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Long Lost Friend Studio is my self-publishing imprint, the studio space where we work, and a YouTube channel featuring videos about art and creativity. This blog covers everything happening with me and Long Lost Friend Studio.
Which Way to Sleepy Hollow?
It’s the 1700s and you’re traveling on horseback through the mysterious, foreboding woods of the Hudson Valley. Night is falling and you need to reach your destination, but the rambling route you’ve taken has you turned around.
Running The Show: A Muppet Show Diorama for Gallery1988
Kermit is focused. He pores over the running order for the show. Big celebrity host tonight, he hopes the dressing room is prepped. He may have to cut an act or two for time, maybe talk to Fozzie about some of his weaker material.
It’s Alive! And Multifunctional!
Zipping through YouTube reviews of tools Michelle and I were thinking about purchasing for the shop, we noticed a lot of gear reviews on a multitool marketed towards outdoorsmen, woodworkers, plumbers, contractors, and do-it-yourselfers. Nothing about artists or craftspeople. But the tool seemed interesting enough for us to buck the system, pick one up, and see if we could make a monster.
Giving Monsters A Bad Name
The ghosts and monsters in the early seasons of Scooby Doo sent chills up my childhood spine. They still do if I’m being completely honest. Who could listen to the maniacal laughter of the Space Kook without tensing up? But those ghouls, as creepy as they could be, were infinitely more endearing — and enduring — than the criminal goons inside those spooky costumes.
Mother! Oh God! Blood! (A Psycho Diorama)
Were I in Norman Bates’ loafers, on the night he had to tidy up after his Mother did that awful, terrible thing to Marion Crane in Cabin Number One, I wonder if my natural aversion to germs and blood and gore would be overridden by my weird, anxiety-calming obsession with cleaning and organizing.
A Bear Walks Into an Art Gallery…
The latest Gallery1988 show is called Off The Leash and it celebrates all of our favorite non-human characters in pop culture. Scooby Doo, Kermit the Frog, Wilbur the Pig, Chewbacca, Cujo, Rocket Raccoon, and more. A great theme and a perfect fit for a piece Michelle and I have been wanting to do for a while: Fozzie Bear, up on stage at a show, absolutely killing it.
Riverbottom Nightmare Reimagined
Maybe I feel some tenderness in my heart when Sylvester Stallone’s character loses the title fight in Rocky, but realizes his bond with Adrian is more important than winning a slugfest. And maybe I’m okay with Charlie Brown picking himself up off the ground and pushing forward after every humiliating time Lucy pulls the football away and he goes flying. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let those rich punks from Riverbottom show up late to the Waterville Talent Contest and just swipe the prize money from poor Emmet Otter and his friends. So this year, I finally did something about it.
Do Parents Still Hand Out Rocks On Halloween?
When I was a kid, half the houses on my block gave out rocks on Halloween instead of candy. Especially if your costume wasn’t up to neighborhood standards. By the time the last porch light was extinguished, we’d be making our way home in the dark, our masks half on and half off, dragging a heavy bag of rubble behind us. And we were happy to have those rocks. Thrilled, even. Sometimes, if you were lucky, some of the houses in the nicer neighborhoods would hand out full-size quartz! You can’t find those just lying around in the street. Charlie Brown can whine all he wants about his Halloween haul, but I’ve never heard of rocks giving anyone cavities or a tummy ache.
Forget It, Vince. It’s Halloweentown.
Back in the 1990s, before DisneyPlus was streaming endless content into people’s homes, folks looking for family entertainment from the House of the Mouse would have to rely on The Disney Channel Original Movies. One of the more popular films from this era was 1998’s Halloweentown. It starred Debbie Reynolds as an old school witch who lived in a bustling village of monsters, spooks, and other oddballs. This week, Michelle and I did some research on this magical town, and sculpted a diorama of one of its oddballs.
Green Sky At Morning, Dioramist Take Warning
There are people who can quote every line from Godfather 2; Cinephiles who deliver dialogue from memory with a conviction only achieved through multiple viewings, burning holes in you with that Pacino-stare, so you know they mean business. That’s not me. As this week’s project suggests, my Godfather 2 is Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs, which means nobody knocks off an old man in my neighborhood and gets away with it!
Muppets Diorama: Tribute To An Underrated Gem
I don’t know what we were all doing In 2015 that was so darned important, but a good portion of us decided to not watch The Muppets, and thus we’re to blame for its cancellation after only one year. This week’s Muppet diorama is our attempt to make up for our part in that.
The Monster Walks: Another Gallery1988 Exhibit
Frankenstein’s monster has risen from the slab once again, and Michelle and I have only ourselves to blame. Well, maybe Gallery1988 should shoulder some of the blame, because this mixed-media Son of Frankenstein diorama is part of their current show, The Golden Age of Hollywood.
Our First Gallery1988 Group Show: 25 Years Later
A few months ago, I told Michelle that I’d like the opportunity to show work at Gallery 1988, one of the most talked about pop culture galleries in California. Michelle looked at me like I was nuts. Full disclosure, she always looks at me that way. Maybe she’s right. Doesn’t matter. We managed to get a spot in Gallery 1988’s current show, so who’s crazy now?
Commissioned to Build a TMNT / Universal Monsters Diorama
Sometimes a job’s just a job. Other times, it’s so much fun you feel guilty cashing the paycheck. Such was the case when, recently, a client commissioned Michelle and me to build a diorama that’s a cross between the Mutant Turtles’ sewer lair and Dr. Frankenstein’s lab.
Good Graveyard Fences Make Good Neighbors
Two years ago I put together my first miniature haunted house. It’s a little wonky, and in need of repair, but most haunted houses are. This October, in an effort to improve curb appeal, Michelle and I built a miniature cemetery on the plot next door, and we experimented with making the headstones out of foam, wood, clay, and cardboard.
Making An Eight-Limbed Villain With My Own Two Hands
Recording stuff in our studio for our YouTube channel means someone’s always hovering over your shoulder with a camera, capturing everything you work on, warts and all. But sometimes it works out. Like when it caught most of my Doctor Octopus sculpting process and gave me some relatively-wart-free content to post this step-by-step this week!