Killer Sweets...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all doing well out there. I have been busy as usual over here in the Mill.

To start, I recently finished a brand new series of paintings entitled Killer Sweets, a couple of which are displayed below. The rest are displayed on my Flickr page here. If you're local to Portland, Maine, they are displayed at Dock Fore until the beginning of next month. Fun little pieces that deal with dessert and death... just the way we like it around here.

And speaking of paintings, if you're ever interested in purchasing my original work, I have a portfolio with a painting section here that you may peruse at your leisure. All of these works are for sale and you may contact me directly if you're interested. I ship worldwide!

My Sweetie and I decorated the house for Christmas over the weekend and it's almost done. This is our living room by the glow of the twinkle lights. I love it, and every year I'm happy when the lights are up.

Most of our decorations are vintage, and I try to add a new piece every year from our forays into junking. This year's addition is this pair of blown glass mercury candles with trim. Beautiful, aren't they?

This homemade pine cone turned mini tree is my all-time favorite decoration and it gets a place of honor every year on our mantle.

While we're on the topic of the holidays, I have a great item and shop for the Holiday Gift Guide this week Kiddies! First, the item of the week (and really, it could be the shop of the week, because come on people... so cute), is from Hine on Etsy. The print below is entitled Holiday Surprise Gift and it's perfect in every way. That teeny red octopus? The wallpaper? Needless to say.

This is so cute I want to explode!

And the shop of the week is Something's Hiding in Here. They have a wonderful blog here, and their packaging is beautiful and then there are the items themselves. Like these mitten cupcake toppers. Sigh. I love it. Oh! And if you have a boy in your life who likes to dress up, they have a new shop Forage, that's nothing but bow ties made from vintage material. Really? Yes. They're that cool.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Violet for your furs...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, Christmas is almost here and that means bright decorations, cookies and holiday music. I am a lover of all things vintage and most of my decorations are old. Worn Christmas decorations have a special patina that you just can't find anywhere else. I found a few new pieces to add to my collection this season; Frosty and two random tinsel/aluminum things that I now love. Take a peek!

Yesterday I went to a cookie party (those are so much fun), and I did up the reliable sugar cookie recipe. Here are a couple of pics of those, I went all out with the decorating since the cookies themselves are somewhat simple. It got me in the holiday spirit.

Art news, I will be doing another photograph in my Cigar, Creeper & Dark Sideshow and Circus series this coming weekend with a friend who is visiting from California, so look for that early next week. I don't want to spoil the surprise!

I will also be offering some fun new products in the new year at the shop, including original ACEOs, mini photo series somewhat like the Christmas one I'm offering now, and maybe some original paintings. Exciting stuff coming!

I have a couple of artists to recommend as usual. Jamie Salmon is a hyper-realistic sculptor who creates amazing human pieces. I've seen a lot of work like this because I love it and he is one of the best. His site has some process shots that are fascinating. Here are a couple of his works:

Pieter Hugo is a photographer whose work runs the gamut from funny to very serious and eye-opening. Most of his subjects are from various parts of Africa and I found his Nollywood series wonderful. Apparently, Nollywood, is the third largest film industry in the world after, I'm assuming, Hollywood and Bollywood. Check out his work, it's moving.

Let's wrap up with some funny news, shall we? Of course. Apparently, a choir teacher in Arizona took 40 kids to lunch at Hooters after a concert. According to the teacher, it was the only place in Phoenix "big enough to accommodate a crowd that size." And here's the best part, the teacher is female. Yeah, she's spending Christmas on administrative leave.

Happy Holidays and unpleasant dreams!