OMG, They're SOOO CUTE!

I did a low-fire glaze firing the other day and have been too busy here to post these guys but aren't they the most creepy/adorable things you've ever seen?! 

I had such fun with their gestures and expressions, and I really can't wait to make more!

I've been puttering with different kinds of goody bags for the little pumpkin people, as well. Below are the before and after pics of this little charmer as a completely creepy-cute trick-or-treater!

Remember, if you're buying tickets for Midsummer Scream so you can acquire one of these beauties, use code SHEMSS22 for a little discount!

More WIPs

Done for now. Next stop: first firing!

Calaveras!

 Art by Jose Guadalupe Posada. Via Cvltnation.

We Are BAAAAAAAACK! And Other Headlines

As if you didn't know! Hauntcast is back with new segments and a new look on the website, so head over and download the show. If you haven't subscribed, go to the Hauntcast subscription page and do it now! You really don't want to miss the latest news and segments, and if you haven't listened to the show since season one or two, you are really, really missing out!


In other news, I'm back from Cancun with a bit of a tan, a slight hangover, and some goodies to bring to West Coast Haunters Convention to sell to you lucky haunters and fans of El Dia De Los Muertos!

I just can't wait to get back in the studio and get to work on my next items, and into the other studio to start researching for my next segment!


Oh, 'tis good to be back!

Hallowe'en Finds

 One of the nifty things about being up at Jack Russell is there are other vendors who are also artists.


One of them is a glass blower, who actually does live glass blowing demos. I had a moment of quiet at my booth, and wandered over to where he was working away and scanned over the many pieces he had on display. He made some gorgeous goblets that had me thinking about vintage vaseline glass, in addition to a number of other pretty, shiny things. I was actually really impressed with what he'd made, and once again wished I could get into glass blowing (and iron work, too), but one more thing on my plate is simply not an option!


Then something caught my eye.


SCORE! Spider apothecary jar! Fill with plastic spiders and life is good, baby! I asked him to set it aside for me until I made a few sales and could pay him for it. Doesn't it look fantastic? I can't wait to see how it looks in my setup.


Another find were these fun drink charms. I never seem to have enough of these at any time, so when I found them on tartx's Etsy store, and found they were Hallowe'en and Dia de los Muertos themed, I had to have them!


They came quickly and are fairly reasonably priced, I have to say that these pictures don't really do them justice. They're much nicer in person!


These are really going to make a splash at my annual Hallowe'en party.


Oh, and while we're somewhat on the topic of drinks, I had a drink testing get together with the girls last week, and discovered that the Black Lagoon Cocktail from Martha Stewart's site is just fantastic. It does take some prep work beforehand, but it is so worth it. I'm going to have to start making the ice cubes for the party here pretty soon, just so I know I have enough. One of my neighbors has been kind enough to give me some extra ice cube trays; who has those anymore, with built-in ice makers so available? I love the effect the melting of the black ice cubes gives the drinks, and the whole concoction is really tasty. I'm glad BevMo and Costco are close by, that's for sure!

Cocktails, anyone?

Random L.A. Moment-Downtown

The day I saw the Batmobile, I picked up my friend to go to lunch. It's hard to get good Mexican food in Folsom (think chain restaurant hell), so whenever I'm in L.A., it's on my to-do list.

L.A. has somewhat gotten with the public transportation thing. For those of you who have never visited, traffic in L.A. is a freaking nightmare. There are only four or five routes from the San Fernando Valley into "the City," and they're nearly always jammed. For example, returning to the Valley from Downtown (and yes, on that map you can find Skid Row), you might want to take the freeway. Well, the stupid 101 freeway goes from three lanes down to one, and good flippin' luck getting into it, 'cause most people won't let you in! Hence, I take the subway from the Valley into Union Station. Cheap, easy, and I don't have to pay the inflated parking fees Downtown.
Like many parts of Los Angeles, Union Station has seen growth, decay, and a facelift. Above is a glass ceiling that I marvel at every time I see it.

Sadly L.A. is on severe water restriction, so the fountains around town have been shut off to conserve water. (I have to laugh when people say "When the drought is over," since L.A. was built in the middle of a desert...) Be that as it may, when the facelift came, local artists were hired to pretty up the area.


A two-block walk from Union Station brings you to Olvera Street. We hit La Golondria restaurant first for a lunch of carnitas. Home made flour tortillas are absolutely the bomb at this place, so ask for them! We were also serenaded by these singers (sorry for the poor videography. Steven Spielberg I am not!)

After, we browsed the shops. Most shops have a "NO PICTURES" sign hanging in the front. But... I'm a rebel and had to take a pic of these items. I'd never seen these in a shop before and would have bought one if I thought I could get it on the plane!
Aerosol Para Todo, meaning, literally, "For Everything." Domination, conquering, money, protection. You know: everything! And it's 100% legitimate! How could you go wrong?!
I didn't see any signs forbidding photography at this shop, so I took a couple pics of their Dia De Los Muertos figures.
I just laughed my ass off at this guy!

All in all, it was a great day, and I came out of it with a number of new ideas to be applied in the Garage of Doom.

Recipes for Los Muertos

I think I've mentioned before that I'm thinking about doing a Dia de los Muertos theme for the interior of the house for Halloween. Yes, I know Dia de los Muertos is the next day. I just think it'll offer a warm contrast to the Casa Fear Zombie Groundbreaker in the front yard. There really isn't much in this world better than walking into a home from a crisp Fall night to the scents of food, cooked with love, and the promise of lively conversation and old friends.

I feel like food is the key to this kind of celebration, not only for the living, but for the dead.

It's funny. I'm half Mexican, though I don't think of myself as Mexican (the other half is Swiss, which I identify with a bit more), and I haven't had much interest in the Mexican side of my heritage until recently. (BTW, I don't speak either language beyond asking for more beer and where the bathroom is. You know: the important stuff!) I'm not delving deeply into that heritage, mind you, I just view it as more of an interesting curiosity. A cultural diversion, if you will. I mean, Mexicans make Mexican food, which I like, and margaritas, which I also like. And they have Day of the Dead, which I think is a brilliant idea and celebration of those who have come before us. So: what? Not much, really. Just saying...

Be that as it may, I've started looking into traditional recipes I might serve at the party. I came across a recipe for Pan de Muerto (Bread for the Dead) through Ask.com that sounds really nifty. I'll share it with you:

Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 6 cups flour
• 2 packets dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons whole anise seed
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• Glaze (see below)

Preparation:

Bring all ingredients to room temperature (except for the water which should be very warm) before beginning.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, anise, salt and 1/2 cup of the flour. In a separate bowl combine the eggs and the water. Add the egg/water mixture to the first mixture and add in another 1/2 cup of the flour. Add in the yeast and another 1/2 cup of flour. Continue to add the flour 1 cup at a time until a dough forms.

Knead on a floured surface for about 1 minute. Cover with a slightly damp dishcloth and let rise in a warm area for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Bring out dough and punch it down. Remove about 1/4 of it and use it to make bone shapes to drape across the loaf (see below.) Or divide the dough into smaller pieces to create other bone shapes. Let the shaped dough rise for 1 more hour.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes for smaller loaves and up to 45 minutes for larger loaves.

GLAZES(After glaze is applied you may decorate with additional colored sugar.)

• Bring to a boil- 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup fresh orange juice. Brush on bread and then sift some additional sugar over the top.

• Mix 3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate and 1/3 cup sugar with 2 egg whites. Brush on bread during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

• Bring to a boil- 1/4 cup piloncillo, 1/4 cup sugar, 2/3 cup cranberry juice and 2 tablespoons orange zest. Brush on bread after bread has cooled.

BONES: The most common bone decorations are very simple. Sometimes it's just a matter of forming ball shapes and pressing them into the loaf in a line. You could also take a piece of dough, roll it into a long cylinder and place a ball at each end. You can get much more detailed if you like, but even a slightly "knobby" looking loaf will get the idea across.

If I have time, I may make this a day ahead. If I run out of time, I'll see if I can find a Mexican bakery in Sacramento that will make this bread.

There's also a recipe for empanadas at Day of the Dead Kal. Looks totally yummy!

Blue Skull

I mentioned a few posts ago that I'd gotten some project out of the kiln at school. Here's the last one, the first of a series of Day of the Dead-themed skulls I plan to create and sell.
He looks charming on Mr. ShellHawk's bookshelf in his office. Neighbor V still says she doesn't find skulls festive. Oh, well!

Dia De Los Muertos

I have really become inspired by the images of The Day of the Dead, which starts on November 1. I'm looking forward to this theme for the interior of the house for Halloween this year.














Source.

And here are a couple my dad took when we went to Olvera Street.

Ideas Are Percolating

The last few months have been interesting for me. I got laid off in early October, which was convenient at the time because of my frantic drive to get Stewie and his little brothers done for Halloween. Of course, losing the money wasn't so convenient, as it makes the Halloween (and yes, the mundane) budget a little tighter. Fortunately Mr. ShellHawk has a job that pays well, and he's told me that he's really o.k. with me not working. So this has given me time to catch up on a number of lingering, time-consuming things around the house, and has also allowed me to spend some time each day on creative things. (Between looking for work and taking care of the house, Mr. ShellHawk, and our dogs.)

This blog is really the first daily creative thing I do. In my heart, I am a writer first, and all my other creative urges flow from that one thing. I've read and practiced Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, although nowadays I do it in fits and starts. One of the things she talks about is writing three pages, longhand, every morning. The pages don't have to be about anything spectacular. Just write what's on your mind without filters or judgement. I did this for at least three years, on college-ruled paper. You can imagine how much paper that wound up being. I called it my brain barf, and it really helped me to clear out some of what was blocking my creativity. Then my brain, my creative brain, went into overdrive and I was writing songs (one of which I gave to Mr. ShellHawk as a wedding gift, played by The Samurai Homeboys at our wedding.), poetry, and drawing again.

Now that my mind is back in hyperdrive, and my focus has changed somewhat to three-dimensional art, Halloween ideas are flowing like the flood attraction in the old Universal Studios park.

Initially I thought I would do a Headless Horseman and horse for this year's haunt. While this concept still interests me, it occurs to me that this won't get me creating something new, something distinct. Any artist develops their own style over a period of time, and you can tell by looking who did what piece of art you may be looking at. Take Pumpkin Rot, Spooky Blue, and Stolloween, for instance. All three have very distinctive styles, although they all use similar materials.

I also didn't have a name for my haunt. All of us Halloween geeks seem to have one, and I've been kicking some ideas around about the name. Of course, when I pick a name, the theme will have to flow from there, which kicks a number of nifty creative ideas into gear for me. I'll let you know soon about the name, as I'll have to pick soon to have enough time to build.

One thing I'm pretty sure I've decided is to do a Dia de los Muertos theme for the inside of the house this year. It's bright and festive (although neighbor V argues that skeletons are NOT FESTIVE, we agree to disagree on this one), and I'll invite the partygoers to bring pictures of their honored dead to place on the altar I plan to make of my fireplace. I bought a Dia de los Muertos craft book that I'm looking forward to diving into in order to make this happen, and the next time I visit the folks in L.A., I'll head downtown to Olvera Street to purloin ideas.

This, of course, after I finish painting my home office and writing my children's book. Maybe it'll be during...

Yes, indeed, the creative brain is in overdrive right now. It'll be interesting to see what new things will come of this!