The gang is all sleeping now, but initial setup for Monsters & Misfits III has started! Big thank you to our own Mikee Riggs for texting us images of all the hard work, and we won’t keep you waiting any longer for them.
We also have the first video from the Tomenosuke blog documenting the show!
Making their debut at Monsters & Misfits III are Pipsqueaks and Bugbites by Amanda Louise Spayd and Chris Ryniak, so you better hide all your cookies and snacks!
Fans have been asking for minis for a while, and once again, our favourite artists have delivered! Chris and Amanda have been hard at work casting these little varmints in numerous colors, and they’ll be carrying these tiny friends to Japan as gifts for their amazing hosts and friends.
They may be making their debut in Japan but have no fear, there will be herds of them being made when they get back. We may even see some at Designer Con!
Look out for more Bugbite and Pipsqueak adventures in Japan!
You have been asking for them for over a year, and don’t worry Amanda Louise Spayd has been listening. She has once again brought back the very large Dust Bunnies!
Fueled with candy, coffee, and maybe a splash of something special into her coffee, Amanda has been working her fingers to adorable nubs getting ready for Monsters & Misfits III.
The requests have been flooding in, and she has paid attention to every single one of them. Standing 23 inches tall, meet “The Herald of Illumination“. Containing over 16 yards of fabric ruffles, this bat-like Dust Bunny is a culmination of many long hours for Amanda. Not just relying on her epic height, she is detailed with fully poseable arms, ears, and wings along with a flickering lantern to guide her into the night parade. Don’t be afraid, just like her friend Lydia Deetz, she is here to light the way for the creatures and ghosts of the night.
Two of my favourite bunny making ladies in the world have finally done what I’ve been dying to see them to do – they’ve joined forces and created a bunny doll tour-de-force of exceptional floppy eared charm. Amanda Louise Spayd has been one of my favourite artists in the last couple years, and after discovering Carisa Swenson last year, and adding one of her gorgeously detailed dolls to my shelf, I’m starting to see the appeal in lagomorphs.
I got to ask Carisa and Amanda about their collections, and their collaboration, and other bunny related things, and they offered up a delightful romp through their shared influences and process!
CP: Tell us more about your fascination with bunnies! As a side note, I would be delighted if somehow one of you had a collection of creepy stuffed bunnies from your childhood.
Amanda: Not FROM childhood, but I do have a small collection of ratty old Easter bunnies, if you want a picture :P
Dust Bunny, by Amanda Spayd
Carisa:
My obsession with rabbits started with Beatrix Potter’s enchanting stories and illustrations, then reinforced at my grandmother’s, as she lived in an area where rabbits would magically emerge at dusk. I could spend hours watching them. Not only do I find hares and rabbits visually appealing, their feistiness and fleetness of foot (paws?) resonates with me. “The Velveteen rabbit” was a favorite story of mine, but reading “Watership Down” and watching the animated film pretty much sealed it. I did have quite a collection of rabbit related trinkets and stuffed animals when young, but most are gone now. They seemed a natural subject to turn to when I began creating dolls.
Amanda:
It’s funny that I’m so smitten with bunnies, since I have never owned one. But now that I think of it, I can definitely pinpoint some lapine influences early in my life – the first one being Watership Down. My mom was a teacher, and taught that book every year, so because it was around, I also read it pretty much every year. Also I was pretty obsessed with Jim Henson’s “Tale of the Bunny Picnic” when I was a kid. The rabbit thing sort of got revived in high school when I first saw Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice”….so, I guess i do have a fairly rabbit-heavy history. But in terms of rabbits in an artistic format, I think they’re really good as characters because so much of them can be used as expression. The bucky teeth, the ears – rabbits usually look frightened (I would too, if being someone’s dinner was always an imminent threat), and that nervousness is definitely something I use in my own work. Also, let’s not skip over the fact that they are adorable.
paper model by Carisa Swenson
Read More »Bunnies on Parade – an interview with Carisa Swenson and Amanda Louise Spayd!
Last week, we brought you some of Amanda Louise Spayd’s in progress work on her delightful resin creations for Monsters & Misfits III. Now, we get to see a finished product!
Without further ado, meet one of the Pumpernickels!
Coming in blended shades of blues and greys, this Pumpernickel is all dressed up for its trip to Japan. Sporting a flag scarf similar to some of its cousins found in Migration, this little resin Dust Bunny can’t wait to meet all his fans in Takayama. We don’t know if it is the coffee, the long flight, or excitement but by the look in his eyes, Pumpernickel is both excited and scared. We understand, long flights freak us out too.
Amanda has outdone herself; all the Pumpernickels are hand cast, painted, and adorned by her. The weathering texture on the sculpt is spot on! Now, we just need to see the rest of the Pumpernickel colony in Japan!
The cat is out of the bag and it is purring away on our chest with news of some epic collaborations for Monsters & Misfits III.
Carisa Swenson and Amanda Louise Spayd are up to something wonderful, and we cannot wait to see what our bunny-loving resident dollmakers have in store for us.
By the looks of Amanda Louise Spayd’s Instagram feed, it looks like she is creating a low budget horror movie or making some of the finest chocolate confections this side of Switzerland. In fact, these drippy, wide-eye, chocolate looking creations are the first ever resin Dust Bunnies slated for release at Monsters & Misfits III.
Amanda is still working on finalizing a name for them, but we know she will think up something clever. The two toothed bunnies stand 8 inches tall and are solid resin. Amanda is hard at work casting and painting them all by hand. Most for MMIII will be festooned with hats, ruffles, etc. that we all have come to love with Amanda’s creations. Did we mention that all the ones she is doing right now have glass eyes too?
So far, Amanda has no plans for a massive run of these since they are exhausting to create all by herself – as you can tell, she’s even using her fridge to cool down her sculpting clay! The goal is for 4-8 to be done for MMIII in Japan with a few saved up for later. Honestly, we can’t wait to see what the finished painted product looks like because the development pics are already outstanding (and look like glazed doughnuts and chocolate bunnies).
See it looks like a chocolate bunny!!!
Click the jump to see more of what goes into creating these resin Dust Bunnies
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times… it was SDCC. Actually, it was just crazy, packed, exhausting times! All the Circus Posterus artists and staff at the convention had an amazing time. Thank you to Cardboard Spaceship for having us all out because it was a blast!!
On that not, we bring you just a few pictures from the San Diego Comic con because we were really busy.
Click more to see them
Do not forget!
Waiting to crawl out from under your bed and into the superhero spotlight, Amanda Louise Spayd’s Dust Bunnies are coming to the San Diego Comic Con.
Amanda is planning on bringing four one-of-a-kind Dust Bunnies to the convention, along with the Bumbles we told you about earlier. Now we see what Amanda was up to with those keys and keyholes, but what have these Dust Bunnies been up to with those dirty paws?
Amanda and the rest of the Circus Posterus misfits will be taking over Cardboard Spaceship’s booth #5346 on Saturday, July 20th. If you missed it, here is where you can find the artist schedules and release info.
Wanna see the other two Dust Bunnies? Click more!
