Happy Winter Solstice!

Gruss von Krampusnacht!

Hope everyone was a good little ghoul or boil this year!

KRAMPUS - original painting by Ethan Blackhttps://www.facebook.com/ethanblack1313

Would hate to think that you'd be getting a visit - and a whipping! - from Krampus...

2015 Monsters & Merriment show in Nashville

Coffin or Casket? ...

What are the differences, you ask?


A casket is generally a four-sided burial box, most commonly in use these days.



A coffin is the type of funerary box that has six sides to it. Think of what they used in old fashioned Victorian or Old West burials, and you get the idea. 

This type is also called a "toe pincher," as the shape is narrower down toward where the feet would go. 

My dear Hubby spends a good deal of time in his workshop during the warmer weather, creating all sorts of interesting wooden & metal items for Halloween. He whipped up a whole bunch of mini scale-sized (18" x 6" x 3") toe pincher coffins that we sold at "Monsters & Merriment." People used them to put candy in, or bottles of wine, dolls (they fit a regular sized "Barbie" perfectly) or autumn foliage displays. 

They're all hand-made from repurposed wood (mostly pine and/or cedar) with metal hinges that he created from hand as well. 

Each is unique, with characteristics of the wood they are created from. Some have big piney knotholes, including one with a heart-shaped knot hole on the lid. And one of the black ones has a hand-sculpted skull that he created, festooned on the lid.

We keep a few around the house year-round, and any time we have company over who have never been to our "Halloween 24/7/365" home, they always ask where we got those cool coffins from!

They are available on my Etsy store, for only $25 each plus shipping.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MacabreWebs

Our dear friend, the illustrious Nashville TV horror host "Dr. Gangrene," just featured one of the coffins on his YouTube channel giveaways a few days ago. You can see it here:

DR. GANGRENE'S THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAY 

(contest closed)

Halloween in Salem! ...

I am beyond tired! What a fantastic time though, getting to spend All Hallow's Eve in Witch City - Salem, Massachusetts - one of the oldest colonial port cities in America with my beloved hubby Mark, and two of our best friends, Abigail and Ethan (my partners in all things fun, including Monsters & Merriment).

I have a ton of photos (over 2000!) that I'm still downloading and attempting to sort out. Gonna take me a while for sure, but for now, here is one pic of Mark as Pumpkin Head and me as, well, *me* in the town square the day before Halloween, in front of the "Bewitched" statue.

We also spent time in Sleepy Hollow. Wow, what a beautiful place that is!

I'll be back ASAP - hopefully later this week - meanwhile, need to tackle the mountain of dirty laundry that accumulated over the course of our 3200 mile road trip... and get rested! We both were operating under a rather crazed schedule, and with it a lack of sleep. Catch y'all later.... zzzzzzzz.....

Swirling leaves and crisp night air...

May your Autumn be filled with love and laughter... Happy Halloween!

"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream..."

Passed from this realm on this day in October, 1849.

"The wind outside nested in each tree....

... and prowled the sidewalks in invisible treads like unseen cats......

....anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night... 

... and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallow's Eve ....

... everything seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet... 

... smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys like the plumes of funeral parades ....

... from kitchen windows drifted two pumpkin smells: gourds being cut, pies being baked."

- Ray Bradbury,

  The Halloween Tree

"Halloween Girl" by Dan Brereton

Happy Autumn Equinox, everybody ...

As I peek outside and notice the changes...

... I feel my heart beginning to come to life once again.

Thank you for your Kindnesses...

I am beyond tired and still quite addled-brained from this weekend's amazing turnout at the second Monsters & Merriment show. Wow... that was a lot of work. Fun, but busy busy busy and nonstop since last Thursday. 

Whew! We are pooped!

I 'll say that I perhaps earned the right to be lazy;  therefore, will cut & paste (taken from Facebook) my love and gratitude to everyone who was involved below.

I am also amazed at the fact that I saw nearly everything I created this year (and some things in previous years) were sold, and went to the loving collections of new owners. Holy smokes, I feel like a mother bird who kicked her fledglings out of the nest and am now feeing separation anxiety! Artists everywhere, I'm sure you'll agree with that - you get rather attached to your creations and feel rather sad when they go. But, hey, that's what photographs are for, right?

Okay, kiddos. I need to catch up on sleep. And then I plan on taking at least a full month off to do other things (it will be Halloween month after all, with LOTS of fun activities!)... yet I know I'll get the itch to start created again soon enough.

Thank you again, everybody. You are all wonderful and I love you!

It's only one month away! -

The gang is rarin' to see you there! 

Winged Heart box

WIP:
Hand-sculpted polymer clay heart (also with black, leathery, creature-like wings) atop a very weathered, vintage-looking distressed hinged wooden heart-shaped box with metal clasp.  

This is my tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, one of my favorite American poets.

I admit to loving the color scheme I used - I think the antique-looking colors and rough sides (with faux blood in red-red-red) are a definite departure from my usual color palette.

Poe quote

This and many other goodies will be ready in time for Monsters & Merriment in September.

(I put my Etsy shop on temporary "vacation mode" in order to have time to concentrate on finishing up many of the projects I initiated earlier this spring. I will of course reopen my shop after the show is over - provided I have anything left to list!)

Halloween comes early - mark your calendars - it's on!

I am pleased THRILLED to announce ...

Amazing artwork by Ethan Black

Saturday September 17th at the world-famous Fontanel Mansion in Nashville, TN

Stay tuned ... more exciting details to be revealed in the days to come ...

monstersandmerriment.com

Introducing: Seemore, the Grave Digger

Meet Seemore!

Seemore helps run the family business - that being, the grave digging business, of course.

Lately though, it seems that business isn't paying as well as it did back in the day, when it took a man's sheer brute strength to dig a proper grave by hand and shovel. Nowadays, they use fancy-shmancy machines and equipment.

That means, a man must surely scramble to make a living - somehow!

The "somehow" is his ongoing late-night forays into the local cemetery, searching for spare body parts, such as brains. (It's not like the dead need them any more, right?)

These things are then sold to the medical colleges, doctors and evil scientists - just like his infamous older brother Eyegore did with his boss, a certain Dr. Fronkensteen!

Here, Seemore proudly presents a hard night's work: a recently procured mass of fresh grey matter served up on a plate.

Seemore is completely hand-made, a one-of-a-kind original sculpture, created by me.

His head, hands and shoes are made from Sculpy (polymer clay), and painted in ghoulishly delightful shades. 

His goo-goo-googly eyeballs and jagged teeth glow in the dark, too - a MacabreWebs trademark!

His body is a medium-sized river rock, with steady legs and arms of wrapped wooden dowels, tightly covered in heavy-duty cotton yarn (black, of course).

Seemore grasps a wooden stick which holds aloft a polymer clay brain, resting on a platter of heavy painted cardboard. Looks yummy, doesn't it?

His fine graveyard apparel is completely hand-sewn, comprised of various cotton materials, and then topped with a well-worn and quite decrepit black cotton jersey cape, which is affixed to his broad shoulders and hump.

That's right! Just like his elder sibling, Seemore also has that delightful family-inherited hump on his back.

"What hump?" he asks.

Seemore himself is approximately five full inches (5") tall.

He is mounted upon a 6" X 4" plank of wood, which I've painted in a flurry of deep colors (blood red and midnight black being the most prevalent). 

Needless to say, this fine chap would show splendidly upon a shelf, among a treasured Halloween collection. However, Seemore is NOT a child's toy!

Seemore will be on display at this year's Monsters & Merriment Halloween Art Show, and available for sale at that time. Please stop by my booth and meet him (and me, if you dare!).

http://www.monstersandmerriment.com

Works in progress and one heckuva HEATWAVE!

Summer, is that you scorching the landscape? Whew! Not my favorite time of year. Hotter than the hinges of Hades I tell ya! Of course I'm hidden away in the cool cave of MacabreWebs Studios, where the air conditioning has been cranked up to "Arctic" as I work on several WIPs, including this monstrous li'l charmer. 

His head and hands are done, just waiting for assembly onto a willing body.
Anyone have a spare torso?

Happy Birthday, Vincent Price ...

Vincent Price: May 27, 1911 - October 25, 1993

A true class act like no other.
Vincent Price was so much more than merely an actor known for his roles in a plethora of scary films. A best-selling author, radio talent and voice actor as well as a world-renown art collector, the man was talented beyond compare among his contemporaries, cultured and well-educated like few others. We shall never see the likes of him again. 

He was, without a doubt, my favorite actor. 

Now, I have a true Vincent Price story I'd like to share:

Back in the early 1990s, I was working for a publisher in the heart of West Hollywood, on Santa Monica Boulevard. Each day during my lunch hour, I'd go outside and walk around for a bit, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, as well as the fantastic architecture of the older buildings that WeHo is known for.

Directly next door to the building where I worked was a little market called Mayfair. Occasionally I'd go in there to pick up something to snack on. So this one day in particular - I remember it vividly - was one of those spectacularly sunny, breezy, dry and hot late October days. Just a couple days before Halloween in 1992, to be precise. It felt wondrous to be outside in that weather, away from the confines of the office. 

I stopped in to Mayfair to grab a bite to eat. Now let me preface this by informing the reader that I was one of those people who always carried a small camera in my purse. Back then, I believe it was either a Kodak 110 or Instamatic style (with *FILM* as this was several decades before the advent of digital!). But my reason for always keeping a camera in close proximity was because I was of the mindset that "You never know what you'll see or who you're going to meet" for that perfect photo opp. Plus, it being Hollywood, the what-if factor was upped substantially of running into the who's and what's of the area. And, of course, I also sincerely enjoyed taking photos of pretty sunsets, foliage, and whatnot. 

I'd gotten my lunch and was making my way to the cashier, but, partly in and partly out of the line ahead of me was a very tall, very thin older man who was fussing with a couple small bags of fresh produce in his cart. Tangerines and tomatoes, I recall. His ornate walking cane was hooked over the side of his cart. I was not sure if he was actually in the line, or getting ready to push his cart forward, but being reasonably well-mannered particularly where my elders are concerned, I did not want to just rudely cut ahead of him. I stood there with my little styrofoam tray of salad in my hands, patiently waited about thirty or so seconds, trying to make my presence known, and was about to ask him if he was indeed in line, when he suddenly sensed that I was standing there behind him. He turned around, smiled broadly and said, "I am so sorry, my dear, please go ahead of me!" and patted my hand as he exited the cashier line, turned around, and then got directly behind me.

... AND IT WAS VINCENT PRICE. I think my jaw hit the floor and my eyes bugged out and  my heart began to thunder inside my rib cage. I think I also drooled on myself, but I was in such a state of shock, I don't exactly remember because VINCENT PRICE was less than twelve inches from me.

AND HE LOOKED INTO MY EYES AND SMILED AT ME. 

AND SPOKE TO ME WITH THAT WONDERFUL MELLIFLUOUS VOICE.

AND. HE. TOUCHED. MY. HAND.

Okay. Honestly, I'm not the sort who truly gets all gaga over celebrities or so-called glitterati when I run into them, and trust me, I have literally ran into many in my time. 

However, this was not simply your garden-variety celeb du jour. IT WAS VINCENT PRICE!!!

I scarcely recall paying for my food, as I tried to play it cool, and not turn to the side and outright stare at the man. I realized that my hands were shaking as I left the building, thinking that I just had to - HAD TO! - acknowledge him when he exited. I set my lunch down and furiously tunneled through my purse, searching for my camera, but it was not there! In a flash I remembered that the previous night, I'd removed it in order to bring in the film for developing, and, well, never put the damn thing back inside. I was devastated! The ONE TIME I really truly and desperately wanted to have a photo with a celeb that I actually loved and respected, and Miss Dunderbrains left her stinkin' camera at home.

Well, upset as I was, I decided that I nevertheless had to say something to him, or risk dying a hugely miserable person. And a few moments later, as a box boy carried his bags to his car, Mr. Price strode with his grand walking cane toward where I was standing. I took a deep breath and approached him. 

I said to him, "Mr. Price, I just wanted to tell you that I am a lifelong fan, and have seen every one of your movies. I love you!" (But actually, I think it was hastily blurted out more in the way a complete blithering idiot would say it)

He looked at me with those beautiful, expressive crystal blue eyes that crinkled mischievously in the corners, smiled again very broadly and with great warmth, and replied, "Oh, thank you so much, my dear! That is so very kind of you to say! I love you too. Happy Halloween!" 

.... AND TOOK MY HAND INTO BOTH OF HIS AND GENTLY SHOOK THEM WITH GRATITUDE.

The next sound to be heard was my feet being quickly whooshed off the pavement, as I floated in a delirious little cloud back to my cubicle in the mundane little office I worked in next door...

Again, this event - this TRUE EVENT! - transpired but a few days before Halloween in 1992. 

Mr. Price died almost exactly one year to the day afterward.

RIP, dear Sir. You are missed.

With sincerest admiration ...

Not only am I just simply an artist, I'm also an ardent admirer and collector of other artist's work. 

I find that we need to draw inspiration in a number of ways: from personal tastes and experiences, and also from what our fellow artists have created. I believe I speak for so many when I say that the artists who came before us have in many ways helped to put us on our own individual paths. 

These past couple of years, I have tried to purchase at least a few creations from some of my favorite creators, and in an ongoing series on this blog, will be giving each one a nod of thanks, including featuring a piece of their art that I myself have garnered in my personal collection.

Today, I'll start with a lady of whom I feel is an astounding talent: 

Sheila Bentley of PrimDolly.

Sheila's works are exactly that - astounding! One look at her array of skeletons, witches, Jack O'Lanterns and such, and you fall helplessly in love with the magical world she has created from polymer clay. WOWZA! All the things I also have a deep love for and enjoy creating. A kindred spirit, bound by a wad of Sculpey. That is too cool for words!

Sheila is a participating artist in the yearly extravaganza we Halloween folk artists all know and love, called "Ghoultide Gathering," which transpires up in Michigan each autumn. I know that right now, the artists slated to appear at this year's event are madly busy creating their spooky wares to showcase, but occasionally, they will have a goody or two for sale on their Etsy pages. Well, say no more - I swooped in and grabbed one while they were still available! I've learned that the collector's market for these wonderful Halloween art dolls is huge, and you must act quickly if you want to add one to your personal collection. 

I've made the mistake of thinking, "Oh, I'll check back next week and see about buying it." Big mistake indeed! Can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself, losing out on a sale.

So of course, need I say that I am beyond thrilled to now own this super-cute, jaunty Skellie fellow with a black top hat (my favorite thing!) who balances precariously on a glum-looking Jack O'Lantern?

Shelia Bentley creations - PrimDolly

Thank you so much, Sheila! I'm a fan for life!

Stop by PrimDolly and see what Sheila has in store!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/primdolly

***SOLD!***

Miss Kitty is on her way to her new home in Seattle, WA!

I've said it before: I do get somewhat attached to my creations, and will certainly miss this fun little cookie jar.

For now, it's back to the studio and getting' creative! Halloween is on the way...

Jacks on the Box!

I know, I know... it's only April. 
Spring has barely sprung, and I'm already going on and on about Halloween...

The Studio is cranked up and ready to rumble. I'll sing songs about Halloween, as I await the crackle of Autumn in the air, and carve some sassy Jack O'Lanterns to illuminate the night...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/291668651/jacks-on-the-box-a-vintage-halloween?ref=shop_home_active_1

Coming back this autumn! -

Returning for more awesome Halloween art, music, and magic!

MonstersandMerriment.com


Stay tuned for updates ....

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.....

Counting the days!!!

Lifeblood ...

Adornments to die for!

Well, hopefully nobody will really *die* but you get the gist...

A couple years ago, I got bitten hard by the jewelry bug. Created a whole bunch of handmade pendants from polymer clay, a few rings, bracelets, etc. but mostly beaded and chained necklaces with a definite Halloween and Day of the Dead design. Was not sure how well they'd do at the art shows I've done in the recent past, but was thrilled to see nearly all of them snatched up by folks who liked my creations and even came back for more. 

Dia de Los Muertos 'Calavera y Corazon'

Close up to show details

I had a few left over, and decided to create some more to add to the bunch. It's big fun to do, but overall, I know I won't ever stop my regular Halloween/horror art to solely do jewelry, as I love doing that far too much!

And here are a few of my recent dillies, all of which I've listed on my Etsy page.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MacabreWebs

Day of the Dead Green Calavera

Pumpkin Blossom Trio with decorated Glow Skull

Jack O'Lantern with fancy beads