Category Archives: Conventions

Flashback Weekend Chicago 2026

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A week ago today, Frank and I packed up our truck with our luggage, a cooler full of snacks/drinks, my artwork, 2 wagon utility carts, multiple large bins of donated prizes and a rubber chicken and headed off for another killer artventure with our horror community fam at Flashback Weekend Chicago!

When we arrived I already got a sign that it was going to be a memorable weekend because 23 was on the parking spot we parked in without even realizing it until we got out. It’s my Mom and my Uncle Randy’s birthdate number (both have passed away) and it often manifests (as what I refer to as) a “glimmer” telling me I am exactly where the universe intends for me to be. ✨

Once we got the truck unloaded and got moved into our “home away from home for the week” we cooled down, relaxed a bit and then got a bite to eat at their Red Bar. When my shrimp tempura arrived I couldn’t help but feel like I needed to cash in a coupon for a “free demon possession with every exorcism” because immediately when the waitress set it on the table I started singing “DAY-O!” and honestly it couldn’t have been a funnier way to kick off a memorable weekend.

The big national sports collector event was taking place at the convention center next door again, but this time the hotel listened to everyone’s feedback from last year and put up signs and had extra security that prevented the lobby areas from being hoarded with collectors trading and collecting cards in every orifice of the hotel and making rude remarks to the “freaks” (as some said they were called) trying to have a good time. There were actual places to sit in the bar and lounge areas again this year and it felt more like the fun hotel vibes we love about the Hyatt Regency. Although we have had many amazing memories at the Crowne Plaza (where Flashback Weekend used to be held at), we have really grown to love the open layout of the Hyatt. So it really made us happy to see the hotel staff listened to why so many guests were not happy with the chaos we endured during our stay last year. Seeing these signs through out the hotel was a win for us horror fans.

The first thing we did at the convention was venture off to get our badges at the registration booth, where we were greeted by Mia (our horror con fam’s Momma and queen of the con) and the amazing convention staff volunteers. I was quite smitten to see there was a little shout out for me inside the Ultimate Ticket Holder goodie bags! 😊

For those of you that may not be aware, Frank and I have been attending Flashback Weekend for 22 years now and I have become the convention’s Prize Coordinator. This means I am in charge of organizing and collaborating with various businesses, artists and vendors to collect and deliver merchandise for prize donations that we raffle off for the convention’s Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party (held exclusively for Ultimate Ticket Holders and the celebrity guests) every year. This also means setting up the prize table at the event and marketing the sponsors leading up to it by maintaining the landing page, and designing/sharing social media posts and promotional flyers/signs. I would like to mention that Frank should get an award just for his patience with me over the months leading up to the con while I am collaborating, tracking and getting packages on our doorstep for months, keeping them safe and stored in our home, and then of corpse all the loading and set up during the con itself. I truly could not do this without him and he’s a real trooper about all of it.

Mia, the sweetheart that she is, pulled out a layout map so Frank and I could easily find the vendors that I needed to pick up raffle prizes from. After picking them up and packing them safely with the others we ventured back into the ballroom to visit with our very talented friend Chad Savage (Sinister Visions). We got carried away getting caught up that we forgot to take our annual reunion pic but I made sure to remember to get one with him on Sunday when we made our last rounds and goodbyes.

After scoping out the amazing vendors and getting an idea on where everything was located, we went and got a bite to eat at the hotel’s O’H American Grill where we were standing in line with actor Joseph Whipp and his lovely wife. She was such a hoot and laughed with us over mai tai drinks and ended up sitting next to us. When the staff handed us our table number as 23, I couldn’t help but acknowledge it as another manifested glimmer. ✨

After making more rounds around the con we went and got ready for the return of Svengoolie Live! It’s a fun on stage late night talk show hosted by our favorite local horror host legend. Flashback Weekend introduced this new event to the con for the first time last year and we absolutely loved it. This year he interviewed actors David Naughton and David Arquette and just like last year, we were not disappointed. Each guest was full of stories and kept us laughing through out the entire show. Of corpse Sven never disappoints when it comes to comedy relief so it was once again worth attending. After the show we stopped in at the con’s little after party for a bit, roamed around the hotel and then headed back to chill on the balcony of our room. Unfortunately the full moon was rising on the other side of the hotel but we still felt its presence.

We woke up Saturday to a text from our friends Ben and Jon from Dead Regime Media telling us that they had arrived and that Ben had Wisconsin dill cheese curds in his cooler with our names on them. So we got our butts in gear and met up and hung out at the con with them all day. One of the many reasons we love reuniting with Ben is because we always reminisce about our memories and friendship with Sid Haig. Our friendship blossomed many moons ago after Ben worked with Sid on High On The Hog and then later interviewed us for a possible future documentary in tribute to Sid’s life. When we are all together it always feels like Sid is there with us in spirit and it helps to not focus on the fact that Sid isn’t at a table ready to look up at us with a huge grin on his face, but instead he is looking down on us from the stardust happy we are all together and keeping his memory alive.

When it was time to finally meet Svengoolie, our horror con fam pulled through. Between Mia and Don (who manages the successful operations of the con each year) they made sure that when the time arrived for me to gift Sven my “You’re All Grown Up Now” portrait that Frank and I would have enough time to spend with him. Don even captured memorable candid and posed pictures of us during our interaction and made sure Sven’s people properly handled his gift bag of art from me.

When talking to Sven, I was so thrilled to hear that he remembered the art piece from our online messages and was excited to finally receive it. He kept telling me how “terrific” the artwork was and even remembered that I had made a special barrette to give to him, so he could hand deliver it to his glamour ghoul co-host Gwengoolie. I also was able to tell Sven that my Dad is an artist and one of my biggest inspirations and loves tuning into the show every Saturday. He loved hearing how excited my Dad was for me to gift my work to him. Being in his presence, I couldn’t help but reflect on how seriously blessed we all are to have such an incredibly talented and kind soul as one of our local Chicagoland legends. And thanks to him always being such a big supporter of Flashback Weekend we now officially have an autographed rubber chicken hanging in our home as a reminder of this memorable moment spent with him.

After grabbing a bite to eat and some drinks with our friends, we headed to our room to start gathering the prizes and loading our carts up to head to the Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party. As always, Frank did an awesome job helping me set the table up. This year it was full with the most prizes we have ever received. There was 20 generous prize sponsors and many of them were kind enough to donate more then one item leaving the party attendees in awe.

Chad, John and Don all assisted in the prize announcements and as always we announced who donated each prize before raffling them off. Frank took photos of all of us live in action while Kat was getting photos of each individual winner with their prizes. It may have been a bit more work this year with so many prizes being donated, but it was so rewarding to see the excitement of so many people leaving the party with something amazing and giving all these generous people and businesses who donated the exposure they deserved.

Donating my own artwork for prizes over the years is actually what led to me becoming the Prize Coordinator to begin with, and this year I found it fitting to donate an oversized 16×20″ canvas print of my “You’re All Grown Up Now” split face portrait of Svengoolie! Laura, a member of our beloved horror con fam had her raffle ticket number pulled as the winner and the whole party cheered in excitement for her again this year. For those who may not recall Laura won my “Daddy” oversized 16×20″ canvas print last year and Kane Hodder signed it for her at his table. She has been attending Flashback Weekend for many years and she had never won a prize until then. Now she’s on a two year winning streak with her very own limited edition Living Dead Girl Nicole print collection and my soul could not feel more fulfilled.

Be sure to go to the Flashback Weekend Instagram page to see a video reel recap from the event and join the Flashback Weekend Facebook Group to see all the amazing photos of the rest of the winners that Kat will be posting soon!

That evening we stopped in for the Woodsboro dance party that kicked off later in the evening before roaming the hotel and enjoying more chill time watching the airplanes fly over on our hotel room balcony. On Sunday we were tired after a very eventful weekend. We checked out and loaded up the truck and then went back to the con to make our final rounds and say our goodbyes to any of the horror con fam we could find as everyone was wrapping things up as another successful con came to an end.

Like I always say, no matter what other events and cons Frank and I go to, Flashback Weekend will always be home. Not just because its the first, the best and largest horror con in Chicago, but because it genuinely feels like our horror home away from home. We love our horror con fam and look forward to our reunion with all of them every year. Thank you for doing all that you do for us Mike and Mia! You truly have created something special. All of us feel the heart and soul you always put into this event and we are so blessed to be able to be a part of it for over 20 years!

See you in June…

Stay Spooky & Magical✨
LDG Nicole

Reflections Of An Artist | 2025 Milestone Recap 👩🏻‍🎨

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Some of you may be setting your New Year’s resolutions right now, however with it still being the dead of winter I prefer to follow the rhythm of nature and set my intentions with the spring equinox, when light takes over darkness, life re-emerges, balance is restored, and creation begins. So for me, winter is the time to dream without pressure and reflect on what I have overcome thus far.

With that being said, this time last year looked very different for me, and what started off on a very high note came crashing down rather quickly. I was so excited to kick the year off with a brand new job where I could finally support fellow artists for a living, only to be led by a CEO full of false promises that resulted in surprise layoffs and the company closing their doors. Despite them being a startup, I jumped all in when the opportunity arose and was quickly reminded why I have never been much of a big risk taker. Having been on my own since I was 18 and always holding a job since I was 15, I was overcome with emotions. I had never lost a job before, especially at no fault of my own, and on top of it, in an industry I was genuinely passionate about. To say it was soul crushing would be an understatement. It didn’t help that it all happened with terrible timing, and I don’t mean just being let go the day after my 44th birthday, but the fact that I was left to hunt for a new job only to find myself tangled in the web of a nightmare job market filled with scammers, hackers, AI garbage, age discrimination, remote jobs that are really hybrid, too many applicants, fake job postings, and most of all, false hopes.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t escaped that job hunting web just yet, but my mindset has changed as I continue to reflect on all the blessings that have resulted from it. For instance, yes, I may have taken a risk, but I also was stuck in a very toxic work situation, and jumping ship to board on with the new startup gave me the push I needed to leave. And although everyone’s time at the startup was cut short, I was blessed to be able to work with an amazing team of women I may never have had the opportunity to meet. I quickly picked up new software and skill sets, and even some great advice and ideas that I now utilize for my own art practice. Most importantly though, I got to experience what it was like working directly with some very talented and well-known fine artists from all around the country, which was something very special that I had hoped to gain from my time working there.

As months passed, one thing remained constant, and that was me word vomiting over and over again about how incredibly grateful I am for my hardworking husband. He has not only been keeping us afloat financially, but he has been my emotional rock through everything, reminding me that just because I am not working full time doesn’t mean I am worthless, because honestly most days thats how I’ve felt. Not having the spending money to enjoy ourselves like we used to or having the ability to save like we were has definitely taken a hit to my self esteem but at the same time allowed me to gain a sense of freedom that money could never buy.

Which leaves me with the one thing I feel this year has blessed me with the most, and that was time. Something I never had before and at times still feel guilty about gaining. When working for other companies, I never had the dedicated time and creative energy I needed to fully invest into my own artwork. Writing this blog alone would have been much different, much shorter, or not even written at all. I would become overwhelmed trying to balance and keep it all together, my health often taking a toll, projects and ideas piling up because it would take me forever to finish anything, or feeling overwhelmed enough to skip the creative process altogether, which would ultimately leave me feeling unaccomplished and unfulfilled.

After being let go from the daily grind, it seemed like whenever I had a confidence crushing moment on my job hunting journey, it would immediately be followed by an uplifting art win of some sort. I now know those were signs from the universe divinely guiding and gifting me with what I had always asked for, it just arrived terribly wrapped in loss and confusion. It was like asking for flowers and the universe giving me rain instead. The seeds were planted. It was up to me to figure out that the glimmers in the rain drops only came if I provided the sunshine needed to bloom. So some days I chose to take breaks from the stress of the job hunt and strictly focus the time I was gifted to work on bringing more of my visions to life. Guilt free.

Since being laid off, I have also gained a plethora of new LinkedIn connections and although a majority of them are strangers in the real world, they’ve truly helped keep me sane. They’ve been there to boost my confidence when venting about job hunting dead ends while also being there to celebrate and support me when sharing my art wins and announcing my new creations. Many have even written up features or conducted interviews about me and my work, and others have actually become new collectors of it. Ironically, most of them may have never even discovered my work had I not been more active on the platform due to my job hunt and the time I was blessed with to focus and really go all in on it this year.

And although I was technically unemployed, I remained VERY busy. When I was not creating, applying or interviewing for jobs, I was putting in hours of unpaid work as an Artrepreneur, which really has put into perspective why it’s been so hard to keep up with everything while working a full-time job.

Top that off with everything else going on in the world, there were many days that made it harder to find the blessings and transform negative thoughts into positive ones. But I found that when I surrounded myself in inspiring environments and spent my time and energy wisely with people who would rather live in the moment than constantly focus on drama, politics, news, and negativity, I felt much lighter, healthier, and creatively motivated.

Refocusing my mindset was important for me as an artist. For instance, did someone physically steal a piece of my artwork and therefore I became a famous artist overnight due to the heist? No, but someone wanted my artwork badly enough that they were willing to risk getting caught and arrested for it.

Did I make a killing on my work this year to the point I could completely live off the income and stop job hunting? No, but I gained a couple freelance gigs that got me by, and both my Etsy and Closet Collectibles sales were on the rise, resulting in many happy dances for a girl who just wants to share her visions with the world while hoping they speak to someone as weird as she is.

So with that, I just want to show my gratitude to everyone that helped these artist milestone moments happen for me over the past “Gregorian calendar year”….

And most importantly, I want you all to know… I’m not stopping anytime soon!


Stay Strange & Magical ✨
LDG Nicole

Flashback Weekend Chicago 2025

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As excited as I was to type this up yesterday, I needed a little time to get back into reality mode and gather my thoughts after another killer artventure with my horror community fam at Flashback Weekend Chicago!

Frank and I started our Friday morning off by carefully loading 2 cart fulls of donated prizes and all our luggage into the truck and then ventured off to Rosemont.

For those of you that may not be aware, we have been attending Flashback Weekend since 2004 but I have been volunteering as the convention’s Prize Coordinator for the last few years. This means I am in charge of organizing and collaborating with various businesses, artists and vendors to collect merchandise prize sponsorship donations that are raffled off for the convention’s Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party, held every year for Ultimate Ticket Holders and the celebrity guests. I collect, deliver, and set up the prize table at the event. I also market the sponsors by creating/maintaining the landing page, social media posts, and promotional flyers used to announce and market the prize sponsors online and at the event.

These are the 3 art pieces I chose to donate to the prizes this year. They included two oversized 16×20 canvas prints of Art and Victor (to be raffled off on their own) and one 8×12 canvas print of Freddy (to be raffled inside the Swag Bag of smaller prizes). All perfectly aligned with this years celebrity guests.

Despite there being a huge national sports collectors event taking place at the convention center next door, we were able to park in the hotel garage without any issues and were even able to check in early when we got there. A big difference from the stressfulness of last year which I think had a lot to do with the fact that there were no other big events taking place inside the hotel itself.

When we got there we unloaded and dragged all the carts and luggage to our room and then ventured off to get our badges at the registration booth, where we were greeted by the (always) amazing convention staff volunteers. We then hit up the dealer room to connect with some of the vendors who had prizes for me to pick up at their booths. Once we got those all back to our room safely, it was time to take everything in. Our first stop was to say hello to our very talented friend Chad Savage (Sinister Visions). I mean it just doesn’t feel like Flashback until we have this horror con family reunion.

After scoping out the amazing vendors and getting an idea on where everything was located, we went and got a bite to eat and had a few drinks at the hotel bar. Afterwards we got ready for a very exciting new event the convention was holding in the evening called Friday Night Frights Live. It was a fun on stage late night talk show hosted by local horror icon Svengoolie.

He interviewed horror legends, Robert Englund, Barbara Crampton, and Joe Dante and we got to hear so many great stories from all of them. They even had a musical guest who was the one and only Tuesday Knight! This new event definitely was a killer way to kick things off this year and we really hope the con continues to make this a fun new tradition.

The hotel at this point was jam packed with sports collectors from the convention center event letting out. It felt like hoards of zombies craving cards in every inch of the hotel. There was not a single place to sit in the bar or lounge areas and every table and floor area had cards spread out with groups of people standing and starring. Since I was a bit overstimulated with all the sporty chaos, we went up to the after party on the top floor to check out the panoramic views of Chicago skyline for a bit. The movement of the room itself was tripping me out, so we decided to end the evening by relaxing on our room’s quiet, private balcony.

We got up early Saturday and headed downstairs to get in before the con opened to the general public. It was time to get into full blown charity and art gifting mode.

First we stopped at Adam Green‘s table where I brought with me the 16×20 canvas print that we auctioned off for Yorkiethon 9. As soon as Adam saw it, he recognized it right away and came around the table and gave me a huge thank you hug.

He was beyond grateful for my contribution and talents and was so excited to also see the original piece in person. He got to signing the auction piece right away and then we walked over to Kane’s table to have him sign it as well.

Kane asked where the art piece came from and I was standing behind them holding the original ready to gift it to him. He was blown away when he saw it and intrigued that it was all hand drawn in pencil. I told him how the wood frame that I chose to put it in was ironically called “The Axeman” and he got a kick out that. He then told me “I really hope you’re doing something with all this talent.” while starring at all the details. My quick response was “I’m trying!” with an excited giggle.

He then told me we had to get a picture with the art piece and I was definitely not going to turn the man down..

I apologized to the folks standing in line that had to wait while all of this was happening and then Adam, as awesome as he is, had my back by saying “Sorry guys, this is for charity”.

When we were done with Kane we went back to Adam’s table where I gifted him a canvas print of the art piece as well as a Jason Voorhees squeaky toy for Arwen. We took photos with the signed auction piece and had a little one on one time with him for a bit where we told him how his work speaks to us as horror fans, and that thanks to Holliston, “piggly no wiggly” and “market basKET” now live in our vocabulary permanently, which he totally got a kick out of. He gave Frank a brotherly bond handshake when he told him how much mad respect he had for him including Dave Brockie aka Oderus Urungus into the show. He shared some fun and interesting facts with us about production and even the art used on the show. We even reminisced about our mutual dearly departed friend Sid Haig and his epic Scary Sleepover moment of kidnapping Axel the cat!

Once we safely put the the autographed art piece in our room it was time to mingle with our horror con fam and go exploring. We met up with our friends Ben and Jonathan of Dead Regime Media.

Ben surprised us with a very unique gift of horror history that he acquired from the set of The Amityville Horror movie from 2005. Apparently the crew hid trinkets on set in random places in hopes to ward off bad spirits after weird instances started to occur during filming. This included crew members would frequently wake up at 3:15 AM (the time of the real-life murders), a real body floating up on the water (where they filmed the boathouse scenes), and Kathy Lutz (who was involved in the remake’s production) whose family’s experiences in the house formed the basis of the story, passed away during the first week of filming. The piece itself is a Watkins Exposure Meter from the early 1900’s that was used to measure the power of light.

After having a late lunch and drinks with our friends, we were able to take a quick peak in as the annual costume contest winners were being announced, and then we immediately headed to our room to start gathering the prizes and loading them up for the Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party!

This year, I did things a bit differently since the swag bags I created for the previous years were starting to get larger and larger each year. We offered prize sponsors the opportunity to donate a larger/higher value item to be raffled off on its own or donate smaller items to be put into one large swag bag that would be raffled off together. The thought process was to give more exposure to those who donate, sponsors not needing to donate multiples of one item, and to also give attendees more opportunity to win something. The outcome was incredible and we definitely ended up needing a much larger display table this year.

Due to so many generous donations and wanting to give props to each sponsor that donated, I assisted Chad when announcing each prize and pulled the winning raffle ticket numbers. Frank took photos of all of us live in action while Kat was getting photos of each individual with the prizes that they won.

Be sure to go to the Flashback Weekend Instagram page to see a video reel recap from the event.

It may have been a bit more work this year with the changes I made, but it was so rewarding to see the excitement from those hoping to win and the joy on the faces of those who did. During the event, four attendees came up to thank me and share that after all the years they’ve been coming to the party, this was the first time they actually won a prize. They were so genuinely happy to hear their raffle ticket numbers finally be called, and that made all the extra effort so well worth it.

I also got to enjoy a little time at the party with my horror con fam ghoulfriends Kat and Summer…

That evening, the hotel was once again filled with hoards of sports card collectors, but this time it didn’t phase us because we were excited to attend the live, late night performance of our friend and local master illusionist, Ron Fitzgerald. I snapped a few photos, then put my phone away to fully take it all in. The first time I saw Ron perform live was in the early 90s when my dad took me to be in the audience for a taping of his cable access TV show, Fitzgerald’s Realm. Watching him again as an adult at Flashback brought a wave of nostalgia rushing back. Even the music took me there. I vividly remembered sitting beside my dad, hearing music like Nine Inch Nails for the first time, and being completely in awe. It struck me how much Ron had influenced me. Goth culture wasn’t exactly common in our suburban bubble, but thanks to Ron’s dark, sticky, fun energy, I fell in love with it that very day. Since then, I’ve met Ron many times and become friends with him. He’s a true gem in the dark arts scene, and I’m forever grateful my dad took me to see him all those years ago.

When the show was over we didn’t get a chance to catch up with Ron because unfortunately he accidentally cut his thumb on a razor blade during the show and was getting it wrapped up. So we decided to have pizza and dessert delivered to our room and enjoyed another nice evening to ourselves.

On Sunday we were tired after a very eventful weekend. We checked out and loaded up the truck and then went back to the con to make a pit stop at Steven Luros Holliday‘s booth before heading out. On Saturday I had my “I need this to breath” moment in the vendor space when I discovered Steven’s 4 piece set of art called “Seasons”. Frank saw me attempting to pick my jaw up on the floor while the art was speaking to my soul and talked Steven into selling him the framed display for me. We agreed to wait to pick it up on Sunday so he could still display it at his booth. A killer way to end the weekend with a very happy wifey!

As I end this artventure con recap, I just want to reiterate what I’ve been saying for years…

Mike & Mia Kerz, and the entire crew at Flashback Weekend are the true beating heart of horror in the Windy City. They’ve created more than just a convention, they’ve built our midwest horror family and accepted all of us with open arms. There are plenty of horror cons out there, and we support them all, but the love, energy, and soul poured into this convention since the early 2000’s is why so many of us will always call it our forever horror home.

Thank you for keeping the spirit alive, and for giving us a place where horror isn’t just celebrated… it’s lived.

Until Next Year…

Stay Spooky & Magical,
LDG Nicole

Fan Expo Chicago 2024

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I don’t know where to begin with this Fan Expo Chicago con recap because I have never left a con feeling both blessed yet so disappointed at the same time. So, here it goes…

As most of you know from following my art adventures that I have been going to cons for 20+ years now. Including shows hosted by Wizard World (who now are “bought out” by Fan Expo) and have never left complaining. I usually only venture to these larger, overpriced corporate cons when there is someone specific I want to meet. For this show it was Alan Tudyk and Shannen Doherty. As we all know, Shannen could only be there in spirit, but I was still on a mission to touch base with her beloved friend and costar Holly Marie Combs.

From my own personal experience of going to cons I got the vibe from all the chaos that the owners of this one must have complete Woodstock ’99 greed syndrome. Overselling to make more money always leads to under delivering and we all felt it. You could hear people complaining through out the day and each of their gripes were legitimate and not “just whining” (you can also read a lot of them blowing up social media about it now too).

Just a few examples to give you a better understanding:

  • It was so chaotic we had to rush to get to things we needed to be at on time because the crowds were so insane and everything was so unorganized.
  • The photo op area was a complete cluster and you didn’t know where to go until they yelled out the name of the guest and some they didn’t so those people missed out.
  • You could not get to all the vendor tables because if you stopped you would hold up foot traffic. As an artist myself, I felt terrible knowing the price they must’ve paid to have a table at this event and the hard work that goes into setting it all up. You want to at least break even on the table costs which is hard to do if no one can see your work.
  • The staff was useless and could not answer anything. Well some did rudely and most gave incorrect information causing you to venture somewhere only to have to venture somewhere else in the massive crowds. This was causing people to miss out on a lot of things they paid for.
  • They gave Mark Hamill and Hayden Christensen (their precious money makers that were charging $400+ for non-customizable autographs and 1 second of their time) their own floor, and closed off the hotel sky bridges because they were on the 2nd level
  • They crammed all of the other celebrity guests into one area with lines so tight you didn’t know which you were standing in. If they were gone from their tables people were getting wrong information on what times to come back, again missing out on stuff they pre-paid for.
  • The stale icing on the rotten con cake for me though were the line caps with no warning and the miscommunication from the staff about them (which I will rant on in more detail in a moment).

Despite all my frustration with this con I always look for the “blessings” in every ugly situation and there was one moment that truly made it all worth while. I was able to finally meet Holly Marie Combs and now my “Unbreakable” portrait that I had been working so hard on for Shannen Doherty is now in her safe keeping. Holly is going to make sure Shannen’s Mama Rosa gets it! I am so glad that I trusted my intuition to finish it. My heart is truly full because of Holly’s strength and kindness. Blessing…✅

Here is a close up photo of how the portrait looked framed. I wanted to share because I felt the frame was just so fitting to the piece….

Whenever I gift a portrait I also include a card or letter inside telling the person how they have inspired me since sometimes you don’t get all the words out that you intend to at these events. I told Holly that I decided to still include the letter I had already written to Shannen prior to her passing so that Mama Rosa could read another story of the incredible impact her daughter has had on others. I also chose to still wear the Team Brenda shirt I designed to show that Shannen was still there within us. Holly noticed it and thought it was great.

I have to admit I was shaking a little when I asked Holly to “do me a favor” because honestly I was not sure if she was feeling up to it. I also did not want to upset her knowing how hard enough it was for her to be there without Shannen. As a highly sensitive empath it took everything in me not to burst into tears when I said “I intended to give this to Shannen but the universe had other plans” and saw that Holly was trying to hold back tears too. My intuition also guided me to gift her Dragons Blood Jasper aka “The Warrior Stone”. So I made her a necklace so she can channel her strength (and inner Shannen) whenever she needs it. She seemed to genuinely appreciate it.

Despite the immense pain she’s experiencing from the loss of her dear friend, Holly still made it out to this event for their fans. She truly deserves all the recognition in the world for that. Shannen would be so proud of her strength and commitment to the Halliwell legacy.

Unlike Holly, Alan Tudyk did not offer photos at his table. When this happens it’s always a bummer because its just more convenient, more interactive and much more enjoyable to get it all done at the table. I was also told by the online convention support that you have to purchase an autograph ticket to even talk to him at his table. So I had to do a little splurging and pre-paid ahead of time for both an autograph and photo op so we were well prepared and covered incase they sold out. I did this because this was finally my opportunity to gift him my “This Is Some Bullshit” portrait.

From my past experiences at cons I know photo ops go by fast. So we did our photo op as planned and even though it was quick it was still great to actually talk to him shortly and have my art piece in the photo before I gave it away to him. He was very kind and I told him that I would be by to give it to him at his table and he said “yes please do”. It was pretty surreal to be standing in front of him and these smiles are genuine! We were definitely on cloud Mizar-Alcor. Blessing…. ✅

Now for the “this is some bullshit” part….. Alan had to still finish photo ops with the rest of our group, followed by 2 more groups so this gave us plenty of time to pick up our photo, fight the crowds, and try to take a quick snack break. There was no where to sit (another issue with the con) so we found a spot on the floor in the lobby and saved time eating a quick snack from our backpack. We ventured through all the crazy crowds once again, found his table and got in line behind the rest of the people waiting. Folks continued to get in line behind us. Most of them holding their photo ops they just picked up to have signed. Same plan we had. A staff member begins to tell us we need to leave that they have capped his line and no one else can go to his table. We all explain to them that we pre-paid online months ago and just got done with Alan’s photo ops. A rude gentleman from the staff starts yelling at us and tries to tell us that we were all informed at the photo op (which was a lie or more miscommunication between staff) and starts threatening to get security if we don’t leave. Keep in mind he was the only one getting irate.

Some people in line behind us stuck around to see if anything could be done to let the handful of us up there to get a quick autograph. Some folks were upset but willing to just get a refund and were told to go to Customer Service. Those same people returned saying Customer Service told them to go back to the autograph line causing more confusion and giving the rude staff member more reason to start yelling again. I for one could care less about the actual autograph and told a much nicer staff member that I only paid for it because I was told by Fan Expo staff that I had to in order to go to his table. That I just wanted time to talk to him and give him the artwork. That I had even told Alan in the photo op that I was going to come to his table and give it to him. The rude staff member sees me talking to the other guy and starts yelling at me again that it’s not going to happen and to leave. The nicer gentleman proceeds to tell me how he wants to tell the asshole what he really thinks of him, but doesn’t do anything to actually help me.

So I finally get desperate enough to ask the rude staff member if I could just be escorted by him to give it to Alan once the 5-6 lucky people that made the cut are done getting autographs and he told me its still not going to happen and starts threatening security on us all again. At this point he has not even seen me at the point where he would even need security (because believe me he would need it) and I am trying to keep my composure so I don’t look like a nut job and be respectful in front of Alan. My husband is beside me getting upset and doing everything in his power not to knock this guy out and is telling me..”just walk up there and put it on his table”, but I didn’t want to be rude to the people that didn’t get capped off in line (the empath in me strikes again) and I didn’t want to freak Alan out by doing that either. A lady on staff comes up and hears whats going on and noticed I was getting upset, flustered, teary eyed, and holding in my rage. People behind me are even agreeing that it shouldn’t be a big deal to just walk up and hand it over to him. That I am being very reasonable offering to give up my autograph so its fair to all of them who can’t get theirs. So while the rude staff member was busy yelling at someone else, she goes over to Alan’s “management team” (a woman sitting next to him) and asks if it would be ok for her to give them the art piece on my behalf and I could watch from where I was standing. So I saw Alan was finishing up the last of his autographs and took a big risk and quickly made the decision to hand it over to her (as someone who is not a big risk taker it took everything in me to just hand over my original art to some stranger) and watched her give it to the woman while Alan was packing up.

I put months of my heart and soul into that art piece so I captured this photo as it was all I got from my experience and wanted proof of who had it since I didn’t get to hand it to Alan myself.

As you can see the woman in green is holding my portrait in the white box. The nice lady on staff that actually helped me was unfortunately cut off in the photo (on the left) because I took it so quickly and in the process saw that the rude staff member (in the blue flannel) was going up to them and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to do something seeing he had told me no and was obviously on some sort of power trip. Someone else on staff did however yell at me when they saw me taking this photo but at this point I was over this convention entirely and could care less if they called security on me. Kick me out at this point. I will be happy that you did.

Let it be known that all of this was out of Alan’s control and really he had no idea anything was going on as he was still interacting with the last few lucky fans that got to meet him. The point I am making with all of this is that we could’ve had the experience we were looking forward to had there not been so much negligence and miscommunication (or lack there of) from Fan Expo. I for one downloaded the Fan Expo app on my phone to stay updated and received notifications all day about panel times and things of that nature but you would think it would be more important to send out notifications of things like capping lines for things you pushed attendees to pre-pay for online. On top of it Leap tried to tell me they could not refund the service charges for my autograph ticket when I emailed them for a refund. What service? You did not supply a service. I am by no means a “Karen” but I am a “Brenda” and you bet your ass I got my full refund. Your not gonna get rich off our money and not deliver. Which is probably why they were sending people all over the con when they were requesting refunds in person. I mean that’s really putting the “con” in convention if you ask me. Not to mention none of us standing there did anything to deserve to be screamed at by this irate staff member. Here all of us are already upset and disappointed and then you yell at us on top of it when its your cons negligence causing all the issues to begin with.

So, since everything was a shit show, now all I can do is hope that Alan actually got the art piece I worked so hard on and that the card was still inside the box since it said a lot of the things I was going to tell him in person. Maybe it will trigger him to remember and associate the brief encounter he had with that weird purple haired girl with the sparkly galaxy colored glasses who asked him to hold it in the photo op and promised to bring it to his table to gift to him. Hope is really all I have at this point. So Alan if your reading this.. I tried! All I wanted was the opportunity to show you how much you inspire others. It meant a lot to come all the way to this con to be able to give you that special art piece and I really hope its in your safe keeping where it belongs.

So… I am going to end this on a high note and a vendor shoutout for Chimera Publishing. They were one of the vendors whose booth was larger and much more accessible. I stopped dead in my tracks and my jaw dropped when I saw a hand numbered and signed poster print of Brian Froud ‘s Gwenhwyfar. The owner took it down so I could look at it. Here I was with all this chaos of the con going on around me and I am frozen in time holding a print that at one point one of my favorite artists held and signed. Finding this treasure was indeed a magical moment for me. We then found out that the vendor was the publisher and that is how he knows Brian. He proceeded to tell Frank and I some fun stories about times he has spent with him. He also told me that if Brian says he sees the fae there is no doubt in his mind that he does. The whimsical goth in me absolutely loved hearing that. So needless to say.. I own it now! Blessing… ✅

Outside of the con we had a blast…. having dinner at Murray Bro’s with our friend Jeff from Anthony’s Collectibles, watching fireworks going off as we walked back to our hotel, having drinks and playing games in the hotel lobby, and most importantly winding down in our big comfy hotel bed! We stayed at the Aloft for the first time and were not disappointed! It was super fun, artsy and modern and they got my approval the minute I saw a David Bowie book on the table! Top notch service, food, drinks, and accommodations! Would definitely go back there, but one things for sure.. it most likely won’t be for Fan Expo Chicago! 😆

Stay Spooky & Magical,
LDG Nicole