House of Shadows

Here is something I pulled out of my idea files today. It’s a simple way to create a faux leather finish on paper mache. It is also a good technique to use on old books you want transform into a Witch’s Spell Book for your Halloween props collection.

Materials List:

• Black Acrylic Paint
• Sienna Acrylic Paint
• Crackle Medium
• Cordovan Shoe Polish

1. Paint your mache object or book with black acrylic paint; let it dry
2. Apply the crackle medium according to the directions on the bottle
3. Let the crackle medium cure according to directions on the bottle
4. Apply a coat of sienna acrylic; let dry before moving to next step
   
5. Finish with an application of cordovan shoe polish (wax not liquid); buff.
   

Important Tips:

• Paintbrush strokes should only go in one direction
• Do not overwork the paint, you will loose the crackling
• Apply as many coats of polish as you want to get the finish you desire

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I needed something to bring a smile to my face today so I’m posting this cute little guy for the Rest In Peace section of my Blog. You can’t stop yourself from smiling when you look at him. Of course, it’s the kind of picture that would make my sons groan and tell me how cruel it is to put clothes on poor little dogs.

It’s A Dog’s Life At My House!

When the boys were young and I took our Schnauzer to the groomer, she would come home smelling phoofy and wearing the typical little floral scarf. My sons thought it was all too sissy for their dog. So I searched and searched for a “Harley” scarf and made four scarves for her, bought her a leather jacket and wrapped them up for Christmas. She loved her new wardrobe. It still didn’t make her look tough but at least the boys were satisfied. She lived a long and happy life; the memories of her prancing around in her Harley scarf will be with us forever.

We have had almost five inches of rain in the past 24 hours; the skies are gray and towns are flooding all around us in Southwest Washington and Oregon. The weather is supposed to break today…but I’m skeptical about the accuracy of the weather report. The good news is that I’m just going to close myself up in my studio and get some work done on my Halloween projects for 2009.

I hope this day is a good one for you. And if it’s not and you need an extra smile…. just keep coming back to this page for another look at this little pirate. He was born to make you smile and steal your heart.

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This beautiful example of moss covered grave art comes from a grave at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. If you love grave art then a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery is something that you should definitely put on your life list of things to see and do. It is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at118.6 acres though there are larger cemeteries in the city’s suburbs.

Père Lachaise Cemetery is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world and it is reputed to be the world’s most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials.

Of course in today’s economy, the cost of traveling to Paris is beyond reach for most of us. But the internet provides an alternative opportunity to view the history of the cemetery, look over the impressive list of people buried in the historic cemetery, and even take a virtual tour. Read more at this Wikipedia Site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery

As I have said before on this Blog, one of the things I love most about old cemeteries is the aging of the stone and the mosses that provide such beautiful color and contrast to the stone. The picture above is just one example of what every home haunter tries to simulate when building tombstones. Looking at this picture made me wonder if it is possible to grow live moss on tombstones made of foam insulation if a rough finish texture was applied. Perhaps applying monster mud with a bit of sand mixed in. I’m going to do some experimentation this summer to test the application of a Moss Milkshake on the surfaces detailed above. Instead of risking the loss of a finished tombstone.I will make a few small test boards.

If you want to do your own experimenting, there are several recipes on the internet for Moss Milk Shakes; this is the one I’m going to use:

Moss Milkshake Recipe

Place 1 part fresh, clean, green moss with 1 part milk-based culture (yogurt, buttermilk, etc) in a blender; blend to the consistency of a milkshake. Paint or pour mixture onto the object you wish to age, wrap it in plastic and place it in a warm place that is sheltered from sunlight. Open the cover and spray your piece with water periodically to keep it moist but not wet.

If you decide to experiment with aging your tombstones with moss, let me know what kind of results you get. Either post a comment or contact me at: mail@houseofshdows.net

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No, this is not a review of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. It is a rather sad story about the unfortunate series of events which will delay the introduction our featured artist, Laurie Franklin.

It was with artful abandon that Laurie Franklin labored at her keyboard, typing each carefully chosen morsel of insight with poetic verbiage as she answered my questions for her bio. Her mood was pensive, the light was growing dim, and the room was as quiet as a tomb. Nothing but the sound of Laurie’s keystrokes moved about the room. Laurie gave unselfishly of her time to put my needs ahead of her own as she pushed back the pressures of time that lurked in the twilight of the evening.

Laurie continued her drudgery at the keyboard until “at last” the work was complete. The finished product was most assuredly the artful work we expect from Laurie before (sobbing now) … disaster struck when she hit “send”. YES! It was the “The Curse of the Error Message” that pulled her work into the Black Hole of Cyberspace; never to be retrieved again.

Well #%*! it all! Has this demon of the dark ever defiled your work?

If this tragic story has not left you with a tear in your eye, then read on my friend for there is more to the story. This sinister series of tragic events happened as Laurie was preparing her escape from home, to a place where she will be safely hidden from the vile computer demon until Monday. Given this series of unfortunate events I have decided to delay the publication of the next article in the Meet The Artist Series until she returns. Stayed tuned to House of Shadows.net for the next episode ….

Vampiress Morbidia

© 2008 Laurie Franklin

It’s exciting to begin the new week with a new series, which I have entitled 5 Star Artists. It will feature the work of artists who have an exceptional talent for building Halloween props, creative designers of home haunts, painters, costume makers, or writers of Halloween stories and poetry. Some of you may already have seen some of the featured works, but I hope to also give you an opportunity to learn more about the artist.

Our first featured guest at the House of Shadows will be Laurie Franklin, a self-taught artist who builds life-size props of amazing quality. Vampiress Morbidia is just one example of Laurie’s work. Stay tuned to meet her creator and watch Morbidia’s transformation from a humble beginning into the haunting creature you see here in finished form.

Thank you for visiting the House of Shadows.

I’m posting to my Blog early today so I can spend the rest of the day finishing the detail work on Morti. He should be getting his first coat of paint in the coming week. Morti will be painted using a combination of airbrushing and paintbrushes. I selected 13 shades of paint to gradually build depth for his final look. One coat of orange paint would not give Morti the menacing look I have in mind. As I paint Morti I will post progressive photos.

There are so many places to find ideas for projects and I stumbled upon one last night while viewing some photos posted on a Photoshop tutorial blog. The picture was of an ancient ruin being overtaken by unbelievably large tree roots. It was a good visual for creating an image in my mind of the way Morti’s lower body can be formed. Perhaps I will post that picture some day. But right now I would like to share a picture of an ancient crypt in the Old Bethany Cemetery in Guadalajara. It is a great inspiration for a crypt to house a flying crank ghost.

The structure has fairly simple lines, except for the pyramidal top which I would probably leave off. The aging of the moss covered crypt is great for reference if you want to have a dark creepy looking feel in your home haunt. I don’t plan to build my crypt until 2010 so I will be continuing to look for ideas that I can share with you. If you have specific areas of interest that you would like me to post on the House of Shadows Blog leave them in the comment section.

Thank you for viewing and subscribing. Your interest motivates me to stay focused on project goals for the year. My first Blog post was entered on November 4. Since that day, twenty-five people have subscribed to the RSS feed. I hope this is a continuing trend and that subscribers will feel free to comment.

Have a great rest of the weekend. I wish you sunshine and smiles throughout the coming week.

If you are viewing this page I probably don’t need to make apologies for my fascination with the unexpected beauty that can often be found in cemeteries. Perhaps not in the modern sterile-looking cemeteries that look as if they were groomed with your mother’s best sewing scissors, but the old, hidden, often forgotten pioneer cemeteries. I find them to be a place of quiet inspiration for many reasons.

For many years, I used watched my mother-in-law pack her wash pail and scrub brush to take to the cemetery for the annual scrubbing of family headstones. She never missed this ceremonious occasion on Memorial Day for the 35 years I knew her before her death. Keeping the headstones clean and free off moss and algae was a labor of love for her. It was her way of paying her respects to family who passed on before her.

This is one family tradition that is difficult for me to adopt. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than old stone that has been lovingly aged by nature. Pits formed by years of exposure to wind and rain, giving foothold to mosses that softly blanket the hard stone in color, and the algae competing for first place in wearin’ o’ the green. Does beauty fade over time, or does it become more alive with character? I say it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Although it seems early in the year to be thinking about starting new Halloween props, it seems time moves faster than greased lightening in my life.I will be posting pictures of cemetery art over the months to come as a source of ideas for those new headstones you need to make for your home haunt next year. This outstanding example of cemetery can be found on a grave in Bruton Parish Churchyard in Colonial Williamsburg, VA. I hope you find it inspirational.