I get a kick out of Voltaire. Here, he adds a bit of new age to his lair, to very good effect.
It is generally acknowledged, by those, by those in the spirit, that Halloween begins today (MY BIRFDAY) and ends on October 31.
The Fall of Dorothy, by Aimee Marie
As usual, I will be blogging daily, along with the folks at Countdown to Halloween. Every year the list of Cryptkeepers gets a wee bit longer. I highly encourage everyone to head over and do some old-fashioned surfing.
I have a plan for the month, and it’s definitely different, but it will take a few days for me to see if I can pull it off. So you get regular stuff for a little while.
Happy haunting!
Dmitry Cherkashin of Moscow is the proprietor of And Dolls, where he sells many things, but mostly Matryoshka.
Halloween Matryoshka, $53.95
Shadow Matryoshka, $47.95
Because he’s in Russia, getting dolls before Halloween would be a close thing. But we all need to be thinking about Christmas, right?
Crazy Matryoshka, $49
Screaming Matryoshka, $52.95
If you’d like to see what he’s up to currently, check out his Instagram.
Cat Matryoshka, $53.85
If you’ve never watched an art documentary by Waldemar Januszczak, I highly recommend them. Especially his series on epochs of art. He takes some getting used to. We started out calling him the World’s Most Emphatic Art Historian. Once we saw more, it became Wally the Angry Hobbit. With affection.
It was in his series on the Renaissance that I was introduced to Bernard Palissy.
His pottery is filled with lizards, snakes, and frogs, often molded from specimens.
The symbolism is intended to remind us we are all born of sin. Well, you know, Renaissance. He lived a long and interesting life, dying in the Bastille at the age of 80. He totally deserves a biopic. For now, we can just admire his art.
Uno Alla Volta sells these incredible Halloween ceramics made in Boleslawiec, Poland.
Polish Pottery Jack O Lantern, $148
Serving Bowl, $135
They are hand-painted, the Halloween motifs stamped on with hand-carved sponge stamps.
Mugs, $35
Apparently, some derned fool put these in Woman’s World, so get yours fast.
Luminary, $49
Manzel Bowman makes art every day in Amityville, NY. His Afrofuturist work is lush and evocative.
His tarot harkens back to the beginning of the form, structuring symbolism from 15th century decks like the Visconti-Sforza.
Bowman says he likes to “create myths rather than believe in them.”
His deeply detailed and expressive images make it easy to spin myths from every card.
As some of you know, I’ve been recovering from surgery for the past month, and it has seriously screwed with my usual pre-Halloween schedule. On the other hand, we’re moving house soon (don’t know where yet), so no decorating this year. I wasn’t supposed to buy anything, but…well…have you seen those mirror bats at Target? End result: weird Halloween. I have been making things for my Month of Spookdays, albeit slowly.
This week’s links start with something I got on one of my few, careful, recovery outings. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.
Their website doesn’t work, and I don’t see an online shop, but I love Two Charming Chix’s necklaces.
Betsy Youngquist. Via Colossal.
Mr. & Mrs. Halloween list over 70 scary movies for the season, and have a free calendar PDF for planning your marathon.
Miscreation Toys
If you’re near New Hope, PA, stop by the Creeper Gallery so I can live vicariously through you.
