HAPPY AND FREE LAUGHTER

OWNER'S NAME: Noriko

LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
I laugh so happy & free

FOUR EGGPLANTS LAND IN JAPAN

[Happy geese, my company] They understand what eggplants say!

OWNER'S NAME: Kyoko

LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan

EGGPLANT QUOTES:
• straight ahead, the sky
• her lovely piano fingers
• essential for all night writing
• I laugh so happy & free


[Llama family] "Hey baby, be a good 'n honest, boy, just straight ahead the sky!"

COMMENTS:
You bring sunshine + a big smile to those who know you -- that's what is wished for you especially today; because you made me so happy just now!!

Guess what I found in my mailbox after hard working... ah Laura, THANK YOU SO MUCH :) 4 eggplants are here with me. Though I'm a writer, I can never describe how I'm feeling. But please know, absolutely utterly completely I love them ALL: their unique shapes, lively colors, and of course nice words with your warm heart. [No need to turning on the room heater, indeed :-@]

I was so touched to find you sweetly captured my personality as an expressionist by visiting my myspace page though it's written in poor English.


• "essential for all night writing" — really gave me courage & motivation to go on.

• "straight ahead the sky" — filled me with much hope, strength and light
• "her lovely piano fingers" — I'm proud... when I write an essay on 'Music & me", I will inform you.
• And your great choice "I laugh so happy & free" — this one is perfect! As I ordered, didn't I tell you that I would give 1 for my friend on Xmas? She's my best friend and I do wish she is happy all the time. On Dec 15th we're going to a Christmas concert together. I'll give her then! Sure, I'll never fail to take photos of us with eggplants then.

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/frizzy_mojaco

THE FAITH FAN STRIKES AGAIN

OWNER'S NAME: Mary Margaret

LOCATION: Richmond, Virginia

EGGPLANT QUOTE: just a fan of faith

COMMENTS: Whatever the faith, whoever it belongs to.

LAURA MEETS THE ART*O*MAT MASTER

NAME: Clark

LOCATION: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

EGGPLANT QUOTE: gimmicky bastard

COMMENTS: Clark Whittington, inventor of the Art*o*mat vending machines, through which the Stray Eggplants are distributed, officially installed the Art*o*mat machine at the amazing Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis on October 17, 2007. Laura Gentry decided to surprise him by driving 4 hours north from her home in Iowa to attend his lecture. Since they've worked together through Art*o*mat for these 4 years, it was only fitting that they meet during his Midwestern trip. Here, Laura presented Clark with this humorous eggplant.


Right: Clark, Laura and hotel curator, Jennifer Phelps with the Chambers' beautiful Art*o*mat machine. Click photo to see enlargement.










Above: Clark and Laura stand before a very realistic piece of art at the Chambers Hotel.

BANISHING BEIGE

NAME: KC

LOCATION: Minneapolis, Minnesota

EGGPLANT QUOTE: beige is just not your color

EGGPLANT ENFORCES BATHROOM POLICY

NAME: Elizabeth

LOCATION: Columbia, South Carolina

EGGPLANT QUOTE: put the toilet seat down

COMMENTS: "This is a hard-working eggplant!"

EGGPLANT OBSESSION

NAME: Lizzie Bee

LOCATION: Columbia, South Carolina

EGGPLANT QUOTE: I'm trying to unobsess myself

COMMENTS: I received my eggplant as a gift from one of my oldest friends, who left it in a bright yellow envelope under the driver's side windshield wiper of my car as it was parked in front of Urban Artware in Winston-Salem, N.C. My friend has modeled many things for me over the years, most importantly, how to laugh: and coincidentally, perhaps, I always hear this quote in Pee Wee Herman's "shh...I'm trying to use the phone" voice.

After practicing my obsessions around the house I have been able, with great success, to transfer them to my work and to my relationships. Progress, right?!

Looking around now (in the middle of a dark no-moon night) at all of my odd little possessions, I can hear the clinking echoes of all of these small things. I think, YES-- It's Not Working-- I'm Still Obsessed-- With junk, with worry, with insecurity, with insomnia...! Finally, I think: But I Love This Nutty Obsessor. She's the one who reveals my dearest passions.

(note, Lizzie Bee's eggplant is from the very first edition of plants when the quotes were glued to the front of them)


And look, Lizzie also sent this picture of eggplants on the Piggly Wiggly marquee. Go eggplants!

MANY MORE SMILES

NAME: Melanie

LOCATION: Lansing, Iowa

EGGPLANT QUOTE: I'm going to smile

COMMENTS: Thank you for my eggplant!! :) It brings me happiness and many MORE smiles! :)

FREE TO BE

NAME: Jasmin

LOCATION: New York, NY

EGGPLANT QUOTE: I gotta be me

COMMENTS:
My girlfriend and I were visiting San Francisco from our homes in New York City. We were quite excited because we were told that, like us, everyone in San Francisco is gay and vegan. Whether or not that is true, I'm going to go with: Yes, it's true. Regardless, we had a blast!

Now I shouldn't admit this to you but I will: I don't like museums and only sometimes am I moved by art. Same with Mariann, the beautiful woman on the left of the attached photograph. Part of me wants to brag about the exhibit I saw at blah-blah-blah, but aside from very few exceptions, that is not me. But I am fun and quirky and like oddities. And I'm into theatre and other forms of art and photography. So when Mariann and I were walking from SOMA to South Park (where they have a lovely swing set beside a yummy French cafe' that serves bowls of soy lattes), we passed a cigarette machine that dispensed art instead of tobacco. Obviously, that was something I needed to explore.

Pride plants?? It's true! Everyone in San Francisco IS gay and vegan! In the cigarette dispenser was a little box that had gay-themed eggplants. It was like my dream! This stray eggplant said "I Gotta Be Me," and how appropriate for me and my Mariann, who defy the societal norm about a thousand-fold. I *GOTTA* be me. We gotta be us.

And so thanks for the prideful eggplant. We love it. It's on our mantelpiece above our fireplace. (Okay, that's not true. We don't have a fireplace or a mantelpiece. But if we DID, you can bet the little purple piece of art would gladly have a home on it. In the mean time, it's beside me on my bookshelf, out of reach of my feisty cat -- who also has gotta be her.)

Enjoy this picture. Continue to make art.

WEBSITE: www.jasminsinger.com

FOR MEEEEEEEEE!

NAME: Mary K

LOCATION: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
Better Things

COMMENTS: "Got this one from the original Art-o-mat at Mary's of course with Clark at my side. It reminds me of the song I made up and sing to my boyfriend. It goes, 'Every thing that is good is for meeeeeee!'"

WEBSITE: www.missmaryk.com

HAPPY FREAKS

NAME: Jenni

LOCATION: Red Creek, NY

EGGPLANT QUOTE: freaks need love too

COMMENTS: This eggplant was a special order, requested by a dear myspace friend! :) We swapped art and she sent me a fabulous set of eggplant felties. In this photo, you can see her eggplant is hanging out with an assortment of Jenni's amazing creations.

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/hedonist_j

LAUGHTER YOGA FOUNDER BECOMES CHUCKLING EGGPLANT COLLECTOR

NAME: Madan

LOCATION: Mumbai, India

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
laugh for no reason

COMMENTS: Because I studied laughter yoga with Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of the world wide laughter club movement, I made him an eggplant with the premise of laughter yoga: laugh for no reason. He graciously received his eggplant with his characteristic chortle and promised to give it a happy home in India.

WEBSITE: www.laughteryoga.org

Dr. Kataria's Diary entry about my church's laughter club.

A LAUGHING LIFESTYLE

NAME: Maria

LOCATION: Santa Barbara, California

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
live life laughing

COMMENTS: Maria was my laughter buddy at Dr. Kataria's laughter yoga teacher training seminar in Sierra Madre, California. She gave me a beautiful soy candle from her webstore and I gave her this laughter-inspired eggplant. :)

WEBSITE: www.destressessentials.com

TEARS FOR FEARS GROOVES ON EGGPLANT

NAME: Curt

LOCATION: Los Angeles, California

EGGPLANT QUOTE: mr. smith

COMMENTS: Curt Smith is a member of the band Tears for Fears. This eggplant was custom ordered by Karen, a wonderful fan, and given to him. Curt has posted this pic of his eggplant on his kitchen counter at his myspace blog.

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/curtsmithofficial

WEBSITE: www.tears-for-fears.com

SOMETHING'S BEEN DONE TO IT

NAME: Margaret

LOCATION: Falmouth, Maine

EGGPLANT QUOTE: "do something to it"

COMMENTS: Fellow Art*o*artist, Margaret Smith, and I swapped art. She sent me one of her beautiful Spirit Hand pendants and I sent her this eggplant with a quote by the artist Jasper Johns. She comments:

"I took this little Eggciting work of art and made a mini easel for it to set on. It is Eggactly what it needed."

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/spirithandart

PEWTER JUNK FOOD IN CENTRAL PARK

OWNER'S NAME: Herb

LOCATION: New York, New York

EGGPLANT QUOTE: pewter junk food

COMMENTS: Artoartist, Herb Hoover, and I decided to do an art swap. I made the customized eggplant pictured above, which describes one of his fabulous artistic endeavors: making pewter junk food. He writes of the photo:

"Here's a snap in New York's Central Park Conservatory Garden at 105 & 5th."

In return, he made me a cracker—one of his famous pewter creations! These crackers, by the way, are the best selling art in Art*o*mat machines and I'm so excited to finally have one of my own. Visit his cracker tracker to see other owners.

WEBSITE: www.herbhoover.com

THE VERY FIRST EGGPLANT IN CHINA

OWNERS' NAMES: Jade & Chad

LOCATION: Beijing, China

EGGPLANT QUOTE: you have all kinds of oddities

A KOOKY HEAD IN THE HANDS IS A GOOD THING

OWNER'S NAME: Roland

LOCATION: Bath, England

EGGPLANT QUOTE: kooky head

COMMENTS: Roland is a member of the band Tears for Fears. This eggplant was custom ordered by Karen, a band fan, and given to him.

WEBSITE: www.tears-for-fears.com

EGGPLANTS UNITE!

OWNER'S NAME: Dr. Eggplant

LOCATION: Scottsdale, Arizona

EGGPLANT QUOTE: "science project gone wrong"

COMMENTS: I met Dr. Eggplant on myspace, and since we're both eggplants, we decided to "top friends" each other and eventually we organized an eggplant swap. I sent him the customized eggplant you see in the photo and he sent me a DVD of the feature film in which he stars, called "Oranges: Revenge of the Eggplant" written by Mike Stoklasa and Rich Evans.

This amazing film relays the hilariously harrowing tale of Professor Charles Sunkyst and his fateful encounter with the diabolical Dr. Eggplant. After a mission in Bananastan to rescue the president, Sunkyst returns to teaching his class on advanced particle physics at the nearby university. But Dr. Eggplant lusts for revenge and slips onto campus to become involved in the annual science fair! During the violence and adventure that ensues, Sunkyst and his students must rally together to thwart Eggplant’s evil plot!

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/dreggplant



Rent this DVD from Netflix

Order the DVD from Amazon.com

Order the DVD from Tempe Video

FAR TOO COSTLY TO LITIGATE

OWNER'S NAME: Jim

LOCATION: Anchorage, Alaska

EGGPLANT QUOTE: costly to litigate

COMMENTS: A retired attorney, Jim enjoyed receiving this eggplant for his birthday while in Hawaii.

FIRST STRAY EGGPLANT IN DENMARK

OWNER'S NAME: Katherine

LOCATION: Sønderborg, Denmark

EGGPLANT QUOTE: paints with a positive paintbrush

COMMENTS: Katherine Scrivens Nielsen is an English painter living in Denmark. Her customized eggplant is a quote from an art critic about her work. In her artist statement, she says "My work is I suppose, the eternal and ongoing search for the truth and truthfulness. I guess I am trying to reach God through my art. If I am truly honest and I acknowledge my core of self – I have I admit, doubts of his existence. But my creative heart refuses to listen to this internal murmur. I am therefore compelled to paint uplifting messages to the souls of others and to my own."

Below is an example of one of her uplifting, positive paintings, entitled "Over the Rainbow."


WEBSITE: www.femart.dk

MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/katscrivens

OHIO ARTOARTIST DRUNK ON NATURE

OWNER'S NAME: Rebecca

LOCATION: Northfield, Ohio

EGGPLANT QUOTE: drunk on nature

COMMENT: "Drunk on Nature, High on God."


Rebecca Grantham is a plein air painter and artoartist This eggplant was custom made for her because her artwork immerses you in nature. Up close, the viewer is a part of the painted moment that is a culmination of time and subtle changes. Her paintings carry nature's daily rhythms of light and atmosphere as well as the cyclical changes of season, temperature and colors onto the canvas greeting you with a living work of art. She's definately drunk on nature (and perhaps drunk on the stray eggplant as well). That's one of her amazing paintings below.


WEBSITE: www.rebeccagrantham.com

BLOG: pleinairlandscapes.blogspot.com

COW-PUNK SONG GETS A MASCOT

OWNER'S NAME: Jonathan

LOCATION: Edina, MN

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
Beige Slacks

COMMENTS:
Minnesota-based Finnish-American rock and roll singer/song-writer/theologian/stay-at-home dad, Jonathan Rundman, writes of the eggplant that was made in homage to one of his songs:

"Beige Slacks" can mean many things to many people:

1. literally, a pair of light-brown polyester pants; 2. a cow-punk song (written by me with my cousin Bruce during Christmas vacation 1988) commenting on the aforementioned pants; 3. the recording of the aforementioned song, appearing on the 2003 Salt Lady Records sampler CD, Extra Credit.

These days I don't own a pair of beige slacks to wear, so I couldn't appear with such pants in my photo. So here's a shot of the eggplant on the top of my 'fridge with me the background.

WEBSITE: www.jonathanrundman.com

BLOG: jonathanrundman.blogspot.com

SOMEONE ELSE'S PARMESAN

OWNER'S NAME:
Alan

LOCATION:
Springfield, Pennsylvania

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
how wonderful yellow is

COMMENTS: “While I still contend that eggplants be reserved for someone else's parmesan, yellow is a wonderful thing...macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, fresh lemonade and of course me. Happy dining.”

This is the first missive Alan sent:

"I always had the impression that the only good eggplant was in someone else's parmesan. Dietetically, I still feel the same way. However, a very dear friend just presented me with a most unique gift. This very same eggplant had the saying "how wonderful yellow is" emblazoned on it. He has been known to give unusual gifts but I believe that this may have taken the cake (with eggplant purple icing of course). I too have given him gifts that have ventured outside the realm of the mundane. The two most memorable I recall were a 1/2 hour hot air balloon trip for the two of us and a 12 ounce can of truffle peelings in salt water. This one took a search of a dozen stores and a three week wait for the package to arrive from New York. I honestly think that this will be the only eggplant I ever receive. I thank you for making it."

TROLL MANIA SWEEPS THE NATION

OWNER'S NAME: Bob

LOCATION: Decorah, Iowa

EGGPLANT QUOTE: a zeal for trolls

COMMENTS: "'a zeal for trolls' is a wonderful eggplant reminder that creatures large and small are part of our lives, influencing everything from the weather to lively encounters that appear serendipitous even as a mischievous troll is chuckling from its hidden perch tucked under a bridge, a bridge that connects that world from this world! ah, yes, to thine own troll be true!!"

COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS TREE

OWNER'S NAME: Rashid

LOCATION: Anchorage, Alaska

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
you've gone right outa your tree







WEBSITE: www.thirdeyezoo.com

SOCKS GONE WILD!

OWNER’S NAME: Jinxi

LOCATION: Eastvale, California

EGGPLANT QUOTE:
wild sock wearing

COMMENTS:
"I love Knee-Hi Sox!!

Yes, this is the famous Jinxi Caddel of the recent ABC Wife Swap, and yes, this eggplant was custom made for her. If there is a wilder sock wearer out there, I dare you to come forth!


EXPLORE MORE: Jinxi's fabulous sock & eggplant slideshow below and see what a wild sock wearer she really is!

WEBSITE: www.mermaidink.com

PHILOSOPHY OF THE EGGPLANT

OWNER'S NAME: Christian

LOCATION: Saint Paul, Minnesota

EGGPLANT QUOTE: knowing you know nothing

COMMENTS: "Hemlock: An Organic, All Natural and Effective remedy since 399 B.C.E."

Philosopher and musician, Christian McGuire, demonstrates the wealth of his knowledge in the above quote.

WEBSITE: www.tc.umn.edu/~ujive/biochristian.htm

THE CUP CAKE CRAZE HAS JUST BEGUN

OWNER'S NAME: Twinkie!

LOCATION: Bay Area, California

EGGPLANT QUOTE: cup cake craze

COMMENTS: "Stray no more, Eggplant...now you live with me!"

Twinkie Chan is responsible for a great deal of today's cup cake craze with her marvelous, original food-themed scarves.

WEBSITE: www.twinkiechan.com

NEW YORK ARTOARTIST JOINS THE GLOBAL EGGPLANT MOVEMENT

OWNER'S NAME: Herb

LOCATION: New York,
New York

EGGPLANT QUOTE: when all I want is you

COMMENTS:
"I love my aubergine missive."



Herb Hoover is a fellow artoartist (artist who sells pieces in Artomat vending machines). Pictured here is his eggplant in a pile of his amazing hand-cast pewter saltine crackers.

WEBSITE: www.herbhoover.com

A VERY BAD ATTITUDE

OWNER'S NAME: Keith

LOCATION: Dallas, Texas

EGGPLANT QUOTE: plbbbt

COMMENTS: "plbbbt!!!"