Custom-Feature: Amanda Louise Spayd for Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show @ TAG

Amanda Louise Spayd has finished yet another winner of a custom, this time on a Celsius vinyl figure, completed for the coming Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show @ Toy Art Gallery launching July 10th [blogged]. Tiptoeing the aesthetic definitions blurred between adorable birdie-bonnet-wearing cutey-dolls and the macabre whispers of festering-nightmares, Amanda's Celsius custom prepares to take flight ... CLICK THRU for more peeks (including a first-look exclusive) alongside a lil Q&A with Amanda about the custom's creation!


TOYSREVIL: Awesome custom as usual, Amanda (if you don't mind me gushing). Does it have a name? And does it have a "story"? (Inspiration?)

AMANDA LOUISE SPAYD: I haven't really named it yet, but I'm thinking of something that has to do with flight, or probably the fear of flight, since this guy doesn't seem quite convinced that those wings are going to work when he jumps off a building...


TOYSREVIL: Stitched-feathers might induce such a notion (:p). How was the experience customizing this vinyl figure? What made you go the direction you chose for this custom?

AMANDA LOUISE SPAYD: This was a challenging custom! My usual style is very organic and soft, and the Celsius is all smooth robotic geometry and hard edges. It was important to me to keep the wings, since I really liked them, so I thought it would be fun to turn them into a sort of costume for the figure. It's actually a little bit autobiographical too - when I was a kid, I had this hideous blue bird costume that I used to wear EVERYWHERE, especially riding my bike around the neighborhood. It had a blue hat with eyes and a pointed "beak" for the brim of the hat. So this is kind of a tribute to the awkwardness of my childhood. My costume didn't have an awesome neck ruffle though; I'm kind of jealous.


TOYSREVIL: (Resisting the urge to ask you for said childhood-photo, if any :p). How do you feel about the result?

AMANDA LOUISE SPAYD: I'm happy with him! It's not always easy to put a new personality onto a custom, but I think I did a pretty good job. I just hope others enjoy him too, because it took a loooooong time and lots of cutting and sanding, ha ha.


[Above is a first-look snap of the custom where Amanda had converted the
"jet pack" of the original Celsius into a cloth bacpack! Adorably-handy!]