Nightside Studios - Your Source of Vitreous Mysteries

"In a deeply tribal way, we love our monsters"
			- Biologist Edward O. Wilson

It's true. Even when they scare the bejeepers out of us (which hardly any of these guys will), we're fond of our monsters. Even some demons have developed a long-standing, personal relationship with some of us (or someone that we know.) Here is a peek at some of the monsters that we have fondly known across the years

Nightside Studios, located deep underground beneath Downtown Coastal California, evidently still has many miles of unexplored tunnels, galleries, caverns and grottoes. When feeling particularly brave, foolhardy or otherwise inspired, we try to map some of the maze-like corridors and sketch some of the wildlife (in between bites of pimento and cream cheese sandwiches - they make pretty good bait, too!) so that we can re-create them for the non-spelunking public. Here are some more of the interesting life forms that we find loitering behind stalagmites, in some of the eerily-lit mineral pools and peeking out around dusty piles of vinyl LPs.

	Feathery Fur or Furry Feathers? Spring is (finally) here, although it is kind of hard to tell from a depth of 3-1/2 stories beneath Downtown California. The scent of freesia blossoms has been wafting in through some of the galleries and clefts in the rocks way in the back of the grotteaux to the northwest. Of course, some other aromas have drifted through, too, reminding us just exactly which caves we had been aging those wheels of camembert in....... When we went to check on said wheels, carrying with us an ample supply of crackers, capers and refreshing libations, we discovered that someone, or something, had been availing itself of an early and altogether unauthorized sample of the reeking treats. The missing bits of cheese resembled peck marks and, following a trail of scratch marks on the footpath for quite some distance, we discovered yet another unexplored system of channels, galleries and crawlways. (This sort of thing happens a lot, as the back reaches of our subterranean studios are honeycombed and altogether labyrinthine. Come to think of it, the front and sides are pretty porous, too.....) Following our noses, which is something that we tend to do unless we're walking backwards, the traces of camembert bouquet led us to witness the creature pictured leftward, evidently a strange sort of bird.

The Blue Bird of Wackiness...? A Bleu Crested Cheese Pecker? Oiseau d'Hors D'oeuvres? Based on our observations, it is one variant of an underground species of avians that, despite being flightless, somehow still manage to accrue frequent flier miles. ( This we found to be rather unusual, as we are mostly used to seeing only Nuttall's Woodpeckers and the occasional Flammulated Owl.)

			Hmmmm....... We're not quite sure if this is the one that we saw pecking holes in the trunk of the maple tree (or was it the trunk of the Honda....?)

While you might think... ...that mounting this guy's head like this is a cruel act, we should, in all fairness, mention that he asked us to. (He was complaining about the lousy view from down there, and actually thanked us for the lift!)

			From what we can tell... after poring over some cryptic texts that we found in a pile of shards and then dusted off, this feathered and highly-decorated fellow (?) is one of the High Priests of the Zaoruni ("zow-ROON-ee") tribe. They must have been around the back grotteaux some years ago, judging by the depth of the pile of empties (and the style of the pop tops......)

Some thuggish types....... who are probably quite harmless.



Monstrosa Triclopia It's really only fair to have three views of this guy, since that what he's got of you.



		Mr. Grumpy's Day Off What does one do when everything actually goes their way for once......?

Monstrosa Nonopus Suspected to spend far more time underwater than one would think is a good idea ....



featherhead


		fountainhead


hit the nail on the head


		inspired


pele's headache


		prince among monsters


Some other forms of Monstrosa, selected from earlier sorties into the back reaches of the caverns and grotteaux.


fright wig! (hirsutus alarmus)


			Tongue Earl (Monstrosa Linguis) (not the kind that you rub on wooden furniture) (tongue is a separate piece) 40 mm w x 40 mm t x 65 mm d

Copper-Haired Droopy (Sagus Hirsutus Verdigris) (glass and electroformed copper with green patina) 60 mm w x 70 mm t x 35 mm d

			Droopy Mad (Sagus Inflammatrous) 40 mm w x 30 mm t x 25 mm d

			Blue Max (Monstrosa Azulous) 35 mm w x 45 mm t x 55 mm d

Earnest Scabrous (Scabrousa Sincerus) 40 mm w x 40 mm t x 45 mm d

			Beaky Scabrous (Scabrousa Nezmadura) 35mm w x 50mm t x 45 mm d

Please Adjust Horizontal Hold (Monstrosa Malvidia) 30 mm w x25 mm t x 30 mm d

Scabrous Sly (Scabrousa Inscrutus) 30 mm w x 35 mm t x 45 mm d

			Droopy With Tongue (Sagus Inflammatrous Linguis) (tongue is a separate piece) 40 mm w x 50 mm t x 45 mm d

Too Many Garlic Flies ( Monstrosa Halitosis) 35 mm w x 35 mm t x 50 mm d

Copper-Horned Flycatcher ( Monstrosa Cupruhornus Longelinguis) (tongue is a separate piece) (glass and electroformed copper) 30 mm w x 35 mm t x 70 mm d (note: this specimen is unique - no others have been observed in captivity or the wild, although efforts to locate another continue. It is thought to be a roommate of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker)

Creatures shown below have retreated back to their respective dens, and are no longer available for personal appearances....

20 mm x 20 mm (tongue is another 20 mm long)			Two creatures of the night (of course, it's night all day here in the Studio) that were spotted out of the corner of my eye. Their tongues are separate pieces and can move independently.

Red Monster (Monstrosa Rosa) Moretti red, orange, "raku", white, purple, transparent yellow and black 25 mm t x 25 mm x 30 mm deep

Three views of what I suspect was making that weird "chuffing" sound behind a pile of Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins records 25 mm x 25 mm x 25 mm