Octopus Travels

When I was able to reopen my studio after the winter covid-crisis shut down my first two orders were for glass octopuses–one went to Uganda, the next to Singapore.  My head spun a bit at the wonder of things I had made heading off to such far flung places.  It made me consider an unintended side effect of covid-distancing: the sudden shift to virtual everything has in many ways equalized all interpersonal interactions, removing distance as a limiting factor. As I have ventured into the world of studio streaming, I have made connections with folks all over the world.  Since the initial thought of seeing how many countries I could send octopuses to this year and having a soft launch, I have added octopuses in multiple US states, Australia, Belgium, Japan and Norway. 

How much of the globe can we fill in together? If you know someone who would love a little glass octopus pup, feel free to either peruse the options on my shop, or fill out this submission form to add them to the Octopus Travels lottery.  I will have an Octopus Travels tip goal running on Twitch and each time it is met, a recipient will be selected from this pool (priority given to addresses in new countries or states that have not been populated on the map yet).

In a year where international travel has been impossible (just as I had reached a point in my life when it was within reach), sending these little octopus pups to the far reaches of the globe feels a bit like a proxy for travel.  As I send them out, I will be including information about the project for recipients with a link where they can post pictures of their pups in their new homes.

Let’s celebrate the ways this pandemic has shown us how connected we all are, even as it has kept us apart.