Kill Bill

This year for my friend Susie’s birthday/charity auction, I was asked paint a set of Kill Bill characters.

This one’s got Beatrix the Bride, Pei Mei, O’ren Ishii, Bill himself, Elle Driver, and of course, who can forget GoGo?

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

I always look forward to the New Year because it’s when I paint for my friend Susie’s charity projects and she usually proposes something I’ve never done before. This year, however, someone else beat her to the punch. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” was one of those off-Broadway shows I went to see on a whim without knowing anything about it and it, along with the movie version, had made quite an impact on me. Also, I’d seen and met the creator and star in person at a Broadway flea market years before (he was representing “The Secret Garden” table because he had been Dickon on the show) and thought he was really sweet and very cute. What a great start to a new year!

The buyer and I agreed straight away that this set would only feature Hedwig in various stages of her transformation (but in reverse).

One thing that worried me was the cape she wore in the opening scene…I had to find a fabric stiff enough to withstand the amount of paint, glitter and subsequently the wool that would be piled on it. Fortunately the last time I was in the States I had this crazy notion that I would have time to start teaching myself how to needle point and bought a roll of canvas. It’s good to see it put to good use if not for what it’s really intended for.

As much as I love painting these dolls, I never pass up a chance to do something different!

Some close ups:

Ab Fab 2.5.5

I can’t exactly call this version of Absolutely Fabulous as 3.0 since only a few changes were made to the original 2.0.

And here’s the newer version:

I was asked to put the words “LaCroix” somewhere on Edina. For her, merely toting LaCroix clothing and accessories isn’t’ enough. The designer’s name must be shown somewhere on her person so I put it on her head. I always thought of her fashion sense as “tastefully tacky.” The new Bubble doll required some rummaging around in my supply closet. The little doodads on her head were leftovers from a Christmas card/ornament (yes, I used to have time to hand-make all my Christmas cards that the recipients could hang on their trees) which had somehow followed me all the way from New York to Oz. Sometimes your subconscious minds does know what it’s talking about!

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

One of the highlights of my week is to catch an episode of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” It’s a refreshing take on musicals on television and, in my opinion, the most creative thing to happen since “Cop Rock.”

I was asked by the star of the show herself Rachel Bloom to create this set featuring some of the cast as a gift for her friend. This is one of those sets that went well from initial conception to the final outcome, so I was pretty happy there were no tears involved. Also, I’m finally doing something about a chronic pain in my shoulder that’s keeping me from being all that I can be so that’s an extra bonus.

This version features (largest to smallest) Rebecca Bloom, Josh, Paula, Greg, Daryl, Heather, and Trent. Too bad the doll version don’t sing.

Cheers

Here’s another blast from the past. I used to watch a lot of Cheers re-runs back in college. Let’s face it, I’ve spent a lot of my time in college watching TV. It the first time in my life that I had a TV set all to myself…didn’t have to share it with anyone except when my two-nights-a-week roommate who didn’t like TV was over. I was so possessive of my TV that I’d been known to throw a boyfriend or two out of my place because they insisted on changing the channel/turning it off. I’m grateful that my husband is more of a TV fanatic than I am. Now I find myself telling him to turn the TV off!