This weekend was one of the best.

Let me run down briefly what happened.
- Horror Hound Indianapolis, with huge guests, such as CLIVE BARKER, George Romero, Elvira, Doug Bradley... and then some. Also, this was the largest gathering EVER of Horror hosts - somewhere between 70 and 80 were there - blowing the previous record of about 30 something out of the sky - I never realized horror-hosting was such a big deal! It made the event even more interesting and exciting.

I think this is the first time I've actually attended a convention the full time as purely a fan. Sure, some great promo happened, and I gave away some magnets - but I just let loose and was able to enjoy the whole thing.
To understand the entire situation ~ My mother is a huge fan of Clive Barker but could not be there much to her dismay! (recovering from being ill) I promised I would tell Clive and Doug about her/give them her card with her art images on it. I am also a huge fan of Clive Barker (especially) and was determined to see him.

-Friday - we do a bit of shopping, and meet some cool people. When people were packing up, we saw Doug Bradley quickly and I showed him a printout of a drawing I had done for mother as a get well card, including pinhead reminding her of her 'appointment' at horrorhound... and he signed it with best wishes - so sweet and unexpected! D gets to catch up with Ron Fitzgerald (magician) and I find fascination with Menten's mind and art. Huzzah!

Check out Menton's deviantart

- Saturday we get here at 8:30 am to stand in line for tickets to an early uncut version of Clive Barker's Nightbreed, just recently found and compiled from lost archives. 9:10 we get in line for Clive Barker - (even thought he's not supposed to be there until 12:00) - I bought my travel watercolors/pens - and did some art while waiting. that day (and the day before) he wasn't feeling well, and so he was going a bit slow - and due to (what I think was recent throat surgery?) he had no voice - only strained whispers - But he was genuinely smiling and we had the sense that he desperately wanted to meet as many fans as possible - we finally get to see him just before 2:00, and the nearly 5 hour wait was worth it. I quickly told him about mother and her art, my art and our deep appreciation of his work, and I gave him some items (cards and magnets, and 2 photos of some pieces that were almost directly inspired by one of his books of blood stories) He gave D and I kisses on the cheek and we got a very clear picture.

Later was a Q and A session with Clive and some people involved with his movies - Doug Bradley, Ashley Lawrence, Simon Bamford .... despite the weak voice, Clive carried on and had some wonderful things to say about the industry and some of todays problems (the big publishers are not readers, only businessmen these days) - I was moved to tears! I wanted to contribute to the conversation but it never got to me. - So I say it here!
*If you create intense work, raw, and/or unsafe for general consumption - do not be convinced to dull it down to fit in with the masses, do not become complacent - persevere and charge forth with your vision - be prepared to starve for your art, be prepared to go through alternate channels, be prepared for heavy critique - but be confident and let it be seen - show public what truth and real art is, dont let the big companies decide what everyone consumes. This applies to all creators.
~ Carrying on - the Nightbreed screening was 2.5 hours, it was raw, no score and was an early version - so its missing a lot, but it also includes a lot more footage of Boone, Decker and the Sheriff - The end is different, and for heavy fans, this brought some new insight into the film and the ideas - I am glad I watched the whole thing!
Lastly - we would have gotten back into the vendor room, but it was at MAX CAPACITY, with threats from the fire marshall, - so we decided to explore the mask room (and saw some more awesome things, people and artists - particularly love Daniel Horne's art) - if they keep bringing in so many awesome events and names, this convention needs to expand!

-Sunday. Noon - there was a Vampira Tribute event, with a procession of all the horror movie hosts (again, bringing me to tears - it was so serious, dark music, good lighting...) - Ron Fitzgerald did a bit of magic and resurrected 'Vampira' - and much screaming was had!
Later we got back into the vendor room, finishes our shopping had more conversation with the people we wanted to see. This was truly a weekend to remember - Now I am rejuvenated creatively and I am inspired to do some real art!

See more pictures at my facebook.
only add me if you really want to know how my my brain tastes.

Last Night's Dream:
how come, when I need to kill a bad guy in a dream, I always get the DULL WEAPON. Last night it was an old shovel. (about the size of a broom) I was able to stab quite well but severing the head was quite difficult, and I swear one of the bad guys was a zombie, because he just wouldn't stop! Sorry about the gore, but they were trying to kidnap damnit. They were going to drug me and use my plasma in an art project.

METAL:
A day or so ago, D and I watched 'Decline of Western Civilization, part 2: Metal' . It was great. It inspired me to listen to 'classical metal' on my last.fm 'tag radio' in the studio yesterday. The station stayed pretty consistent surprisingly.

ART:
Speaking of the studio, I created a work that I whole-heartedly enjoyed. After this, I realized why I get sometimes get fed up with some of my works that come directly from intuition.


"Immortal Ideas of a Dead Poet.
7.25" x 8" oil on wood

I was reading some Lord Byron, and after reading one of his poems about the idea of transforming a skull into a wine glass, the idea that it is better to replace your dead brain with wine rather than your skull being wasted on fodder for worms - perhaps some transference of wit or ideas would spring forth from drinking from it.
The idea of things growing from a skull carries the same idea for me, so I thought Byron might like to have inspired me to paint this.

The day before, I had done another face with branches - just a drawing - I'll upload that as soon as I get it scanned in.

Big Trouble in Little China
"This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there."
This movie has been in my head lately. (again) After posting this quote on FB, I realized I'm not alone in this love. I was Joyfully buried in a plethora of quotes from the movie.

Getting OUTSIDE!!

ART! and OUTSIDE!
The sun spoke to me! The cold is going away. I've twice gone outside to draw!
One day I finally (FINALLY) stopped along fall creek road. I grabbed initiative by the horns and actually did what I've been wanting to do rather than just drive to my destination.
I parked at the fairgrounds and walked across the street to the river, and a bridge crossing it. I took nothing but my sketchbook and some drawing untencils. (and ID of course, so they can identify my body when I find toxic waste and turn into a slobbering creature) - I doodled some trees, and then I found the glory of glories! A PILE OF JUNK by an abandoned building of sorts! *SQUEE!* I sat down on the dirty concrete surrounding and proceeded to draw this pile 'o junk in a traditional maner. This lasted about 20 minutes, as I had no chair and my knees were threatening me with persnickityness. But, satisfied with my exploration for the day, I continued onward to the studio at the Stutz. I believe this was Monday.

WEDNESDAY I was up early, and rather than say on the internet until I had to work at 1:00, I said "SCREW YOU INTERNET!" and took off to enjoy the day again! This time I went to Biglots first and bought a cloth fold-out chair that comes in a bag. ARMED with a handy dandy fold-out chair and Watercolors, I went to broadripple park, recycled a bag of cans, and then saundered off to find a neat tree. I didn't have to travel far. I set up my chair, arranged my paper water and colors just so, and DREW the tree. I named the tree Norman. I now have an intimate understanding of Norman's branches and knotholes.


This was about an hour. I still had time for lunch - so I left for work early - got eggrolls across the street, and then used my new CHAIR again - there is a pond next to my work, so I took my eggrolls and my chair and sat by the pond. It was overcast and chilly, but it wasn't cold and I wanted to enjoy the weather as much as possible despite the wind trying to steal my hot and sour sauce.

:)

Today? Catching up on grading homework for one of the 2 art appreciation classes.

Now back to my overly ambitious art plans. I started working on a publication idea involving dark, dreamy, bizarre things. I need to get other people involved.

Inspirations as of late: Baroque cathedrals, "Something Wicked this way comes" movie (which I have never seen before), "The 7 faces of Dr. Lao" movie (Which I have seen before but was spreading the joy), cheetos, minesweeper, shanghai and a weird mindjolt game called "Glow Cut".

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Just for fun, here is a sketchbook page.

Who am I? BIG ART DAY yesterday

Yesterday was a busy art day.
I had a casual open studio at the Stutz from 1:00 - 5:00pm, but at 5, there was an official 'open studio' show called "One Flight Up" for our section of the Stutz building - I am getting much better at the meeting and greeting people part of this business. Many awesome people showed up, we shared ideas and updates and potential projects in the works. (Thank you to everyone that showed up!)
I sold a few magnets, and a small work. (Thank goodness for internet connection in my studio and paypal, and friends who like my stuff.)

During the day I also got some advice about what other kinds of art to explore. I know the kind of work I do has a very limited audience. If I want my 'art' to be my career, I have to be willing to expand my practice, and create other bodies of work that are more... 'appealing' . This doesn't mean I'm going to CHANGE myself or my work, or that my work will become boring, standard, etc. But, I'm willing to explore parts of my art that may be somewhat safer for general consumption. I also like doing 'safe' work - such as landscapes, still lives, etc - and I've been wanting to do some of these things anyway as practice. Perhaps even exploring a more abstract side to myself, or doing surreal work involving trees that is more... LIGHT-HEARTED, rather than dark, creepy and disturbing.

Yes, I often question who I am - I do not have a specific direction in my work - but I do have obsession, drive and excitement about the act of creating art.

Anyway, I got a chance to explore abstract last night. At 9:00 pm, I packed up some supplies from the studio, and headed over to a restaurant in town called the Taste of Tango - upstairs is their lounge, and last night it was being used for a techno event. I had been invited to do a live painting! This is my first experience doing an official 'live' painting - to loud rhythmic music played by DJs. I stayed till 2:00. I think I survived the day on a can of rockstar and parmesan goldfish crackers.

I was using a 2.5' x 2.5' canvas (30" x 30"), acrylics, brushes and rags. I used my french easel to hold it. Dave was there too. The atmosphere was excellent - not too crowded, not too wild - just a place to get into the GROOVE. The lights were dim, I couldn't quite tell what my colors were doing, but I lost myself in the music - I got carried away on the sounds, and I let my brushes release my dreams and emotions.

"Alpha Romeo Tango"

Hopefully I will be doing more live painting soon.
I plan on visiting more events with my easel in tow... invitation or not, its time to paint. (I also need more paints and surfaces on which to paint... time to sell my soul for art supplies)

I really need to start creating a larger body of work (of everything) for the Stutz open house in April. I did 2 small abstract/tree mixed media works tonight (5" x 7")

And I keep questioning myself. Who am I? Does this question matter? Am I betraying myself to do Non-dark and creepy work? Inner dialogue can be quite confusing and exhausting. Time for bed.
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INSPIRATIONS

I cannot forget to at least briefly mention - I have rediscovered an old childhood movie I had not thought about in ages.
I saw an actor on tv that made me think of this movie - I was sent on an internet search for hours trying to find said movie - turns out that none of the actors I thought were in it actually were (making it harder to find) and that I was combining said movie with its own sequel. These are "Mr. Boogedy" and "Bride of Boogedy!" During the daytime open studio, I finished watching these on youtube. What a blast!

Also inspired by a lot of other internet videos recently. Time lapse mushroom growth, time lapse creation of a group painting, and many artists. Last week it was the Northern Renaissance artists. Gotta love teaching art history!