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Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Happy and Haunting Halloween to Everyone !

The Undead " Count Daveula " ! 
Ah.... tis the season for wolf's bane and howling winds and thunder crashes and lighting flashes !

Yes , it's my favorite time of year , "All Hallow's Eve " .
" Frankendave " ! 
Lon Chaney as The Phantom
From early childhood on, I have been mesmerized by the likes of " Karloff the Uncanny's " portrayal of Mary Shelley's undead creature. Lugosi's Dracula and " Listen to dem ... children of the night , what music THEY make ! " Larry Talbot's helplessness in the face of the bite of the werewolf . Kharis' constant ,  unending search for his long dead Princess . That lovely , ethereal lagoon hiding it's fearsome secret in it's black depths ...


Lon Chaney in " London After Midnight . " 
Karloff as Ardoth Bey






In other words , I LOVE the MONSTERS !  I even paint myself as some of my favorites such as " Frankendave " and the undead " Count Daveula " and next year " Ardath Dave " in search of his Princess ....

Some may look at these images as something to be feared or dreaded . I do not !  As when these movies were made, our world was in the throes of a second world war and REAL MONSTERS far worse then any of these fellows made their diabolical presences known. When I was a boy I had my own demons to assuage and my monster friends helped me through it . If I could overcome my fear of these fine fellows and come to terms with them and even grow to love them , then .... I could conquer my own fears and learn to deal with them as well !

So , when the moon is full and the winds whispers through the knotted branches of the black trees and the wolves are howling and the creepy bats are flying you won't find this horror lover cowering in fear !

May you all experience the happiest and creepiest of Halloweens !

Monday, October 10, 2011

A Couple More Familiar Faces .

Raymond Burr
Here are some more familiar faces for you !


Basil Rathbone
John Barrymore
Great actors all ,and very handsome fellows to boot .

John Barrymore , Basil Rathbone and Raymond Burr . What do they have in common ?  I think perhaps they each possessed an intensity and professionalism that conveyed itself through their eyes ...  Perhaps this is why they each enjoyed a certain success as villians on the screen first and the leading man parts were fewer and further between ? Now some will argue that Barrymore was first and foremost a Matinee Idol and arguably the handsomest man of his era . But ... it is on record that he loved playing roles such as Richard the Third , Svengali , Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ! And Mr. Burr played many a heavy in films before finally striking gold with his splendid interpretation of Perry Mason during the golden age of Television .  As for Sir Basil , his portrayals of villians creates a list to long to recite here .

So , from all of these fellows I think you might hear them saying  ... " look into my eyes ! " therein lies the truth !

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Films and Images , a Life Time of Love .


Welcome to my new art blog site. I thought I'd start off with a couple of  sketches of one of  my favorite performers . Every boy's hero Errol Flynn .

I have been a fan of classic and not so classic films as far back as I can remember . Being a " boomer " I have memories of watching dirty prints of old black & white movies which were made even more blurry by the process of " kinetiscoping " used by most early T.V. Stations to show films . Dirty and blurring though they might have seemed to some dissinterested parties ,  to this shy , sensitive boy they were a magic portal  into a world of beauty , make believe , and happy endings !

Many of those images have stuck with me and have sustained me through lifes ups and downs . I love these images . I revere the wonderful talents that took my hand in that darkened living room and led me to a happy place where I felt safe and free to be myself . To cry , laugh , sneer , shake an angry fist , feel that lump rise in my throat and the tears begin to fall ... here is my homage to them . I hope you will see something that resonates for you as well in these images .