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.

Piranha...

Hello Lovelies!

Happy Monday to you all. I have just returned from two sunny days of junking down at Brimfield. We had some beautiful weather and I found some great things. Some of them are pictured below. (Yes, that's a taxidermied piranha ashtray down there folks and unlike newer ones that usually have fake doll eyes, it looks like this one's eyes were left intact... scary that I know these things really.) The best piece though, I will show off next week. I have to figure out how to hang it first and then I'll take a photo for you Pretties. You can see more photos from Brimfield here.

I think I've mentioned House Industries on here before. Specializing in font design, House also has some wonderful products, an interesting blog and an impeccable design aesthetic. Everything they do is beautiful. Including their printed font catalog (I keep all of mine, that's how pretty they are), like this one I just got in the mail the other day. Neat huh?

I have found a wonderful shop on Etsy I wanted to share. Miniature Rhino, heard of it? Well, you need to stop by because they carry a beautiful assortment of vintage and vintage-inspired items that are classy and beautiful. I mean, that little cabinet of curiosities down there? I wish I could fill a glass vial with simple, random things and make it look that good...

Check out this work by artist Alex Varanese. I don't usually go for the 70's aesthetic, but the preponderance of orange and green mixed with the impeccable layout of these pieces make them fascinating to take in. I look at his work and I honestly don't know how he does some of it and that highway one below reminds me of those slides they have at the fair that you use a mat to go down. Very nice.

Another great artist I found this week is Alexander Korzer-Robinson. His work is really unique and wonderful, but the way he does it is even more interesting. Apparently, he takes an old book and cuts away the pages he doesn't want showing through and creates collages with what is left. But the pages aren't removed from the book, they're left intact and it creates the interesting pieces here. How did he figure that out? I just don't know. Very neat.

Some fresh new work will be posted next time Lovelies, so stay tuned!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Monkey Cobwebs...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope this Monday finds you all doing well in your respective grottos, dens and tree houses. I have a lot to share with you kids this week. First, a little piece of business, the Chasing Pirates illustration I shared a couple of weeks back is now available as a fine art print on Society6. It will not be a shirt for the foreseeable future, so this is one way to get your mitts on it!

Also, I have some very exciting little pieces of original art coming to the shop very soon. They will be dark and used and pocket-sized and perfect for gift-giving so keep your peepers peeled for that announcement. Eeek! I'm excited about these!

And speaking of used, do we have any junker-lovers in the crowd? I know we do. Later this week, I am going to the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, MA with my Sweetie and my family. We go to the May show every year and talk about crazy. So much junk, so many weirdos and of course... fair food. I will share my plunder next post! Wish me luck...

I have found some people/sites that I want to share, to start off, Jason D'Aquino's work is fantastic. Take a look below. Yes, those are matchbooks folks. Jason calls himself a "miniaturist" which I've never heard used to describe an artist's work, but it makes sense. Those little matchbooks have full drawings on them. Fascinating and beautiful stuff here. (This inspired my new project mentioned above, I'm dipping my toe into matchbook art.) He also uses old paper and ledgers and random things to draw on and I think his work is just great.

It's no secret that I love all things Coney Island, so when I stumbled upon Uhuru Design's Coney Island Line, I was in heaven. The line contains 5 or 6 designs made from reclaimed pieces of the actually Coney Island boardwalk and each piece is named after a famous Coney Island landmark. The Cyclone Lounger is picture below. Amazing. I want one of each.

There's a great blog out there called Sci-fi-o-rama for those of you who like science fiction related art, design and randomness like I do. All sorts of great artists I'd never heard of before are featured on this jewel of a blog, as well as horror artists, pinball machine art, it's just amazing, you have to go see for yourself. Allow a few hours...

Let's wrap up with a sci fi movie review while we're on that topic. I'm sure most of you have at least heard of the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There have been several versions made and the 1978 version is the best in my opinion. (And by best, I mean, the least difficult to swallow...) The basic plot involves a gas or pollen or whatnot that comes to Earth from outer space and it mutates, infects the local plants and before you know it, pods are replicating people and the world is ending. The 70's version surpasses the rest on at least three scores: the alien replication is somewhat realistic (if you start from the premise that none of this is realistic), Jeff Goldblum was still somewhat attractive in this flick (pre-Fly), and Donald Sutherland's permanent is glorious. Check it out kids, it rated 4 out of 5 corn cobs on my scale.

Now go back to Wal-Mart and tell them I want a refund on this Ogilvy permanent!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Killer Mime Birds...

Hello Lovelies-

So, much to share, so let's get right to it. First, the business portion of our programming. I have listed a new Cigar, Creeper & Dark piece; Lavinia the Tattooed Woman. She's dark, she's beautiful and she has a voodoo marionette. I mean, does it get any better than that? No, I think not.

For those of you who don't like the dark, I have also listed Birthstone Mini Cards that may be more your style. Mix and match to you heart's content, one for every month; these really are little gems.

I have also started a portrait series of people who fit the Stapelia aesthetic, or people who allow me to get creative with them. This is a personal project, not for the shop. The first subject, Sarah is a real sport and as you can see, I've paired her with a killer mime bird. I'm not sure I mentioned, I'm on Flickr now and that's where I'll post these portraits if you want to follow the set.

And lastly, Stapelia items are now available at Lalo Boutique in Portland, Maine! Original paintings, cards and whatnots. This boutique is a wonderful haven of dark clothing, jewelry, artwork and more. If you're local, stop by and support this Maine Made boutique.

Spring has sprung up here (finally) in the Northeast. After some nutso snow flakes last week(?!), it's hot and beautiful this week, so I decided to get our deck ready for summer. Flowers and sun galore, take a look. Many BBQs will be happening right there folks.

Do you ever see artists whose work literally makes your mouth drop in awe? Literally. Well, 666 Photography is one such example for me. As you can see below, the beauty, the classic inspiration, the execution. I would own every one of these prints and cry if I met this person. That's how much I admire their work. Love. It.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Bright Lights, Dark Tees...

Hello Lovelies!

I hope you are all well. Boy howdy (I've always wanted to say that), do I have a lot to share with you Lovelies. First, you may have noticed that little skull animation over there to the right. Like it? It was my first foray into the world of GIF images. Thought I'd spice things up for you here on the blog.

Also, if you'll notice below that, a link to my first Threadless t-shirt submission entitled Chasing Pirates. I plan to do regular submissions to Threadless to bring some beautiful darkness to the masses (haha) and they will all be posted here if you want to score them. This tee is up for scoring all week, so hop on over and score it really quickly if you have a second. Thank you. Oh, and here are some process shots just for you followers:

What else? Oh! My Dark Playland piece was featured on the front page of Etsy, which is exciting! It's kind of a dark piece for Etsy, and it's great to see it up there. Coming up this week, I will be posting a new Cigar, Creeper & Dark shot (that's really creepy), as well as some new mini cards I'm excited about, so keep an eye out!

Are you all familiar with The Little Friends of Printmaking? I've posted about them here a few times. They are wonderful. The other day, I ordered their 2010 calendar because it was on sale, and any opportunity to get some letter press goodness, I'm there. Well, I got it, and it is wonderful! The artwork? The quality? Look at the imprint depth in these shots I took. I am now a huge fan!

I have found another wonderful design studio I wanted to share. I Love Dust is based out of the UK and even their flash intro is beautiful. I really like the way they mix the old with a new sense of aesthetic, oh, and those circus themed milk cartons? Sigh.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

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...