(Inside A Black Apple)

Cotton Candy Kids

I am extremely excited to announce that we will have an operational cotton candy machine at Friday's opening up at Land!
If the carnival of work isn't enough to tempt any of you locals to come out, maybe pink spun sugar will be!

 
Cotton Candy Boy & Girl      8"x10" each     Gouache on paper

That little fella up there is quite the fan, and the girl's very hair is made of it!

Of course, I love it, too - it's been a favorite treat since my birthdays at the circus and my third-grade days at the roller skating rink. That's why I was determined to find a machine for the opening!

Huzzah!

Three Fellas

There is still so much I haven't shown of "Lost on the Midway", and that's not counting the pieces I'm purposefully keeping under wraps til' the opening (like the title painting/centerpiece). So I clearly have to kick it up a notch with sharing the new work!

Here are three fellas you have yet to meet:

Tom the Barker     11"x14"x1"     Acrylic on canvas

Since the show is named after my favorite Tom Waits song, I thought it was only fitting to include him in the show.

"...I'm lost on the midway
I'm reckless in your eyes
just give me a couple more throws
I'll dare you to dine with
the cross-legged knights
dare me to jump and I will
I'll fall from your grace
but I'll never let go of your hand
I'll never let go of your hand."

 
The Ghost Boy    11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on canvas

And another little albino sweetheart...this time a boy with a dapper sailor shirt and a vermillion pocket square.

Lastly, one of the first pieces I created for this show: 
The Strong Man      8.5"x12"x1"     Acrylic on dimensional vintage plaque

A muscle-man!

Whew! More on Monday, and dolls soon, too.
I hope you had a nice weekend - mostly rain and cozy work here, but I snuck some fun in here and there.

:)

Portrait with Prize Toys

Another piece from the upcoming show...

Portrait with Prize Toys    11"x14"x1"   Acrylic on canvas

This little lady is exceptionally good at knocking over milk bottles and throwing darts, and she has won some very fancy prizes on the carnival's midway.

The little bear-thing is a real treasure of mine. When I bought him at the antique store, the man working there said "This looks like a baby abominable snowman!". That's as good a guess as any - it's truly a what's-it!

Happy Friday to you!

Favorite Movie of 2010, Thus Far

Just a little break from carnival-themed antics, 'cause I've got to shout how fantastic this film is from the rooftops: 

I was feeling really cabin-fever-y yesterday afternoon, so we decided a movie date was in order. We went to see the Banksy film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and it was just what we needed. It's one of the most vivacious, hilarious, clever films I've ever seen, and I was so sad when it was over. It could've been four hours long, and I would've been thrilled! You know that's a good sign.

It features a bunch of street art all-stars, including crazy-adorable Shepard Fairey, in a madcap story about an endearing and obsessive French (erstwhile) documentarian. Twists and turns and huge photocopies plastered on brick walls ensue. There are rumors that it's a giant art project itself (meaning: not strictly a documentary) but even if that's true, it doesn't really detract. It's a beautiful look at an art movement in the making, and eventually, becomes a cheeky commentary on the art world (and market) at large.

Josiah and I agree we'd rate it with King of Kong as one of the elusive popcorn-documentaries (meaning: funny, raucous, and wildly entertaining).
A+!

The Mouse Quartet

The Mouse Quartet      10"x8"x1"     Acrylic on canvas

This little sideshow attraction features a band of extremely talented white mice with extremely tiny instruments. I like to think that they are either a.) trained Gypsy mice or b.) they used to live aboard a ship and entertain the sailors.

This one looks so fantastic in its golden frame I can hardly stand it! I can't wait to share everything all framed up nicely and ready to show.

Now to get to the business at hand this afternoon - to sew some little conjoined twin dollies...

The Twins (formally introduced)

I felt a little bad that I hadn't posted "The Twins" image without the show card info, so here these two rosy-cheeked, linked gals are with official size info, etc.

The Twins      16" x 20" x 1"       Acrylic on canvas

I'm usually hoping for the feeling of a still, enigmatic moment in my work, and this painting captures at least a bit of that feeling. The grip they each have on the other's wrist was very important to me when I was making this - and also important that it remain mysterious. Is it comforting? Gentle? Forceful?
We don't get to know.

I do know I would dearly love to own that red sailor-collared dress.
But with only one neck-opening.

The Fortune Teller

The Fortune Teller    11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on canvas

This fair-haired, mystical lady's cards are taken from a vintage "Gypsy Fortune Teller" deck I own (I think it's a children's set, because of the illustrations, but maybe not).

There is a lot still left to do before the show opens, and other various obligations are always a-knockin' too, so I'm still a busy bear in my studio. Luckily for me, it's back to grey and Wintery here right now, so I don't worry that I'm missing lovely weather out-of-doors. And I love chill and drizzle any old way, so it's just fine with me.

The Illustrated Man

I've realized that there are more boys and fellas in this show than ever before...

Fellas like this dashing bluebearded one:

The Illustrated Man   11"x14"x1"   Acrylic on canvas

 

I love this tattooed man so.
Actually, looking at him now I'm starting to deliberate letting myself keep him to keep me company. Hmmm..well, one can never have too many handsome fellas hanging around.

I should have dolls to share soon! Their tattoos aren't as grand as these, but they're pretty good nonetheless!

The Bear Trainer

Thanks for all the kind words about the new paintings! I'm so pleased that the little mermaid from the last post was so sweetly received.

Here is another smaller piece for Lost on the Midway...a little fella and a family of trained ursine friends:

 

The Bear Trainer    10" x 8" x 1"     Acrylic on canvas

I don't think he uses that candy-striped whip to do harm...I like to think he just snaps it in the air with a flourish, like a lion tamer in the circus.

Happy Wednesday to you!

The Figi Mermaid

By golly, it's warming up in Portland! We've finally stowed away the down comforter and moved on to the cotton quilt, and I'm able to gallivant about without tights for the first time since August. 

But I haven't been doing too much gallivanting (that's what June will be for). I'm in my little bear cave, painting away.

Today I scanned about 10 pieces, so I'll have plenty to share over the next week or two. I've decided that I want to keep a few pieces as a surprise until the show opens, and I'm only going to show the rest of the  pieces sans frames. That way there's a little bit of a "Ta-da!" element when the show actually goes up and is hanging and can be perused both in person and online.

Here's a little lass that's been keeping me company while I work on the rest of the carnival-folk:

 
The Figi Mermaid    11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on canvas

She's a bit less...well, decrepit than the usual Figi Mermaid, and a bit more rosy and vivacious.

 

I wanted this to seem like something in between a sideshow attraction and an old natural history museum diorama, with a little tromp l'oeil effect. At the very least, I'm getting more and more used to painting curtains!

Happy Monday & back with more soon.

The Dog-Faced Boy

The Dog-Faced Boy    8"x10"   Acrylic on canvas

I'm still deciding on the frame for this little fella, so here he is in his simple, unframed state. I'm just in my little closet-studio, painting way...I have lots of pieces finished, but there is still quite a bit I want to have for the show.

A little random, but I ordered a whole bunch of these:

 

for the opening! Hooray!
I've always loved them, plus I find it extremely comforting that their great, iconic packaging hasn't changed since I was little. I'm scheming up other fun things for the opening, too...I'll keep you posted on developments.

The Bearded Lady

Another piece from "Lost on the Midway" - a gentle hirsute beauty.
I'm being slightly lazy and posting the smaller pieces first (since they're easiest to scan and photograph).

The Bearded Lady    8"x10"/13"x16" framed   
Acrylic on canvas in antique frame

Click to enlarge:

  

Happy Monday! I'll be back with more carnival-dwellers soon.

Cymbal Monkey

I've been so hard at work making paintings and things for the June show, I've scarcely had time to scan or photograph any of them!

I'm trying to correct this now, though - starting with this little gentleman monkey:

 

Cymbal Monkey   8"x10"x1"   Acrylic on wooden plaque

We've taken to calling him "Monkey C. Hall", because (we think) he bears the teensiest bit of a resemblance to Mr. David Fisher aka Dexter. I think it's in the eyelashes.

He's really based on my favorite lamp, which is an old 60's rubber-faced monkey wearing striped trousers (I'm sure he's appeared in photos of my living room now and again).

 

I'll be settling in for a weekend of cozy work, but I think we'll go out for a date tonight.  Maybe to the Bébé-movie?  It's getting kind of dud reviews, but methinks cute but boring babies will win over Iron Man 2 (for today, anyway). 

Happy weekend to you!

Crayons and Artifacts

Image Source

I've been increasingly attentive to old primers and school supplies in my old-things hunting of the last year or so. Old handwriting practice-books and learn-to-draw books (hopefully filled with doodlings and scribblings from some little person o' the past) are some of my favorites to look at.

I found these pretty school artifacts from this Etsy shop (which, sadly, is mostly empty right now) for my pal Mandy's Christmas gift last year:

   
  Image Source

My friend Devlin forwarded that beautiful row of crayons image up top to me yesterday, which is taken from this post from the general grab-bag of the strange and wonderful that is Dull Tool Dim Bulb (please note that some with more delicate sensibilities might be a little unnerved or scandalized by some of the entries). This lovely row of boxes hails from the collection of one Diana Korzenik, who donated a formidable collection of artifacts and objects, excerpts from which can be seen in this little catalogue (that I now wish to own) to The Huntington Library (a place I now dearly wish to visit).

For goodness sakes, they've got a 19th Century Children's Book Ilustration exhibit on through July, so maybe I'll get there by then!

Tiny Tattoos

I just got some yardage of teensy tattoo fabric back from Spoonflower. I think it will do nicely for little arms and legs of some illustrated man (and lady!) dolls I'm schemin' up for the carnival show!

It was weirdly hard to gauge just how small to make the illustrations - doll-sized tattoos are tricky things, but hopefully I guestimated pretty well.

I just realized that for the last year, I've been drawing and painting almost every day...usually around 5-10 hours a day. First for ye forthcoming book, and for various little series here and there, and now for the show! That might not seem like a difference, but in the years before, I've mixed it up a lot more with what I was doing/making (sewing personal stuff one day, dolls the next, drawing the next, photographing life more). This focused, workaholic phase is good, but a little exhausting, too. I miss the mish-mash, but it'll probably come back around. Probably just around the bend is another phase of mish-mashery.

Or maybe something entirely new.

:)

Happy Monday, internet-friends!