Stuffed things...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, here we are again back at Monday, eh? I have some things to share that are pretty exciting. Well, first, the Hortensia the Bearded Lady piece was featured in a great treasury revolving around running away to join the circus. Now that's something I can get behind! Some creepy cool stuff here...

I have started a pretty neat project I want to share. In a couple of months, I will be starting an e-comic in weekly installments. I think I will probably give it a blog space of its own, but I'll fill you in when the time comes. I've gotten some initial sketches going and I'm starting to get pretty excited about it. Here are a couple of characters you may see soon. This should prove to be weird, witty and wonderful. Stay tuned!

And I went on an exploratory mission the other day to the new super-sized Goodwill that opened down the street and I was not disappointed! I found all the plaques pictured below (that I love painting on) for a dollar each (that circa '83 Welcome sign is getting the royal treatment) and a great needlepoint Yale bulldog piece that I may make into a pillow... as soon as I learn how to sew. I love junking!

Have you ever heard of Andy Gonsalves? I found him over at Threadless and his work is bright, but has this dark edge that really makes me laugh for some reason. The pieces below? The one with step on a crack, break your Mother's back? Crazy. I love it.

I have found (via the front page), the neatest shop on Etsy full of things that are exquisitely beautiful, and I will never be able to justify buying. But still. Magenta Fabulous is a hattery that uses such wonderful materials. Just look at some of these hats, y'all. Wow.

Have you all heard of Mutt Ink? If not, click on that link because they do some beautiful work and the site itself is so neatly laid out yet has so much mood and feeling. I find this a difficult thing to do when putting a site together, so it was a pleasant surprise. I mean look at those illustrations!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Spring Showers... Dark Flowers

Hello Lovelies!

It's rained for days here in Maine and we're all hoping the rains will bring with them a nice round of spring flowers for us to enjoy. In honor of the coming spring months (for those of us north of the equator), I've added a few fun shots to the shop. I call these guys (not surprisingly) Flamingoes and Orchids. I have also added a new feature to the shop called You Pick 4, which allows you to pick out any 4 regular size photo prints for $65, for a savings of $15! (This will be especially nice for all you folks out there inquiring about the Cigar, Creeper & Dark series being sold as a set, which it will be my Lovelies, when it's complete.)

And to conclude the business portion of our programming, I was recently featured in another great treasury chock full of circus-themed items! Take a look...

Moving on, I have been on a wallpaper kick lately (and by that, I mean, I've been shopping online, not hanging any... yet), and I've found some great ones. First, on the wonderful site Grow House Grow out of Brooklyn, comes Ms. Ward (below), a beautiful wallpaper with bugs on leashes and Victorian ladies, it's basically perfect. Plus, each of their patterns has a back story which is fascinating. (I'm a big fan of the back story.) I am actually going to hang this pattern in the hall we're redoing soon. I'll be sure to post pics of that...

Another great wallpaper (that I have no place for really) comes from Beware the Moon. Yeah, that's flocked skull wallpaper down there folks. I am in love... I want to pet it.

Moving on, Michael Sieben. Ever heard of him? Well, you need to know his work because it's pretty much awesome... His people (I mean, I think they're humanoid?) are cute but not too cute, with a monster edge that I just love. Take a look at these. I mean, those eyes? Come on...

Let's wrap it up with a movie review, shall we? If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing the original Wicker Man circa 1973... you're missing out. (And by "missing out" I of course mean, you're not missing out at all.) I can't believe they remade this flick, first of all. The plot consists of a police detective taking a row boat to an island in the middle of nowhere to investigate a missing persons report. Well, the island is home to a Pagan cult of some sort and after an hour and a half of nudity, unintelligible accents, and a soundtrack consisting of a didgeridoo and a tambourine, you find out that the girl is dead and the island is being run by a man who believes in regular human sacrifice. So there's that. It's totally worth a peek if for no other reason than it's unintentionally hilarious. I give it 4 out of 4 corn cobs.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Facon de Parler...

Hello Lovelies!

I have been really busy in the rainy old mill this week and I have a lot to share! First, I have finally surpassed 100 sales in my store, so to celebrate, I am having a print SALE this week! The details are at my shop and in the button below... A perfect time to snag those prints you've been eyeballing.

I have added another piece to the Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow series; Algonquin the Clown. He was a fun one, and I added a little monster shadow there for added creepiness... though, he looks more sad than scary.

I have also started a new series called Facon de Parler, which literally means a manner of speaking or a turn of phrase. I am using it to refer to the seed of an idea, paired with an image that gets the mind thinking about a whole slew of possible things. The first three, Train Hallway, The Birds and Dead Bird are picture below. More to come on those (and not all will be dark, I may do whimsical too... maybe.)

And to wrap up business, I was recently featured in a great carnival treasury put together by Favoritescents, thank you!

I have been on a decorating kick here lately and I love to go to Restoration Hardware's website and look at all their stuff and get inspired. Well, I have been looking for a trunk for the end of the bed and so imagine my delight, when a search for "trunk" brought me to this trunk secretary. Not at all related to my end-of-bed trunk mission, but isn't it fabulous? Wow. (And for the price, I would have to take up residence inside...)

Have you Kids seen the work of Chris Anthony before? Wow. Amazing stuff here. Kind of circus meets horror with gas tanks and masks thrown in for interest. I will take one of each please...

I found an illustrator on Society6 the other day who I immediately fell in love with. Julian Callos's work is pretty amazing. It's like cartoons from the 1940's meet Asian silk paintings meet Edgar Allen Poe and I love every piece.

Let's wrap up with a short movie review, shall we? Sure we will. It's Alive, not the old one, the remake (not that it matters, they apparently both suck). The basic premise is a young woman gets pregnant and through a series of totally preposterous events, she gives birth to... I really don't know what. A demon? An alien? The Tasmanian devil? Regardless, "it" is born and proceeds to kill everyone around her... violently. Like, really violently. Like, buckets of blood being thrown around inside a car violently. I won't spoil the ending (not that it's good). I'd give it 2 out of 5 corn cobs, and even that's generous.

The poster is the best part of this movie.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Small Dark Treats...

Hello Lovelies!

Winter is truly upon us here at the Mill. The wind is blowing through the windows and the bats are trying to get in left and right... okay, just one. I have been featured in two treasuries this week, both are beautiful. One has a Sherlock Holmes theme (my illustration was picked), and the little crocheted figure with the plaid coat is absolutely adorable!

As promised, I have added the first Little Betty Mini Art Photo set to the shop. Each set will work from a theme, and this first one is called Masks, (even though they're really just faces, not masks). Oh well. More to come, take a peek:

I'm not a big doll fan (unless they're creepy, starring in a horror movie, and killing people), but I stumbled across an amazing doll artist and I had to share. Noel Cruz takes pre-made dolls of the Barbie and Ken body type and repaints their faces and reclothes them to look like celebrities. Sounds weird, I know. But look at his Angelina Jolie and Robert Pattinson faces. Amazing...

I found an amazing photographer too this week. Unlike many photographers out there who go for imagery alone, Matt Barnes' work has an underlying narrative aspect that gets the imagination going when you're looking at it. Below are two of his more artsy pieces, but his portfolio has a ton work that just makes you ask "What is going on here? Why?" I love it all.

I'm not a big Vans shoe fan. They're not really my style, and furthermore, I don't like wearing shoes without socks just in general. Gross. But, Grant Gulliland's custom painted Vans makes me want to get a pair just for display. He doesn't have many on display yet, but I'm going to keep checking back because these little guys, are cute.

Any Norah Jones fans out there? How can you not be? Anyway, her newest album The Fall, not only has a beautiful and playful cover that I love, it also has the track December on it, which has quickly become my favorite. Take a listen...

Let's wrap up with some weird trivia, shall we? I just read about a man who went to the doctor complaining of irritation in one of his eyes. They gave him some meds for conjunctivitis and sent him home. His eye remained irritated. So, they looked at his eye under magnification and found 12 microscopic hairs in his cornea. Where did they come from, you ask? From his pet tarantula. No lie. Apparently, when tarantulas get scared, some of them can send a fine spray of abdominal HAIRS into your EYES. He will have hairs in his eyes permanently. Another reason to not have a spider for a pet, but if you insist, doctors suggest wearing eye protection when handling them... Dang. Yuck.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Captain Pipsqueak...

Hello Lovelies!

The holidays are approaching and I am up to my ears in macabre goodies. I will be loading the shop up for the holidays Thanksgiving weekend. Also, I have finally uploaded a ton of paintings and photos to my site, go take a peek. If you are interested in any of my paintings for a gift or for yourself, please shoot me an inquiry. I am happy to gift wrap!

I have done another painting in the Icarus Series for one of my shows that I wanted to show you all. This piece is entitled Captain Pipsqueak, and it features pretty much every bell and whistle you could imagine; glitter, metallic paint, glass balls, you name it. I wanted this piece to feel dark and surreal but also innocent and fun. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and one of my photos was featured in a great treasury put together by MiaRosina. Take a look! Some great time-related pieces in this treasury.

Enough about me, I have found 2 great artists that you all need to check out. Jeremy Geddes is amazing. You want to know why? I'll tell you. He paints photo-realistically but instead of taking the boring path with this technique, he throws in elements/situations that are humorous and at times macabre. A couple of his pieces are below to give you a taste; he also has great work on his site. Love it.

The next artist is completely different and completely mind-blowing. Elizabeth McGrath is a sculpture, a painter and a musician. Her works, as you can see below, include both dioramas and sculpture that she paints. Her work is detailed and funny and fun. I just don't even know how she does her pieces. Really. I don't. How the heck does she do that?! Anyway, peruse her site and drool if you must.

Okay, let's wrap up with a movie review, shall we? A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a list of Rob Zombie's top 5 favorite horror movies and so I decided to rent them all and watch them. Some I'd seen, like Dawn of the Dead, others, not so much and uh, now I wish I hadn't. The fun little feature I watched last night was called Deranged. Heard of it? Well, the movie is based on the Ed Gein story (you know, the guy who also inspired the movie Psycho and Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs). The broad brushstrokes here are as follows: A man lives holed up with his mother, an invalid, his whole life. Mom dies. He loses it and proceeds to dig her up, talk to her, and then dig up bodies and murder young women in an attempt to "restore" his mother to him. What the hell? Yeah. The movie itself was slow and tedious, but CREEPY and I don't know where they dug up the male lead (no pun intended), but he looks like something out of Deliverance. Y-I-K-E-S. Anywho, rent it, it's worth it. Now... I'm off to watch Freaks.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...