When An Old Friend Visits...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope things are well out there for you. And as usual, I have much to share! To start, I had my CLUE opening Friday at the Masonic Temple in Portland and it was a great success! A ton of people came through, the space looked great, and the folks at Blue Elephant Catering outdid themselves, providing food and beverages and they even did the little arrangement below and set around some actual Clue board games as props! A big thank you to them, and if you're in need of catering, I strongly encourage you to hire these guys, they pay attention to every last detail.

We had to skip the September Brimfield Antique Show this year because of the weather, which bummed me out. But, my Sweetie (who doesn't much care for junking), graciously agreed to go up to a big flea market with me to find some things for STAG. And I had some luck! I will be listing some things in the coming week, including these two fun (and unusual items): A Fortune Telling deck from the 30's that is complete with directions (I've never seen this version before), and what appears to be a Howdy Doody promo with an articulated mouth. This little guy has some minor damage, but who cares? It's cool.

So, my oldest and dearest friend is here for her annual visit and we've already had a ton of fun! We had a leisurely brunch the other morning at Local 188 here in Portland, known for their atomically hot bloody mary and quirky atmosphere. It was an overcast day out, perfect for cozying up and chatting for awhile. Then, we made our way to The Green Hand Bookstore  which is a book lover's paradise. Full of a mix of great titles as well as really old and rare printings of things, I always find something great. This time around, it was an original copy of Ray Bradbury's Twice 22 with a cover by one of my favorite artists: Joseph Mugnaini (who I've mentioned before on this blog here) and an old book about hauntings. I mean, I was giddy with my finds, you guys. It's been a great visit so far, and it's only begun. I'll share more of our adventures next post.

Speaking of great artists, I have found an amazing ceramicist recently whose work I wanted to share with you: Maria Rubinke. Her work is funny and morbid and beautifully done. Mainly featuring little girls hacking themselves up and doing all manner of grotesque things, the pieces still remain elegant somehow. All that white with just some controlled pops of red, it's good stuff. Take a look:

And if you Lovelies haven't seen Paranorman yet, you need to see it before it leaves theaters because it's amazing. Well, full disclosure, I love stop motion anything, so I was already in love before I even bought my ticket, but this movie was so good. The plot, the atmosphere, the sets the characters and then the irreverent yet relevant dialogue? Perfect. Check it out!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Some Art Openings...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are doing well out there as usual. Things are getting even busier here as I am juggling some openings in addition to various shoots and projects that have fallen into my lap. That equals long hours, but I am happy for the work! My opening for my Godfather work at the Motorland Vintage American space was a success! Almost 300 people showed up to look at the old cars and to look at my work, which is great. We had a beautiful night for it and I was so happy (and honored) to be the first artist to be featured in this newly remodeled and uniquely industrial space. Here are some shots from the opening!

I have another opening for my CLUE series at the Masonic Lodge in downtown Portland, Maine this Friday, September 7th for the First Friday Art Walk! I am also the first artist to be featured at this unique venue and I am really excited to show this work right in the location where it was shot! Come if you're local: 415 Congress Street, 5-8pm. I think there may even be food and beverages.

And after a couple of setbacks, I finally shot my most recent secret project. You remember the one, here was the hint I gave. So, that should be up this week or early next. Keep an eye out, it's a funny one!

As you all may or may not know, I am a huge fan of House Industries. Their entire look is perfect and I've used several of their Photo Lettering offerings in various projects in the past. They're just too good. Well, imagine my pleasant surprise when I found an entire Instagram feed dedicated to House eye candy! I really can't get enough... here are just a few of the pics they've posted recently...

And since we're approaching my favorite season (Fall) and my favorite holiday (Halloween), I have some darker things I want to share to start getting you in the mood! To start, I am a huge fan of EC Comics (the comics from the 40's and 50's that produced all the material for Tales from the Crypt), as I think I've mentioned. Well, I stumbled upon this great set of masks recently, inspired by some of the scenes and characters from the original comic book. I love these, but they are (sadly) sold out.

Let's wrap up with an amazing photo I found recently of one of my favorites: Vincent Price. I love everything about this shot; his face, that bat, the lighting?! It's making me happy today...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Cat Fights & Hot Nights...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope all is well with you out there this week! I have a ton to share from the studio and just life in general. To start, I had a full weekend of shooting and I have a couple of projects I will be posting in the coming week. But until then, here are some teaser shots. As I mentioned in past posts, one of the shoots involved beauty queens, vintage 1950s Miss America to be exact. And after taking some traditional shots, I of course put my twist on things. But I managed to source an actual beauty queen tiara that was stunning and then I made my own sash. It took roughly 8 hours because I decided about halfway in, that the sash needed sparkle so I applied hundreds of jewels by hand. It was worth it because the sash looked amazing. Here are some sneak peeks.

And, also my work was recently featured in a great online magazine out of Norway called Cirkumfleks Magazine. The magazine, which is published quarterly, features a ton of great artists so I was flattered to be a part of it! A nice little write up about my background and inspiration is also included. A big thank you to Ed, the editor, for asking me to be a part of it.

And last piece of business, if you're local to Portland, Maine, my Clue series will be displayed for the First Friday Art Walk August 3rd, 5-8pm at the Masonic Temple in Portland (where the shoot took place): 415 Congress Street. So stop on by, it would be great to see you! And if you aren't local, the book is your next best bet to catch all the work.

Someone recently posted a video to my Facebook wall and said it reminded them of my work. It's Amanda Palmer's What's the Use of Won'drin? and I agreed and totally fell in love with the video so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Tell me what you think. HERE is the video.

Have you heard of Retronaut? It's a great site just chockfull of vintage imagery and trivia that you really can't find anywhere else. Or (as is the case with the specific post to which I am referring here), you may have seen one photo out on the internet somewhere, but Retronaut has the entire shoot and backstory. An amazing resource for someone who shoots vintage-inspired work like I do. The photo to which I am referring is the first black cat image below. It's pretty famous. But Retronaut has the entire shoot from the auditions, plus the date of the shoot so from there I was able to find out the following: Tales of Terror was a 1962 horror film starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone. Billed as a "Trilogy of Shock and Horror," the film consisted of three short sequences, all based on Edgar Allan Poe stories: "Morella", "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", and "The Black Cat." On one auspicious day in 1961, an open audition was held in Hollywood to find the perfect cat to play the part of the the eponymous feline. Fortunately for us, photographer Ralph Crane was on hand to capture every glorious moment! Great stuff, isn't it? I love learning little tidbits about pictures I've seen a hundred times.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Pinned & Catalogued...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all doing well out there. Things here are busy with a ton of things that are still under wraps/in the works. But soon, I will reveal all. In the meantime, I have finished laying out and putting together a book of my Clue shots. Once I receive my prototype copy and make sure all looks okay, I will put it up for sale via Blurb. It's a beautiful book full of little facts and photos: hard cover, dust jacket, full-color, 20 page art book professionally printed and shipped. I can't wait to show it off!

Speaking of amazing work, I recently stumbled upon an ad campaign via Lost in E Minor for the MASP Art School in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It depicts famous artists being dissected like frogs in a biology class and their insides are done in the style of each artist. Pure genius. Not only is the execution top-knotch (they're green, they're dead looking and they look exactly like the artists), but the idea is eye-catching and inspiring. I love it.

What else? Oh, this work by Kate Baylay is also amazing. Spindly and unsettling and anchored by some amazing imagery and line work, her pieces remind me of the illustrations done by Harry Clarke for Edgar Allen Poe's Tales of Mystery & Imagination. I love when I see imagery that isn't derivative at all, that's rare. And when I look at this work, I can't make heads or tales of it initially for that very reason: it's completely fresh. Great stuff.

Oh! And if you're afraid of heights, you may not want to watch this next video. Holy smokes. This circa 1938 video shows men washing the windows on the Empire State building. Fascinating (and terrifying) footage as it appears they didn't use scaffolding or those elevator platforms back then. Nope, they just tethered themselves in and leaned way out. Ugh. But neat.

And let's wrap up with this amazing photo via Black and WTF (a blog that has a ton of old black & white photos that are simply unexplainable). The caption reads: 1952 - Two Los Angeles policemen and a skeleton named "Mr. Statistic" attempt to warn drivers about traffic fatalities during Labor Day weekend. People really weren't subtle back then, were they? That is a straight up skeleton... Still, some pretty amazing imagery.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

It's a Wrap!

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. A lot to share as usual. To start, I have finished and posted my entire Clue series (including some fun candids) on Flickr and of course, Facebook. All of the shots are now available as fine art prints in my shop as well. More importantly, I am in the process of designing a small fine art book of the entire series that I plan to make available via Blurb when it's complete if you're interested in the entire set plus some history and candids. I will announce that when it's up and ready. I have gotten very positive feedback on this series so far. Thank you again to everyone who helped.

As I mentioned last post, I made my annual trek to the Brimfield Antique Show this past weekend. It was a blast as always. The weather was perfect and I found some great items both for the house and for future shoots. I am also planning a new little venture in the coming months, and you may see some of these items there soon! The rest of the haul can be seen here.

This was actually a late birthday gift from my parents. They know I love Shriner stuff. All hand-lettered and amazing...

This beautiful, strange and sultry painting was $12! I love her.

Some beautiful vintage formal vests and a tie. These will be used in shoots. They're coming back into vogue and you can't find them anywhere anymore.

Swim trunks, also for a shoot.

Speaking of vintage goodness, have you heard of Nadine Boughton? She calls herself a photographer, but her most recent work is actually collage. She combines pulp adventure covers with Better Homes and Gardens and various other idyllic living magazines to create funny and fresh imagery. Each one makes me laugh a little on the inside. Check them out!

I'd like to wrap up by showing off two photos I found at Brimfield. This first one reminded me so much of Alfred Hitchcock standing among cherry blossoms I had to look twice. Yes, it's somewhat out of focus, but I still adore it.

The second photo has a funny story behind it. My Sweetie and I were looking through a booth, and she picked up a mirror with a nude girl on the back of it. The man running the booth said: "Oh, you girls like interesting stuff, huh? Check this pile out." He handed us a stack of great vintage pin-ups and risque items (all harmless and quite funny by today's standards). My eyes lit up when I saw this snapshot taken of a canvas sign on a tent for a carnival burlesque show! I scored it for $1 and a little piece of history is mine.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...