Fallen Leaves...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well this week. I have so much to share. First, I have entered my work in an international photo competition called One Life. There is a public voting aspect to it, so if you have a few seconds, stop here and vote. Thank you!

As I think I mentioned in the last post, I send out a Halloween card every year to friends and family and this year, I did a little shoot for it. It came out so well, that I've listed Mary & Owen Nette in my shop! A big thank you to my models for playing with me as usual.

I have also listed some new photos from the Fryeburg Fair in the shop. Here are a few of them, I think they came out really well. (I really can't get enough of the fair as you all well know by now...)

I stumbled across the work of a photographer I wanted to share with you. Jeffrey Scott's work is beautiful and very disturbing (and not safe for work, so click on that link at home Kiddies). My favorite pieces are the ones below, where he ages them to look like old cabinet cards but the imagery itself is influenced by a more modern aesthetic like H.R. Giger etc. Neat, creepy stuff.

Seldom do you see the work of someone who speaks to the aesthetic and mood that you're trying to achieve in your own work. The work of Dave Hill does just that. The lighting, the mood, the characters, the visual narrative, he does it in spades Folks. He's more than a photographer, he's an artist. When you see the behind the scenes clips, it's amazing what he achieves and how he does it. Take a look:

I'm going to make a movie recommendation for the upcoming Halloween holiday. Like vampires? Have you seen The Hunger yet? No? Well, then check it out. It's artsy, beautiful and stars David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon. Mainly known for its love scene between Sarandon and Deneuve, I think it has a lot more to offer than just that...

though, that's not too shabby.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Dark Packages...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all doing well on this fine Monday. Things are getting busier and busier around here as Halloween approaches.

First, I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite rock singers this pastweek! TheGruesome Twosome tour, starring Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper came to Portland and you can bet I was right up front. Now, I don't normally do really hard rock, but the show those two put on was wonderful. The props? The songs? The flamethrowers? Needless to say. If they're coming near you, go. Just do it.

Over the weekend, I got up to a little baking to get into the Halloween mood and these little ghost cupcakes were a result... so yummy. And I sprinkled them with the "spider sprinkle" mix from Wal-Mart. Who knew?

Every year I photograph and design my own Halloween card for family and friends and this year was no exception. I'm sending them out this week, and next week I'll show off the image to you Kiddies. It will be sold as a print in my shop for you Darklings out there as well... just you wait!

So as not to get too dark in this post, I'll balance it out with the work of an adorable artist I recently found via about 40 different sites. Helen Dardik is an illustrator and blogger and mother and about 100 other things and despite the fact that her work is very bright and whimsical, I find I love it. Especially her patterns... I want them as curtains and wallpaper and all over my house. Take a peek!

And to bring things back to center, the work of Lost Fish mixes bright candy-colored pastels with dark and morbid themes and almost Asian-influenced female subjects. This results in a disturbing body of work that you really can't look away from... not that you'd want to anyway. Take a look, very interesting work here:

And let's wrap up with a play recommendation of all things! I saw a production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps over the weekend, which, unlike the 1935 movie, is a comedy, not a suspense thriller. Full of sight gags and funny one-liners, it's a must-see if it comes to your area. Trust me on this Kiddies... check it out.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Candy Apple Darkness...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, fall is in full swing, and the wind definitely has a bite to it. I hope this Monday finds you all doing well out there.

I have finally completed the Zom-B-Vex series! With 15 pieces in all, it is my largest (and most popular) series so far. And, due to a number of requests, I have decided to offer a 15 month calendar featuring each piece. I will list this calendar in the coming weeks. It would make a perfect holiday gift for those who like to laugh... and/or kill zombies. Take a look at some of the final pieces!

I posted few weeks back that I sent a Halloween illustration to my sister in Oregon. Well, she's framed the piece and she sent me a pic to share with all of you. I love seeing my pieces framed in their new homes, so if you ever buy a piece I'd love to see what you do with it!

Well, fall means fair season and I look forward every year to one fair in particular up here. The Fryeburg Fair has been around for years and it really offers the full fair experience. (And by fair experience, I mean crowds, food, rides, cheap souvenirs, livestock, music and freaks. And by freaks, I don't mean of the sideshow variety...) I was not disappointed this year on any score. It was a beautiful fall day and I took tons of photos. I will be posting most of them on my Flickr page this week, but here are a few good ones.

So, I have found yet another very creative photographer out here. Oliver Scott's work spans several different subject areas, including still life, cinematic, and people. But one of my favorite series of his, mixes books and 3-dimension elements and cut paper to create photo illustrations. Sort of like Thomas Allen's work. Hard to explain, but some examples are below. Neat stuff.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Dark Dollies...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this week finds you well and enjoying beautiful fallweather (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere). Things at the Mill are busy as usual. After a brief delay, the final pieces in the Zom-B-Vex series will be released this week! I have a listing for mini prints of this series up now too, if you want certain ones for a little less. I will also be offering the entire set for one price when it's finished.

Every year, I like to send out a Halloween card that I make fromscratch to family, friends and this year, repeat customers. It's a fun little project that helps me celebrate my favorite holiday. Well, I did a little shoot yesterday for the card and it's going to be a doozy! Here are candids of my boy and girl dollies. So fun.

In the Halloween vein, I found a great sculptor I'd like to share with you. Mike Hill (according to his bio), has always loved old horror movies and monsters. The bulk of his work has been sculpting models of great horror film stars like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff etc. His work really makes these monsters live and breathe. (Which, in the case of Linda Blair in the Exorcist, freaks me right out...)

And for those pulp art lovers out there, Ryan Heshka's work is absolutely stunning. He takes imagery and a technique that was popular in the 30's and 40's and breathes new (and at time humorous) life into it. I want all of his books (he has several) and maybe one day, an original if I'm lucky. Look you guys:

Well, I finally had an opportunity to watch Blacula and man, it was a treat. From the 70's afros, to the random facial hair on Blacula himself, to the cocktail waitress/party photographer who leaves work to develop pictures (and of course... gets killed). It was great. Rent it, or better yet buy it if you find it.

And apparently this is a shot from the movie and I don't remember this scene at all...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...