Stoking the fire!

Wow! Thank you, my dearies, for your inspiring and teasing posts!!! I've been a bit down on the tour lately as I'm hitting too many "too busy, maybe next year" brick walls from invited artists... But seeing your posts stirs up the fire under this old cauldron and renews my spirit.

A collector wrote "Here in Pennsylvania we have lost almost all the bats in this area to the dreaded white nose fungus disease, so your Halloween tour is one event which is very dear to my heart." That too reminded me why we're all involved in this event: to help the bats both with our donations to work towards an end to White Nose Syndrome but also to share our love and fascination for these often misunderstood creatures. Here's to saving the bats!

Day of the Dead Skull - Work in progress...

I don't know about all of you, but I'm getting really excited about this Hallowe'en season!! Last year I got so inspired by Dias de los Muertos or 'Day of the Dead' artwork - especially the skulls! Only I was inspired a little too late to have a related piece ready for the tour.
But not this year! I hope to have a skull or two finished for this season.

So far this one is just a work-in-progress and I can't wait to get to the embellishment part!
Well, my skull doesn't have much to say - with no mouth at all, just yet! But, personally, I would like to say thank-you to Karen for all her hard work organizing the Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat Tour every year, in support of bats!!

a Boooooo Book

Hi everyone -- I had this Boo Book last season - it was a blast to make! Something other than a teddy bear and quite refreshing! I think maybe there might be another in the cooker for this year -- maybeeeee

The demon of creativity

I came home, ate, and went to the studio, drew out the head pattern that had been stewing in my brain and cut it out. Sewed it together, added horns I'd made earlier, yellow "cat" eyes and here's the beginning of my demon...

Certainly more sweet than sinister! Where does he go from here? I don't know either! We'll find out soon!!

How to Haunt your Home!

Even I have to admit it's a bit hard to get totally into the Hallowe'en spirit while watching my roses open, eating strawberries ripened by the sun and hearing the grass singing in the summer rain! But here is the poster for the Hallowe'en program I'll be giving this October at the Stratford Public Library! (Thanks again to Cathy who thought to add a little ghost to the Library's logo!)

Yes, I had to set a minimum age of 12 years, as I'll be demonstrating things that require bending wire, using knives and using spray paint! Yippy! And almost everything will be included in the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat, of course, and I'll be letting all attendees know!

Happy Solstice!

Enjoy the longest day of the year and then... dance in the moonlight, or (if you're up around where I am), dance in the midnight thunderstorm!

(picture from "The Witch's Spell" by Sandy Nightingale)

FaeryFest!

This past weekend was FaeryFest, an annual faery event that always takes place the weekend before Solstice. Not only did I get to see Tammi Beaulieu's latest dragons and masks (and proudly displaying our Hallowe'en tour poster and bookmarks!), but I scouted and found two artists I invited to join the Hallowe'en tour!

I've wanted Heather Bruton to join us from the start, I love her work and have 4 pieces. The latest is this handsome dead fellow, Bobby Shaftoe, from a poem that I'll have to look up! Heather does the most beautiful dragon birds but is this piece she put a "dark twist" on this poem and brought Bobby up from the dead depths to reunite with his true love! Yicks! I hope we can entice you to join the tour this year, Heather!

Stories sold me on both of these art works, for it was only when I heard this piece was called "Hope" did I fall under its spell. Artist Jackie Cooper doesn't have a website but you can find her as "Curious Concepts" on (evil) Facebook. If you look closely, you'll see tiny green leaves emerging in this stark scene and I was touched by the hope captured in this miniature reproduction of a full-sized painting. Thank you, Jackie, will we get you on the tour?

If you were at FaeryFest, Jackie had the best costume, a stunning dark faery from head to toe!

Sneak peek... EEK!

I am so pleased to be a part of the Trick or Treat Tour this year. I am already starting on pieces just for the tour and I thought I would give you wee a sneak peek! 

Haunted Hugs! 

Melanie

An early treat!

When I saw these cupcakes, I nearly kicked myself: why didn't I think of that?! So here's an early preview (of the sort of thing that gets shared in the witchs' brew section of the online tour) to get your creative juices running: remember it doesn't have to be complicated to be brilliant! Jack Skellington cupcakes, simply gorgeous and oh so elegant! From http://www.kempenfeltcakes.com/Cupcakes.html "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is an obvious favorite of mine, how about you?

Also another idea: any animal cookie becomes a Hallowe'en treat by icing on the animal's skeleton! Brilliant! (The idea is from http://family.go.com/disney/pkg-disney-recipes/)