Halloween exhibition!

I'm very excited to be showing some of my prints at the Village of the Damned Horror Film Festival in Auchmithie, Scotland this weekend. The programme of films looks brilliant, shame I'm 500 miles away and won't get to see any! :-(

But never mind, we have a spooktacular Halloween weekend lined up! Here is our pumpkin. He turned out a bit too nice and friendly looking. I might have to make him an evil twin...

New press!

Yay, my shiny new press has arrived! It's a present from Jamie for my 30th birthday last month but it took a while to find the right one. It's made by a company called Baker Fabrication, and you can buy it here.  Looking forward to trying it out soon!

Monstrous Mop of the week

Phil Spector is most well known for his habit for locking women in cupboards, threatening celebrities with guns and lastly, doing something with music once.
In 2009 a Jury convicted Phil Spector and sent him down! A horrified public looked on, believing the sentence to be for murder in the first degree.
I can now exclusively confirm that he is actually serving 19 years in prison for his wide variety of monstrous  mops!


Brandishing over 400 'funky weaves'. Here we remember the best of them:        

Der Struwwelpeter 

Rolling Stoned

70's Cop - You're Nicked! 

Michael Banilow

Dance away..

my latest print! inspired by this legend

Midnight & First Aid

 

 I have just done a small reprint of my 'Midnight' lino print, and put one in my etsy shop. I am currently working on some exciting new linos which I hope to print up soon! 

In other news I have spent the last two days on an industrial estate doing a first aid refresher course. My brain is very tired but at least I now know how to roll people around if they go unconscious.

Sketch book extracts

Surrealist 'ART' Tree

My latest design shows a Surrealist print of a tree which is growing in the shape of a mans head. 


This one is sold and I feel sad,  there is now an empty space where 'Art' once sat... .(I call it ' ART' as I think it looks a bit like Art Garfunkel) see what you think:  

Sea forest

New print!

On the track of Unknown Animals

One of my favourite and most precious books is 'On the Track of Unknown Animals' by Bernard Heuvelmans. I say it's one of my favourite books, but I haven't actually finished reading it yet, I just love the pictures. It's been sitting on my shelf for years and I have flicked through it and read sections but I am only now reading it cover to cover.

I thought I would scan in some of the pictures:

 Giant forest hog

Aw, friends!

Confusing face beast

scaly boots!

 hmm, apparently a Tatzelwurm

I prefer this version!

Terrifying!

Marvel ladies dress war: (work in progress part 2)

Here is my finished design for my next glass comic tumbler:

I think we have all been there - you are in a shop,  looking at a pair of shoes perhaps or a last bottle of shampoo and jut before you reach for it - some rude, undeserving person smashes their way in, finding it instantly desirable, then takes it (just because you were looking at it or wanted it).

Later, after the outrage,  I console myself saying it would look better on me or that they were too fat for it and I feel much better.

ADVICE: If there's something in a shop you really like, pretend you're not bothered about it. If you feel hot lazer eyes on your 'would be item', turn away from it and look at something else instead. They should loose interest and leave (hopefully).

The design above was created by a collage & redesign of the below vintage comics and vintage items:
The design will be in my Etsy shop over the weekend.

Maria

Work in progress: "What were they thinking?''

Fresh from making films - for my new project I am producing a run of comic tumblers influenced by Roy Litchenstein.

The tumblers will depict superhero's in awkward positions, or betray what certain characters really think of each other....


For example, I have ofter wondered  does Wonder Woman ever get bored of wearing that same costume? Or does anyone actually like Robin the Boy Wonder?

 Work in Progress: 


Step 1 is complete: Three bottles ready scored &cut
( There were some casualties along the way, but my technique is improving)

Step 2: All sanded .....










Step 3: Time to design a graphic......

No Sex please. I'm English! Green velvet

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife....She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me!"


Guess who's next on my music video hit list! 


M

INVASION - A homage to 50's alien invasion films

'People, by the 50s, had lost their optimistic confidence in the ability of science to fulfill all the dreams of mankind; instead, you saw science about to fulfill all the nightmares of mankind. The prospect of nuclear war . . . was hours away." - J.G. Ballard

I admit have been neglecting my Etsy shop recently, but only because I have been making short films which are inspired by bits of music. This one is edited to 'Invasion' by Desired State.

Maria

drawings

 I made a print based on this one

 This is meant to be Bryan Ferry with the bird from the Avalon video.

Rush Hour - A short film

Fleur

cut cut cut!

The result of a nice evening of lino cutting and listening to music. This print is going to be a lady with a big dress and a fleur-de-lis shaped hair style. I will cut a fancy border for it another day.

a work in progress

 

This is my first attempt to print this lino- I made a few copies so I might make a some minor changes and print it again and then see which version I like best. Have run out of paper so this is on hold til pay day now!

Afternoon-mare

Some photos from my current project. Like a nightmare, but in the afternoon.

Haunted paintings

Certain portraits have eyes that seem to follow you around the room, but thankfully, that's usually the limit of their creepy behaviour; there aren’t many that will take the trouble to leave their frames...

 

For a long time (possibly since watching Ghostbusters 2!) I’ve been fascinated by the idea of paintings that take on a life of their own. Just to be clear, I am very sceptical about the idea that a painting could actually be cursed or haunted, but it’s a fascinating idea and makes for some great stories and urban legends.

 

“The Hands Resist him” 

 image from www.surfingtheapocalypse.com

This painting was listed on eBay in 2000 with a description that claimed that the two figures would move about during the night, and that they would sometimes even leave the painting. Included with the listing were photographs that apparently depicted an incident in which the female doll figure had held a gun to the figure of the young boy. (If you look closely at the painting you can see that the ‘gun’ could be a combination of the window frame behind the doll and the small object she is holding- a dry cell battery and a tangle of wires according to the artist)

 

News of the ‘haunted’ painting spread quickly around the Internet and there were reports of people fainting or becoming ill, and children screaming upon viewing it. I can understand why children would find the painting scary, it’s exactly the kind of thing I would have been terrified of a child. There is something very unsettling about those dark hollow eyes...

 

The artist Bill Stoneham, later added his own contribution, stating on his website that “Both the owner of the Gallery where 'Hands' was displayed and the Los Angeles Times art critic who reviewed my show were dead within a year of the show.”

 

Sources & further reading

http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/unexplained/2002/haunted_painting/ebay_haunted_painting_01.shtml

http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.com/haunted_painting.html

http://www.stonehamstudios.com/haunted.html

 

“The crying boy”

image from www.cryingboyfanclub.nl

This legend isn’t actually about a single painting but a mass-produced print of a painting by Spanish painter Bruno Amadio (also known as Giovanni Bragolin). There are several versions, all depicting a tearful child and all apparently cursed.

 

In 1985 the Sun newspaper reported that a fireman from Rotherham had claimed there had been several instances of house fires where the crying boy print was left undamaged despite everything around it having been completely destroyed.

 

You can read the story here: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/1308/the_curse_of_the_crying_boy.html

 

“The Anguished Man”

 

I'm not quite sure what to say about this, apart from I wouldn't have this painting in my house... http://www.perception9.com/ghosts-and-hauntings/ghost-experience.php?article=A%20Haunted%20Painting&item=00000180

EQ - Void of xstacy (darkman / night of the living dead mix)

I love horror and I love movies so I have edited a music video to a darkcore 'horror' soundtrack.

Hope you enjoy it!

M

Vintage pics New York City!

Here are some great pictures of New York.

Click here for more on NY architecture & buildings at Skyscraper city.