Thursday, May 22, 2014

Hiding in the shadows...

Hot sunny days.
The perfect time to stay inside the cool, cave-like environs of your art studio and create to your imagination's twisted delight!
Nosferatu (1922 German expressionist horror movie by F.W. Murnau)


Lately I've had a sort of love affair with Medusa.

A trip to the local Good Will store yielded a 8" tall plastic Barbie head (the kind that little girls do makeup and hairstyles on) that was positively screaming for a make-over of the MacabreWebs variety… heh heh...
I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

She's still a work in progress, but I can't help but feel this make-over is a big improvement on her original visage. 
But then again, I'm just partial to a pretty face. Heh heh heh.

'Til autumn arrives, you'll find me here, in the shadows, occasionally peeking out the window.


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Is it too soon?

Bah! Never is it too early to think about Halloween!!!
Visiting a local pumpkin patch in 2013

After the long and truly difficult winter we're emerging from, I swore I'd not complain about the hot weather. All I simply wanted was some warmth… just a little bit, please, to take the chill off my old arthritic bones… and, perhaps, but a smattering of green-ness outside, to un-drab the shroud that winter had draped over us with the ice and snow and power outages…

Ha. How soon we forget, eh? Now as the the thermometer steadily inches up toward triple-digit heat, what have I done? Whine about it! Ecchh! I mean, aside from digging in the dirt and getting my garden ready (my spine is not happy with me right now, but tolerates it as long as a steady stream of ibuprofen issues forth), I'm already over it. But wait! - it's not even summer yet! I must say that I am thankful to the seasons for their gifts and yes, that even includes the sweltering southern summertime here in Tennessee. Everything here as virtually exploded in the typical bazillion shades of green that we're known for. Dogwoods have bloomed all manner of reds and pinks and fuchsias along with redbuds and everything else. Gorgeous and invigorating for sure. But it's the start of a long, hot season that I have difficulty getting through - I'm pale and freckled and don't do well in the heat. My peoples came from pretty much the top of the world, the far north, where there is not an overabundance of sun. I wither in the sun after about five minutes! Then I turn bright red and swoon if I don't seek shade and air conditioning. It ain't pretty.

However, my garden will do well, and I look forward to reaping the harvest. This does one thing for certain to me: makes me ache and yearn for autumn… particularly Halloween. Last year's bi-annual party here at our homestead yielded a slew of wonderful Jack O'Lanterns that all ended up in a huge pile in front of the pasture fence. Well guess what? There are already some pumpkin vines a-sproutin' there!
An old piece of wood I found in our pasture became the perfect pumpkin patch sign. Autumn, 2009

Of course, it's jumpstarted my creativity at Studio MacabreWebs. I'll be back in the days to come with some photos of creepy new goodies!