Thursday, July 30, 2009

Books, Buttons & Random Musings...

Hello Lovelies!

So it's been busy as usual over here in the mill. I have been featured in a couple of beautiful treasuries and one of my circus photos was listed on Indie Spotting! Aren't these treasuries nice?




I have also created some fun little buttons for Twitter and Facebook that I'm using on the my blog because nothing fit my personality out there. Feel free to use these buttons on your own sites if they work for you, my treat!

If you're a book dork like I am, you get excited when the local library has its annual book sale. My library usually has a pretty good selection of fiction and medical books (because no one else wants medical books; I use the images for collage/drawing) and this year I was not disappointed. You can see my stash below... all for $9.50 thank you very much! I think my best 2 finds were an original printing of Stepford Wives (I also have an original Rosemary's Baby by the same author) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea because really, can you have too many printings of this book? I think not.


Oh! And have I discovered a wonderful seller on Etsy my Dearies. Babayagada has some amazing original illustrations straight from Israel. They're all beautiful and whimsical and the colors are great too. The one below is entitled Old Master. Check out this shop!


Let's wrap with a movie review, shall we? If you haven't seen the movie Popcorn, you're really missing out and I'm (somewhat) serious this time. I went in expecting total camp and I got a lot of camp, some creepy and some neat vintage movie props that I wanted to buy and put in my house. The basic plot revolves around a group of young folk who revitalize an old theater to have a movie marathon for some reason. Of course during the marathon, people get wacked and someone starts shooting a horror movie in real life. But there are some twists that make this a respectable flick and it stars Dee Wallace (star of Cujo, The Frighteners, and ET to name a few). She can't act but she's sort of hot and she's in everything so I've learned to live with her. Check it out!


I have a friend visiting next week so I won't be posting for awhile. Be good in my absence!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow

Hello Lovelies!

I have been busy in the mill as usual working on some new projects. The Sylvia Kania Gallery where I show my work and the co-op of which I am a part is celebrating its one year anniversary! In honor of this little landmark, we're doing a 12 x 12 curatorial that opens August 7th at the First Friday art walk in Portland. We could do whatever we wanted to do for this curatorial that embodied that 12 x 12 idea so I made a 9 piece 1ft. x 1ft. painting entitled 1 Ft. Zoo that I'm pretty excited about. It's not in my usual style and I played with a new color palette as well. Here is a shot of the piece. (It looks better in person of course...)


As promised, I have also added to the circus series that I sell in my shop. I have named this series the Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow series and I am pretty excited about the 2 new pieces! The first one, is entitled Penelope the Sword Swallower  and there is another that accompanies this you can see here. (There were so many good ones of this model I couldn't narrow it down.) The second piece is entitled Hortensia the Bearded Lady and this one is even more fun! I hope to have 10 pieces in all; 5 men and 5 women and honestly, I have had so many volunteers I may have to narrow them down to do the 10!

   

I have found a wonderful photographer who does some carnival photos I love and shots that look like murder scenes that are also great. Ferrell McCollough's work is almost surreal in its execution. The colors and angles he uses make landscapes and even carnivals look like CGI creations, but they aren't. His pieces aren't really titled and he posts them to a blog so I'm not sure they're even for sale, but these two are my favorites:



And I just saw Coraline last night. For those of you not familiar with this movie, it's based on a Neil Gaiman story adapted to screen and directed by Tim Burton. Being a Tim Burton fan, I bought it before I had even seen it (because I own all of his movies), and I don't regret it. Dark and eerie and also humorous at times, I liked this movie a lot. I recommend at least renting it. It came in 3D with glasses which was neat, but after watching it for 5 minutes and not seeing any 3D effects, I just switched to 2D. Check it out.


Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Monday, July 20, 2009

Dark & Light...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, as usual, busy as a beaver up here in the mill. I have a couple of side projects I've been doing that I wanted to share with you all. First, below is the finished scratchboard piece that I mentioned in my last post. I like how it came out and every time I work with scratchboard I realize why I love it as a medium; it starts off being about as dark as you can get and gives an almost unintended moodiness to anything you make with it.


I sent my raffle donation off to Indiepublic today and I'm excited to see what everybody else sent in. If you live in the local Portland, ME area and don't mind giving a piece to the cause, they'd appreciate it I'm sure.

I also sent off my contribution to Diary 2010 Project. This project takes submissions from tons of different very talented artists and put them into a day planner/diary. Each person gets 1 page and you can do anything you want within certain guidelines. I decided to draw an old horse-drawn hearse on my page... of course.


I have found a wonderful new artist thanks to one of my friends on Twitter. Holy smokes this guy is talented. Plus, his work has a sort of sick sense of humor that I love. James Jean has had several books published that I'm now slathering at the bit to buy. His paintings and sketches are effortless and intriguing and you can look at some of his work a long time and still see new things. The two below are entitled: Trike and Homeopathic. Wonderful stuff.


For those of you who like the Ringleader's Elephant piece in my shop, you'll be excited to hear that I did a shoot last week and there will be two brand new pieces in the circus series in the next week or so. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but make some room on your walls for these my Lovelies you're going to dig them.


Let's wrap up with a little something that's had my mind in a state of unrest since I saw it last night, shall we? I just saw the Gray Gardens movie with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore after I saw a little blurb about Gray Gardens on Etsy of all places. Then I found this slideshow of the real Beales on Youtube and it seems like the portrayals were pretty accurate aesthetically. What a tragic and disturbing movie. Apparently it's also a play. I just can't fathom what would make two people into that. If you haven't seen it, watch it and maybe put your 2 cents in below...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Tooth Fairy...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, I've been busy as usual up in here. Lately, I've been working on an illustration for a fellow Etsy Maine Team member and it's getting there. These pieces are all supposed to illustrate a recurring dream we illustrators have had and the interpretation of this dream has to be included in the artwork. I'm tackling the old teeth falling out dream and it's coming along nicely. I'm using scratchboard which is a bit tedious but I think it will offer some unique contrast in the final piece. I'll post the finished product next time...


The Norway Arts Festival went really well!!! The weather was great, the town itself was beautiful and quant and I met some really terrific folks. I will definitely be doing that one again next year. If you're a Maine artisan, you should look into it too!

So I have discovered yet another artist that you all need to check out. Anthony Kurtz is a photographer working out of San Francisco. His work is dark and rich and beautiful; the lighting itself makes his work engaging and he uses this work to make political statements about man and his world and how men treat each other. Here is just one example that I am coveting... I couldn't figure out how to get a print of this piece, but I really love it. The ferris wheel?! Needless to say.


And for those of you interested in a little publicity in return for doing something for a great group, Indiepublic is an organization based out of Portland, Maine that supports independent artists/artisans who own small businesses. They have a raffle coming up to celebrate their 2nd anniversary and proceeds will benefit charity, build site improvements and help establish a scholarship program to help indie start-ups get out there. I will be donating something to the raffle and if you're interested, you can visit their website for more information!


Let's wrap up with a movie review, shall we? This movie is completely ridiculous and I'll just say that right out of the gate. It's crude, it's cheap and of course... it's awesome. Night of the Demons is a romp into the world of teenage house parties gone awry, demonic possession and a demon who wears a black wedding dress for some reason and that's the least of it. The premise is something like: There's a house over a buried demon river and it's possessed many a poor unsuspecting reveler and Halloween is upon our party of mullet/pig mask wearers and of course... all of them get possessed and killed. But what really makes this movie a classic is 80's porn star turned "actress" Linnea Quigley. I'll leave it at that. This movie rates all 5 cobs and the sequel is even better.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Step right up!

Hello Lovelies!

Well, I have been busy up in the mill preparing for another show this Saturday up in Norway, Maine. The Norway Arts Festivalis in its 42nd year and features painting, artwork, photography, jewelry and other categories. I will be displaying my photography and some cards. I think the weather should cooperate for us so if you're close, stop by and say hi! I would love to meet you...

I have found some really great sites and artists and blogs that I want to share with you Lovelies because I know you'll (probably) enjoy them as much as I do!

First, the artwork display site Share Some Candy was a discovery I made yesterday and it is blowing my mind right now! The amount of high-quality artwork is nothing short of breathing-taking and they post every hour it seems! Here are two of my favorite artists so far. The first piece is by Matt Sundstrom and I guess it's just a sketch?! But wow, I love how comic book it looks (and that's a compliment coming from me). The second piece is entitled Gulliver and it's by an artist named Aleks Sennwald. The colors and the angle and pretty much everything are perfectly lovely.



Another wonderful site I discovered was The Boiler Bar Theater out in California. From what I can gather, the theater is the brainchild of Jon Sarriugarte and his wife Kyrsten Mate. They built an entire bar from an old oil town and assembled a group of performers who range from burlesque dancers to snake charmers and their latest project, the Golden Mean, is an oil punk snail car that belches flame! Needless to say they're a couple after my own heart... They travel, but not as far as Maine... unfortunately.



Well, that's all... for now. But let's wrap her up with a little strange news, shall we? Did you read about the toddler in Pennsylvania who played a game of hide-and-go-seek a little too well? After not finding her, mom and dad called the authorities who looked for an hour. She was finally found by the family dog... asleep in a drawer under the washing machine in their house. The final line of the article was the best: "Hide-and-seek is now banned at the Jasmer household"... You think?!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Gold & Orange...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope today finds you well and that those of you in the U.S. enjoyed the 4th! I discovered a great venue in Portland last night. The Empire Dine and Dance was featuring A Murder of Crows with a friend of mine so I stopped by. The group has about 15 members, a huge brass section and 3 singers. The venue itself was perfect; a huge dance floor, artwork on the walls and vintage decor that made me want to live there! If you live in Maine, check it out sometime.

I was recently featured in a treasury put together by Where Eagles Dare, a wonderful tattoo art shop on Etsy that not only has some great work but a great blog too that's interesting and more or less awesome. Take a look at just one of their great items:


And I've been busy working on some new photography for the shop! I just listed 4 new prints entitled: Golden Countenance, Giodesic, Tropicana 52, and Ant Brothers. These were all taken in St. Louis; a town full of great old architecture, signage and strange quirky stuff. Here are 2 of the new ones:



Let's wrap up with a movie review since it's been awhile, shall we Kiddies? The Unnamable is a lesser known 80's horror flick that would probably be pretty hard to find at your local video store but I bet Netflix would have it. Don't go out of your way though... Hahaha. The plot has something to do with a baby born in the 1800's whose too hideous to name so they don't bother. Then, this part-goat, part-lion, part-Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, part-George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic kid (no pun intended), kills its family and then gets holed up in a vault where in 1998, some college kids stumble on it while doing your typical "drinking in the abandoned house" bit and it goes downhill from there... if that's possible. Pay special attention to the "hoof close ups" that look like someone hand operating a couple of stilts. I give this one 3 corncobs folks.


Until next time: unpleasant dreams...