This is post 2 of 2 in the series “Clark's DayDream Studio : Inside the Mind of a Munny” Clark’s DayDream Studio’s The DayDreamer Series Clark’s DayDream Studio’s The FlyingHigh Series & Beyond

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Clark’s DayDream Studio’s FlyingHigh series

The Flying High Dunny

The FlyingHigh Munny Editions

The FlyingHigh Labbit & Mini Munny Editions

The FlyingHigh Dunny Edition

The FlyingHigh in ToadStool Kingdom Piece

The FlyingHigh QiQi Piece

Clark’s DayDream Studio’s MUNNY LOVES NY piece

hile artist Clark Rotharmel , who has used the aliases ClarkR and Clark’s DayDream Studio , was best-known for his DayDreamer series ( see part one of this article ), he also created another notable thematic line: FlyingHigh.For his contribution to the Most Wanted: Behind the Hype (2012) exhibition at San Francisco’s 1AM Gallery , Rotharmel introduced his second major series concept. Titled Flying High in its above-pictured initial form, this series would later have its name stylized as FlyingHigh. Using an 8 in. tall Dunny as the base, the vinyl sculpture was painted sky blue with cloud patterning and a yellow sun circle decorating it. The notable addition being a modified Zipper Pull Munny piloting a handmade bi-plane, constructed using a Sharpie pen cap for the body with the remainder assembled out of epoxy putty and styrene plastic. Held aloft by an acrylic rod, this flying form grants a joyous sense of wonderment and exploration to the whole, conveying the simple sentiment of limitless possibilities.Having made a silicon mold of the finished bi-plane so he could cast multiples in resin, Rotharmel offered two 7 in. tall Munny designs using the FlyingHigh concept in 2012, each limited to an edition of five pieces. While the FlyingHigh rendition was true to the original piece’s design, the other version was a merging of that premise and the DayDreaming concept. Titled the Head in the Clouds Edition, these had the bi-plane and pilot inside the 7 in. tall Munny‘s head, giving the impression — once more — that the internal scene was what the external figure was imagining.Later that same year, Rotharmel imbued the FlyingHigh design on the 5 in. long Labbit and 4 in. tall Mini Munny forms, each limited to an edition of five pieces.And, though appearing inelegantly oversized, the handcast resin bi-plane and modified Zipper Pull Munny pilot were applied at the 3 in. tall Dunny shape. Again simply titled FlyingHigh, this 2013 rendition was limited to 20 signed and numbered pieces.For 1AM Gallery’s Game On (2013) exhibition, a one-of-a-kind piece titled FlyingHigh in ToadStool Kingdom was created. Using a 9 in. tall interpretation of the character Toad from the Super Mario video game franchise, the bi-plane was appropriately piloted by a gachapon toy version of Mario And the declared final rendition in this series was the FlyingHigh QiQi, a unique modification of Creo Design ‘s 3 in. tall QiQi. Made especially for the Project QiQi exhibition at 2013’s ToyCon UK , this version included a sculpted pilot in the likeness of the QiQi itself.Entered into the 2013 MUNNYMUNTH Customization Challenge , Rotharmel’s MUNNY LOVES NY was a unique piece made in a similar manner to his DayDreaming series’ works. Using a minimally decorated 4 in. tall Mini Munny as the base, its white exterior simply decorated with the iconic “I♥NY” slogan, the interior of the clear dome contains a Zipper Pull Munny remade to resemble the Statue of Liberty. And while this piece did not place in any of the award categories, it was one of the “very honorable mentions”, proclaimed to be Dunny and Munny designer “ Tristan Eaton ’s personal favorite!”By the end of 2013, Rotharmel went on hiatus from customizing designer toy forms, focusing his personal artistic endeavors on 3D printed originals for less than a year before becoming absent from the art movement altogether.

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Clark's DayDream Studio's The DayDreamer Series Nick Curtis The art toy journey of Clark Rotharmel, who has used the aliases ClarkR and Clark's DayDream Studio, truly began in 2008. Not only was that the year he interned at Hasbro's Model Shop, assembling working prototypes and hand-painting models for the G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Wars, and Marvel design teams,…