If you ever need something to spruce up your shower walls, Ugly Baby is the one to call! Want to learn more? Read on! Heck, I know I learned something!
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Bio:
Seattle, WA.
Etsy Shop
Facebook for Shower Art
Facebook for bARTer Sauce
Blog
Twitter handle: @ugly_sauce
Owned by wife and husband team: Rosalie and Doug -- often referred to as "The Gales." We live in a condo in downtown Seattle with one really loud cat named Karma. We're not really condo people -- it's just all we could afford in this city. We like nerdy strategy board games and pretty much spend every Saturday playing Bridge with a couple of friends.
We both deal with websites for our actual living $$. The Rosalie half builds Drupal websites for non profits and good causes (along with crafters and Etsy teams: check out http://www.etsyrain.com). The Douglas half works for the state doing something complicated with database billing of anesthesiology codes. Phew!
In our "spare time" we like to ride around Seattle on folding bikes. Heck yeah -- our bikes fold up. Woot! Woot!
The Rosalie half of the partnership also runs an experiment in trading for art and odd objects called bARTer Sauce. Everything she trades for she immediately trades again for something else. And everyone who participates has to tell a story that is documented on the website.
Both of "The Gales" are also stand up comedians (that's how we met!) who perform in Non Profit Comedy shows that benefit a different organization every week.
Ummmm....other than all that....we just sleep and eat our vegetables.
How did you find Etsy? How long have you been selling on Etsy?
I opened an account on Etsy in early 2006 but I didn't start actually selling things until about a year and a half ago. I can't remember how I found it exactly, but I'm sure I was searching for crafty wonderfulness online and stumbled across it somewhere.
How would you describe your style?
Weird. Odd. Strange. Bizarre. Funny. And then weird again.
How long have you been creating?
Forever -- but we started making Shower Art specifically about two years ago. I thought of it after taking a particularly boring shower. I came out and said, "You should have something to look at while you're in there!" And Doug -- the research man -- figured out how to actually make them.
What is about resin you love?
I actually dislike working with resin. At least for our purposes. It's brittle and hard and heavy. All of our pieces are made out of rubber -- which is awesome. I don't think I've ever loved a toxic material more. Resin can suck it. ---Yeah, I knew that... totally didn't ask the wrong question..please don't beat me up...
Have you had any mentors, or are you self taught?
Very self taught. We invented it. Hurrah!
Do you sell more at one time of year than others?
Yes, for sure. The holidays are a boom for us. Shower Art isn't really something that you necessarily buy for yourself (unless you're a quirky woman between the ages of 27 and 42) but it IS something that people want to give as gifts. To everyone. During the holidays we have a hard time keeping up with the demand fer sures.
How do you come up with all the sayings?
We like funny stuff so we just use our comedian minds to come up with whatever we think is hilarious. Many times we present Shower Arts to each other prefaced by, "No one is ever going to buy this -- but isn't it FUNNY?"
Do you have a favorite design or motif?
Mmmmmmm....I like the ones that say "You have a big gigantic brain" mostly because I came up with that one. Or "Jesus took our six pack" -- which I think is hilarious and honestly just popped into my head one day. Why? Why? I have no idea. "Hot fairy on fairy action" -- that's another fun one. Oh, and Doug's "My other car is a unicorn on roller skates" -- that one's awesome too. It's so hard to choose favorites. We really like them all.
Do you have any art in your shower? If so, what does it say?
We mostly just hang all the rejects in our shower. Pieces where we spelled something wrong or put a letter in upside down and backwards. We do have one good one in there. It's a tryptic one that says "Ugly baby" "Love" "Cute Baby". Doug made that one for me for Christmas and it has a baby picture of each of us inside it (Doug was the Ugly Baby -- and he's the baby picture that you see on our logo.)
What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?
I think my favorite was when someone picked up a Shower Art at a craft show and I know it's one that I had previously said, "No one is ever going to buy this, but isn't it FUNNY?" It was a square piece that had a decapitated baby head sitting on top of a champagne bottle and just said, "Think Safety." The woman picked it up and said, "This is perfect." as though she'd been looking for it for years. Huh? Perfect for what??
___
Bio:
Seattle, WA.
Etsy Shop
Facebook for Shower Art
Facebook for bARTer Sauce
Blog
Twitter handle: @ugly_sauce
Owned by wife and husband team: Rosalie and Doug -- often referred to as "The Gales." We live in a condo in downtown Seattle with one really loud cat named Karma. We're not really condo people -- it's just all we could afford in this city. We like nerdy strategy board games and pretty much spend every Saturday playing Bridge with a couple of friends.
We both deal with websites for our actual living $$. The Rosalie half builds Drupal websites for non profits and good causes (along with crafters and Etsy teams: check out http://www.etsyrain.com). The Douglas half works for the state doing something complicated with database billing of anesthesiology codes. Phew!
In our "spare time" we like to ride around Seattle on folding bikes. Heck yeah -- our bikes fold up. Woot! Woot!
The Rosalie half of the partnership also runs an experiment in trading for art and odd objects called bARTer Sauce. Everything she trades for she immediately trades again for something else. And everyone who participates has to tell a story that is documented on the website.
Both of "The Gales" are also stand up comedians (that's how we met!) who perform in Non Profit Comedy shows that benefit a different organization every week.
Ummmm....other than all that....we just sleep and eat our vegetables.
How did you find Etsy? How long have you been selling on Etsy?
I opened an account on Etsy in early 2006 but I didn't start actually selling things until about a year and a half ago. I can't remember how I found it exactly, but I'm sure I was searching for crafty wonderfulness online and stumbled across it somewhere.
How would you describe your style?
Weird. Odd. Strange. Bizarre. Funny. And then weird again.
How long have you been creating?
Forever -- but we started making Shower Art specifically about two years ago. I thought of it after taking a particularly boring shower. I came out and said, "You should have something to look at while you're in there!" And Doug -- the research man -- figured out how to actually make them.
What is about resin you love?I actually dislike working with resin. At least for our purposes. It's brittle and hard and heavy. All of our pieces are made out of rubber -- which is awesome. I don't think I've ever loved a toxic material more. Resin can suck it. ---Yeah, I knew that... totally didn't ask the wrong question..please don't beat me up...
Have you had any mentors, or are you self taught?
Very self taught. We invented it. Hurrah!
Do you sell more at one time of year than others?
Yes, for sure. The holidays are a boom for us. Shower Art isn't really something that you necessarily buy for yourself (unless you're a quirky woman between the ages of 27 and 42) but it IS something that people want to give as gifts. To everyone. During the holidays we have a hard time keeping up with the demand fer sures.
How do you come up with all the sayings?
We like funny stuff so we just use our comedian minds to come up with whatever we think is hilarious. Many times we present Shower Arts to each other prefaced by, "No one is ever going to buy this -- but isn't it FUNNY?"
Do you have a favorite design or motif?
Mmmmmmm....I like the ones that say "You have a big gigantic brain" mostly because I came up with that one. Or "Jesus took our six pack" -- which I think is hilarious and honestly just popped into my head one day. Why? Why? I have no idea. "Hot fairy on fairy action" -- that's another fun one. Oh, and Doug's "My other car is a unicorn on roller skates" -- that one's awesome too. It's so hard to choose favorites. We really like them all.
Do you have any art in your shower? If so, what does it say?
We mostly just hang all the rejects in our shower. Pieces where we spelled something wrong or put a letter in upside down and backwards. We do have one good one in there. It's a tryptic one that says "Ugly baby" "Love" "Cute Baby". Doug made that one for me for Christmas and it has a baby picture of each of us inside it (Doug was the Ugly Baby -- and he's the baby picture that you see on our logo.)
What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?I think my favorite was when someone picked up a Shower Art at a craft show and I know it's one that I had previously said, "No one is ever going to buy this, but isn't it FUNNY?" It was a square piece that had a decapitated baby head sitting on top of a champagne bottle and just said, "Think Safety." The woman picked it up and said, "This is perfect." as though she'd been looking for it for years. Huh? Perfect for what??
Thanks so much for doing a blog post about Shower Art -- you rule!
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