Wise Old Owl...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all well. A lot to share as usual. First, as some of you may know, I carry limited edition Carnival button sets in my shop. Well, they really are limited edition and I have one set left! Grab it while you can. But this also means, a fresh button set is on its way. The new set, called Old Salts, will be in the shop by January. I thought I would give you a sneak peek of the sketches and final art. They're colorful and cheeky, just the way we like it around here!

I have listed the Death Crow Dandies in the shop for purchase. They're original scratchboard pieces, perfect for gift giving or keeping (I won't tell). My scratchboards tend to go quickly, so if you like it, go for it! Here's the final piece I didn't show last week:

I think I had mentioned buying the Avalanche letter press calendar for my studio from Oddball Press recently. Well, I finally got it the other day and it's wonderful. The detail and the sight gags when you look closely are priceless. (I snapped a shot here for you.) This calendar is cheap and you'd be supporting a great Etsy seller if you got one! (Plus, all us cool kids are doing it...)

As many of you followers know, I love antique/junk shopping. Well, my Dad was visiting this past weekend, so we went antiquing and I found the greatest little thing. I love wax seals, I have a few. Well, I found a Wise Owl seal with glitter wax in its original box! I had to try it out immediately and look at how great it is! I'm going to have to write someone just so I can seal their letter with the Ol' Owl.

Now, I am not a car fan. I love classic cars, but I know nothing about them and talking about engines and horse power puts me to sleep. However, have you guys seen Black Beauty from the new Green Hornet movie? Holy smokes. I want it. Amazing lines and guns and green headlights. Sigh. There's a video all about it and a pic here:

Let's wrap with some weird news, it's been awhile. This one is a doozy. Did you Kiddies read about the home in New Brighton, PA that had been a problem for years? First, the owner was breeding dogs there, then they moved out. Then, neighbors saw "scores" of rats coming out of the home and called authorities. The house will be demolished, but not before they attempt to exterminate 95% of the vermin (a foot deep in some spots), in an attempt to prevent them from running into neighboring homes. Check please. No thank you. Gross.

The house is like this, only with rats, not candy.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

I am the clown with the tear-away face...

Hello Lovelies!

So much to share with all of you. Let's start with old business. First, all of my Alice in Wonderland paintings are now complete and dropped off at the gallery! Hooray. Here's the 4 that go with the Queen of Hearts piece from the last post. Oh, I should take this opportunity to tell you all that if you're ever really interested in a gallery piece I post on here, please send me an email and I will gladly give you purchase details.

Speaking of paintings, I just listed 4 original 3 x 3 inch clown paintings in the shop. These little gems would make perfect stocking stuffers for that odd friend or perhaps in a baby's nursery if you're a progressive parent. (The colors are right at least...)

I have also finally listed the buttons in the shop. I have decided to offer these buttons as limited edition sets and not have them reprinted when they run out so I can make new ones and keep it fresh. Get them while you can! They're quite charming...

And exciting news! I am getting ready to list the first male in the Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow series my Pets! The photo is taken and almost ready... he's going to be a doozy. I'll show it off next time...

I have discovered a wonderful new (to me) blog that I wanted to pass along. Wurzeltod is a quirky, dark, humorous and at times downright disturbing source for wonderful imagery of the bizarre. I don't even know where she finds this stuff, but find it she does, in profusion. Below are just two (creepy) examples of the work she digs up. The piece on the left is by Tari Nakagawa and the piece on the right is untitled by James Jean. Haunting, I love them both!

And let's wrap up with a bit of news, shall we? So did you read about the pilot in Concord, CA who was stalking his ex-girlfriend with a plane?! What the?! Apparently, he was flying low over her subdivision and neighbors called in to complain about it. He was promptly arrested. Apparently this low-flying business had been going on for a year. Really? I just don't know people...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Lights in the Dark...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, I hope this post finds you all doing well. Things here are really busy as usual, in a good way of course. I am getting the last few things finished up for the Picnic Art Show this Saturday in Portland, Maine. I am making the booth look like a carnival tent complete with sawdust and peanuts! I've found some neat old boxes and barrels to hold everything and more surprises to come because I'll take photos of course. Come if you can!

All the preparation hasn't kept me from putting some new photography up in the shop. The 3 pieces below are entitled Neosho Nougat, Chicago Coin Carnival and Grapevine Hair respectively. Grapvine would go well with the other faces of various types I have in the shop. (Can you tell they're my favorite?) That and neon, and there's more of that on the way too! Oh, and I just started offering different print sizes for all of my photography so you can get the weirdness poster size now! ;)

And the buttons have arrived! I will post those this weekend, they're very cute.

Now on to some good discoveries for you Lambs. First, some of you may have seen the cult classic Carnival of Souls about a woman who dies in a car accident and then wanders through the whole movie as a ghost or whatever. Well, the creepiest aspect of the movie centers around a huge abandoned amusement park on the water. A little trivia for you, this park is called Saltair and it's located in Utah. Unfortunately, the websites on this park basically suck and it looks like they've restored it, but I've dug up a few good shots for you and it's still really odd and creepy in my opinion, thus, I'm passing it on to you Kids.

And speaking of creepy, how about a movie review? It's been awhile so here goes... If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing Black Xmas yet, you're really missing out folks. (The "X" is meant to differentiate it from the 1974 "classic" Black Christmas... riiight.) So, the basic plot centers around a sorority house (of course) full of moody horribly poor actors. As they guzzle booze and cat fight, the neighborhood insane asylum goes one loony short. Pour into a pan and bake folks because we all know what's coming. That's right, murder and lots of it! From suffocations to stabbings to getting baked in the oven and eaten like a gingerbread man, what this movie lacks in plot/acting/budget it makes up for in gore so of course... I'm giving it 5 full corn cobs. Check it out if you have a free night. ;) (And I'm not sure why she's missing her eyes down there, I don't think that happened in the movie...)

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Push the button see what comes out...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, as usual, things are busy over here in the mill. I have completed 2 paintings for my gallery that I probably won't submit for awhile, but here they are so you can see how they came out since I posted sketches last time. These are entitled Drink to me Only with Thine Eyes #1 & 2. I think they came out pretty well considering I was trying a new technique.

And, as I mentioned before, I will be putting some 1 inch buttons in the shop here shortly. The order has been placed and the buttons have been designed (see Ink and Chuckles below). I will be selling sets of 4 different designs to dip my toe in and if they sell, I'll design some more for you kids!

I have found 2 great artists that I'm sure some of you have already seen, but for the rest of you get set because this work is amazing. The first is Brandt Peters. Where to start really? I mean, he hits all of the themes I personally love; dark circuses, sideshows, popular culture, grit and he also paints on found objects and does sculpture, dolls and toys. I mean, really? You need to go to his website and check out his work. Wonderful stuff.

The second artist, Mike Shine, also touches on some carnival work as well as Nordic themes and old signage all on found pieces of driftwood etc. His site is amazing too, I love the way it flows and the dang random song he has on there and the creepy carny music?! Seriously. Check him out as well and don't forget to hit the Shack link... his house is amazing.

I think all of you have a pretty good sense of humor so I'm going to let you in on a gem of a website that literally makes me laugh out loud every time I go there. Awkward Family Photos is hilarious not just because of the photos (and those are pretty good, let me tell you), but the captions and the comments are also pretty chuck-a-licious. The 2 below are merely a taste of things to come...

And let's wrap up with some strange news, shall we? Did you read about the 2 families in a small town in Alabama who had been feuding for several years? (We don't know/care why...) Well, they had been feuding and apparently, someone shot out a window in the other family's house. This apparently led to a 150 person full-scale riot, with baseball bats, tire irons and whatever else they could get their hands on and ended with 8 people in jail. Now come on. You know most of those people didn't even know what was going on, but that didn't keep them from grabbing a broom and beating a neighbor! Nice. Sigh.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Darkness...

Hi Lovelies!

I hope this Sunday finds you all doing well. I've been busy up in the mill as usual!

First, my Penelope the Sword Swallower piece was recently included in a great treasury put together by my friend Chrisy over at Sophism Press blog. She also has a wonderfully eclectic Etsy shop called Art Decadence that is definitely worth a look-see (I've always wanted to use that word in a sentence). Thank you Chrisy!

I have been finishing up a submission for the October show at the 6 x 6 Gallery in New York. I'm happy with how it came out. It's entitled She Wore a Pearl Necklace after the (was it ZZ Top?) song with the same title. Totally different meaning however because these little buggers are out to kill! (And of course, I couldn't resist my usual glitter/gold paint embellishments.)

Halloween will soon be upon us and since this is both my favorite holiday and marks the one year anniversary of Stapelia, I will have a Halloween section in my shop full of cards and random tidbits. One item I am especially excited about is the Circo de la Muerte 4-button set. Some of the preliminary sketches are below. The set will feature scandalous circus employees offing people in an attempt to either; gain money, gain power, gain love or all three! The 1 inch pin-back buttons will be nice on that coat or coffin cover and will come in a cute little package and the back story should be a hoot! Are you slathering for Halloween yet??? I thought so...

And speaking of slathering, as you all know, I collect antique and vintage items for the house and I wanted to show you the packaging on my latest find. This is the box for a set of Striptease drinking glasses. The basic premise is, you have glasses with clothed women on them, you put in a liquid, they strip. Except these are old and damaged apparently because they're nude... all the time. But it gets better because the box (shown below), depicts a group of men and women in someone's shag-carpeted basement laughing it up with Striptease glasses... like women circa 1975 would be caught DEAD with these glasses. Please. I personally find it hilarious.

Oh! And before I wrap up, this week, keep an eye out for the latest woman in my Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow series... she's the best one yet!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...