ONE WEEK 'TILL HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

One week 'till Halloween...so that means that all three shows (President Harding is a Rock Star, Diamond Dead, and Spooktacular IX Heart of Darkness...) are in full-on panic mode. So, I will only give you two small tastes of what is going on:

The Final Version of Harding...AND...A very big part of the upcoming spooktacular....

CRABS, STILETTOS and TIKIS

Do you like the direction the designs for President Harding is a Rock Star are going? I was working on a redesign and I started thinking that Obama has been called a "rock star" by those McCain ads with Paris Hilton...so what is the icon that has symbolized Obama's Rock star status? Why the Shepard Fairey "Hope" prints (stickers, etc) of course:

I have redesigned the set a tiny bit to accommodate the new direction, but I don't have drawings for you because I am going to have the darn thing built soon enough...Hopefully Landless will see fit to use the new graphic in their advertising...hopefully capitalizing on the Shepard Fairey excitement going on in DC right now...

Anyway, this has been a off balance week, which is why I am posting this late on a Friday. Last Saturday, KT and I went to the biggest Gay event in the DC area (perhaps the East Coast?) Here's a link to a video to give you an idea of what zanyness we stepped into

Gobo for Miss Adams Morgan Pageant in the "Hinkley Hilton"

We were rooting for our favorite Miss New Jersey, Donnatella Nobody...who was unfortunately unable to take the title this year (Miss Alaska won) but is only a few broken kneecaps away from being queen...

The other homefront news is that my cat cant poop (although an awesome name for a punk band....Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Cat Cant Poop!) Anyway, its costing me big bucks to have him irrigated from time to time...and it is a bit wearing on my psyche too...

Concerning the Halloween party, I have made lots of progress painting the tikis you saw the designs for last post. All of the following are 3 foot wide and 8 foot tall on black velour...and will be available for rent for your upcoming tiki party, right after they are used in the Karaoke Cave at Spooktacular IX, Heart of Darkness...

Fangs

Rummy

Doc

Fezzy

Two weeks worth of postings...

Okay, so I am a slacker and I took a week off. I'm sorry. I have had trouble getting another post out because of the amount of time it takes for me to respond to all of the angry emails saying: "why didn't you post last week?" "I'm lost in this world without your blog!" "your lack of postings is causing the stock market collapse!"...so, again, I apologize.

The Dutch Oven Oktoberfest went splendidly. I was even publicly singled out as the creator of the backdrop...that showed some real class on the part of the Dutch Oven! Its not every day that I get applause for the work I do, and it really felt good to hear such enthusiastic support. (he says wiping tear from eye)...unfortunately, my photos didn't turn out so well...but hopefully some of the photographers at the show will start posting the images soon, and we can get a better pic than this one:

Dutch Oven Oktoberfest backdrop
Palace of Wonders, Acrylic on Black Velour
(now available for rent for your German themed party! I'll even paint you a new barrel head!)

Well, now since its October, the annual Halloween Party announcement should be making the rounds. This year's theme is Heart of Darkness, so I whipped up a heart eating monkey as this years logo:

Spooktacular IX, Heart of Darkness Logo
Watercolor and Photoshop

Some folks that wont be attending this years shin dig are our good friends Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey (they are training in the danger room in an undisclosed location in Vermont) but they have been able to keep the Halloween spirit nonetheless:

But more to the point, I will be designing a show for them when they return this winter. Here, is a sneak peek of the first sketches for this top secret show, codenamed "Mumbo"

Mumbo First Sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 12"x8.5"

Looking forward into the weeks ahead, I will be working on lots of elements for the Heart of Darkness, (there is lots planned, a spooky walkthru, a karaoke tent, a giant carnival game, etc) so, postings and sketches may be lost in the shuffle in the coming weeks (not to mention that President Harding is a Rock Star and a remount of Diamond Dead opens the same weekend as the party) so I will show you what I have, when I have it...like these sketches for some large velour tikis for the karaoke tent:

Heart of Darkness velour tiki designs
Watercolor on Paper 12"x8.5"

These are first sketches...and I may try to make them a bit spookier for the Halloween party (but then again, I like the idea of being able to use them at other tiki parties over the course of the year...) so they may need to be reworked a bit before I commit them to the full 8 feet of velour. I have tentatively named them (from Left to right) Fangs, Fezzy, Rummy and Doc.