Rising Stars: Meet Molly Holmes

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Molly Holmes.

Hi Molly, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started creating art in 2020 after becoming a stay-at-home mom while watching the world as we knew it burst into flames before our very eyes.

My life suddenly had no structure or schedule, and it revolved around a newborn who was bursting at the seams with chaos. And also, there was the crushing weight of a potential apocalyptic plague – what a time to be alive!

So I started making watercolor cards and really let it rip. I figured, why not? These cards were feral, distasteful, and sometimes erotic. They featured naked humanoid aliens and lizard people, as well as anti-government sentiments, and I felt free!! But they didn’t sell very well, and not usually because people didn’t like them, but because they didn’t have a birthday or funeral or whatever to buy a card for. So, sighing deeply, I resolved to find another medium to dump all my trauma into.

Not long after, I received a gift of animal bones, and it was like the lord Gob bent down and kissed me on the forehead himself. I dutifully learned how to clean and sanitize my parcel of assorted bones and teeth and antlers and began painting and framing like mad. I loved it! I felt like a real rebel, scoffing at oil paintings and bronze sculptures and pitying the squares that created them. I started signing up for more markets, created my Etsy shop, and slowly started branching out and making even weirder art.

Enter: the Dolls. Dolls became the focal point of my art around 2022, and they continue to be the stars of the show. I still use animal bones and antlers, etc., but dolls are readily available,(mostly) clean and ready to use, so making them the base for most of my pieces makes my life easier. Truthfully, the main reason I use them so much is because dolls make me laugh. They are awful and creepy and just so off-putting, especially the old porcelain ones, those are my favorite.

I get such a kick out of the people who come to my table and recoil in disgust. I feel like a real master of my craft; sending fear into the hearts of mere mortals while I spend my life surrounded by dolls. Molded by them. Cackling maniacally as I behead them for my latest creation. You know, artist stuff.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My art journey has been about as smooth as anything can be these days. I have had years and months where I have sold lots of my work and attended wonderful markets and socialized with ease and everything just kind of flowed. And then there have been months and years where I wonder what the hell I’m doing.

At the end of the day I am going to make art either way. I feel a bit empty when I don’t have a project I’m working on, or when I don’t have a way to express myself. Also I need a valid excuse to spend money at the thrift store; a proven cure for whatever ails me. Sometimes, my room fills up with curiosity boxes and coffins and framed bird skeletons and painted skulls, and I have to buy ANOTHER bookshelf to accommodate my growing collection. Oops! And then I just have to breathe deeply and trust that things will pick back up again.

2023 was a hard year. Almost every market I vended had a much lower attendee rate than the years previous, and those who turned up were not spending half as much as they had been – and rightfully so. Inflation has got us all in a chokehold. So I pulled back. I know a lot of artists did.

Many of us just needed a break, but that feels hard, too. To potentially miss out by staying home. It’s a paradox. And of course, you always feel like maybe it’s you, maybe it’s your art, but baby in this economy?? That ain’t it. Everyone has to be extra careful with their spending, and it makes sense that art often takes a backseat to groceries and rent. But we are still making things, showing up, and hoping. And with most things in life, that’s really all you can do.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m not sure if there is a professional term for, like, a goblin artist? In essence, I create 3D art made up of all of my favorite treasures: random knick-knacks, shiny crystals, animal bones, haunted doll parts, moss, and whatever else I can cram into a frame or shelf. I usually start with an antique frame, shadow box, shelf, or terrarium and fill it with my trinkets.

Doll heads or animal bones are usually the centerpiece because they are so striking. I then make loads of little polymer clay mushrooms, candles, and miniature tarot cards, as well as filling little books and bottles with spells and herbs to fill in any gaps. These pieces are what I’m best known for and what I enjoy making the most, but every so often, I get my hands on a skull or set of antlers or a jaw bone. I usually paint these pieces, and this always makes me break out in a cold sweat. Painting on bone is not like painting on paper (which I’m honestly not very good at either). You really don’t want to screw up and make the bone look tacky.

Imagine doing a disservice to such an inherently cool object because your hand and your brain just can’t get their stuff together. The horror! So I don’t do those pieces much anymore. I love my miniature displays and I especially love working with dolls and making terrariums, there’s so much less opportunity to, in my mind, screw something up in the presentation.

A painting brings out the perfectionist in me, but a curiosity cabinet is just plain old fun! And that’s where I’m at in my art journey, if it’s not fun then I ain’t doing it.

We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.

I kind of think that all of my art has been a risk, as pretentious as that sounds.Not everyone thinks that dead stuff and dolls are art, but I’ve been really lucky that I’ve found so many people who do. The art community in Fort Collins, especially, is so accepting of so many types of art and the artists themselves. It’s an incredible gift to get to go out and do shows and meet people and not have my weirdness used against me. It’s been so freeing. Teenage Molly would be so proud of where we are today!

Contact Info:

• Website: Etsy.com/shop/mollymoonchildstudio
• Instagram: @mollymoon444
• Facebook: @mollymoon444