Artist in La La Land

Melissa Kojima is Artist in La La Land and you’ll love playing with her! Her series of articulated toys range from adorable and festive, quirky and weird to dark and nightmarish. There’s a full spectrum of playful spirit in her imaginative and expressive toys.

Here’s what she says about her works: ‘I believe in play! I believe when we play, we let go of our fears of making mistakes and we open up the possibilities. We learn more easily when we play. We connect in more deep and meaningful ways through play. So I seek fun ways to spark imagination and communicate our feelings.’ She does what she says sincerely and skilfully.

I made the circus lion on a penny farthing bicycle myself and it’s not only great for playing with but also makes fab illustration work to display. I made a rather plain photograph above from the lack of the right props but it deserves a more rich and interesting background… well let’s just imagine some fantastical scenes this lion might be performing in!

Some of my favorites are her cool Halloween toys such as this headless horseman from Sleepy Hallow.

Some of the head changing characters will guarantee hours of fun for kids. These Victorian gentlemen can turn into werwolves and zombies in no time with their evil head changing tricks! Not just for Halloween, you can stage a good old episode of Dr Who with them too. : ) I find many of her toys a great prompt for magical story telling.

There are also sweet squirrel cards, many whimsical vintage circus creatures, mermaids and … well, check out her etsy store to see the large range of her toys and you’re in for lots of fun and strange stories!

She is also a contributor to our friend Little Gatherer and is sharing regular free printables there. Head over to Little Gatherer to read her interview and download her creations!