Off the Shop: A dubious commission.

I've detailed here how I decide who and what to make, and one of those criterion is that it has to fit with my personal philosophies in some way. I wouldn't ever make a Hitler ornament, for instance, because f*ck no.

So when a friend asked me if I was making a Donald Trump ornament, my response was an enthusiastic "absolutely not". When he asked me if I could make one for him, it was a similar response.

But he begged and begged with the absolute caveat that I could make it look like anything I wanted; it didn't have to be reverent (he was not a Trump supporter).

We looked through pictures together and settled on a design that he and I could both tolerate.

I still delayed. I created projects that were placed into the line before this one--every time I would think about doing it I would exclaim an audible "ugh".

But once I say I'll do a thing, I do it.

And here it is.

It's interesting. Because my heart wasn't into it, I didn't really do as quality a job as I would have wanted to . . . and I don't care. I would have re-done the eyes, for sure. And the mouth. (Stitched instead of felt.) Alas, I'm not spending another moment on it.

This is also not my original design. If I had intended to sell this or do anything more than quietly give it to my friend, I wouldn't have blatantly ripped off this street design and I would have put more effort into many elements.

The original "Dump Trump" on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Courtesy of Hanksy. Via Business Insider.