Steam Crow is a Phoenix, Arizona studio, where we design, illustrate and create astonishingly good monster goods. Established in 2005 by artists Daniel and Dawna Davis, we’re dedicated to making amazing and odd goods with our unique spookycute aesthetic.
We come from bands
We were both in bands when we met in the Inland Northwest city of Spokane, Washington. Dawna was the singer in “PlugUgly” a grungy powerhouse trio who made Cheney, Washington, proud. Daniel played bass in the “RV Thieves”, a pop-punk trio who played way too loud and fast.
When we met we quickly discovered that we had more than a love for making music in common; both dug making art and shared the DIY (Do it yourself) work ethic. After the bands faded we tired of the smokey bar scene and drummer drama, and focused back on making art. We got married (1998), had a kid (the “Goblin Boy” in 2002) and ended up in Arizona (2004.)
A new challenge
We were looking for our next big challenge (after allowing the Goblin Boy to grow a bit larger) and we ended up attending the 2004 San Diego Comic-Con for a much needed vacation. A couple of days into the convention, (hip-deep in the pop-culture, art, and comics) we had a vision to come back next year and show off a book of our own.
It was all Dawna’s idea
Five months later, after strenuous work writing, illustrating, and formatting, we had our first book in hand, Caught Creatures. In early 2005 we hit the comic convention circuit as “Steam Crow”, and we’ve never looked back.
Today, we’ve published 5 books, designed hundreds of products like buttons, art prints, stickers, glasses, designer toys, serigraphs and all kinds of cool stuff for our Steam Crow Shop. We’ve taken the show on the road, and we continue to do tons of events every year.
Steam Crow is like our very own art band. (But way more successful than any band we were ever in!)
Daniel Facts
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Dawna Facts
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The Factory
We call our home-studio, “the Steam Crow Factory”. We’ve slowly converted our house into a art studio, warehouse, and shipping center. There are boxes and product piled high on metal shelves, and there is a jumble of stuff all over the place. Don’t bother attempting to rob us, because you’ll only find piles of boxes, crates, and dusty shelves – not piles of cash.
The Aprons
Our Aprons If you see us at an event, we’re probably wearing our brown canvas aprons. This isn’t because we’re steampunk chefs or blacksmiths or anything like that; it’s just a reminder that we need to continue to work as hard as people did in the “ole days” if we wish to accomplish big things. (We have a rather blue collar work ethic.)
We started to wear them in our first year, and now people recognize us because of them. Today, aprons are part of our uniform. Heck even our imaginary goblin helpers wear them too!
We are experts in “Monsterology”
We love monsters, so we partnered with the greatest mind in Monsterology: Dr. Duke Davis. Dr. Davis (no relation) has toured the monster world of Monstru 6 times, and knows more about Monster Abduction than any other living soul. He’s the author of 65 trilogies on the subject, including “Monsterology and Me”, “Duke Camps with Krampus”, and “The 71 Ways to Trick a Goblin”.
