Do you want to be a part of the Encyclopedia of Monsters?

I'm making an Encyclopedia of Monsters for my residency and I'd love for you to be a part of it!

I’m very grateful to announce that I began my artist-in-residence with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh this month and things have been going so well! This is my first residency, so it’s definitely a learning experience. I want my project to be a positive experience for the community I’m working with, so I’ve been having both a lot of excitement and anxiety popping up over the past few weeks.

Thankfully I have a wonderful support network - my friends, the library staff, the community, and the other artists in residence who have been sharing their experiences online (which has given me so much comfort from a distance.) I’m very excited to see where this residency takes me.

What is the Encyclopedia of Monsters?

My project, The Encyclopedia of Monsters, is an exhibition and series of creative workshops in which participants will explore a difficult emotion, break it down into character design elements through creative prompts, and then use those elements to create their own monster characters. The monsters will then be bound into a physical book and exhibited at the end of the residency.

Additionally, I will be including journal entries of my own monsters that I create throughout my residency, and exhibiting three large-scale illustrations selected from some of my monsters which I feel are the most powerful.

I created this project as a way for folks to explore and share their emotions in a safe, community environment, allowing them to communicate their experiences in a way they otherwise might not be able to, realize that they are not alone in their feelings, and walk away with a creative exercise to help them process these complicated things.

Want to be a part of the Encyclopedia?

If you, or someone you love, is interested in participating in this project, I would love to include your/their monster art in the final book.

To participate, you can:

- Download this zine, print it out/upload it to your digital art software of choice, complete it, and return a photo/scan of the finished zine to angelaoddling@gmail.com or in the Encyclopedia of Monsters Substack chat.

- Follow the steps below and send your finished art/monster information to angelaoddling@gmail.com or the Encyclopedia of Monsters Substack chat.

- If you’re local to Pittsburgh come say hi on Saturday April 26th for my Artist in Residence meet & greet! I’ll have monster-making activities there and I’d love to have you.

Deadline to submit your monsters is June 1st, 2025.

Encyclopedia of Monsters Steps:

1) Think of a memory or experience that was difficult for you. This can be any number of things - a time when you lost something, when someone said or did something to you, or even something you did or said. Write it down. You do not have to share this with anyone else if you don’t want to.

2) Write down the emotion your memory or experience made you feel - sad, angry, lonely, heartbroken, homesick, anxious, useless, rejected, helpless, frustrated, insecure, jealous, betrayed, confused, guilty, exhausted, ashamed, disgusted - or come up with your own.

3) What color makes you think of the emotion you chose in step two? Choose a crayon/marker/pencil/paint with that color.

4) What shape makes you think of the emotion you chose in step two? Using your colored art utensil, draw that shape and color it in. This can be any shape - a scribble, a zig-zag, a heart, etc. This will be your monster core or the main design element of your monster.

5) How did the emotion you chose in step two make your body feel (hot, sweaty, weak, stuff, paralyzed, drained, tearful, etc.)? Write it down.

6) Think of an activity, person, place, or thing that makes you feel happy or the opposite of what you wrote down for step five. Write it down.

7) Think about the memory or experience you wrote about in step one. Where were you when it happened? What year was it? What time of day was it? What season was it? Write down as much as you can remember.

8) Answer the prompts about your monster below. Use your answers for steps 1-7 as inspiration as noted (or use your own creative freedom, if you wish!):

What is this monster’s name?
Who is most likely to discover this monster (refer to step seven)?
What is this monster’s habitat (refer to set (refer to step seven)?
What are this monster’s powers or abilities (refer to step five - maybe if you felt hot, the monster has the ability to melt. Get creative with it!)?
How do you tame, befriend, or coexist with this monster (refer to step six - maybe if you really love lemons, you give your monster a lemonade to calm it down. Get creative!)

9) Finish designing your monster. Feel free to use any medium you’re comfortable with - collage, pencil, paints, etc. -

10) Send your monster art, answered questions about your monster, and any other information you feel comfortable sharing to angelaoddling@gmail.com OR the Substack chat! The deadline for this is June 1st.

Feel free to share your monsters anywhere online. Just make sure to tag me so I can see, too!

I’m excited for this journey and I can’t wait to tell you more as these next couple of months move forward!

Thanks for reading.

xoxo Angela