Batman: Heroes Vs. Villains

Talk about a blast from the past! When I was given a choice between painting all the different actors who’d played Batman or just the characters from the old Batman TV show, I immediately went for the latter. Are you kidding me? I was obsessed with the old Batman reruns when I was a kid. I remember rushing home each day from school just so I could watch a show which I hadn’t, during my formative years, regarded as campy at all. It was all kinds of illicit too because, as a latchkey kid, I was entrusted with the responsibility of doing my homework and practicing the piano in my parents’ absence. Instead, my afternoons were filled with a mixture of cartoons such as “He-Man” and “G.I. Joe” and “Transformers” (yes, I realize they’re all very male-centric. I had an older brother and one TV set. Choices were limited in such circumstances), followed by some great live action shows such as “Batman” and later “Wonder Woman.” This might explain why my grades were poor and that my piano playing didn’t amount to much, but if I had to do it all over again, I’d choose TV over good grades any day!

The “Heroes” set features: Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and of course, Alfred.

Let’s not forget the Villains, which is: Penguin, Joker, The Riddler, and of course, Catwoman. Meowr!

Rosemary’s Baby

This is one of my all-time favorite horror movies: Rosemary’s Baby. It was filmed so that it’s basically a moving picture version of the novel by Ira Levin.

This set features Rosemary, Guy Woodhouse, and their creepy witchy neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet. I pop this movie on whenever I feel a little homesick because I used to work across the street from The Dakota.

The Goonies

How’s this for a 80’s nostalgia? The Goonies!

This set features Sloth, Chunk, Data, Mouth, and Mikey. Boy, painting this set brought me back. My childhood was all about biking all around town and getting into all sorts of trouble. Even though I grew up in Flushing Queens, there’s the Fresh Meadows Park nearby that kind of gives the illusion of being in the wild if you ignore the traffic noise and the diesel fumes while you’re pretending to hunt of prehistoric animals or treasures in there. It was as good a childhood as one could get growing up in New York City. Years later, when I was teaching kindergarten in Manhattan, I was shocked and sadden to find that one of my favorite kids didn’t know what a forest was. Luckily in second grade they’re taken on field trips to Alley Pond Park, which was also near where I grew up so I was mollified.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (Revisited)

I have so many projects sitting on the back burner that it’s threatening to topple over. Fortunately, there are always people out there somehow psychically linked to what I have in mind giving me a little push.

That said, one of those projects is to create a larger version of Manos: Hands of Fate, one of the most horrifically awful movies ever made. I’ve made the first one in a smaller size as a joke because I’d enjoyed watching the MST3K version so much. It was also a movie I showed to someone on a first date, which explains why I didn’t usually get a second date. In any case, the Manos sets were not something I can whip up in a day because of all the components that goes into it, namely the creation of the Master’s robe, so I never really gave the larger size a go.

Then I got a lovely email from one of the actresses from the movie: Jackey Neyman Jones, daughter of Tom Neyman, who played the Master. I knew from other Manos fans that she is making a sequel to Manos and also that her father had only recently passed away, which had upset me to a degree only a true Manos fan can understand. In short, I found her so delightful that I thought this was a sign, that I need to finally buckle down and create a large Manos set and she would be the first to receive it. Just to give me another kick in the pants, Jackey had sent me a copy of her book: “Growing Up with Manos” all the way to Australia!

Thanks, Jackey! I can’t wait to see the sequel!

Fifth of May

A Whole New (Doctor Who) World

I love doing Doctor Who sets largely because my version consists of 3D printed Tardis as the first doll. A while back I did a massive set with all the Doctors so I was glad to switch it up this time to include other key players in the series:

Once again, this is a double set. #1 features David Tennant with Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, and River Song. #2 consists of Matt Smith, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and the War Doctor.

Outlander In the Wild

I always knew there’s a reason why I love Thanksgiving so much. In the beginning it’s all about the gluttonous aspect of this holiday. But lately, I am starting to appreciate the main reason why there’s a day set aside for being thankful. It’s becoming so that I want every day to be Thanksgiving, but not only because I do like a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I am so thankful for so many things in my life and just acknowledging that once a year is not enough.

The greatest thing I’m thankful for is the people who have the faith in having me paint their favorite obsession in doll form. I love communicating with them and brainstorming ideas and coming up with something I hope they will cherish for a very long time. And, this is something I never expected, sometimes they take their dolls out into the wild and have the person(s) I painted autograph it!

These are the two mega Outlander sets I made for Lindsey of SoCal Outlander group, who had the foresight to bring it to the Seattle Comic Con to show to the two leads, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Belfe. She even got them to look as though their side hustle is hawking BoBo Babushka dolls in this pic!

This is just as exciting as another customer had brought her set to a tea with Diana Gabaldon, creator of the Outlander books and have her pose with it!

No matter how tedious my day is, or dealing with all sorts of tomfoolery perpetrated by my completely insane neighbors, I am still thankful and grateful that I get to live the kind of life I’ve always wanted and that it’s exceeded beyond my expectations.

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!

Twin Peaks Revisited

It’s been a long time since I’ve painted Twin Peaks so I jumped at the chance to do an update. I was given a choice to paint Laura Palmer as a corpse or as a prom queen. Ever since I received these tiara charms, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use them so I naturally was leaning toward the prom queen version…until the night before I was to tackle the project. A flash of inspiration hit me and I quickly went downstairs to the chest freezer and rummaged around until I found some puff pastry sheets. The plastic protecting the frozen puff pastries were perfect. They had precisely the color, the give, and the thinness to recreate a miniature body bag. My new dead Laura Palmer’s body bag would not be painted on, but rather, wrapped. Then I did more rummaging (not in the chest freezer, thank you very much) and unearthed the crepe hair I had purchased years ago on a whim and matted it until it looked like it was drudged from a swamp and viola! A new dead Laura Palmer!

There’s also a new addition to the cast, Shelly the waitress, along with Agent Cooper, Evil Bob, and of course, the Dancing Dwarf.

Because of this set, I got to do more rummaging (this time in the pantry) for the onion jam so I could use up the unprotected pastry sheets and made several batches of onion jam puff roll ups. The things I do for art.

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: