Beaches, Zombies & Pretty Summer Dresses

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there. Things have been very busy over here in the Mill and I have a lot to share with you as usual! To start, I am finally done with my most recent client work entitled Beach Blanket Brain-Eating. What a great project! I was told to combine the Coppertone Girl with a pinup and to add a twist, like maybe instead of a dog, we could do a zombie. Well, I took that direction and ran with it and the results are below! I like to say it's The Birds meets Beach Blanket Bingo, meets Night of the Living Dead all in BRIGHT! VIBRANT! Technicolor! Haha. More shots can be seen here and some behind the scenes shots are here and the company that made the prosthetic we used featured one of my photos on their website HERE. Good stuff.

And here's your weekly reminder regarding my CLUE opening at the Masonic Lodge in Portland, Maine. Here's a link to the open and public event on Facebook, and here are the details: Friday, September 7th 5-8pm 415 Congress Street. Be there, or be square! (More importantly, I think there may be food...)

Over the weekend, I went out junking to get fresh things for the STAG shop (because things are literally selling left and right over there) and I scored some great man-related items that I will be listing very soon. Including one of these; a vintage leather fly lure case with some vintage flies inside. Pretty neat stuff.

But while I was out and about, I stopped by a new vintage clothing store in town and picked up a couple of things! Including the two vintage dresses below, a couple of other vintage dresses and a blouse, a couple of things for Stag and best of all, a pair of wing earrings that I adore (modeled by my Sweetie in this pic).

We rounded the weekend off with ice cream in the sun, Amy in one of her new dresses + an old classic truck, a visit to the local cigar shop and a cigar at dusk and best of all, my Monster Old Maid cards came in the mail! I love them. So fun and weird. I adore summer, don't you?

Here's to long days and hot nights.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Beach Blanket Brain-eating...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this week finds you all doing well out there! My have I been busy lately. A ton of new work has been shot and is waiting for the editing part. But, I have finished the beauty queen project! I've decided to call it Beauty is the Beast on account of the cat-fighting. I did some normal shots too, but the fight ones really still make me laugh a lot. You can see all 8 final images here.

What else? Oh! I had a friend visiting over the weekend and I did a shoot for her that I am really, really excited about. She came up with a really original idea and I was able to pull it off, which is always nice. Here are some behind the scene candids of her getting into makeup and a sneak peek of her undead counterpart also getting into makeup (I don't want to spoil that AAAAAH! moment, so no face shots yet). I should be posting those shots next week!

And while my friend was visiting we all got together for a BBQ one night out in the garden. Our friends have a beautiful house and garden in the country and it was truly a great night. Here are some shots from that. I wanted to steal her Alice in Wonderland shoes... so cute.

One of my favorite blogs She Walks Softly (which is a constant source of great photos, artwork and miscellany to ogle), recently had a little post about the Milton Bradley Monster Old Maid card game. It's basically Old Maid featuring all of the Universal Monsters. And we're not talking some generic knock-off of Dracula spelled Drakula or anything, these cards have actual photos of the actors who played them, like Bela Lugosi. Yep, it's amazing alright. I immediately fell in love and decided to get a set which was I lucky enough to find on Ebay. I'll take some pics when I get them, the deck is in rough shape, but considering I got the entire game for $30 and replacement cards can cost that much apiece, I think I scored.

And speaking of vintage playing cards (I can't get enough of them, the art is just amazing), the online store Present & Correct is selling sets of Mixies Cards for framing and display. These are obviously repros of the 1956 cards, but who cares? As you can see below, that's 50's cartooning at its best, you guys. Unfortunately, it appears most of them have sold out as only the Cheerleader and Cop appear to be for sale. But, I bet you could find a deck on Ebay. I'm looking...

Let's wrap up with a movie recommendation, shall we? Of course we shall. So, I love the idea of the 1960's era beach movies and having recently done a beach blanket bingo-inspired shoot, I decided to check out one of those flicks and see what all the fuss was about. I watched Bikini Beach starring Anette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and a chick named Candy Johnson, whose dancing is ridiculous but apparently she had a whole side thing going on with records and whatnot. I was not disappointed, what a feast for the eyes if you love bright color and vintage! The plot and music really sucked, but the outfits and the cars were great. Oh, and there was a cameo by Lon Chaney who looked ancient and a cameo by a very young Stevie Wonder. Mind blowing, you guys. Check it out on a summery night and get into the beach zone!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Hello Lovelies!

How are you all doing this fine Monday? Things are moving at a mad pace over here as usual. Over the weekend, I helped install the window decorations my art co-op designed for the holidays. There is a window contest Portland-wide each year and we're hoping we win. We decided to do a twisted take on Christmas with killer toys, Gift-Safe Kid Traps and a Santa worm train. The worm train (which will actually run when it's done) is the last piece to install this week. Take a peek at our windows and if you're local, come out and see it in person December 3rd for the First Friday Art Walk! I'll show the train in action next post... he's really cute.

Santa Worm Train unpainted

And, the Zom-B-Vex calendars are coming in this week! These 15-month calendars feature every shot in the Zom-B-Vex series professionally printed in hanging wall format. They're hilarious and unique (much better than the calendars at the mall). Supplies are limited, so get them while they last!

Speaking of great gifts, I've decided each week in December to post both a neat gift and a neat store that I've found for that hard-to-buy-for person your list. Hope it helps!

This week's great gift is for sci fi and classic movie fans. I'm sure you've all heard of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. (If not, you're going to want to get on that.) Some of the movie was lost for years, but it has recently been found according to this article and now the film is complete. This complete version has been restored and remastered and you can now buy it for the geeks on your list! I personally can't wait to see it...

...even though this robot may well be the best part of this movie.

The shop of the week is the Museum of Unnatural History. This retail storefront is actually attached to the Washington DC location of 826 National, a non-profit that helps 6-18 year olds develop their expository and creative writing skills. (The products of course support the centers, there are 9 nationwide.) With great packaging and design, creative product names and unique store fronts, this non-profit is doing great things in a great way for a great cause. Stop by if there's one in your city, or browse online.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Candy Apple Darkness...

Hello Lovelies!

Well, fall is in full swing, and the wind definitely has a bite to it. I hope this Monday finds you all doing well out there.

I have finally completed the Zom-B-Vex series! With 15 pieces in all, it is my largest (and most popular) series so far. And, due to a number of requests, I have decided to offer a 15 month calendar featuring each piece. I will list this calendar in the coming weeks. It would make a perfect holiday gift for those who like to laugh... and/or kill zombies. Take a look at some of the final pieces!

I posted few weeks back that I sent a Halloween illustration to my sister in Oregon. Well, she's framed the piece and she sent me a pic to share with all of you. I love seeing my pieces framed in their new homes, so if you ever buy a piece I'd love to see what you do with it!

Well, fall means fair season and I look forward every year to one fair in particular up here. The Fryeburg Fair has been around for years and it really offers the full fair experience. (And by fair experience, I mean crowds, food, rides, cheap souvenirs, livestock, music and freaks. And by freaks, I don't mean of the sideshow variety...) I was not disappointed this year on any score. It was a beautiful fall day and I took tons of photos. I will be posting most of them on my Flickr page this week, but here are a few good ones.

So, I have found yet another very creative photographer out here. Oliver Scott's work spans several different subject areas, including still life, cinematic, and people. But one of my favorite series of his, mixes books and 3-dimension elements and cut paper to create photo illustrations. Sort of like Thomas Allen's work. Hard to explain, but some examples are below. Neat stuff.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...