Just an Artist and Her Monkey

So, what’s up with this monkey called ChiChi Mongo, and why did I name my studio after her?

Back when I was a little Stacey, maybe like 3 or 4 years old, my family and I took a weekend trip to one of those fun tourist trap kind of towns. We popped into a store, and there she was –  just hanging out! I knew we had to be friends, so I went over to introduce myself.

She was so cool - a white monkey puppet with a mouth that squeaked and long arms and legs that had velcro on the hands and feet, so they could wrap around you. After that, we were inseparable. I even got some pearl dangly earrings at the shop to dress her up a bit.

And ChiChi Mongo was born. She was my sassy playmate for a lot of my early childhood. 

Fast forward a couple of decades - the adult world takes over and tells you what’s important and who to be. I always looked forward to the day when I could finally be myself. But it was like I had to get this and be this first before I could finally relax and be me. Everytime I made progress from the outside world’s perspective, I felt a little more lost on the inside. Something was not right, and I couldn’t figure out what that was.

I began searching back to what made me happy as a child, and a lot of great memories were made with good ol’ ChiChi Mongo around.

That’s when I knew that to find my way forward, I had to reflect backward. That was when those buried desires to be an artist came front and center. I began drawing again, creating again. After looking at my art style and looking at the world to see what lit me up, I saw lots of color, lots of fun, lots of nature and adventure. And those were things I had personified in my little monkey friend so long ago. Those were the things I wanted, and I realized I had gift-wrapped them in her. It made perfect sense to me to create my art business around the name ChiChi Mongo.

So, hi, everybody! My name is Stacey Bonner. I’m an artist and illustrator, and my studio is called ChiChi Mongo. I make bold art to inspire your bold life! Let’s get after it!