This week’s Artist’s Spotlight is on : Pinsploitation

1.Tell me a bit about your business:                                                                                               ” I was on Instagram and discovering all these great accounts when I stumbled on a picture of an enamel pin from the movie Tourist Trap. It’s one of my favorite movies so I got really excited and ordered it. That was my first pin from the guys at Ratknife. (They were my first. You never forget your first, right?) From there I discovered there was this whole culture of pin makers and collectors. I started searching for pins of my favorite films and characters and while I found a lot of great designs I felt like there were ones I wanted that nobody had made.
That’s when I started thinking about doing them myself. I figured that there had to be other collectors out there that were interested in the same stuff I was so, why not.”

2.  How did you come up with your name for your business?                                              “The name came to me pretty easy. What else would you call a pin company that celebrates exploitation and horror movies? Right?”

3.  What is your favorite pin you have made so far and why?                                              “I’ve done 6 pins since I began last August. I think my favorite one so far is my Mother’s Day inspired pin.

It’s the first one I tried using glow-in-the-dark enamel and I’m proud with how it turned out. Maybe that’s why I called it “Proud Mother”, but she really is very proud of her boys. HA! I also really liked the sticker I made to go with it. If you’ve seen the movie you get the joke. It was a design I had drawn early on but had waited to put out because I wasn’t sure if enough people would know the film. But I was happy that so many people did and were really into it!”

4.Where do you find your inspiration? “The design ideas that excite me most are the more obscure or “cult” films. Stuff from the late 70’s and early 80’s that I loved watching as a kid. Drive-In trash, Slashers, Art House Horror… Coming up with the backer cards for the pins is a lot of fun too.”

I know a lot of the pin community are younger but I think there is still enough interest in what I have to offer. And as long as a design sells well enough to pay for itself and allows me to do another one, then I’m happy. I get so much satisfaction out of feeling that I’m contributing to the horror community and getting to be creative at the same time. It’s done wonders for my mental health. Seriously!”

And I have to mention how cool it has been to connect with other pinmakers and artists. Everyone keeps putting out such awesome stuff and it’s inspiring. Even when another maker and I did the same design idea it was like, Oooooh noooo. But we weren’t mad. We both were successful with it and that’s great. I don’t feel competitive. I think I’ve got my own vision to share and so does everyone else. I dig the sense of community.
I got to work with Pixel Elixer on two upcoming pins they are putting out for their officially licensed Pit And The Pendulum (1991) collection. I’m excited to see how that turns out.

5. Is there anything exciting coming up for your business?                                                     “At the end of March I’ve got TWO new designs! Based on the movies Fade To Black and Curtains. I really want to do something not specifically horror and do a Divine pin and one based on one of my favorite Cult Queens Mary Woronov. She deserves a pin for sure!

If you like to contact Myrl her IG is @pinsploitation and also: 

Thank you for letting me interview you Myrl!

Until next time!