Bliss Kolb, the creator behind the now-$15 million wooden singing bird at the center of Kelly Clarkson's feud with a New York City specialty shop, is speaking out.
The handcrafted mechanical bird received attention after the singer took to social media in early October to accuse the Brooklyn, New York, shop Art of Play of treating her as if she couldn't afford the bird when it was listed at $15,000. The Seattle-based artist, 70, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Oct. 20 that amid all the commotion, he has received around 100 commission requests.
"I've wanted for people to know about my work for decades," Kolb told the outlet. "I appreciate that she liked it."
However, the artist noted that he is not taking new orders, but may
in the future. "This is happening at a time that I'm trying to wind down commitments," he said.
What happened between Kelly Clarkson and Art of Play?
When the feud first brewed, the shop responded with a series of statements pushing back on Clarkson's claims, saying the yellow wooden bird, its mascot "Molly," was permanently attached to the wall and not for sale, characterizing the situation as a misunderstanding. Clarkson fired back with another post, calling the shop owner "rude" and a "liar."
The feud quickly went viral online. Some sided with the New York-owned shop and argued Clarkson was punching down at a local business, while others defended the singer and shared their experiences of being slighted by salespeople. The shop has since noted that its salespeople have been inundated with threats.
Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin previously told USA TODAY that it had upped the price of Molly given all the attention. With the money, he said he would give every employee in the shop a cut, pay the bird's creator $1 million and spend the rest on antique automatons.
Rubin added that items like Molly are custom-made by Kolb and take a long time, with their steep price reflecting that. "They take years to make," he said. "This is not something that's sitting in a warehouse."
Kolb confirmed the lengthy process, explaining that the Molly automaton – or semi-self-operating machine – takes him nearly a year to build.
In a Feb. 25, 2025, post, Art of Play's 69 Atlantic Instagram account explained that turning a crank makes the bird sing, dance and move back and forth. The post described it as their "beloved shop bird and mascot" and as delicate and expensive.
Kolb also makes furniture and advanced carpentry, but it's the automata that have now gained him attention. He told WSJ that he has about 25 different machine designs in his wheelhouse, including chickens and butterflies, that largely range in price from $4,000 to $15,000.
"There's something about humans that they want to anthropomorphize things," he said, per the outlet. "It doesn't take much – you could put a sock on your hand and people would start to believe it's alive."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artist of bird at center of Kelly Clarkson feud speaks out
