Mutterings of a Mad Woman

I honestly don't know much about Gruff. She's the most elusive of all The Underbiters I've encountered thus far.

I get the sense she doesn't approve of the others revealing their existence to me, and she was one of the last ones in this group to do so.

The only reason I know about her is because she likes to gloat. She'll wait for me, perched on the overturned bag of garbage in the kitchen.

Or she'll sit at the end of the hallway, metal screws poking from her mouth; screws that no doubt belonged to a hinge somewhere in the house. She likes taking the ones from the hinges because I get mad when the cupboard comes off in my hand or the front door won't open properly.

Knowing how much she loves the taste of metal, I have to admire the fact that she's able to sit there in the hallway for so long with the screws in her mouth. Such self-discipline.

Many of you have already seen the Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' Barbie. I know it's old news, but I still wanted to talk about the finer points of the doll.

My favourite aspect of this toy is how Barbie seems unaffected by the brutal attack of crows. She's in a stylish pose, her hair is perfect despite the ordeal and she's even managed a half smile for the camera.

Is she waving at us or trying to get the bird off her head? I swear she's waving. It's like she's pretending the birds are accessories she picked out that morning. "Oh hi! Just on my way to get some milk. What's that? Oh the birds! Yes, yes. Doesn't their licorice black colour just pop against the green material? Gotta run!"

Here's the first group of Underbiters, waiting for touch ups before they are given a protective coating. They turned out differently than how I first imagined, but that's usually how it is with my creations. I might begin with certain plans, but they always end up telling me where we're actually going in the design process.

Besides, these guys were the test group for me to experiment on. No wonder they ended up looking like a gang of misfits.

When they are finished, I'll properly introduce you to each one individually. For now, I hope you enjoy the group shot.

By the way, getting them to line up nicely was a nightmare, but hearing them all say "cheese!" at the same time made my heart melt.

Some people make dream lists for football teams. I make mine listing artists. The Hi-Fructose "Overdose" group art exhibit has almost the exact lineup I would have come up with.

There are so many artists in this show whom I've blogged about, I couldn't fit them all in my tag list for this post. In addition to those great artists, you'll also find Brandt Peters and Travis Louie, and many, many more.

It will all take place at the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California. Far, far away from my city of Toronto.

To rub salt into the wound, they're having some fantastic happenings within the show:

Hi-Fructose Magazine and Copro Gallery are proud to showcase an incredible array of artists in 'Overdose' the Hi-Fructose group art exhibition at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica. Hi-Fructose Collected Edition box sets will be available in limited quantities at the show and Greg Craola Simkins, Gary Baseman, Joe Ledbetter, Brian McCarty, Attaboy, and more special guests will be signing them. Brooklyn's own, 'Hearts Challenger' the guerilla style good-time ice cream truck will be on hand to give out free ice cream and candy and Hi-Fructose Vol.11 will premier at the show before the issue goes on sale in stores or online. Limited numbers of free issues and a free poster will be available at the show only! More surprises TBA