Halloween Show at Auguste Clown Gallery

For this year's All Hallows Eve, I attended the fabulous opening night of the Halloween show at Auguste Clown Gallery. Over 70 painters and sculptors from around the world contributed spectacularly spooky pieces to this exhibition, which ran until the end of November. 

Auguste Clown Gallery front window, Halloween show

Auguste Clown Gallery Halloween show

As of this weekend, I have finally collected and hung the piece I bought that night in pride of place above my mantel. This fabulous creature, 'Spiderface', is a Yeti, handmade by the talented folks behind Yetis and Friends, Cody Williams and Nana Porcelaine. Cody and Nana make a wide variety of Yeti and Alp trophies, but when I spotted this particular red-eyed beast in the exhibition previews, it was love at first sight.

"Spiderface" by Cody Williams

Spiderface was in wonderful company - gallery owner Leigh Cornish gathered together a superb collection for Auguste Clown's first Halloween show. Aside from my furry new friend, these were my favourite pieces on the night:

"Wednesday Addams" by Mai-Ja

"The Mask Vendor" by Grayson Fogg

"Albino" by Cody Williams

"All Hallow's Eve" by Frank Forte

"Chicken Liver" by Chris Haas -
image courtesy of Auguste Clown Gallery

"Trece" by Kat Caro, mixed media painted Blythe

"Milo" by Grayson Fogg

"Mr. Bromwell" by Grayson Fogg

Auguste Clown Gallery owner Leigh Cornish

You can see the entire collection at www.augusteclown.com 

Thank you for another brilliant show Leigh, and thank you to Cody and Nana for your Yeti-tastic creations - your little Spiderface has come to live with a family who really loves him. ❤

Gorgeous Gifts from Little Gothic Horrors

Good evening, dear fellow darklings. I hope you are all well.

While we don't officially celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, this post is my own little version of it, without the roast turkey dinner. ;) You see, I have recently been honoured to receive two of the best gifts anyone has ever given me, and I'd like to share with you all my gratitude for both the gifts and their giver. 

Everyone here in Blogland would be familiar with the incredibly generous, supportive and kind lady responsible for my recent surprises in the mail. The founder of the brilliant Little Gothic Horrors is known and loved all over the world, not just for the delightfully dark content she curates and creates, but also for her genuine friendship and support of fellow bloggers. 

For me personally, Emma has been a buddy for the past couple of years, but ever since I expressed an interest in starting a blog of my own, she has become my fabulous Fairy Blog-Mother. In fact, it was Emma and her wonderful graphic designer husband Danny who brought my baleful birdy and banners to life. Emma's friendship, advice and unwaveringly enthusiastic encouragement have been invaluable to me, both 'blog-ally' and personally, and I am blessed to have her in my life. 

You can imagine, then, how honoured I feel to be this little darling's new owner. He is the beautiful Little Gothic Crow Emma made for the recent Halloween Nevermore Rapport Blog Hop. Like everyone else, I fell in love with him the moment I saw him, and couldn't stop admiring the Gothy gorgeousness of Emma's latest creation. As Emma promised in her post, this birdy did indeed fly away after the P(oe)arty to the nest of a friend - and that friend still can't believe how lucky she is.

When this little chap arrived, I was so excited about meeting him that I didn't think to take a photo of the gorgeous Burton-esque wrapping, with tiny skulls adorning a red ribbon. This is my attempt at re-wrapping it afterwards, which of course is nowhere near as good as Emma's beautiful bow!  



I squealed for joy as I lifted my fabulous new friend out of his travel clothes, admiring the incredible craftsmanship of his construction, and hugged him while I opened Emma's lovely card.

I was already teary-eyed when I logged into Facebook to thank my dear friend for this P(oe)rfect little ray of sunshine. When Emma told me that the story of my childhood toy vulture, a gift from my grandmother, had sown the seed of this little crow's genesis and become her birdy Muse, the (happy) tears began to flow. If Grandma was still here, she'd be as delighted and touched as I am to hear that her vulture had inspired the creation of another darkly handsome birdy gentleman. :)

Soon afterwards, I discovered that Emma's generosity knows no bounds. Having found some birdy fabric she knew I would love, Emma created a friend for my little crow, at which point I decided I must be the luckiest 'mingo ever! 

I remembered to get a photo before opening my present this time. Wrapped in Burton-esque paper and red ribbon, this time Emma adorned the ribbon with a darling wee red-eyed crow.






I opened the card first, beaming, admiring the beauty and love that goes into everything Emma creates.

I have wanted to own at least one of Emma's dolls since first laying eyes on them two years ago, and this little love could not be more perfect. From her black and white birdy fabric to her spider button, from her black hair and red ribbon to her black lace collar, this dolly is exactly the one I would have chosen. I absolutely adore her! *more happy tears* :)

Emma, I cannot thank you enough for these two little darlings, they mean the world to me. I'm looking at them on my mantel now and I just can't believe they're really mine! They are absolutely P(oe)rfect, and I will treasure them as I treasure you and your wonderful friendship... Evermore! ❤

Winter Moon All Hallows Read Book Giveaway

Greetings my dear darklings, I hope you are all having a wonderful lead-up to Halloween.

This year, I was introduced to the joy of Neil Gaiman's All Hallows Read, as lovely Yvonne over at Winter Moon held a giveaway in honour of Neil's 4-year-old tradition. 

I was one of the lucky winners, which made today a very happy mail day - as if receiving 'The Amityville Horror' wasn't enough, Yvonne also included some beautiful Halloweenie extras! Thank you so much, Yvonne!

I absolutely adore all of the thoughtful little goodies Yvonne popped in, and am looking forward to framing those movie postcards! 

I'm off to bed now to start reading my All Hallows Read prize. Yvonne, thank you so much for hosting this wonderful giveaway and for my lovely surprises - you are such a sweetheart! ♥

A very Happy Halloween to you all, dear darklings! ^V^

Halloween love for Belle Dee's Doo Wacka Doodles

Greetings my dear darklings. I hope you are all having a ghoulishly gleeful October.

To celebrate this marvellously macabre month and the countdown to All Hallows Eve, I have been posting some works by my favourite Halloween / monster artists. 

This evening's post features the art of the gorgeous and talented Belle Dee (aka Shana Bilbrey).

Selfie from Belle's blog

Describing herself as "just a girl who likes Halloween & Old Horror films and drawing pictures of them," Belle's Doo Wacka Doodles lend a vibrantly fun retro style to many of my favourite classic monsters and villains. A graphic designer and illustrator, Belle's work has been published in Little Shoppe of Horrors, HorrorHound and Rue Morgue magazines, has been exhibited at Gallery1988 and ZaPow, and won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Fan Artist of the Year in 2010.

These are my personal favourites from Belle's extensive body of work. To see more, do yourself a favour and pop by her fab blog, http://doowackadoodles.blogspot.com   

Enjoy! ^V^

'Halloween A-Go-Go' by Belle Dee

'Regan from The Exorcist' by Belle Dee

'Lorre, Price & "Rhubarb" in The Comedy
of Terrors' by Belle Dee

'The Phantom' by Belle Dee

'Elvira' by Belle Dee

Belle Dee's piece for the 'Vincent Price Presents'
art show at Star Clipper Comics Gallery

Belle Dee's 'No More Mr. Nice Guy'
for the 'Rock & Roll' art show at ZaPow

'Bates Motel spot illustration, featuring
Freddie Highmore' by Belle Dee

Belle Dee's 'The Klopeks from The 'Burbs' for
the 'Crazy 4 Cult' art show at Gallery1988

Belle Dee's piece for the 'Creepy Cute' art show at ZaPow 

Witches In Fiction 2014… Crafting Blooming Howls

Greetings dear darklings, and welcome to my little contribution to the Witches In Fiction… Crafting Blooming Howls blog party, hosted by the fabulous Magaly Guerrero of Pagan Culture blog. 

I have never been handy with a needle and thread, but I have always thought it would be fun to dress my babies up in homemade costumes for Halloween. When I read about the theme for this blog party, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take up the challenge and make this little dream a reality!

Given my lack of sewing skills, Mother 'Mingo very kindly assisted me with creating these cute costumes for her grandchildren, even going as far as sourcing fabrics and appliqués for them - thanks Mum!

I decided on a Merlin costume for Norman:

Trying on Norman's hat 

And a bat costume for Till:

Trying on Till's wings

Now to put them together for a cute family snap!

Here, Merlin Norman has used his magical beardy powers to cast a spell on Till, turning him into a Mini Schnauzer-Bat. Neither of them seem quite sure about all this witchy business, but their mother thinks they look adorable :D 

I look forward to seeing you all over at Magaly's blog and reading all of your posts!

Halloween Love for Mike Bell's Monsters with Martinis

I do so love October. Its arrival always fills my dark heart with ghoulish glee. 

For some of us, every day is Halloween, but this is the only month of the year during which it is socially acceptable to adorn our front yards with gravestones, severed heads, skeletons and screaming banshees. Thank you, October. :D

To celebrate this marvellously macabre month and the countdown to All Hallows Eve, I will be posting some works by my favourite Halloween / monster artists. 

First up is the fabulous New Jersey lowbrow artist, Mike Bell.

Mike in his studio

Mike's pieces combine three of my favourite things in life - classic monsters, tattoos, and cocktails - with humorous narratives, Rat Pack cool, and iconic pop culture imagery. The result? "A world where the weird is wonderful and the inhuman is alive."

Mike's work has been exhibited in galleries right across the USA, including a current solo show at Seattle's Gargoyles Statuary. Fine art prints of some of his pieces are available for purchase from Lowbrow Art Company.

These are my personal favourites from Mike's extensive body of work. To see more, I highly recommend visiting his website, www.belldogstudio.com

Enjoy! ^V^ 

'Frankendroog' by Mike Bell

'Made For Each Other' by Mike Bell

'Bat Man' by Mike Bell

'Werewolf of London' by Mike Bell

'Hot Rod Lily' by Mike Bell

'Jack Celebrates The Dead' by Mike Bell

'The Goblin King' by Mike Bell

'The Birth Of The Bride' by Mike Bell

'Franky Stardust' by Mike Bell

'Kitty Martini' by Mike Bell

'Bride Cocktail' by Mike Bell

'Brokenhearted' by Mike Bell

'Undying Love' by Mike Bell