Jillian's Smorgasboard.

A friend of mine that I've known for a very long time reached out to me to ask me to create something special for her sister for her birthday. Come to find out, they have a relationship similar to my sister and me. This particular piece was 11x14 inches and took me over 40 hours to do, but here it is.

I think of these smorgasBOARDS as a visual representation of what makes someone who they are. It's like a puzzle I have to put together. It's so great. I've included some detailed shots so you can see some of the areas I really loved.

Em's Smorgasboard.

I had the absolute honor and distinct pleasure of doing a smorgasboard this holiday season for a friend of mine over in England! SmorgasBOARDS are my absolute favorite things to do because they're a visual representation of a person. It took me about a month to do this piece, at 15x15 inches, and surprisingly, it made it to England in 5 days! It was finally given to Em on Christmas and she loved it! Check it out, including some of my favorite details, by clicking below!

Hunting Smorgasboard.

I was asked to create a Michigan/hunting themed smorgasBOARD for a friend's boyfriend. He just recently got a house and had no art in it. I was really honored to be asked, but know nothing about hunting. So, here' the result of that list.

Kyle's Smorgasboard.

One of my all time favorite things to make has to be a smorgasboard. They can be themed for a particular show, movie, or person. OR you can give me a list of all of your favorite things and I put them together in a visual puzzle so that every time you look at it, you see something different. They take me ages to do, but they're so, so worth it. I whipped this one up for my friend, Kyle. Some things he likes are overt and in your face while others take some extra looking around.

Vince & Selené.

In 2005 when I was a freshman at the College for Creative Studies, I met a guy named Vince Joy. Vince Joy became one of my best friends in college and we remained close afterwards. Since graduating, I have visited Vince a few times in New York City and now he is back here in Michigan. He is married to one of the coolest girls I've ever met: Selené. You've never seen two people go together as perfectly as these two do. I have enjoyed watching my friendship with Vince grow deeper and have truly loved getting to know Selené because she is wise and wonderful. Anyway, yesterday was their wedding anniversary (the same day as my nephew's birthday). They have been married for 5 years! Selené got ahold of me a few months back and asked if I would make one of the Smorgasboards for them for their anniversary. I was so honored to be asked! I worked at it little by little, but put in a ton of work this past week. I used sharpies and microns (mostly microns) to really get in there and do some insane detail. My favorite part is that church. Fun fact, it took me 3 hours to do it and it's maybe the size of my palm. Yesterday we surprised Vince by showing up to their house to hand deliver it on their anniversary. It was magical. Click to enlarge and check this thing out!

Horror Smorgasboard!

You thought you'd seen something with the Halloween Smorgasboard? Think again. An awesome friend, Jimmy, that I've known since high school reached out and asked if Matt and I would be interested in coming up with something special for him. We dusted off the markers and stepped up to the plate to create the most intricate collaboration piece to date. This thing is packed with REAL horror homages. The amount of time and effort that went into this cannot be overstated, but we were so happy with how it turned out. We took it to Jimmy's house yesterday and he loved it. It was an amazing opportunity and it challenged us in the best way. Click to enlarge!

Kickin' Off Drawlloween 2015!

WHY HELLO, BOYS AND GHOULS! My favorite time of the year has arrived: DRAWLLOWEEN! This is a challenge for all artists to draw something Halloween related for everyday in October. There's an official list to follow, but I tend to deviate from it to make other spooky things. To kick it off, Matt Benyo and I are so thrilled to present this SMORGASBOARD we created for all of you that appreciate the scarier things in life. We're doing a very limited edition run of these Halloween-time prints! There are only 30 (and 1 being the original piece; totaling 31). We are selling these for $31 (includes shipping)! If you're interested, shoot me an email (chelseakirchoff@gmail.com). We're also offering a print to a lucky participant! This smorgasboard features 13 hidden 13's. They come in various forms. If you're the first person to successfully locate each of those 13's and tell us the location of them, you win yourself a print (one entry per person). Get them before they're gone and Happy Drawlloween, friends! Click to enlarge the image!

Michigan SmorgasBOARD!

GUYS, I'M STILL HERE. Matt Benyo and I busted out a Detroit/Michigan themed smorgasboard for a friend of ours. Kari asked us to complete a piece for a silent auction for Christy's Legacy of Hope. We didn't have any ideas, but while camping, Matt suggested a smorgasboard and it took off. We finished this in about 3 days and it's a completely 50/50 collaboration. Sharpies and a few microns for the smaller sections were used. Afterwards, we had to set up a faux studio to capture it. If you are interested in a print, email me or leave a comment because we're getting a limited number of these suckers printed up! Click to enlarge!

Elena's SmorgasBOARD.

A dear friend of mine (and Matt Benyo's) asked if she could commission me to do a smorgasboard for her. I had Matt Benyo join me in the creation of this gem because his art is great. Over the past few months, we've been working on it. Matt and I had the pleasure of staying with Elena (and Zoe) when we were in England so we put a lot of love into this board. They came over to the states last weekend and we met up with them to deliver the board and Elena loved it! Matt Benyo did all of the Buffy characters and references (minus The Gentlemen in the bottom left hand corner; I did that). We split this board pretty evenly and I love the work we did. Here is a WIP shot. That's Matt's leg; not mine! The final is about 23 x 23 inches including border. Thank you for allowing us to make this, Elena! Click to enlarge for details!

EURO-YOLO 2012.

So, I just got back from Europe. EUROPE. I went for 28 days with Matt Benyo (of course) and we went to France (Paris & Nice), Italy (Naples, Rome, Venice, & Florence), & England (LONDON). It was the best adventure I've ever had.

Let's start with how it was even possible to go on this trip.

Matt Benyo and I met a man by the name of Larry Bruner. After talking to Larry about our hopes and dreams and how we wished we could go to Europe, Larry told us to make friends with someone that works for the airlines. Larry left and we thought that was the last we'd see of him, but he came back a little bit later and told us we'd be seeing him again because he was sending us to Paris because HE worked for the airlines! I literally cried. My mom always said if it's too good to be true, it usually is, but Larry pulled through and a week before we took off, we bought our plane tickets to Paris. As a gift to Larry for his kindness, Matt and I worked relentlessly on a Smorgasboard for him which we presented in a frame. As a result of getting this opportunity, we also got to fly FIRST CLASS both to AND from Paris. That's a $6,000 ticket one way. I was literally in shock for the duration of this trip.

This was both of our first times out of the country and a trip that most people spend half a year preparing for, we did in a matter of weeks. Nothing was certain until it happened. I was the lunatic (big shock) and I had a lot of doubts, but somehow, it all came together. Let me tell you, I could not have done this without Matt Benyo. He was the navigator of the trip and navigate us he did. Not to mention I would've been completely useless in Paris if it wasn't for him because his French is phenomenal and he was able to order and all sorts of other things. #lifesaver.

This trip wouldn't have worked without all of the help we received while abroad. Cloe, you made us feel so at ease and made us feel at home. Thank you again. Also thanks to Zoe and Elena for making England truly unforgettable (hi Paul & Amy!) and Kory Kalnasy ('s family) for letting us stay. 

Europe is awesome. If you haven't been, you need to go. France is great. England is incredible (and is the only place that we felt completely robbed on time). Italy is meh. I did eat Pizza everyday in Italy though which ruled AND Venice is absolutely breathtaking, but everywhere else is the pits (especially ROME. Rome sucks).

So, top moments of the trip had to be as follows in no particular order:

- Flying FIRST CLASS.

- River dancing in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

- Successfully surprising Kory Kalnasy in Naples, Italy because you know there's nothing quite like 2 of your friends from where you live back home showing up on your doorstep 5,000 miles away. 

- Laying underneath the Eiffel Tower at night as it sparkled while eating macarons and laying next to 2 incredible people. This was actually THE best moment.

- Finally staying awake for all of The Dark Knight Rises in Nice, France.

- Attending a nude model drawing in Paris, France and sketching.

- Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea with Matt Benyo and throwing messages in bottles into the sea

- The Party House with Matt Benyo & Kory Kalnasy. 

- The mask shops in Venice.

- Drinking Pimm's and Pimmin' in the garden in England with Matt, Zoe, and Elena.

- Frightening all of the pigeons.

- Attending the Harry Potter studio in England.

- Seeing my 1st show on West End (Phantom of the Opera) which left me elated.

- Being on the Metro and listening to a sing along of Bob Marley's Redemption Song with this awesome guitarist, a man that chimed in and joined him in singing, this Andrew Garfield look alike, a nice man and lady, and Matt Benyo.

- Going to Harrod's.

- Matt Benyo's wardrobe from TopMan and seeing him become Louis Tomlinson right before my eyes.

- Running across 5 lanes of traffic (and 12 streets that converge) at the Arc de Triomphe!

- Attaching a lock at the lock bridge.

-Seeing the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Toulouse-Lautrec, & many more!

- Laying on the ground to admire the Sistine Chapel WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT!

- Hearing our life anthem in a laundromat while being tattered and torn.

- Drinking Tea in England!

There's so much more that I could add. It was truly incredible. I also splashed myself in fountains I came across in Rome, touched all the stray cats, became obsessed with peaches and peach flavored syrup (thanks Cloe) and violet flavored everything, and got a rad outfit. I wish we had gone longer, but next summer we are going above and beyond. I made YOLO lists for each country as well. We spent our last day in Paris. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and that night, sat in the field and watched it sparkle for 2 hours. Here is an in order montage:

I wish I could do it all over again. It was a once in a lifetime experience and we both did it together. Matt said several times how excited he was that we were able to pull this endeavor off on our own without any help and it felt good. One good thing about coming home was that I got to finally meet my Nephew, Dalton Cole. I'm an Aunt!

The SmorgasBOARD.

What have I been working on for the past few months? THIS BEAST. Matt Benyo has help me come up with a name for this style and it is called the smorgasBOARD. It is a mishmash of things that I put together of your choosing; just like the custom shoes. In this case, Brandi Keeler, a dear friend from CCS, asked me to make this board paired with things she, as well as her boyfriend, Donovan, liked. (Go look at his blog for some other photos of it!) This is all sharpies on illustration board and it measures out to 18 by 18 inches and it is PACKED WITH DETAILS. Let me just say that I never would've finished this when I did if it wasn't for Matt Benyo. He helped me with a big chunk of this board and his determination and willingness to help me hasn't gone unnoticed and I thank him dearly for it. We finished yesterday and drove it down to Brandi and when I turned it around and showed it to her, she screamed, "HOLY SH#%!" It made it completely worth it to hand this precious baby over to her when I saw how excited both Brandi and Don were. I know it will be a great addition to their home and I thank them both for the opportunity to create something so special and unique for them. What's your favorite part? If you're interested in a SmorgasBOARD of your own, let me know and click to enlarge the photos!