Once Upon A Time: I won a golden ticket

It is an odd sensation when you look back at some events in your seemingly little life and realize that they are quite extraordinary indeed.
I was always "art boy" in school, it was my thing, it's what I did. Danny Rosenburg was known for how many boogers he could eat in a single sitting. Cindy Manning for how many boys she had French kissed by the 4th grade. And I was known for the stuff I could make. Any art contest...sign me up! Any art challenge...I was there for the smack down! I was extremely shy unless it had to do with art...where (in my own mind) I was king of the world!

In 1973, Diorama contests were all the rage. Kids were making planets from Styrofoam balls and hanging them in black shoe boxes with little silver gummed stars all across this great nation of ours.

So when I saw a sign-up sheet on the library bulletin board, I marched my little burgundy-corduroy-bell-bottomed-self right up there and proudly scrawled my signature. The rules were simple: create a diorama from your favorite book you read that year. No Problemo. The obvious choice was "Where The Red Fern Grows" which I had just finished with a tearful classroom declaration that it was the best novel written to date! (applause, applause) This insightful and dramatic book review was challenged with taunts of: "Fag", "Book Fag", "Book Worm Fag", ad nauseam. Those boring bullies had pea brains, that was the extent of their wit. So holding firm to my opinion, and with shoe box and white glue in hand, I translated my emotion into reality: a small midnight scene of the old wood mill complete with two clay dogs and a small (yet dashing) boy/leading man.
I won First Place!

My Prize was a private lunch at an Irvine California pizza parlor with the children's author Roald Dahl, a freakishly tall and scary man. At the age of ten I felt my bowels go icy in a very adult way when I realized that I should have done his book. The sequel "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" had been released the year before, and it was what all the other kids were reading. I always tried to be different, not one of the Lemmings...thank you very much.
I was dropped off by my chauffeur (MOM), And when I sat down for lunch I exploded with apologies as to why I had not had the time to read his current novel and that "Where the Red Fern Grows" had soooo moved me that I was taking a break from literature. He seemed a little shocked, as if there was some miscommunication with his secretary, and needed me to clear it all up. "So...You Have Not Read My Book"? no sir "HAVE YOU READ ANY OF MY BOOKS?" yes sir "YOUR DIORAMA WAS NOT ABOUT MY BOOK?" no sir, where the red fern grows...sir "OH...That is a good book too". At this point I was wiping sweat off my forehead...when Roald Dahl confided " I am not very good at conversing with children, I have some, and I write for them, but I find it tedious". I have always remembered that word...tedious...it's one of my favorite put-downs. I watched him as he was fancily looping some mozzarella around his finger and landing it on his outstretched tongue with a sidewards glance. Very much as Willy Wonka Himself. And despite being a real curmudgeon...I warmed up to him.
I admitted from the start that I was not to be confused with most boys...I had an artist's soul and thus an appreciation for life through an artist's eyes. He concurred as he gobbled up most of the pizza. He told me that it was a "wondrous" thing to be an artist and that I should hold steadfast to my creativity...least the EVIL forces strip it away, and depending upon your class..it will either be easy or it will be a struggle. It was all so dramatically British, but I got the gist of it. He was as creative as his history would allow him to be. He presented me with hardcover volumes of his written works that were all personally autographed beforehand (then I read "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" and enjoyed it very much). As I said my goodbyes, Roald Dahl was busy inscribing one last book from his satchel as our time was almost gone: a hardcover copy of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". He handed it to me and said, "I have learned much from this book, I hope you enjoy it"... I did.
I remembered it much later when I was sitting on the steps of Grace Slick's old mansion on Golden Gate Park. I had eaten "some kind of mushroom" with my dorm friends... and realized, this is the life I have made for myself. My own personal diorama. It's pretty Cool.

Further Adventures in French Cooking...Dammit Julia!

It's addictive...I freely admit it. All that butter and cream (yum). I have always made it a goal to cook a healthy diet but that big blue cookbook keeps calling. I used to be a real veggie chef, but now I see some lovely Russian Red Kale at Whole Foods and think "that's good for my body, I should buy it"...then it sits in the crisper bin until it becomes a colorful garnish to a French meal of Quenelles (simmered fish dumplings in a rich cream sauce)


My "pre-Julia self" would have had that kale steamed over brown rice with just a minuscule pinch of salt for flavor. Boring. It's all about those French sauces now, like sauce "supreme" (my loose version with wild garlic and Madeira wine that tasted like Lobster) which topped the Quenelles


and pate a choux (which is cream puff filling; either dessert sweet with sugar /or savory with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg) a basic beschemel with eggs whipped in to increase volume. Julia says you MUST master the sauces. Some of this went into the fish dumplings. And then there was the Holy Grail of dishes, Boeuf Bourguignon with roasted potatoes...culinary excellence on a mere fiesta ware plate! Mon Dieu, was that good.


And the very basic but delicious soup: Potage Parmentier (Onion and Potato Soup)


And one of the handful of veggies Julia embraces: Fonds D'Artichauts au Beurre ( Artichokes braised in buttery lemon sauce) which I finished with more butter and a white wine and lemon juice reduction.


My poor stove has been getting quite a workout. We paid a repair man last week.


But Ooh La La, what food!

Rotten Pumpkins litter the Deathly Hallows

The last vintage Jack O'Lantern has been boxed away and I have that familiar old feeling...All Hallows Blues. Most people just won't feel this way for another 2 months, when they pack away all that Jesus stuff that they covet. But this was always my most favorite time of year and now it is done...as all of our lovely trees are finished...and our growing season is through. I know it is the inescapable cycle of life but it still makes me melancholy.

I prefer Hallowe'en circa 1904

I am a self admitted Halloween Freak...with a capital F. But I just don't get all this blood and guts-slasher-stalker-psycho stuff that has slowly emerged to the forefront of our beloved holiday over the past 3 decades.
Maybe I was just born way too late, Or maybe I am just an old Halloween prude, but this is much more my speed: A clip from MGM's classic "Meet Me In St Louis" that I edited and uploaded.
It's all about Halloween night and being "the most horrible"!
Boo! Here's some flour in your face!



Have a very festive Hallowe'en my friends!

Frolicking with the Dead

A beautiful Fall day is perfect for a visit to one of my favorite places...Cleveland's Lakeview Cemetery, a glorious 285 acre park established in 1869 that is home to over 102,000 corpses!

Hercules and I wandered the tombs, crypts, and monuments while leaves of orange, yellow, and red floated lazily down from the canopy above.


You might expect that we were in a somber mood being men in our 40's. Au contraire, when we get together we usually behave like snickering teenage boys. On this outing the seemingly innocent names carved into stone got us chuckling.






At this point there was some back and forth banter reminiscent of these two fellows.


And then we found Anus, Pressed Wood(Ouch!), and Thomas "PEW" Robbins, who we decided died of excessive flatulence.




And then there was...


Good ol' Philpot.


Fannie Ruggles...she was a lumpy kind of girl.


Olive was a rude girl.


Henrietta Horsburgh was not a pretty girl in the least.
We were now laughing so boisterously that I felt a bit...


We were on the verge of hysteria when we discovered the potty humor all around us.




A trip to the cemetery need not be a solemn affair, it can truly be a dead man's party with the right perspective...and the right person beside you. The one that gets you.

Baby,
Life's what you make it
Can't escape it...celebrate it...anticipate it...yesterday's favorite
Don't you hate it?
Everything's allright.
Everything's allright.
~Talk Talk 1986
watch the video

My Little French Kitchen

Hercules and I LOVE France. When talking of the future, we like to see ourselves semi retired in Provence or Paris. Some of our most memorable meals were eaten leisurely with amazing bottles of wine in quaint sidewalk cafes along the Seine and high atop la butte Montmartre.



I love to cook, and I love French food, so I was inspired to ask Hercules for a copy of Julia Child's cookbook for my Birthday.

And that movie may have had a bit to do with it also!
It was a pleasant surprise to find that I already knew many basics from my 25 years of intuative cooking. I have some solid experience with souffles, very good sauce skills, I make a killer pastry crust, and I perfected crepes back in the early 90's when my French boyfriend Victor educated me.

Well, perfected is a little generous. As Victor would say in that accent, "You wheeel never be master of ze crepe, you will forever be bitch of ze crepe!"
What he meant was, even amazing chefs end up struggling with them sometimes. Inevitably the first one always ends up in the garbage pail as a nasty little ball of dough until the pan is primed and surrendering those heavenly paper thin pancakes. I make about 50 at a time and freeze them in bundles of 10, they come out perfectly when reheated and are great for leftovers with a nice French sauce over the top. Hercules was stunned in silence when I emerged from the kitchen once with a flaming pan of Crepes Suzette!


I have no intention of cooking my way through this huge book like that lunatic Julie Powell. I just want to learn some really delicious recipes and feel comfortable making them for company. It's going very well so far. Hercules has been slaving away until 10pm at the Cleveland Public Theatre most every night, so there is no rush in getting food on the table. I've started in areas that I am comfortable, and these are the pics of my own food in my own kitchen. UHHUMMM (Throat Clearing) You don't really have much proof do you Miss Julie Powell?


Souffle de Saumon (Salmon Souffle) I used canned salmon as the recipe called for but I am wondering what smoked salmon wood taste like with all that yummy Swiss cheese?


Galettes au Roquefort (Blue Cheese Biscuits) These are sinfully excellent, crispy little cakes. The ingredients are really straight forward: Roquefort, butter, flour, egg yolk, bit of cream, but they puff up amazingly without all that American stuff like baking soda and alum powder.


Sauce Parisienne: a tasty fish broth, white wine, cream and egg yolk sauce that finished off-


Filets de Poisson a la Parisienne (fish fillets, or in this case fish steaks) with broccoli and Soubise (braised rice and onions). I am making the rice again after being suspicious of the ingredients at first: 2lbs of onions and 1/2 cup of rice? But it is slowly baked in the oven and the onions caramelize and mellow to a beautiful soft flavor. We woke up this morning to that unmistakable smell of really good cooking still lingering in the house and both said, "Wow! That was a really good dinner".
Bon Appetit!

OCTOBER IN CLEVELAND HEIGHTS: photos from the Stratford House

DANG! I am going to have soooo many leaves to rake!

Haunting the House

I have been enjoying my October in the North East immensely. Most of the decorations have been unpacked and arranged about the house. There is a definite Fall chill to the air as the first of the leaves flutter lazily down while I decorate the Halloween Tree, so black and delightfully gloomy.


We had that fantastic walk-in closet in California that we turned into a diorama for the Halloween Village so this year is a bit challenging for us. We spread it out around the house with most of it residing in the dining room. I won't bore you with it too much because these villages are really over done (but it is so much fun to play the Creator and make it the way you want...."I Decree, Everyday is Halloween!...Bwwwaaahhaaahaaa!").


My Witch on a Goat sculpture is the centerpiece.


The trick or treat themed Snow Village along the built in window seat.


Grimsley Manor and the spooky farm on the sideboard.


Dracula's Castle sits atop the china cabinet. I love Bela Lugosi! I actually bought some stolen dirt from his grave in Culver City, California. I AM A HALLOWEEN FREAK...I admit it.


My All Hallow's Eve Village occupies an antique dresser in the living room. I think my favorite part of set up is creating little cemeteries. I'm so weird.


And here is a bit more on a side table.



The living room holds my Vintage Halloween collection and a few new favorites too.

Here are the animated Motionettes, for all their cuteness their weird slow movements are creepy.


Some favorite vintage pieces include the 1950's "party goers" couple on wheels by Rosbro and my 1920's skeleton squeaker in front of a changing portrait.


You can see how the portrait changes in this photo. A Nicol Sayre original witch doll with more Rosbro pieces and a Gurley Skeleton on our mantel.


A Motionette Witch with blinking skull.


A new witch lantern by Scott Smith next to a Miller Jack O' Lantern from the late 40's and a paper pulp cat from the 50's.


Some difficult to acquire pieces include the 50's Devil lamp with black and red candlestick base, and the unusual Rosbro pieces like the Pirate Clown on wheels on the top shelf. The bright orange hard plastic is beautiful...almost like Bakelite, most of it was produced in Providence Rhode Island.


My oldest piece is that big German Jack O' Lantern from 1910, made of pressed cardboard and lacquered in orange.




A collection of witches old and new on the coffee table. I adore the atomic age witch on her rocket ship and the cool vintage graphics on the fortune telling sets.


A collection of vintage lanterns, Empire blow mold lights, and ol' lazy bones in the foyer/front porch studio.


It's looking pretty spooky around here...time to tackle the outside!

What to do?

I have been asked by an American company to design some Halloween pieces for reproduction. While this is flattering and validating as an artist, it does pose some problems for me ethically.

The up side is that I would have a few pieces available in huge quantity across the nation at very affordable prices.

The down side is that they would not be produced by me personally and to make matters worse they would be produced in China. This would mean using another country's labor while people in our own are losing jobs left and right...This is the part I really have trouble with. Am I the only one concerned by this?

I have artist friends that do this and I don't blame them a bit...it is business and we are all just trying to make a living. I am just not sure that I could be okay with it.

I care about what each of you thinks, could you please take the time to vote and help me figure this out?

After the glitter fades...

It's so much effort getting ready for the Fall show season. There are so many hours working in the studio and many nights of laying in bed working out things in my head. And the anticipation of meeting new people and the sour thoughts that your work will not be well received. And then it all goes by so quickly while you try and savor every moment. But the next one is already upon you. And then I am so exhausted I can barely think, let alone make a blog post. Ghoultide Gathering was the end of the season for me...I am taking the rest of October off to enjoy my most favorite Holiday of all, and to regroup and replenish the well of creativity. The following are photos of the show in Michigan, I was in such a rush to catch my plane to California that I forgot my camera for that show.


Here I am in front of my table in my ghoul make up and costume that Wes Bentley wore in "Ghost Rider" that I found at an auction (I have to admit...it pained me to pin that stupid name tag on such a gorgeous costume), luckily it was a freezing and rainy day so that 25 pound suede leather coat came in handy! So much for our usually perfect Fall weather in the North East.


A witch tramps through the mud!


My Acorn Ornaments were a sold out hit. I could have sold hundreds of them, if they were not so labor intensive I could have made that many.



That's the lovely Sheila Bentley hiding behind her meticulously crafted witch hags. The quality is perfect and only rivaled by the sheer number she churns out in a year...I was amazed! She told me she barely sleeps and I believe it. If I had the money that big one would have been mine.


Here is the charming and dashing Scott Smith of Rucus Studio's table full of one of a kind sculptures that are hands-down some the most superb Halloween art you will ever see.


This is the haunted and very sensitive work of Nicol Sayre. Beautiful pieces that are instant heirlooms, like the dolls you find in a forgotten trunk up in someone's attic. I was lucky enough to buy one of her original witch dolls this year that I will always cherish.


Here is the enchanting Lori Brechlin of Notforgotten Farm putting out her fantastic hand stitched and hooked primitive pieces. They are museum quality without a doubt.


As I find myself struggling for words, all I can say is:
I have happy thoughts of meeting many wonderful Halloween collectors at the shows and some of my artist friends that I only knew previously as online ghosts.