Archive for 2009

At the movies

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

If anyone is interested, I’ve posted my fav films of the decade.

Enjoy!

I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

I had been posting a bunch of found images on my personal blog but decided to make my life easier by starting a tumblr site. If anyone is interested you can see some of the nifty photos (and whatnot) that I come across on the web.

2 new additions to the studio

Friday, November 13th, 2009

We have two new characters in residence at the OYG studio:

the first is a true street find. Veronica and Deanna found this solid wood statue walking around the neighborhood. We are hoping he isn’t a bad luck omen as they found him on friday the 13th. We’ll see if there is some sort of brady bunch scenario that develops.  Veronica is affectionately referring to him as OYGbaby.

The second is a mouse. A real mouse. A rather ballsy mouse too. He’s been running around all morning and likely will get big and fat and be impossible to get rid of by humane measures. We’re thinking we might just get a habitrail for him and make it official.

photo of his likeness below.

Withered

Monday, November 9th, 2009

One week later the pumpkins are starting to show decay.

kane street pumpkin

kane street pumpkin

kane street pumpkins

kane street pumpkins

Oops!

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

pumpkins

I was wrong about the jack o’ lantern display in my neighborhood. They actually put the pumpkins out on Halloween and leave them up throughout November.

pumpkin

pumpkin

pumpkin

pumpkins

Check out the Kane Street Pumpkins for yourself.

Calaveras

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Happy Day of the Dead! Now’s the time for you to go visit any family members buried in cemeteries. Clean up their gravesite and leave some pretty flowers or a little pumpkin.

Because this is mostly a dead blog, I’ll leave you with some lovely Day of the Dead skulls and skeletons. You can’t deny they are perfect Halloween decorations. Or in my case, year round decorations (in my world, everyday is Halloween) – here’s one I picked up one summer at the beach with friends.

skeleton

Some fun skulls I found on the web:

Day of the Dead Skull

Day of the Dead Skull

And of course there are the sugar skulls:

Sugar skulls

Some Day of the Dead Photoshop brushes and pngs you can download for free:

day of the dead brush set

You can purchase a lovely book of antique prints:

Calaveras Mexican Prints for the Day of the Dead

Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

And to end the month of madness, the mother of all Halloween movies:

Halloween

Halloween

Halloween

Halloween

I hope everyone has a frighteningly wonderful Halloween!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program…

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Look what the UPS man just dropped off:

caramel apples from Sherm Edwards Candies

Yummy caramel apples from Sherm Edwards Candies. It’s probably too late to order some apples for yourself but they’ve got a ton of other tasty treats for you. We love everything they have to offer!

Thanks Dave!

Tim Burton

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Oh Tim Burton, why did you have to go and marry the beautiful Helena Bonham Carter when you were obviously meant for me? Hell, I’d marry Helena Bonham Carter too if I had the opportunity!

Starting November 22, 2009 and running until April 26, 2010, you can see Tim Burton’s artwork and films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Tim Burton
© Tim Burton. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

More Gorey

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Well, Gorey-esque is more like it.

Two selections from Twentysix Tiny Tombstones, a tribute to Edward Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies.

Kate
© Jordi Villaverdi All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Zilla
© Carlos Braña All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Check out these wonderful illustrations from Jesse E. Larson:

copyright Jesse E. Larson
© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Jesse E. Larson
© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

copyright Jesse E. Larson
© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

This one would make an excellent Christmas card:

copyright Jesse E. Larson
© Jesse E. Larson. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Here’s a fun Gorey-esque short:

Dead All Along || Ceri Frost from Giles Timms on Vimeo.

NB – check out Trixie’s Treats for more great Halloween art.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program…

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

hahaha – this is cute.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Going Batty

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

bat

Did you know that without bats there would be no tequila? Or that bananas, dates, figs, cashews, avocados and many other night-blooming tropical plants depend on bats for pollination? Or that a single little brown bat can catch more than 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour?

I guess you can tell I’m a big fan of bats – even my dog Ren looked like a flying fox. This is my computer wallpaper:

batty wallpaper

More bats

bat

bat

View a BBC One video of the biggest gathering of bats in the world.

Dawn Summers and I encountered some flying foxes while in Sydney Australia. Once again, she ran screaming like a little girl. I wanted to pet them. Aren’t they cute?

bats

The Thin Veil

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

If you’re in New Orleans this month, check out the Matthew Kirscht exhibit at Big Top Gallery. You can also buy prints, postcards, books and buttons on his site.

The Trophy Wall
© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Midnight Jamboree
© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

Wooden box top
© Matthew Kirscht. All rights reserved. Used without permission.

More great stuff on flickr

And check out his Dangerous Desserts – fun!

Which Witch?

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Vintage Halloween postcards are fun but certainly not all that scary. Check out these witchy ones:


Halloween card


Halloween card


Halloween card

Well, this one is a bit scary. Is that a klansman chasing the witch? I’d be scared too!


Halloween card

Stingy Jack

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Did you know that originally, Jack o’ lanterns were were made from turnips and potatoes in Ireland? History.com has a fun section on the history of Jack o’ lanterns and Halloween.

In my neighborhood, every October someone would carve out a ton of baby pumpkins and impale them on their cast iron fence. As the month went on, the grinning or grimacing pumpkins would decay into shrunken heads. I went by there this evening to take some new photos but alas, no pumpkins. However, my friend Steve took a bunch of great photos last year. Here’s some old photos of the pumpkins during the middle of their decomposition:

speared

speared

Some jack o’ lanterns found on the web:

jack o lantern
Gourds in Hell

jack o lantern
Got the munchies

jack o lantern
Crazy intricate Death Star

Some fun jack o’ lantern galleries:

Jack o’ Lanterns
Geeky Jack o’ Lanterns

Tips to carve your own:

Pumpkin-carving.com
Walt’s Pumpkin Carving Secrets
Pumpkin Masters