Happy Halloweenie Weenies!!

Ghouls! Ghouls! Ghouls! (insteadofgirlsgirlsgirls)

It IS upon us. Here's to a very spooky, sugary, spectacularly safe and sound Halloween! In all the years, I dedicate my works to the scrumptiousness of All Hallows Eve, nostalgic, classic, dark, innocent and ENDLESSLY inspirational.




A Ghost and chicken, classic clowning. We had a view finder with the Disney cartoon Mickey Mouse and the Lonesome Ghosts and I would sit for hours with those ghosts. Go look it up on Youtube.



From the book So Good For Little Bunnies - is Be Be rescuing the black birds, or BAKING em in that pie? Whichever it is, it's one of my favorite images from the book.



Just my mind wondering...cats, masks and girls.



The word "Goblin" is imeasurable to me. I didn't know what a Goblin was when I was little, so in the song "Don't you know it's that time of year..." "...there's a Goblin behind that tree..." really stuck in my head.



Red Headed and up to no good! The Making.



Wendi's Punkin loves her so. I use white pumpkins in my work in hopes of peppering Halloween throughout the year.



Two Masks in the fire. Innocent, but weird. Right on.



My Candy Thief: I was always the candy thief in our house, it comes with being the youngest. We used our pillow cases for trick or treating and I'd find my siblings' p. cases and take what I liked best...they must've hated me... I would.



And this one's a Captain!



I hope everyone has the best time and is safe and cheerful tomorrow night! Have a Happy Happy Halloween!!

Homemade Costumes Are The Bestest

This is baby me dressed as Phyllis Diller age 2. Phillis Diller, really? That's how awesome my mom was.

"What should I be, what should I be??" ahh, the excitement and stress of coming up with a Halloween costume. When I was growing up, there was nothing better than getting ready for Halloween. My mom hand-made each of our costumes, so the process was looong and vivid (there's four of us)!

My brother Shad as a Flamenco Dancer, my sister Tifi (top right) as a Dance Hall Girl and me as a Southern Belle (and I still have that same look on my face)

The countless visits to the craft stores like newberries and moss katels(?) searching for sequins, ribbons, feathers, beads and fabrics galore!! The house filled to the brim with all those notions and the big ol' sewing machine in the corner ready to chug away. I can even remember the smell of all those sequins and feathers heated in the warm October weather that burned thru the windows in the kitchen.

Me as Mae West (but I look like Linda Evans)

All the cartoon Halloween shows would be on t.v., like Garfield, Mickey Mouse and Charlie Brown...so so so good. Endless hours of my sister and I sitting in the kitchen drawing haunted houses, ghosts and goblins over and over. At night, we'd turn out the lights and play haunted house, it just seemed like Halloween Time lasted forever and ever!



So guess what I'm gonna be?!?





That's right, Stevie Nicks!! It'll be easy as pie thanks to all the costume jewelry, scarves and shawls my mom hoarded over the years!



What's everyone dressing up as out there??!! I love it, so fun.

Two Days In The Valley

Good times this weekend. Our friend and mentor, Mr. Tim Pulice shows us how it's done Friday night out here in the hills. This is one of the very best guys in all the land, for real. Good friends, good food, good times!



Saturday was spent with the loveliest of lovely people. LOLA had a relaxing "art get-together" at her place out in the black hills of the valley, lotsa fine talent within her walls, drinks AND Halloween candy. Here's two of my favorites, Buff Monster and Daniel Peacock out by the pool yuckin it up.



It was cool, Lola's place is all 60's original decor for the most part, which gave the photos that classic 60's feel. Here's Luke Cheuh, Kim Cheuh, Roman Cho, Lola and me snuggling up for the camera.



Roman plucking the quitar strings was enchanting and weird.



What? Why? This was Lola's idea...



Nothin like some easy listening by the fireplace, eh Mr. Peacock? (This man is like the Unicorn - white, mysterious and totally rad) Great faces, great conversations and great laughs into the wee hours ~ thank you our little Lola girl. All the VERY best to you (and yours) in that completely awesome new pad!!

Sketchy Sketchy Again

It's gettin there. I'm feeling ready.



My desk is mostly a mess.



Sketches getting closer to the real thing, my next solo show in June @ Corey Helford Gallery, Culver City.



Thank you Diane Arbus, for everything.

Happy Friday people.

Halloween's Got A Hold On Me

Oh October, why are you so wonderful? Here's my latest piece I'd put together, I thought I should show it before October's thru! It's titled "The Making", acrylic and ink on wood panel. It was so fun to do, obviously, because it's got quite a bit of the Halloween Creep. These two red headed ghouls are out in the midnight air (in panties and boots!) brewing up some wicked treats! The pumpkin serves as their brewing pot over their candy fire, but he's got a little secret (as I feel all pumpkins do)...look at his quiet smile. What's going on in there?



For this piece I was really inspired by those classic colors and imagery from vintage Halloween cards and what not. I can't get enough, ever since I was little...I just love. Normally my Halloween inspired pieces have been in minimal color, traditional orange, black and creme, so it was super fun to work in full nostalgic colors on this one! I really enjoyed making the pumpkin, layer upon layer, reds, oranges, browns. I think I love you...



Speaking of orange black and creme, for all you Halloweenies that haven't ordered your Something Wicked print yet, times a runnin thin! There's a few available prints yet, but not for long! Can you believe we only have two more weeks?!

Hoo Wee!!

Dang, it's been a while since my last post! I've been super busy, I went on vacation for a week to celebrate my anniversary too, and now I'm trying to drag myself back into normal life. Let's see here...


First, I wanted to show you this picture from Baby Tattooville, captured by the very talented, very sweet Phillip Warner of Lithium Picnic. You can find more of his talents HERE!! I love this photo, lookit Miss Mindy, how adorable can she be?



Speaking of MM, she and I met up in Uptown Whittier for a few laughs and a few more hijinks! Deliciousness is her middle name, and she left me a delicious hand-made, hand-dipped Miss Mindy lollipop! We played with masks and ate salads and fries (my most classic meal of all time). She's such a joy to be around, I swear, she is just "that girl". Lovey.



Then my sister left this big box of Fall Wonders on my doorstep...it was chalk-full of Halloween delights - hand-sewn satchels of candy, pumpkin spiced candles, fall fabrics, Halloween knee socks, THE WORKS!! She's unbelievable, she's SO nice and thoughtful, when I asked why she did it, she said cuz she was reading my blog and knew how excited I was for Halloween! Jimmeny Christmas, I love my sissy!



Did I mention she MADE me a dress? Well, she fixed me a dress, the top is from a vintage polyester dress I had bot years ago - she put a new bottom on that's NOT polyester and stiff and itchy! It's a wonder there's someone out there like this girl, and I get to call her my sister...



And Pumpkin Patches are springing up everywhere - I'm so happy! The Farmer Boys that used to be by our place is gone, now it's a Walgreens...it was the most supreme Pumpkin Patch ever, small and cute and perfect! I hate you Walgreens.



Yep.



Then it was onto our trip!! We went to Maui this time around and it was a freakin blast ~ gone for a whole week, no work, no internet, no worries!! For our Honeymoon, we went to the Big Island, which was kind of a mistake. It's not as lush and full of life as Maui, even the locals laughed at us and asked why we didn't go to Maui!! I think that says a lot...



Me with the ladies from the Luau, I had to do it! This was after I had a whole cup of beer spilled on me at the tables, what did I do to deserve that?!



Aunty Panties?



This is for reals, yo. So many flowers and greenery, huge butterflies and birds just hangin out, ready to eat everything. Our hotel was unbelievably gorgeous, we pretty much stayed there most of the time. They had a beach, a pool, what else did we need? We did however take the road to Hana like EVERYONE SAYS "YOU HAVE TO DO IT", lemme just tell you ~ BUNK. It stunk. Don't do it.



We took so many pictures, too many to post. We went swimming every night at sunset, when there was NO ONE in the pool but us! We're selfish that way. I have always had a large fear of swimming, since I was wee, but with this trip I made some huge efforts.



The last night in Hawaii, so sad and lovely. That morning tho, wasn't so lovely...I found a HUUUUUUUGE UGLY SPIDER/TERRANTULA (??) on our balcony overhang!!! It was huge and ugly and stuck there dying I think. I FREAKED!! His legs were so long and squiggly, not all elbowy and spider-like, but squiggly, like a Travis Lampe painting!! That didn't make it any less horrific tho, and I seriously had to take breaks from flipping out so much so that my heart wouldn't explode... Richard got a hanger and flicked it off into oblivion, but my paranoia kept me awake all night in fear. I got bit by bugs that last day too, so that added to the creepiness of the restless night!



I got home and what to my wondering eyes should appear?? I found this issue (number 5) of My Name Is Magazine on my doorstep! (My doorstep has seen some pretty great days of late!) It includes an awesome 17 page feature of my work inside (and a HUGE photo of me? ~yikes!).



My Name Is magazine is from the UK, and when they say "magazine" they really mean "hard bound book". It's wonderfully odd, not magazinish at all, but cool and exquisitely handled. I'm so happy with the layout and the article, it's not even funny.



They had asked me for a BUNCH of images, and then they asked for more! 17 pages (big pages!) is a lot to fill, but they filled it nicely!



You can find out more HERE on the magazine and subscriptions. They really do a great job.

Now to get back to painting, I'm ready to go!!