Today we’d like to introduce you to Don Parsons.
Hi Don, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
So, my Creepy Cool Doll Art business began as a Day of Boredom in the Tattoo shop I was working at back in 2015-ish. It was a slow day for Tattoos & Piercings so we usually just Draw and create Art. Well, I found a small plastic Doll in my Studio and I really don’t know where it came from. It was just there that day, never seen it before that. Anyways, I was looking at it, bored, and got some WhiteOut, colored its face white, black sharpie was next to make a Skull Face & Bone Arms.
I tattered the dress to make it more a distressed look, I then took a little box I displayed different stuff in and put the new Skull type doll in the box with a hanging light overhead…. I thought it was kinda cool. The other Artists at the shop seemed to like it so I took a pic and threw it up on Facebook…. Lots of people clicked the “Like” and reacted to it positive…then one of my friends Shared the pic saying “This is my friend Don and his New Creepy Doll Business!” … I giggled and thought, “Well, I guess I’m Now a Creepy Cool Doll Artist!!” 😂
The next day before work I stopped at the Thrift Store and bought a few Old Porcelain Dolls and started making them Creepy, Cute, Weird and Whatever… People started asking “How Much? I Have to Have it!!” So I started spending all my Free Time making New Creepy Dolls, Ceramic Figurines, Using Broken Toys, Real & Plastic Bones & Skulls, and anything that I thought I could use that would otherwise be thrown out or stashed away as Useless Junk… Then the Perfect Name popped into my head for my new Side Gig… ReCyKulled Doll Parts…
In 2018 I finally quit my job in the Tattoo Industry to be a Stay at Home Dad while my Son started school and started doing my RDP Business Full Time at home, selling my Creepy Cool Art online (FB & IG) and going to Farmers Markets, which Most Farmers Markets we’re a Hit & Miss with my Art as I would be set up in between an older lady with her Knitted Scarfs and Hats and a Hippy selling Cactus and Incense on the other side, while her I am with Horror type Oddities in the middle. 😂
I finally met some new friends, Christian & Zully with ZooDooDolls and they introduced me to other Oddity type Artists/Collectors/Sellers and started selling more at Oddity Markets where my Art was Very Much More Appreciated and sold Much Better. 🤘🖤🤘
But since this Covid Pandemic started, I’ve only been to a few small markets that weren’t very lucrative so I’ve resorted to an Online Etsy Shop, which is still a Hit & Miss as my Art is more of a “See it in Person” to appreciate. Anyways, I’m still making my Art and selling it as I can, when I can and have a few new Oddity Markets coming up the end of October and a couple shortly after that (Fingers Crossed).
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has Not been a Smooth Road for my Art as it’s Not for Everyone, but when the Right Person See’s my Art they Fall in Love with it as it was made for them. I tell people all the time that I make Each Piece for ONE Specific Person, it’s just that I don’t know Who that Person Is and they don’t know I’ve made it for them yet…but when they see it, everything falls into place and my Art goes to it’s Forever Home.
The Pandemic has Definitely put a Dent in my Sales as my Art definitely sells better at Live Markets where people can Look at it, Hold It, Inspect all the little details that you normally wouldn’t see in Pics. Hopefully, the Events coming up soon will help sales and promote more customers to follow us online.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What I specialize in and what sets me apart from other Artists is I try to use as much Recykulled items as I can to make my Art… Dolls, Figurines, Broken Toys and such I find at Thrift Stores or Yard Sales for as cheap as possible, Bones, Skulls, Dead Things I find out walking in the Desert, I use Scraps of old clothes and stuff you’d find in a Junk Drawer… I use as much stuff as I can that would otherwise be thrown out and turn it into Creepy Cool Art…. There is very little New Stuff I use other than Paint, Glue, Sculpie Clay, Latex, Etc…
What’s next?
Well, I am hoping soon to get my Drivers License back so I can travel to Bigger Oddity Events out of town as my Girlfriend is the one that drives (and supports) me to all my events but she works a few jobs so it’s hard to get the days of an event and her days off to line up. I’ve been invited to the Colorado Oddities Expo a couple times, which is a Big Oddities Event in Co, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to make it due to conflicting schedules. Soon though, My Creepy Cool Recykulled Squad will be seen and sold in Many States at live Markets. (Fingers Crossed.)
Pricing:
- $5.00 – $300+
Contact Info:
- Email: recykulleddollparts@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecyKulledDollParts
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recykulleddollparts/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/RecykulledDollParts
- Other: TikTok.com/recykulleddollparts
