Opportunity LOL's Spotlight Interview: Artist J.E. Moores

Published: August 10th, 2011

With 50,000 Twitter followers I receive a significant amount of spam direct messages. Most people with more than 100 followers ignore them altogether, but I seriously read every one. I don't click links or respond usually because they're 99% spam, but I follow a lot of art and toy creators and fans and want to know if they have something to say to me. One day, while searching for those art and toy creators I followed @JEMoores. This turned out to be one of the best follows I've ever clicked. A direct message from the artist led to myself posting his toys on Opportunity LOL. Then we received a Gomper toy (currently in my office) and a pretty amazing giveaway: a GOF Toy and Comic. I was fortunate enough to read the comic before I mailed it out to the lucky giveaway winner. Artist J.E. Moores is a fantastic story teller who has developed a very fun and interesting world. He creates toys that live in that world and once you own your first Gomper, it's addicting enough that you will need more.

Following the first review and giveaway, artist J.E. Moores raised the bar again. We reviewed two larger Gompers that are now on my Gomper shelf AND we had another big giveaway - a one-of-a-kind clear rainbow Slithgarn toy. Everytime we create a review we do research and every bit of information we learn about this artist has lead to more and more questions. What does he do for a living? What toys will he release next? What are his motivations for creating such unique art toys? Jay's generosity has continued, with a very detailed interview that gives a great look into his life, toys, and some of his hobbies. He even filmed himself showing you lucky readers his toy collection and work space. This is certainly one of our best interviews and we're extremely proud to have this article. Enjoy!

Could you talk about the world in which your toys live?

J.E. Moores: "I grew up in the 60's and 70's skipping recess while hiding out in the school library with friends drawing hand made comics. I had a comic called JEM comics and I would simply fold paper in half, staple it down the middle, and make comics. We'd pass the pages around and all my friends could contribute either by writing word balloons for someone else to illustrate or cartoon our own bits. Once all the pages were filled, we were done and would pass them around for everyone to read. My character GOF was created way back then. Everyone liked him, so I always kept drawing him right up to this day. GOF is over 30 years old now, and his story is still the perfect vehicle for me to create new characters for him to interact with. I was mostly influenced by MAD magazine. My grandmother told me she would buy me anything I wanted to read and it was usually MAD, Cracked, Crazy, CarToons, Plop. I never liked super hero comics. My grandmother was so cool she would go to the Greyhound bus station in Rockland Maine and purchase underground comics for me. I'd give her my list of what I have, and she'd get me anything I didn't have. This simple system was great because she'd buy stuff I had never heard of. My world is a combination of old TOHO Godzilla movies, Underground Comix, Sid & Marty Krofft, Dr. Seuss, and the Jim Henson Muppets. Those are my greatest influences. Hmmm along with the Beatles Yellow Submarine. That movie blew me away as a kid. My first psychedelic experience was catching that movie on TV one night at the age of 14 or 15. It was around 1979. I still have a thing for Chief Blue Meanie."

Are toys a career or hobby for you?

J.E. Moores: "I want a career in the toy biz, but I don't want it to stop being fun. I need to keep the balance so I'm inspired to continue thinking, designing, and creating toys. I have an insane passion for all things toy. I like to look at them, know what's new, see how they work, and see how they could be better. I get mad if a toy is disappointing. I don't like seeing kids get set up for a bad experience. I have taught arts and crafts with kids 5-15 since 1984, I'm a couple years from being 50 years old, (I was born 1964). Working this long with kids, I get to see what trends come and go with characters, toys etc. I am very serious about my fun. It's who I truly am, and ideas for toys is what I have to offer that only I can offer. I also have a popular book of Paper Toys called, Print! Cut! Fold! Glue! which is on Amazon. You can find it easy at PrintCutFoldGlue.com."

What steps do you take to create a toy from scratch?

J.E. Moores: "I sketch in my journal. Most of my ideas come from stories I made up years ago and keep refining over the years. Right now I have wanted to see characters that have been bouncing around in my head for the last 30+ years come into 3D form. When I make a resin toy, my original is made of either glazed terra cotta ceramic I fire in my kiln, or I use oven bake Sculpey. Depending on the shape I'm casting, I paint on silicone in thin layers to make a glove mold, or I use 30 minute cure silicone putty to make press on two piece molds. For those interested in making resin toys, I learned a lot of resin casting techniques by watching the free how to videos at smooth-on.com."

How long does it take you to create a given run of resin toys?

J.E. Moores: "I have a habit of doing 24 hour projects, crash from exhaustion, rest a couple days, get up and do it again. I can't rest until I get results. I work fast, and I don't take many breaks. I work until it is done, and usually suffer the consequences after. I get a huge high when things work out, and it lifts my entire being. If things don't work out at the end of a huge expenditure of energy, I might even fall ill from the let down. Somehow success keeps me afloat regardless of how much energy I put into a project. I would say I'm addicted to this process, always working for the next exciting breakthrough in the art studio."

Do you have aspirations to have a large series of toys produced? If so, would you rather do it yourself, kickstart it, or work with a company?

J.E. Moores: "I would love to work with a company to produce and refine toy products. I would love to get and give advice to toy makers, help with the process, invent games, it goes on and on. I would be very useful if someone needs an idea person on any team. I have several ideas like the Find A Fossil (more on that below), or my latest project, the Mythological Maine characters. I think that Maine project is important because the stories are so old. An illustrated book with professionally produced plastic and plush toys would be so cool.

I think because I'm an art teacher I lean toward education with a lot of my projects. I try to disguise the educational bits by making them look or feel like mischief. Play should always have some element of being naughty. That's why old fashioned rubber band guns are still one of the most fun toys ever. You have to figure out the mechanics of how it works, but you are motivated by the fact you can shoot your friends or little brother. Fun stuff. I'm always amused when the adults ask, 'is it educational?' because everything is educational. You always learn something from experiencing anything, so I always say, 'Just try to stop them from learning.' Because the truth is, you can't. Every experience is educational.

In the long run I would like to have my characters work for me. Gompers are the universe's greatest consumer, and they love to eat hamburgers, so Gompers are very commercial. The Mythological Maine characters have east coast licensing possibilities. So many people relate to the old Maine stories, and have their own part to add. I want to see plush Swamp Boggers in barrels near the L.L. Bean check out. Then I'll know Grandfather's old Maine stories are safe from being lost and forgotten. It's a big project, and I'll need help from someone that has a big love for the state of Maine, it's heritage, and it's mystique."

What is Findafossil.com?

J.E. Moores: "The Find A Fossil Sand Puzzle is an interactive toy I invented for the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences in New York City. For a while I was a set builder in Manhattan for photographers and ad agencies. I used to live on Staten Island, and worked for the education department at SIIAS. Using my set building skills, I started designing props for the interactive room. I have a lot of ideas for educational toys that are FUN. The Find A Fossil is a dinosaur puzzle. The instructor secretly buries the 10 puzzle pieces in a sand box before class. After a lecture and video, the junior paleontologists take turns using paint brushes to carefully excavate the dinosaur pieces, and then build the fossil back into a dinosaur. The dinosaur program was the most popular education program at SIIAS, and I wanted to bring the fun of the Find A Fossil to other educational centers, museums, and schools. This is another project I would like to see mass produced at a lower cost. Making Find A Fossils by hand is a lot of work, but it would be an amazing educational toy if it was priced better and could be found in more places. Anyone out there want to make some fossil puzzles with me? I think these would do well in museums stores where ever dinosaurs are loved. Check out our video at FindAFossil.com."

How many toy-for-toy trades have you done?

J.E. Moores: "Not as many as I'd like. Trades are more involved than a straight forward purchase. Each has to decide what they want, what they'll part with, what's fair, it gets complicated. I've learned to just shop on big cartel or etsy and keep trades to when we meet in person. My latest cool trade is Paul Kaiju traded me his wee Alien Welt for one of my Podlings at the Toy Art Gallery in LA. I think PK is the tops of the resin toy world. His sculpture, casting, and paint jobs are so unique and other worldly. When I look at his stuff I don't even think we are working in the same medium. I find his work very humbling."

What are the top ten toy artists creating your favorite work lately?

J.E. Moores: "I like Paul Kaiju, Sucklord, Arbito, Chris Ryniak, Amanda Louise Spayd but my favorite vinyl toys this year are by Jeff Lamm. His Greasebat series with Stee-Gar and M5 Bravo are the coolest kaiju toys ever. They speak to me in ways no other toy can. They wrap up my love for Godzilla and Underground Comix. If Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth made Japanese style monsters, they would look like Jeff Lamm's Greasebat. Before Jeff Lamm got all my extra cash, Treeson owned my heart and soul. I also have a thing for all things Horvath, and anything small like re-ment, gumball toys, cereal box toys, cracker jack toys, bags of cheap grocery store toys. I like anything small. If you want to see great shots of toys and creepy stuff, check out snailbooty on flickr."

Could we see a shot of your toy collection?

J.E. Moores: "I will take a video of my home for you so you can see the toys. Every horizontal surface is heaped with toys. Although I love collectibles, they are played with and not in mint condition for long. I love to take narrative photographs by putting toys together into odd situations. I like to take characters out of their usual context. It's fun to see what mischief toys get up to. My 'Jay At Play' set on flickr has tons of my Narrative Toy Photography."

Could you tell the Opportunity LOL readers about your band?

J.E. Moores: "Mark Harvey and I have been recording music together since the early 90's as Rain Station. (We at times have alter egos where I call myself Hoagie Malone, and he calls himself Mopehead). We each play several instruments. We take turns adding tracks until we have a song. Because we play multiple instruments we consider ourselves to be a recording act more than a live act, although we do have a live set, but you know what I mean. We are always looking to get our music into movies, TV, video, so if there are any film makers out there we invite you to use Rain Station music in your video or movie for free, just give a music credit to: RainStation.com - all our tunes can be streamed for free at our site, so check out Rain Station! Mark and I love Halloween. Rain Station records a lot of Halloween themed songs because there is no one here to stop us! Mark says, "Let's record another Halloween song!" and I go "OK!" Many of them I have animated in my world famous clunky Flash animation style, and I share them with the world at: http://JackOLantern.ORG (my favorites are Candy, and Monster Hunter). I have made toys of most of these characters, so it all goes around in an endless loop of insanity. "

What are your favorite TV shows? Have you seen HBO's The Wire?

J.E. Moores: "I don't have cable, and don't know what The Wire is. Does it have puppets and singing? If it does, I'd watch it. Lately I've been watching the X Files on hulu starting at episode 1 and each night watch another. I'm up to season 4 now. Ahhhh... Scully and Moulder. I love old black and white animation, Betty Boop is amazing. I like Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Chan. Looney Tunes is the best cartoon ever. Since I have a wee one, I like to share all the classic stuff with her so she will grow up with Buggs, Betty, Pufnstuf, you know, the essentials. Did you know my wife and I made a very silly science fiction movie a few years back called, Super Spy Chick. We would release a short once a week on our blog and fans could follow the story. We played almost all the characters Monty Python Style, which is a hoot. At it's peak we had 80,000 views a day from Japan and we began receiving overage costs on our hosting for $800 / month. We had to take it down and move the movie to YouTube in pieces just to survive. The entire project is on vimeo now, so it doesn't put us in the poor house to show our free movie. Next time you have an hour to kill, we'll help you kill it dead at: http://SuperSpyChick.com."

Who are your favorite comedians? Do you listen to any comedy podcasts?

J.E. Moores: "Steve Martin has an old live performance video that is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I have an old VHS copy, and I tell you, it's funny. I quote Seinfeld, Monty Python, Letterman, Jack Black, Spinal Tap, Steven Wright, MASH, and Archie Bunker every day. I don't listen to any podcasts although I was podcast host (Hoagie) of the Super Fantastic Ultra Show for a while, and way back in the old days I was producer of The Mark Harvey Show here at Viacom public access San Francisco. My iTunes is going all day with rock and or roll blasting forth. I must rock at all times when possible. I'm the loudest neighbor. I have a drum set in my living room next to the piano and amps. Ready to rock at all times. Let's get it on."

What characters can we expect to see from you in the future?

J.E. Moores: "The latest thing at JEMTOY.com is The Great Endangered American Consumer or G.E.A.C. Anti-Consumer Products. The G.E.A.C.s (pronounced geeks) are a bunch of mashed up grocery store cowboy, Indian, and farm animal toys packaged in containers with political and social statements as the header card. The square plastic display container acts like a canvas where I can put my message. The G.E.A.C.s are more like a painting than a toy, because you leave it in the package. Without the frame of reference, it has less meaning.

Beyond the G.E.A.C.s, I have been slowly working on my ideas for a Mythological Maine series that are illustrated books and toys that go along with the old stories my grandfather used to tell me about Swamp Boggers, Philly Lou Birds, and other bizarre Maine creatures. My grandfather told me his father told him these stories, and the old folks all have their own versions of these myths. They mostly explain a sound, animal, or thing from nature, each one unique to the state of Maine. The story is so important to me, it's taking a long time to pull it all together. I want to be sure it's right and not hurry the project. A lot of people have opinions on these critters so I need more Mainers to tell me their version of these stories so that everyone is accounted for. The world can contact me at: jay@jemtoy.com - I'd love to hear from you. Jay E Moores."

Get more J.E. Moores on his Website | Store | @JEMoores on Twitter | Facebook | Flickr

Check out our previous posts on J.E. Moores here.

Interview with Artist JC Rivera	Wishbone Gompers, Tentacle Gompers, and Slithgarn by J.E. Moores	GOF Comic and Toy by J.E. Moores	Interview with Artist Squink!

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