A series of nine sharpie drawings created during the month of February, 2024. The drawings from this month are all about those delicious snacky-snacks.
You can snag one of these little dudes from my online shop by heading over here.
Sharpie Doodles - January 2024
I always give myself a mental break and shut down my art making station from the end of December through January. I didn’t want to get too rusty during this time, so I broke out the Sharpies and did an occasional doodle to keep the creative juices flowing. It’s always super daunting to me to ink without a pencil sketch in place. You really have to commit to the line.
These are up now in my online shop and shipping in the US is included.
Kill Taupe @ Dancing Eye Gallery
Oh, hey. Here are some shots of a couple murals I recently completed at Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville. A huge thanks to Theresa for having me out to adorn the walls with my array of bears. Make sure to pop in and check them out next time you’re downtown.
Put My Bears on Your Body
I’ve soft launched my new T-Shirt shop with Threadless! I’ve got some classic designs and a few new ones for your perusal HERE.
Entering the third dimension
Hey, what do we have here? New work on the horizon! I’ve been busy getting back into sculpting and resin casting and I’m pretty stoked to have a few new pieces releasing on Tuesday, July18th in the Kill Taupe online shop.
First, I’ll be releasing my first resin toy since 2014, the Mustachioed Bear! Each bear is hand painted and sits on a unique woodland base.
I’ve had a lot of fun mixing my pop art style with rustic elements lately and it’s a trend I want to explore more with my work in the future. I made that pretty rad cigar box piece for the Ferndale Pride benefit show last month and I’ve incorporated another type of box for my latest original sculpture “Taste Your Tears”. The piece features a trio of sculpted bear heads nestled among faux foliage inside a vintage Kraft Cheese box. This one of a kind piece hits the shop tomorrow!
“Last, but not least”, is something every cliché writer would say and it’s something I’m saying right now because I have one more thing to yammer about. It’s a new magnet. And it’s glittery. And there’s a skull involved. AND it comes in three colorways.
QUEER @ The Gallery at Stone and Spoon
"QUEER: Celebrating Work by LGBTQIA Artists" opens on Friday, June 3rd and runs through Sunday, July 24th 2022 in The Gallery at Stone & Spoon.
Join us & the featured artists on the Opening Night Reception, taking place on Friday, June 3rd, 2022 from 5-8pm in celebration of First Friday & Pride Month. It takes place at The Gallery at Stone & Spoon, 110 W Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti MI 48197.
QUEER: Celebrating Work by LGBTQIA Artists: This celebration of work is a clear example of how varied the work among our local LGBTQIA community is, and how unaware we are of the multitude of creative processes taking place daily. Whether it is handwritten in journals, painted on canvas, sewn into fabric, typed into Notes app, sung into a microphone or whispered into each other’s ears, our community of artists are out here, ready to put their work into the world, and we are here for it.
Opening reception on Friday, June 3rd from 5-8pm will include three live performances.
10% of artwork sales made at the opening reception on June 3rd will be donated to Ypsi Pride to help secure its future in our community.
*Mobility note: Our beautiful 19th century building has no elevator, so all attendees will need to take a flight of stairs up to The Gallery. If you are unable to do stairs, but would like to see the exhibition, we will be posting a live video of the exhibition alongside the artists for an insider's perspective. This will be another great way to see this exhibition!
A Note from the Curator:
"This exhibition, “QUEER: Celebrating Work by LGBTQIA Artists,” holds a dear place in my heart. As a queer artist, business owner and curator, I have a deep passion and feel a special responsibility to provide a platform for others to show their work. To submit artwork for an exhibition is not only a risk which carries with it the chance of rejection (a fear all too familiar for someone who is queer), but it is an exercise of intimate vulnerability. One’s work is direct access and exposure to what makes the artist tick, feeding their life, their mind and their soul. For a queer artist, it is this very public gaze that can be a beautifully validating experience as well as a potentially dangerous one. Again, this real risk that may result in pain or pleasure is a familiar gamble…a familiar “coming out” to the world and growing into ourselves.
Much of this work has been created within the last two years, which has been a strangely isolated time. Many took this as an opportunity to reflect, and look deeply into what it means to be happy - peaceful - connected - fulfilled - authentic…what it means to just “be.” Art is, of course, transformative in many ways, and always will be for so many reasons, but I have found that through art, people can show the world who they really are…who they have always been..and, for them, what it means to “be.”
Join me in celebrating this collection of eclectic work, and the brave LGBTQIA artists who created it.
Queerly,
Jen"
The Gallery at Stone & Spoon is Downtown Ypsi's newest creative epicenter which will include rotating art exhibitions, workshops, classes, meet-ups and more! This space is on the second story of a beautiful 1850 historic building (above the shop), which you will enjoy as you make your way through Stone & Spoon that still showcases the building's original wood floors, tin ceilings and exposed brick walls.
For more information about The Gallery visit our website here: https://www.stoneandspoon.com/thegallery
Blockbusterz II @ My Plastic Heart
So happy to be working with Martian Toys again. This time I got to customize one of their Blockbusterz platforms. I did a little custom Dunny to go along with it as well. You can see this piece in person when Blockbusterz II opens at My Plastic Heart in Brooklyn, NY on Friday (April 29th).
Illuminati by Nature at Mothership Gallery
The Illuminati by Nature group show is now live at Mothership Gallery in Philly. 58 artists took on the all seeing eye to produce some super cool customs. Check ‘em out at the link!
New 3x3" Stickers
Oh hey there new stickers. I can’t wait to slap you on something.
Color Me
Hey there! Thanks to the coronapocalypse it looks like we’ll be spending an extended period of time indoors, so I made some coloring pages to help you pass the time.
I’d love to see them when you’re done! Just tag @killtaupe on social media.
Have fun, stay healthy, be smart and stay home. Love to everybody.
♥
You can download the pages here>>
100 Bears - Wave 1 Prints
No lions, no tigers, but we got plenty of bears. Oh my. There are a few bears who are ready to belt out pop hits at the top of their lungs, a handful of them ready to traverse great lands to take on the big-bads and a couple who are just trying to live their everyday bear lives.
The first wave of prints from the 100 Bears Illustration Project are now available.
Pride Celebration Print Series
Happy pride month! This print series was created for the LGBTQ Pride show hosted by Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, MI. If you're local make sure to check the exhibit out! It runs through June 30th. If you're from out of town these prints can be picked up in my online shop.