Hustle

It’s always a treat to get requests from the UK. I’ve mentioned before that the BBC had a huge influence on me growing up. I learned English and watching Monty Python and Benny Hill. It’s harder and harder to keep up with television shows even though I watch A LOT of it while I’m working so it’s great to be introduced to something by someone who feels passionate enough for them to want a set of dolls immortalized after the characters, like this “Hustle” set.

This set features: Mickey Bricks, Danny Blue, Ash “Three Socks” Morgan, Albert Stroller, and Stacie Monroe.

Now, pardon me while I go hit up my local library for all 8 seasons for this show!

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The Ronettes

Years ago, when I was young and silly, my friend and I wanted to form a girl group called the Screaming Librarians. It would be her and me and I assumed she would be the lead vocal while I provided the music. I had many years of classical piano and flute under my belt by then but I’d listened to enough Emerson Lake and Palmer to know that I can probably rock a Hammond Organ if I A. get my hands on one and B. get a couple of daggers like Keith Emerson and stab the keys with it. We would play CBGB and Limelight and The Tunnel and take the club scene by storm. The closest we got to performing as a unit was our 11th grade poetry class where we recited a poem about bats dressed as Goth bats and flapped our arms around a papier mâché sheep and then we sacrificed it. I still have no idea how I got talked into the whole thing and why there’s a sheep involved and how we ended up repeating this performance in front of the entire junior class at an assembly and how we managed to get an A on it. I do remember having to take the subway with the sheep and the commuters giving me a wide berth despite the fact it was rush hour and thinking maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to tote this sheep to school each day to keep the pervs would stop trying to press up against me.

This is why I have quite a lot of respect for girl groups featuring performers with actual talent. Their only gimmick is the fact that they can sing, and quite well. This is my homage to one of the best girl groups to date: The Ronettes!

Sordid Lives

I’ve been dealing, for the past few months, with some trashy behavior by an unsavory neighbor. It seems like these days I cannot look out the window without seeing her waddling around in broad daylight, wrapped in a towel, cigarette in mouth, shouting out her conversations and generally behaving like White Trash Neighbor No. 1 in a sitcom.

So it seemed apt that I was asked to paint “Sordid Lives” during this time. There were tons of cigarette holding, fried chicken eating, shotgun wielding, hair roller wearing and beer bottle clutching involved and it made me think about how life does imitate art and sometimes the other way around. Well, it’s clear that my neighbor is living her life as sordidly as she can make it, whereas I’m just painting it!

Set one features Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram, LaVonda DuPree, Juanita Bartlett, Sissy Hickey, Latrelle Williamson, Noleta Nethercott, and Dr. Eva Bolinger.

Some details:

Set two is all about the same characters but some in different outfits: LaVonda again, Noleta but with runny make up, Earl all gussied up, Juanita, Sissy (this time in a matching plaid short and shirt ensemble), Latrelle and Dr. Eva.

More details:

Thanks Scott and Craig! You guys rock!

The Big Lebowski 2.0

Sometimes I feel, when I’m painting the same sets over and over again, like an automaton. This is not necessarily a bad thing since I can pop on a movie of a more cerebral nature and actually watch it while I paint. But it can get a bit monotonous and not the least bit challenging. That is the case with the Big Lebowski sets, so I decided to do a brand new version. Gone are the Dude’s loud cardigan, Walt’s multi-pocketed vest and shorts. Gone are Maud’s golden Viking Bowling Princess get up and helmet that I had to sculpt the horns onto for every set. Only Donny and Jesus sort of remained the same but with different hued outfits. Just to make it more interesting, I included a severed toe with green nail polish. It was a lot more fun to paint, but it didn’t stop me from queuing up some mid-season shows whilst working on this set, though!