Dark Valentines...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this V-day finds you all doing well and finding some way to enjoy it. I made a card for my Sweetie this year (as I do every year), inspired by these little guys. I'm also making chicken parm tonight (wish me luck, I've never tried it before). We have a tradition of staying in instead of trying to beat the restaurant crowds and it usually makes for a wonderful Valentine's Day.

In business news, I will be listing what remains of my Okotteru series in the shop this week for your buying pleasure. They look even cuter in person, and people really seemed to be taken with them. So, keep an eye out for those!

I had to share this with you Lovelies. A good friend of mine in the UK sent me a Christmas package literally right after Thanksgiving that just arrived last week because of some ridiculous back up at the post office. Imagine my surprise when I opened my the box and found this unusual (and awesome) assortment of candy. Not sure if they're meant to actually be eaten, I assume they could be. I however, will keep them for novelty purposes only.

Scorpion sucker anyone?

Have you guys seen the hilarious Mamika series by photographer Sacha Goldberger? A little back story, the photographer's 91 year old grandma was suffering from a little bit of depression so he started this series to boost her mood. At first she was reluctant to model, but she eventually got into it and now there are tons of photos and a book based on the series. Such neat work and such a great story...

Ready for some weird news? This is just plain ridiculous... An Indonesian man was arrested in Thailand for attempting to smuggle an entire zoo's worth of animals out of the country in 3 suitcases. Contents included snakes, spiders, squirrels, and lizards. I just don't know how they all survived such close quarters. Seems like an entire food chain going on in there. Yikes.

That's taking Rubbermaid to a whole new level you guys...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Ornery Glitter Cupids...

Hello Lovelies!

We had a blizzard up here in Maine yesterday and I had a snow day! So, of course, I took that opportunity to paint the little cupids I was telling you guys about on Monday. They're done, they're cute and they're up in the shop. Take a look and tell your friends, I really want these little guys to have a home by February 14th!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Pretty Poison

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well. A lot of sneak things are happening behind the scenes here at the Mill that I will be able to share shortly.

Sneaky like this, only less laptop/blue ski mask and more awesome.

Something I can share, is in anticipation of Valentine's Day, I am doing a set of three very small original cupid paintings that I will be listing in the shop this week. They're somewhat inspired by vintage cupids like the one below and they will of course be overflowing with glitter and cuteness. Only one little set will be available, so stay tuned. I will post pics next week.

As you regular followers know, I have started amassing some rubber stamps that I use for packaging and for signing my prints and the like. Well, they were sitting all over my office and I didn't want them to get damaged. So, I found an old stamp carousel on Ebay to store them. They look great now and they keep my stamps clean and ready for action at a moment's notice!

I have found a photographer who has blown my socks off this past week. Alex Prager won the Foam Magazine Call for Talent contest last year and I'm not surprised. Her work is 1960's pulp-inspired, dramatic, and spot-on. Her narratives make you want to see more like a good Alfred Hitchcock movie and her colors and photo treatments make the whole thing look 50+ years old. I flipped through her entire site twice. Love it.

And while we're on a 60's kick, Tracey Snelling is another artist whose work is inspired by desert motels, women on the run and danger. Tracey's work is part model-making, part installation art and part narrative. Really, you need to see her work and read her artist statement to get her mission and even then, you may not completely get it. I hate to say that I really just like the look of her work and nothing more. Take a peek.

All this talk of femme fatales and the 1960's makes me want to watch Pretty Poison. Have you guys seen it? I haven't seen it yet, but I'll let you know how it goes. I'm really just seeing it because I love Anthony Perkins, the posters are great, and the lead chick is a drum majorette, which I find hilarious for some reason...

Also, they're both bonkers apparently... so there's that.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Red Lobster, Pink Cupcakes...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope those of you in the US, had a good three day weekend and an excellent Valentine's Day! I played cupid a little this year and set flowers all around the house and baked some delicious chocolate cupcakes. In return, my Sweetie brought home a lobster for dinner... which was delicious!

I mentioned last week that I was going to see Garrison Keillor. I did. And I loved the show. He talked for an hour and 45 minutes straight, no break, no water, no faltering. I would recommend it to anyone who has the chance.

I recently found a wonderful photo stream on Flickr. The illustrator's name is Gemma Quevedo and I fell in love specifically with her Carnaval poster for a local competition. The rest of her work is equally charming, bright and contemporary. Oh, and she has an Etsy shop!

Another artist I found recently really moved me. His work is beautiful and dark and a bit lonely and mysterious. I look at his pieces (created in Photoshop to look like scratchboard, which is amazing), and it reminds me of Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors. Daniel Danger of Tiny Media Empire does posters and work for galleries and his prints sell out in minutes... maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to land one. Love his work.

I have found a store that I'm sure most of you will love. The Evolution Store has taxidermy, botanical posters, and all other manner of neat scientific tools and specimens that can make that house or apartment into a museum of dark things... which we love, don't we? Look at this stuff...

Okay Lovelies, I will be in Florida all next week, taking pictures of the old stuff, digging through the junk and wrestling alligators... I will have much to share upon my return!

(Me, next week...)

Until next time... unpleasant dreams.