Hey everyone! With a new artist joining our team, I thought I’d do a little artist bio for everyone. First up is me, Gustybv, the owner and artist behind Bamboo Studios!

About Gustybv:

I’m primarily a digital and mixed media artist who’s been taking additional classes to hopefully break into more areas of art. I’m queer, autistic as fuck, and also have a dissociative system that was discovered late in life. It’s been a challenge overcoming these mental hurdles and incorporating them into my sense of identity, but it’s a challenge I’ve openly embraced. I wouldn’t be me if I weren’t any of these things, after all.

As far as my artist name, I’ve been under the moniker Gustybv for most of my life on the internet. If you’ve seen me around here and there you’re probably wondering how I came up with the name ‘Gustybv’. Well, Gusty is the name of my favorite generation 1 My Little Pony, and bv are my initials! I’ve been an avid collector of them since I was a kid and have since amassed quite a collection of ponies, including several international variations of my favorite!

Brazilian and Argentinian girls along with a custom Takara Gusty plush

Cutsom Gustys as well as a stained glass panel I made myself!

When I’m not collecting and geeking out over plastic horses, I’m working on new art and projects for Bamboo Studios or working on expanding my artist portfolio. I hope in the future to get an MFA in 3D studies, as I want to work with more 3D mediums such as glass, metals, jewelry and sculpture!

I suppose you could say my Omni Dolls were the precursor to this, as they’re mixed media 3D pieces. But as much as I love them and will continue to make them for as long as possible, I have slightly bigger aspirations for the future of my work that I can hopefully bring to fruition once I get to grad school.

Speaking of work, what else do you make?

While Bamboo Studios sees a mixture of original and fandom related merchandise, on the other end of the artist spectrum I’ve been learning to do more fine art! In my more recent studies the last few years I’ve taken courses in film photography, glass, oil painting, sculpture, and jewelry and metals. I’ve also retaken animation and finally learned how to properly 2D animate after years of wanting to learn.

You can find full galleries on my artist website here , but here are samples of some of the pieces I’ve done:

Birth of Robbie; stained glass, lead solder, LED lights, 2025

She; 3D printed wings, vintage doll pieces, 2025

Alice Broach; copper, enamel, brass tubing, 2025

Who/What inspires you?

I’m a rather mixed bag when it comes to inspiration. A lot of times I feel driven by nostalgia, sometimes horror elements and psychology, other times bright and colorful elements. I attribute this mainly to being someone with a system and alters, as everyone has different interests and aspects that make them all unique and special. This has often reflected in my work and in the work that I find I enjoy.

Artists such as: Masahiro Ito, Kazuki Tahahashi, Mualcaina, Kim Cridler, Grant Turner, Judith Schaechter, Tiff Massey, Ryan Thompson, and Sulo Bee are artists I’ve met, researched, or enjoyed on my journey and I’ve found myself wanting to incorporate aspects of their styles, themes and scale into my work.

And while he isn’t a visual artist, I’d say Akira Yamaoka, musician of most of the Silent Hill franchise, has also contributed to a lot of my more horror based aesthetic art, as I often listen to his music when creating.

What hobbies do you have outside of art?

In addition to collecting aforementioned plastic horses, I enjoy a few different things. Video Games have been a bit part of my life since the Sega Genesis days (god I’m old) and I have a small physical collection of favorite games spanning mostly Play Station 1-4, Nintendo Wii, GB and GBA, DS, 3DS and Switch 1. A few are even autographed by voice actors!

I’m also big into analog photography and have a small collection of Polaroid cameras, ranging from vintage to modern, and love to drag them around whenever possible. There’s just something about the way vintage film develops that has this like…warmth to it that I can’t describe.

I’m also into writing fanfiction on occasion, primarily I’ve been working on reworking and finishing old ones from my childhood that deal with either Spyro the Dragon or Toontown Online. I’m also planning another Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic that I hope to put out in the future as well.

And while I wouldn’t necessarily call this a hobby, I am also a practicing witch! Mainly I focus on tarot and pendulum work, as well as some minor spell casting as I figure out the best path for myself on this spiritual journey.

Do you have any pets/furbabies?

Yes! I currently have two cats that live at home with me and are the joys of my life.

There’s Sid, who’s going to be turning 11 this year, who I affectionately refer to as my ‘Little Old Man’. He’s been with me ever since he came up to my house in the middle of the night, crying like he was looking for his mother. I decided in that moment that I was going to be his mother.

He enjoys being held but not necessarily picked up, taking naps in the strangest of places, and sitting in the middle of my Tarot readings to ‘help’.

Then there’s Noot, my spicy little princess. She’s been with me since the early winter of 2020, and just turned 6 this year. She’s a little more timid until she gets to know you, but once she does she’s very sweet.

She’s also very spoiled by my roommates, and knows it. When she wants something she will, very demandingly, squeak at you for it. Whether that’s being picked up (in the kitchen specifically), food, or just parallel couch time. She also enjoys watching Monster Hunter get played on the tv, and has actually sat down to watch it before.

What can we expect to see from you in the future at Bamboo Studios?

Hoo boy, there’s actually a few things I have in the works/have been working on for several years now!

Right now, my biggest project is a graphic novel series titled Queer Magic that I’m currently working on with my romantic partner, who goes by Wyrmy on tumblr. Queer Magic is a project we’ve had on the backburner for a number of years now, and it’s about witches, familiars and finding your authentic self! I felt it was time to start working on it more seriously, and we’ve been chipping away at world building, refining plot, and hammering down character designs recently. I hope to share more with it in the future when we get closer to publishing. It will most likely be online first, and then plans were to indie/self-publish it in physical format later on. At the present moment, Wyrmy is not directly involved with Bamboo Studios, but hopefully can be in the future!
As far as other projects go, I have a second story which is currently in development hiatus titled Project Dark Winds. It centers around Gustavia, an anthro lioness who goes on a journey of self-discovery after her family and people are mascaraed, leaving her the sole survivor. She meets two others along the way that become her close friends and allies: Marus, the crown prince of the Pendra family, and Thaddeus, son of a wealthy landlord and part-time thief. I currently have no updates on this project, as it needs a lot of world restructuring.

Of course I will continue to bring out more fandom and original merch and prints for you all as well! I would love to do more merch for Queer Magic characters, more nostalgic based stuff, as well as more Omni Dolls!

Any other Goals for the future?

I believe I already mentioned wanting to get my MFA, but I would also love to do more shows! Both for fine arts and anime conventions, whether that’s gallery based or booth selling. I’d honestly love to get to a point where I can do a few shows a year, and I’ve been applying to a lot of small local ones recently to kind of work myself up to those larger events.

Closing Remarks

All that being said, whether you’re just discovering Bamboo Studios or have been following us around platforms for a number of years now, I want to say thank you so much! For sharing our art, for supporting our small business or even just stopping by our booth at shows to say hello. It all means more than you can imagine. I hope one day I can take Bamboo Studios into bigger waters than it is now and I hope you’ll be there to sail those waters alongside us!

Get to know your artists: Gustybv