You're probably wondering where I got the name from. Lots of people ask me that. My dog Brent was a rescue dog. I lived out in the country at the time, and got a 10'L x 10'W x 6'H kennel for him so he could be outside while I was at work. He kept getting out, but I couldn't figure out how. The gate was always closed, and he wasn't digging out. So one day, after putting him back in the kennel for the 3rd time, I stood at the kitchen window and watched him. He tentatively jumped up against various sections of fence, paused for a moment, and then dropped back down. Then he went to one corner and suddenly climbed right up it like the chain link was a ladder! I exclaimed, "Holy crap! He climbs like a little monkey! He's a monkey dog!" So when I was trying to come up with a business name a few months later, MonkeyDogStudio seemed like a natural choice.

My name is Janet, and I design and create functional, eco-friendly, multimedia objects in small batches in what used to be my dining room in Richmond, VA. My work consists primarily of paper products that are recycled, reclaimed, or repurposed, and many of them are screenprinted with my original Dangerous Animal designs. I'm inspired by my intense love of recycling, bright colors, repeating patterns, and the joy of making people laugh with my offbeat sense of humor. I use bookbinding to create new books from discarded ones, and I close the recycling circle by using recycled notebooks as the base for my original prints.