Wilhelm Sasnal at ANTON KERN

Trying out new Photography

Trying out new Photography, a photo by Whiskers and Tea on Flickr.

What do you think? This is my new deer magnet that I have been playing around with in my light box. I think it's time to spice up my Etsy item photos. So long glaring white backgrounds!

Thrift Store Thursday

An assortment of cute, ridiculous, and frightening finds from a thrift store.  Ready, set, go!

Giiiirl...

This vintage chatterbox is just plain cute.  I'm not sure what gender it is, presumably male 'cause it's not wearing pink.  It must be fun to chat for hours about useless cr*p such as mud pies and worms, like news commentators do!

Father Time Tree?

It's a tree.  It's a man.  It's frightening!  I don't understand the purpose of this homeless man's face peeking out through a pine tree.  That best not be Santa. Nightmares.

Long Doll

It's a doll.  It's long.

Scary Teddy Jar

Who in their right mind came up with this?  I usually love teddy bears, but this? Adding a pretty blue bow around it's neck does nothing to soften the horror.

The fact that it's a cookie jar adds to its spookiness. You have to decapitate the thing to get your snickerdoodle.  A good incentive to avoid the sweets?

Scary Teddy Detail

Look away!

Parkour!

Crazy illustration of an urban monkey.


parkour motion reel by Suchablog

Dreamy Dioramas

I snapped these pics at a local fair not to long ago.  These dioramas are all incredibly well crafted, and there is a remarkable attention to detail. Just being detailed miniatures is an accomplishment in it's own right, but the styling of these sets really ups the ante and sets these mini spaces apart.

Old World Cafe
Given enough distance, this diorama looks startlingly real.  Even an air of gloom hangs over this sadly deserted cafe.

Country Kitchen
This photo is rather stalker-ish.  It's taken from a miniature Peeping Tom's perspective, from outside, pressed up against the window glass. Adorable!

My favorite detail is the chicken cookie jar and the parrot.  Birds...who can resist their kitschy and/or exotic charms?

Lux Flat
This is the most fabulous diorama, EVER! The luxury is enviable, and I'm willing to bet the person who made this resides in a hovel and lives vicariously through that madame.

Scary Carnival
This circus is B-A-N-A-N-A-S!  I dunno about you, but popcorn from a kangaroo vendor, no thank you!    And let's see, I can spot a drunken clown sitting on a turtle, and chimps on the loose...it might as well be a scene from It.

Thrift Store Thursday

This week's spotlight is on ceramics.  They can seem diametrically opposed.  Some are commercially made, others hand crafted. Some are delightfully ridiculous, others delightfully scary.  One thing unites them, they all were found at a Thrift Store.

Enjoy!

Hand Crafted Lizard Man Mask

I bet this came from the ceramics Department of a local University.  You can tell from the craftsmanship....

It appears to depict some kind of Lizard/Man Deity.  Or it could have been a classmate portrait assignment.  It would have been quite frightening without the tongue sticking out, but it's presence is like icing on the OMFG cake!

Lap Dog Tea Party

These pooches look like they come from money.  Not only do they have their own couches to lounge in, but they have pillows and blankeys to make them more comfortable.  I'm surprised they aren't wearing sports jackets and ascots. I envy their lifestyle of leisure. I wonder if the tea party is for them too.  Is that tea pot full of oolong, or chicken broth? They are so fabulous!

Poo Shoe

I think I saved the best/most atrocious for last!  It wasn't obvious to me at first what was attached to the red ceramic sneaker.  "Could it be a rumpled sock?," I thought "Or a newborn something or rather?"  No.  It most sure as sh*t is crap.  I appreciate that it was placed on the bottom shelf.  Its placement both indicates its quality, and enhances the comedic effect.  

Acrylic Transfers. I use 'em to make magnets.

Here are some pics of acrylic transfers that I have already painted with acrylics.  I made the transfers by slathering acrylic medium onto a black and white Xerox copy of my (scaled down) drawings.  After the medium dries onto the Xerox, I soak it in water and rub the paper off.  I am left with an acrylic skin that has the ink of the Xerox transferred onto it.  Are you riveted yet?

Acrylic Transfers, laid out into rows
How organized!  One tricky thing about painting the transfers is that they are painted backwards.  I paint on the back of the transfers, so the first thing I paint (the highlight) shows on the surface, and whatever I paint next appears behind that.  It can get confusing imagining what it looks like, because all you see is the back, not the front.

Acrylic Transfers in a jumble
Here's a pic of the same acrylic transfer paintings, all jumbled up.  Look, the acrylic transfers are transparent!  Some will turn into bottle cap magnets, others into glass gem magnets.

Finished Magnets
This is how the magnets turn out.  Those same acrylic transfers are either sandwiched between glass and card stock, or drowned in resin.  It's the end of the road for the transfers, the Jig is up! Sneaky charlatans...