House of Shadows

This is the seventh post in the series exploring cemetery art as a method for planning my “Beloved” prop to display in a Halloween cemetery. If this is your first visit to the House of Shadows Blog, or you want to read this series from the beginning, go back to “Stories In Stone” posted on November 27.

This is a picture of the dress I bought on eBay to use for my Beloved Project

With a bit of apprehension, I will allow you to look inside my musty brain to see how it puts all of the information I’ve been gathering together to make some early decisions about my Beloved project. Not everyone needs this kind of a planning process, some people are comfortable jumping in with both feet and getting started. That process doesn’t work for me. As you read through my thoughts, I think it will become clear why a detailed planning process is important to me.

The questions below are examples of how you might check your thinking, if you want, or need to make the best use of your time and investment in your Halloween hobby.

• Is your display area large or small?

My Halloween cemetery display may be started in the back yard and moved to the front yard over time. Either way, both yards have about the same dimensions 60″ x 120″ feet. I have plenty of room for large props. In fact, large props will be more effective than small props.

• Will visitors view your props close up, or from a distance?

If the graveyard is displayed in the backyard, props will be viewed close-up; less viewing distance means the scale of the lettering is less of an issue but I also think it takes away some of the “creepy factor”. Displaying the graveyard in the front yard means props will be viewed from a distance so details need to be larger so they can be seen. The difference between setting up in the front or the back is security. We live on a heavily traveled six lane street with a lot of walking traffic in front of the house at all hours of the night.

• What is the overall theme of your display?

My taste is very traditional. Our home and the homes around us were built in the early 1900’s in a historic area of our city; that is the time period I would like our displays to reflect. Our displays will never depict blood and gore for two reasons: 1) I think illusions are more powerful, like a noise heard faintly in the background, something you feel or believe you see lurking in the shadows, etc.; and 2) I have two year old grandson and I want him to enjoy the display… not be traumatized by the experience.

• Will the prop be heavy or awkward to move?

I gained useful insight from my friend Terra’s experience about designing grip space into a prop with a larger base. I also think if I position the mourning lady’s figure in a more upright position I can build a smaller, more vertical prop that requires less wood framing to keep the prop as light as possible.

• What are your time and budgetary issues?

Early retirement means I have more time than money. I have medical issues that limit my ability to do physical activities for extended periods of time, so planning early allows me to fit the project into the budget and work at a pace that fits my lifestyle. My next steps will be to make a supply list, check off what I have and gather supplies I still need. I can begin by checking off the dress. √

• Will the prop be weather proof in rainy conditions?

Rain is a big concern for me because I live in the Pacific Northwest. This prop will be well-sealed with the process Terra used. She applied an undercoat of monster mud, then three coats of Drylock  were used as the top coat to waterproof her Beloved prop. The prop was exposed to rainy Fall weather for a month and showed no signs of weather damage, but using this process to seal the project means you have to plan in advance for the loss of detail that will occur.

• How and where will you store large props?

Right now I am lucky to have enough space in the tack room in my barn. But this space is limited so a plan for the future is necessary. We have room to build more outbuildings on our property, or we can rent storage and transport the props in the truck. I would prefer to keep them at home.

Other things I need to consider are modifications to the design I’m using as an inspiration to eliminate the weak points, remembering that my prop will not be made of concrete. Overall I feel the design I have chosen is a good candidate for the project. Now I have to wait for dry weather because the prop will be too hard to get out of the basement if I started now.

In my next post I will be providing links to painting and distressing tutorials that I think are helpful. Until then …

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows!

I have always been known as a detail person, both my in career life and in my home life. If you have been following this blog you may have already guessed that planning is one of the details I enjoy about designing my display.

Today I’m going to discuss some factors to consider in planning for a Halloween graveyard display. This might not be as important for you as it is for me because I have an overactive mind …and I want to do it all. So working through a planning process helps me narrow possibilities down to a list that is practical. A quote from a respected friend helps focus my energy. He said, “If you don’t break your projects into small steps you will work too hard and get less than desired results. It’s like using a five gallon bucket of water to fill a tea cup. All the water splashes out and you end up with very little water in the cup for all your efforts.” That philosophy guides this series so if you can use help with that type of focus stay with me as I continue to develop my personal “bucket list” for designing a “Beloved” tombstone.

This monument appeals to me as a concept for my Beloved project!

The Pros:

• I’m naturally drawn to objects and styles that are classic designs
• I love the curve of the small pedestal the angel is resting her head on
  
• The masonic symbol is easy to recreate, but could be replaced with other designs
  
• The wreath details are easy to duplicate using silk greenery coated with monster mud
• The shape and details of the monument would cast nice shadows when lights are on at night
• The higher base could be useful in building a more compact prop than traditional designs

The Cons:

• The position of the extended arm and hand are a vulnerable breaking point
• Shell ornaments on the corners of the pedestal are also vulnerable to breakage
  
• Size of lettering is limited by the pedestal shape and hard to see from a distance
• Without the Angel’s wings, rescaling of the pedestal will be required for better balance

In my next post I will break these pros and cons down to explore how they fit into my overall plans for the future of my Halloween display, skills and resources, and space as it relates to both display and storage. The questions I pose should easily translate into your own planning process. Until then …

Thank you for being my guest at the House of Shadows. I hope to see you again soon!

This is the third article in the cemetery art series; which is a study of the expression of sorrow through body language used in grave markers and monuments. If this is your first visit to the House of Shadows or you want to begin reading this series from the beginning go back to the post of November 27, “Stories In Stone”.

I had a epiphany of sorts as I searched through pictures of graveyard art to study statuary representing grieving. My search began as a way to plan for the design of my “Beloved” prop based on a typical scene of a grieving widow draped over what is assumed to be her lover’s tomb. I have seen “Beloved” props inscribed in two different ways. One is a simple inscription on the tomb that reads “Beloved” and the other has the additional inscription “Beneath this simple stone, my beloved sleeps alone.”

As I continued to look at pictures, it occurred to me that often times a monument represents grief over the loss of an infant or child. So my first assumption of a prop depicting a wife mourning the loss of a husband was a limited perspective. A “Beloved” prop could be designed to express the grief of a mother who mourns the loss of a child. You might say, “If a woman is mourning the loss of a loved one, what difference does it make if it is a husband, child, or infant?” While it is true that you may not see a difference in body language, you might see a difference in the ornamentation used on the tomb. This would open more possibilities for how you want to design your prop to make it uniquely yours.

There is another detail that also offers flexibility. I’m designing my prop based on a dress I bought on eBay. However, many mourning figures are portrayed by simply using fabric to drape around a body. This effect could be recreated in a prop by loosely sculpting a body shape from wire, using a wig head, and draping the shape with burlap before applying monster mud. Sometimes the hands show and other times they don’t, so you can choose to attempt sculpting hands or just give an illusion of hands under the cloth. So don’t let the lack of the right dress or garment stop you from trying something different than what you have already seen.

Here are a few more pictures to study before I move on to ornamentation tomorrow. My mind is becoming over stimulated with possibilities now …

Thank you for visiting the House of Shadows Blog. Come back often!

Dedicated to Sophie

May 1993 - Nov 2007

It’s been a restful day and we have started putting up the decorations for Christmas. My husband is a huge fan of Christmas and loves to have the house decorated as soon as we can. I always feel we should at least wait until after Thanksgiving…but if he had his way we would have the house decorated for Christmas all year long. I have a useful tip for the ladies of the house; guys if you are reading it can just be our secret. I don’t like to decorate for holidays until I have done a thorough house cleaning. So in exchange for my agreement to get the Christmas decorating done, my husband cleaned all the hardwood floors, so ladies don’t forget to negotiate for those good bargains at home. Now before you guys feel too bad for my husband let me tell you our floors have a Swedish oil finish and all you have to do is mop with water mixed with a touch of vinegar…and I have an electric floor cleaner that makes it a snap. But even with those conveniences, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate his help around the house.

As I plan my Halloween projects for the year, I can see some of my ideas will work for both holidays. And I have promised my hubby I’ll make a large Nutcracker prop for next Christmas and a life-size Santa for the year after. I have a beautifully illustrated book with a Nutcracker on the cover that will be my inspiration for the first project. I can see I’m going to be very busy in the studio next year.

When we put up the tree we always light the fire and drink hot chocolate. Our canary, Shakespeare, loves listening to Christmas music, especially if Bing Crosby is signing. Shakespeare adds an extra touch of festivity at Christmas by signing along with the music. We picked him up from the breeder right after Thanksgiving, eight years ago. His first experience with music at our house was the music of Christmas I think that’s why he enjoys it so much. Although Shakespeare loves classical music, and Frank Sinatra, his signing is always most animated when he listens to Christmas music.

Our dog Alistair is a Jack Russel Terrier with boundless energy and more than enough love for everything in life. He is nine years old and spent his first Christmas without his older sister, Sophie, last year. Sophie, our beloved Schnauzer, was six years old when I brought Alistair home. She was absolutely befuddled by this little creature. We had to follow her around with a towel to wipe the drool from her beard for two weeks because she was just so excited and confused by this puppy that all she did was constantly hover over him and drool. They were the best of buddies and it was difficult to put her down. She rests in a special place in my garden. We’ve watched the strangest phenomenon for over a year now. I planted a yellow pansy over her grave. It flowered all that first winter and into the spring. It continued to flower in the hot summer when all the other pansies died out. Sophie’s pansy gets full sun all day long…it should not have survived the summer sun. However, it’s never quit blooming since the day I planted it. In fact, as I write this Blog Sophie’s pansy is blooming just as bright and sunny as her personality was. I like to think it is her way of saying thank you for caring enough to do the right thing for me. She is missed but will never be forgotten.

Now on to the topic of the day. This is the second post of pictures I’m using to evaluate the expression of grief through body language to plan my “Beloved” project. If you are just joining us and want to catch up with this series you can go back to November 28 to start reading from the beginning. The pictures I’m posting today show the mourning figures in a horizontal position, which is the traditional position used for “Beloved” props I’ve seen. I find looking closely at pictures helps me develop a vision in my mind’s eye for how I want my project to look. I may see a hand gesture I like in one, ornamentation in another, fabric draping in another, etc. If these pictures provide a reference for you sometime in the future, then I’m meeting one of my goals for this Blog.

This series will continue tomorrow with a few more pictures of statuary and Tuesday I will begin to look at details of ornamentation. Until next time ….

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows. You are invited to come back often!

This is the first post in the series exploring cemetery art to evaluate expression of sorrow through body language. I will be using this study to plan the design for my Beloved project. If this is your first visit to the House of Shadows Blog you may want to read the explanation of this series beginning on November 28.

Traditional Beloved props show the figure of a grieving woman laying horizontally over the tomb of her of her husband. I may go that direction, however, I want to explore other options as well. The purpose of the pictures that will be posted today and tomorrow is to study various positions of the body, hands and fabric draping.

I have more pictures to post in this series; however, tonight I look as weary as the woman at the top of the page. As I continue to work on page design and explore the explosive number of plugins available for Wordpress I’m continually living in a world of exploration, and that translates in English to “trial and error”. Today I tried my third photo management plugin, which I find all have advantages and disadvantages. Posting these pictures was an exhausting process for someone new to Wordpress and plugins. However, I’m still a strong believer in learning by doing and once again I won the battle! Tomorrow’s post should be a much easier process.

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As you can you see, my dog Alistair is busy recovering from his turkey dinner so we took the day off today. I will be starting a new series tomorrow focusing on cemetery art. I chose this topic to assist me with some decisions about how I design my “Beloved” prop to make the best use of a vintage dress I bought on eBay for the project.

If you are not familiar with the “Beloved” tombstone it simulates a woman mourning over the tombstone of her beloved husband with the inscription “Beneath this simple stone, my precious darling sleeps alone”.

There are several examples of the beloved project online that I find are useful references. It’s one of the benefits of being attached to a community of friends that is as sharing as the network on the Halloween forums. Each person adds their own unique elements to a build or tries a new technique which they share. My friend Terra used the examples of others when building her beloved project and I think she added some steps that are outstanding. I feel so fortunate to be able to gain knowledge from her experience and add features that will make my project a unique design built from the concepts of others. If this project progresses as I think it will, I should be incorporating some of the techniques I have learned from Laurie Franklin (Lauriebeast) as well. Before summer arrives I’m sure lessons learned from others will also influence my finished project.

In the upcoming series I plan to post photos focusing on fabric draping, different ways of positioning a mourning figure, aging stone, and ornamental elements. By the end of this series I will also post a variety of methods for creating faux stone, texture, and shading. My beloved project will not be started until the weather improves this spring or summer, but some of the concepts I’m reviewing will be incorporated into finishing the body for the build of the “Immortal Pumpkin” that I’ve named Morti. I hope you find concepts that you can apply to your current or future projects as well. Until next time …

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