WASHINGTON 鈥� It鈥檚 not unusual to spot mismatched antique dollhouse furniture, clay characters shaped like tacos and聽a splattering of strawberry jam in Liz Reed鈥檚 Howard County, Maryland, basement. For Reed and her husband, Jimmy, it鈥檚 all in a day鈥檚 work.
The two are the creative brains and brawn behind , a brand that encompasses illustrated comics, dioramas, books and short films 鈥� or more simply put, 鈥渄isturbingly cute stuff.鈥�
鈥溾�楽tuff鈥� somehow fits everything,鈥� Reed said.
On , the couple鈥檚 latest animated short film, 鈥淢agical Snack Time,鈥� will premiere in New York at the Food Film Festival ( won the 鈥渟uper short鈥� category), and a few months ago, the Reeds released their second book with HarperCollins, called 鈥�.鈥�
But about a decade ago, the most exposure their art received was the bar crowd on trivia night. Reed said that鈥檚 when the couple started doodling on cocktail napkins for friends. Their cute, yet dark and snarky, humor was well-received, so the Reeds took their illustrations to Tumblr and grew an even greater following.
Reed, who at the time worked a nine-to-five office job, said what started as a creative experiment quickly reached a point where she and her husband were scheduling time to make three new comics a week.
鈥淎nd then somehow it grew into us not just doing pen-to-paper comics, but also mixed-media comics, and I think that鈥檚 really where Cuddles and Rage came together,鈥� Reed said.
鈥淎nd our friends went crazy for it. It was just this new, wild way of storytelling 鈥� with whatever you can find around you”聽鈥� such as聽toothbrushes on painted clay pieces to add texture, and antique dollhouse furniture to set the stage for a doughnut family鈥檚 story.
Most of characters featured have a unifying theme: food. Dr. Taquito, an evil culinary genius who likes to torture his ingredients, is one of the brand鈥檚 leading figures. So is Scoops, the ice cream cone protagonist in the couple鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淪weet Success,鈥� who learns the importance of finishing projects once they鈥檙e started.
鈥淭his is a lesson that you need to learn when you鈥檙e four and also when you鈥檙e 35,鈥� said Reed, who explained the idea for 鈥淪weet Success鈥� came from her own struggles balancing multiple projects at once, and from her niece, who was easily distracted during a family card game.
鈥淲hen people dive into children鈥檚 literature, they see that so many of the themes are universal (for kids and adults),鈥� Reed added.
Now, writing, illustrating, photographing, and constructing clay characters is Reed鈥檚 full-time job. Last year, Netflix tapped Cuddles and Rage to make a teaser for season two of the hit show 鈥淪tranger Things鈥� (hence the aforementioned splattering of strawberry jam 鈥� ). The Reeds have also with the National Building Museum and Awesome Con on specialty projects.
鈥淪weet Success鈥� is available wherever books are sold, and you can check out the Reeds鈥� other work on the .
