Sun-Dappled Dracula & Other Things...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. Things here are per the usual, very, very busy and very, very good! Whew. So much to share! To start, I am showing my CLUE series during the month of September at Elements in Biddeford, Maine. I am very excited about this show, mainly because of the venue. For those not familiar with Biddeford, trendy, hip, fun places are sorely lacking in that area and this cafe really brings a wonderful place to have meetings, do work or just enjoy a beverage. I love the entire vibe of the place and the people who run it, so when they asked me to show something, I enthusiastically agreed! If you're local, check out the work and the space and support a great local business!

Most of you know about my artistic work because that's what I like to hi-light here. It's more interesting at times to document that process than it is to share my lifestyle photography and styling, but really, that's what the bulk of my client work consists of. Recently, I had to put a tear sheet together to present to a couple of potential clients to show them what I can do and I realized that I like doing this work just as much as my artistic projects. Why? Because it's easy to make people look amazing in costume, but it's an altogether different animal to make people/life look amazing in a journalistic, "shoot it as you find it" way. I am always working to make my lifestyle work more distinct and signature as well as breathtakingly beautiful (no pressure). Haha. Here is some of that work now:

But I can't resist sharing those conceptual, artistic projects too and I shot the next two pieces in my Rein It In series this past weekend. Some process candids from that shoot are below. We're adding an Asian Bond Girl and a Vampire to the mix this go around in an effort to create the most diverse set of models possible for this series. What a blast this was. I think the quote of the day might have been when my Asian model got a look at herself in a mirror all done up and said: "Wow. I look really Asian." Hahaha. No, really? Goodness. I will post those next two shots very soon!

This vampire quite enjoys the sun, it seems...

All work and no play is very boring. So, I took a day off and grabbed one of my favorite little girls and we had a beach day! Taking a child to the beach is a totally different experience and I had a really good time. We met some friends and built sand castles (not very successfully: getting that sand to the right consistency is harder than it looks), had snacks, they went swimming and we laughed a whole lot. I'm really starting to dig this Maine beach thing...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

The Darkness is spreading...

Hello Lovelies!

So many things going on in the Mill this past week! First, the huge painting I showed shots of last week is very nearly done. I will post the whole thing next post for you to feast your eyes upon. I am also working on my big-girl, all-grown-up art portfolio site and I'll be sharing that with you very soon as well. Oh! And I'm shooting the final pieces in the Zom-B-Vex series this weekend! So keep an eye out for those... they're going over the top this time.

Over the weekend, we had one of our nieces spend the night, and of course, she's a foundling of the darkness, so when I asked her if she wanted me to make her into a vampire... she agreed. The darkness is spreading people... and something cute like this could be coming to a neighborhood near you!

I have stumbled upon a great conceptual photographer named Hugh Kretschmer and since I personally love doing conceptual shots, his work definitely fascinated me. He does a lot of post-shot photo manipulation, which isn't the impressive part to me, because everyone does that nowadays. It's the ideas behind the images and the clever visual statements that I like, plus the seamless Photoshopping. Check it out.

Some of you may already know Tyler Stout's work. (If you love gig posters, he's kind of a legend I guess.) I just found him via Twitter and wow. You really can't beat the pen and ink work, and then there are the totally realistic portraits via a stylized technique I've never seen, oh, and there is the subject matter that's also mind blowing. Can you tell I'm his newest fan? Perhaps I am... I want that ghost/shack poster so bad I can taste it.

Every fall, I have a series of about 6 movies I watch to get me in the Halloween mood. I just watched the first one the other night Something Wicked This Way Comes (of course) the Disney version from the 80's (not that there's another version... unfortunately.) It's great if you haven't seen it Gang.

I also watch:

- Hocus Pocus

- Lady in White

- Halloween 3 Season of the Witch

- Elvira Mistress of the Dark

- Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

- Diabolique (the 1930's French version)

Do you have movies you watch to get you in the holiday spirit? Post them here, I would love to take a look!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Island of Misfit Toys...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, today is the final day to enter the giveaway! Go here for details and to enter last minute. I will announce the winner tomorrow (Tuesday) and ship to the winner mid-week!

I have been busy as usual over here. First, I am doing some paintings for my gallery called The Island of Misfit Toys series, (somewhat inspired by the Rankin Bass film, but instead of you know, a pistol that can't shoot or a dolly that can't cry or whatever, I have a deposed bear king who's murdered by the Bee King who tries to make it look like a suicide.) Take a peek, they have not been "glittered" yet, a vital step with my pieces as you know. More to follow!

So, the art is sorta like this... only with murder and suicide.

I will also be listing more harlequin lockets this week, I have more chain and fun little jewels to make them all different and special.

I have found some more wonderful people to share with you all. Eugenio Recuenco is a photographer whose work is dark and dramatic and painterly and I truly love it all. I flipped through the portfolio and I couldn't wait to see the next image. Take a look:

Telegramme is a top-knotch design firm out of the UK. I found their site the other day and they have a ton of beautiful work, but their work specifically for the Queen of Hoxton, a bar/art gallery/movie house/totally awesome venue in London makes me want to go there immediately! Look at these monthly fliers, they're like mini works of art. If you live near London, go to Queen of Hoxton and tell me all about it!

I'm going to wrap up with a book recommendation. My local library had their annual book sale a couple of weeks back and as a library supporter and lover of books, I went. I picked up several books, and Burnt Offerings was one of them. Now, they made a movie out of this book and it has Karen Black in it, which means, it most likely sucks and I plan on renting it and telling you all about it. But, the book was really good. The characters and the descriptions were more than I expected from a 70's paperback. Go spend 50 cents and get a copy and let me know what you think.

Yeah, you won't find the "Face of Evil" doorknob at Home Depot...

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Dark Harlequins

Hello Lovelies~

I hope all is well in your worlds. Things are busy as usual in the Mill. I just wrapped up 4 paintings for a new show at my gallery entitled the Dark Harlequin series. This is the first series I've done where I've painted on found objects. In this case, I took some lithos from the 60's and embellished them with darkness. Take a look (more images here).

I will finally be wrapping up the Cigar, Creeper & Dark Circus and Sideshow series with a final piece in the next couple of weeks. Once that piece goes up, I will also be listing the entire set of prints for one price if you've been watching the series and like the whole thing, so keep your peepers peeled for that.

Oh! And I promised to show you all my cool art find from Brimfield in this week's post. Here she is. It's a large stencil art vampiress that I plan to hang in our guest room to freak out visitors... hehehe. I love the colors and the execution and I'm lucky to have it.

I found another great illustrator on Etsy, but his portfolio is even better. Ken Garduno's work is by turns dark, cartoonish and sexy. Look at the two illustrations below, very neat work. Oh, here is his shop.

And in anticipation of my new photo series that I will reveal soon, I wanted to share the work of Joshua Hoffine who also does very dark photography. (My new series won't be this dark... yikes.) One of the most interesting things for me about Josh's work, is he explains his process on his blog and it's fascinating to see how he does his shots. Plus, his work is effective in that it makes my skin crawl. I think that's the point?

Until next time... unpleasant dreams.

Pulp Halloween...

Hello Lovelies!

As Halloween approaches, there is a whole lot of awesome going on at The Stapelia Company and just in general and I can't wait to pass it along! First, a reminder, that the 1 Year Anniversary Giveaway goes until Halloween (October 31st), and I will announce the winner November 1st. All you have to do, is comment on any blog post that mentions the giveaway with a book or movie you think I'd like and your Etsy shop name or email address so I can contact the winner. (If you're just coming over to play, the giveaway is an entire set of my Alice in Wonderland art illustrations.)

Ooo! I went to a pumpkin carving party last night and it was a blast needless to say. I was dared into making my own pumpkin design since I was "The only one in the room who could draw" so I went for the zombie... take a peek!

And, I just listed the third scratchboard piece in my Night Revelry Series, the Vampire Boy. He's fun, feisty and comes with a wonderful letter pressed matte from Yee Haw Industries! Perfect for that last minute Halloween gift.

I, like most people, really enjoy the pulp covers from the 3o's and 40's; they're colorful and bold and scandalous (just the way we like it here)... Well, imagine my delight when I came across a spread in Harper's Bazaar UK that features Claudia Schiffer as the young ingenue in various pulp fiction-inspired fashion shots. Here are just a few... needless to say. Wonderful.

And, another wonderful find for design enthusiasts in particular is the Grain Edit, a site dedicated to wonderful graphic design. My personal favorite was the interview with Hatch, a San Francisco based design team who makes wonderful things. I especially loved the paper ephemera and research and sketches they used to come up with the packaging for Jaqk Cellars, a wine label. Love it. Go take a peak!

Let's wrap up with a movie review because it's been awhile and it's October, the perfect month for Halloween movies. I want to recommend a personal favorite of mine; Elvira Mistress of the Dark. (Yes, that's both a movie title and a character name folks...) Why is this movie so great? Let's start off with the hilarious puns and sexual innuendos, then we can move on to the 80's era clothing and hairstyles (including banana clips, pumps with jeans, and of course, mullets), and finish up with the totally ridiculous plot and characters. Oh, and the ending is worth the price of admission... Love it. Own it. Recommend it. Now go find a copy!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...