Somewhere between the mystery of government-whispered alien corpses and the unrelenting need for caffeine, I ended up designing egg wallpaper. And turning it into a font that reads – non-human biologics and printing it on a mug. Because if you can’t process the absurdity of existence, you may as well sip your coffee from it.
This is what thriving as an artist looks like: You take your stream-of-consciousness nonsense and turn it into creative fuel, and pray someone out there finds it charming enough to make it their own.
Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.
The term non-human biologics is just fancy government-speak for “we found something weird that didn’t come from Karen in accounting.” But if you think about it—and I’ve clearly spent too much time doing just that—what is more “non-human biologic” than the humble egg?
You crack it open and something gooey and slightly alien slides out. And yet, we eat them. Decorate them. Celebrate them. Boil, scramble, paint, and wallpaper entire rooms with their likeness.
Most of my creative ideas arrive half-baked. Some are raw. Some go rotten in the back of my mind before I get a chance to hatch them. But every now and then, one rolls out, weird and wonderful, like the egg wallpaper text that says non-human biologics. It’s Easter, after all.
As an artist, you learn to take these strange little moments and do something with them. Print them. Sell them. Turn them into jokes you drink from every morning.
Because thriving isn’t always about gallery openings or six-figure licensing deals. Sometimes it’s about waking up with the phrase “non-human biologics” in your head and going,
“Yes. That’s my next product line.”
Happy Easter.
May your art be strange, your coffee be strong.
Kids Book Illustrator Andy C Marshall 