Asheville Entrepreneurs Are the Epitome of Creative and Funky
arts, bonesquisher, business, entrepreneurs, grugwick, hellabella, john murphy’s original stupid creatures, red wetty, river arts district, squashpaste,
Ever heard the name Bonesquisher? How about Grugwick? Hellabella? Red Wetty? Squashpaste?
These names may sound … well, stupid, but they couldn’t be more perfect for John Murphy’s Original Stupid Creatures.
One of many creative Asheville entrepreneurs, the 31-year-old Murphy makes and sells stuffed “sock monsters.”
“I had a bag of old socks that weren’t wearable anymore, but I didn’t want to throw them away,” Murphy says. “So I started making toy sock monsters out of them. I didn’t think of going into business, but people went nuts over them.”
As for the Stupid Creatures name, it just came naturally.
“People ask me what I do, and in describing these monsters, I say, ‘I just make these stupid creatures out of socks,’ ” Murphy says. “Then, [www.stupidcreatures.com] became my Web site.”
Murphy creates the toys at his River Arts District studio and sells them via the Internet and at a handful of Asheville shops. Most of his creatures are custom jobs made from socks sent to him by clients.
“Some people do it to honor a relative,” Murphy explains. “One family sent in a deceased aunt’s pair of socks and had me make five creatures from them for all the nieces. They’d rather look at a funny stuffed toy than an urn on a mantel.”
Each creature takes between six and 10 hours to make.
“When I get an order for a custom job, I usually stare at the socks for hours until inspiration strikes. Is there something about the sock that lends itself to a particular form?” Murphy asks rhetorically. “Then I cut them and start stitching pieces together – arms, legs, a tail, maybe horns. I stuff the creature with recycled polyester and give it a name tag.”
Murphy wrote a book, Stupid Sock Creatures, that teaches readers how to make the monsters. It was published by Lark Books in 2005 and has sold nearly 60,000 copies.
Billy Zanski is another Asheville entrepreneur who dances to the beat of his own drum.
After studying drumming in West Africa, Zanski opened Skinny Beats Drum Shop & Gallery, where he makes and sells African djembes (pronounced jem-bay) and teaches drumming.
“An African djembe is a hard, wooden drum with goat skin you play on,” Zanski explains. “I sell most of the drums to curious beginners. The drum is inviting because it’s not too difficult to play.”
Zanski and his drumming students can often be seen and heard at the city’s weekly drum circles in downtown’s Pritchard Park.
Leonard Lopatin also has carved out a musical niche in Asheville’s business sector.
The Juilliard School graduate, professional flutist and owner of Lopatin Flute Co., is the inventor of the SquareONE flute, an instrument that defies tradition because it has square holes instead of round ones.
“Lenny wanted to play on the best possible flute and thought a straight-edged air column could produce a sweeter tone,” says Lopatin’s wife, Jackie, who also helps with marketing. “He had to learn to make flutes to test out his ideas about sound production. It took him 10 years to make his prototype.”
Crafted from different materials such as stainless steel and gold, Lopatin’s flutes are catching on in the classical music world.
“Classical musicians tend to be very traditional, but more are discovering the square-holed flute is a viable option,” she says. “People’s basic reaction is, ‘Wow, this is a great sound.’ ”
For more information about these companies, visit www.stupidcreatures.com, www.skinnybeatsdrums.com and www.lopatinflutes.com.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Ian Curcio
