Hot dog for Thanksgiving

I will be jetting (no really, KT has got me on a plane to go back to Detroit...I've taken an "online fear of flying course" and I think it actually helped) to Motor City for Thanksgiving with the fam (that is, my parents and KTs parents and my new Ohio relatives) at Hal and Ellen's new digs in Royal Oak.

But always looking ahead, I have already started to think about Xmas, Lobsterboy style.This is a Vectorworks rendering of the stage (floorplan and elevation) at Chief Ike's Mambo Lounge. The space is very small, and they usually don't have any scenery, but I think that some scenery helps make the place seem, well, more special.
This is the first sketch of the "portal" idea for the Xmas show (which BTW is on Saturday, December 16) Its a wiener dog, with "Lobsterboy Revue" shaved into his side. He's eating tinsel...and...Well, you can figure out what happens after that... This design is rooted in one of the most traumatic memories I have of Christmas. My friend, Don, had a Shitzu with this problem. And it was a very festive Xmas indeed!

Lobs wants to show some films at the show, so part of the challenge is to find out how much room I can use for the Dog, while still providing access for the projection screen...More developments to follow...

Before I leave you, I just wanted to touch on some of the other developments that I have not been sharing with you...I am the Scenic for Rep Stage's production of Your a good man Charlie Brown. It has been taking up my mornings...and I could write a whole book on the goings on there...I have made very halting progress on the Velvet Animals project...The Palace of Wonders Valance is slowly getting into Sketching step II...I have had several meetings, including sketches and a white model, for Hexagon's Strike While the Irony is Hot...and I am flying to LA next week, for a week of fun (mostly being part of the "wide eye" posse, for the group show that Scott Brooks is in at the Luz de Jesus gallery)

Have a great Turkey Day!

Velvet Revolution

I finally got around to taking a treo photo (BTW, I have the Treo 700 now...Its a really long story) of the "Roy being attacked by white tiger" velvet painting I did for the Halloween Party:

Roy Being Attacked by White Tiger, 2006
Oil on Velvet 48"x60"

I really like the way it came out, and I am thinking of making more work in this vein. It is thematically identical to my earlier "versus" obsession (remember the poor astronaut being attacked by a lion?) but the velvet gives this one a permission to take itself too seriously... Unlike the astronaut, which, being watercolor, had a "trying too hard" feel...

Anyway, this realization has prompted me to do some prepatory sketches for more velvet paintings...with animals, doing un-animal-like things...
This bear is my favorite...He's a sloth bear, the kinda bear you want to buy a beer...The hardest working monkey in showbiz!who could leave behind a bear on a bike?

These are all white colored pencil on black paper (treo photos). I am hoping to get an idea of how they might look on velvet, but the black paper gives them a haunting...perhaps ponderous, or worse...Gothic...feel. I don't quite know what to make of them just yet. What do you think?

Too much Burlesque?

Looking at all the projects I have lined up, I have to step back and ask,"have I gotten too deep into burlesque?" You see, I am involved with adding a valance (the thing that goes above a curtain) to the Palace of Wonders "stage", Hexagon wants a "Sequin Circus" theme, Lobsterboy is doing back to back shows in December, and my personal painting projects are starting to explore the Victorian/Edwardian poster genre (when I muster the motivation to get them out of the sketchbook and on canvas)... I am a bit concerned that I am engaging in a "passing fad" with the whole thing...I mean, lots of people who embraced this sort of work in the 90's are not "freaky" enough these days to turn a buck (who wants to see someone hammer a nail through their tongue now when every 13 year old girl has a tongue piercing?)

Setting all that anxiety aside for right now, here are some initial sketches I have cooked up for the Palace of Wonders (sometimes known as the "Showbar")Photoshop sketch...Before I saw the space...
Keeps with existing "old timey/surrealist" theme

Photoshop Sketch with Treo Camera Phone photo of actual space (vectorworks dimensions overlaid)
This one is a bit more (unavoidable pun ahead) "in your face"

I will be making a few more sketches tomorrow, so that I can present a variety of directions that this piece can go in...

Back from the Dead

Well, its been a few weeks, but I am officially back from the dead. The Halloween party was a blast. As you can see from the photo below, KT and I were both Elvis.The Karaoke basement (technically called the "Spooktacular Spooktacular Karaoke Floorshow") was a big hit. The skeleton Showgirl cutouts went a long way towards setting the "Haunted Vegas" theme...Below, Kirstra and Sara show those skeletons who the real headliners are!

We also made out wedding...er...stage, into a wedding chapel/funeral home, for the party. The velvet Elvis paintings all went, by party's end...And even the "Roy Attacked by Tiger" painting went...(I'll have pix as they become available)

The party was so great, that writing about it wouldn't do it justice...So lets just say that you are going to have to start looking for a costume for 07 right now!

One bonus I have to share is that we finally exhausted the film from the spongebob squarepants camera, and I found some Hot Rod Hula Hop 2 booth photos...
And Vern Came through with a good photo of the Trixie to Dine for event:
And I finally got some photos from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD...
After a such a productive time, I have started to organize and take stock...Which means that a few more "here are pix that I didn't get before" postings will be coming down the pike...