I wouldn’t have the money to buy my husband something off his wishlist so I started brainstorming what I could make him instead. I had less then 2 months and knew I had to get started on whatever I planned on doing. Then it hit me out of nowhere.. could I pull off making him a They Live Alien? It’s one of his favorite movies and he loves props that are life like in size. And like me and my Muppets, he also has quite the collection of memorabilia and tattoos to prove his dedication. Making him anything in the past has always been hard because when we are not at work we are always together. So being laid off I knew this was the perfect time to pull off something that required this much work. So the first thing I did was check the supplies I already had and made a list of what I needed to budget the rest.
I used the same life size, heavy weight, anatomical skulls I use for my zombie heads as the base and got to work. I had never made one of these so each part of the process was either going to go really well or I was going to be really tested. I kept thinking of David Bowie’s words “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
It was thrilling to see how giddy I would get with coming up with how to accomplish the next step in the process and seeing it all start to come to fruition. However nothing beat the feeling when I saw the look on his face when he opened it. 2 months of trying to hide this thing while still working on my other art projects paid off and he is now the proud owner of a They Live collectible that no one in the world will ever have. The beauty of aliens, love and handmade art!
You can see this They Live piece of art featured with more of my Misc Sculpture and Latex art on the Remains page of my portfolio website.
