Happy October 1st my Freaky Fanatics! I have some fun and exciting news to share with all of you! Night Terror Magazine just released Issue 25 of their killer publication today and this one is extra special. The Of The Land & Winter Wails Issue is not only a community issue but it’s also their first quarterly issue and it features a very ghoul Holiday Gift Guide spotlighting small businesses that were hand selected by their editors…. including mine!
How fun are these graphics they created for the social post announcements….
This literary mag is filled with incredible folklore and short stories from the very talented horror community and although you can scroll the pages digitally online, I highly recommend purchasing a print copy. Not just for that nostalgic feeling of reading something in your hand that isn’t on a screen, but also to see all the hard work that goes into every page this publication puts together. You can find my work and shop featured in the gift guide section on page 60 of the digital zine (screen shot below) and can also order a copy in their shop on their website.
For those not familiar with Night Terror Magazine here is a snippet about them and why I was honored to be chosen to be a part of what they are producing:
Authors, artists, creatives, and enthusiasts make up this incredible community and it’s our mission to provide a platform to encompass the creative sphere. Night Terror supports the artistic liberation of self-publishing and empowers independent creators in the horror genre.
If you are not one of my art collectors (yet) and just happened to randomly discover this post on my blog page, be sure to subscribe while you are here so you don’t miss future announcements of the unique ways my artwork is being featured. You can also check out and bookmark the Creature Features page of my portfolio website.
And if you are someone interested in showcasing my work in your next publication, exhibition, or creative venture let’s connect and start making some magic together!
February is a very special time of the year for my husband Frank and I. For those who are not aware, we were born 6 days apart in the same hospital, so these past 2 weeks we found fun and unique ways to celebrate 45 trips around the sun for the both of us.
With me still being out of work I didn’t want to do anything too costly or too far away and I had heard about a new exhibit at the Studebaker Museum that was a little under 2 hours from us. Since my birthday falls two days before Valentine’s Day, we doubled down and made it a little day date adventure for that as well.
Now most of you may be saying “But Nicole, why the Studebaker Museum?” Well because a VERY special vehicle just happens to be on display there right now. A vehicle that an artsy Jim Henson obsessed geek like myself couldn’t help but feel all the feels from being in the same room with it…. aka the one and only original Studebaker from They Muppets Movie! The same car that Fozzie and Kermit take on their memorable road trip to Hollywood together. A vehicle filled with magic, art, hopes, and dreams! And maybe a few rubber chickens as well.
Not only is Fozzie’s car a very fun and nostalgic part of cinema history, it also plays a very fascinating part in both the world of engineering and puppetry arts. The car was actually outfitted to create the illusion that Fozzie was driving. They used a monitor hidden in the car’s bullet nose and the real driver in the trunk. With my husband being into cars and a tech in engineering he too was fascinated by seeing the mechanics of this in person. Seeing the car also takes you back to a very significant moment in Muppet history. The moment that Kermit and Fozzie meet Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Band for the very first time. With the help of Scooter on bubble duty, the band busts out the paints and brushes and while they jam out to “Can You Picture That?” completely transform Fozzie’s car into a far out escape from Don Hopper. An epic masterpiece and a colorful new beginning to a very groovy friendship.
Now to switch gears.. So right after the holidays were over, I knew I wouldn’t have the money to buy my husband something off his wishlist so I started brainstorming what I could make him instead. I had less then 2 months and knew I had to get started on whatever I planned on doing. Then it hit me out of nowhere.. could I pull off making him a They Live Alien? It’s one of his favorite movies and he loves props that are life like in size. And like me and my Muppets, he also has quite the collection of memorabilia and tattoos to prove his dedication. Making him anything in the past has always been hard because when we are not at work we are always together. So being laid off I knew this was the perfect time to pull off something that required this much work. So the first thing I did was check the supplies I already had and made a list of what I needed to budget the rest.
I used the same life size, heavy weight, anatomical skulls I use for my zombie heads as the base and got to work. I had never made one of these so each part of the process was either going to go really well or I was going to be really tested. I kept thinking of David Bowie’s words “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
It was thrilling to see how giddy I would get with coming up with how to accomplish the next step in the process and seeing it all start to come to fruition. However nothing beat the feeling when I saw the look on his face when he opened it. 2 months of trying to hide this thing while still working on my other art projects paid off and he is now the proud owner of a They Live collectible that no one in the world will ever have. The beauty of aliens, love and handmade art!
You can see this They Live piece of art featured with more of my Misc Sculpture and Latex art on the Remains page of my portfolio website.
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”….
I joined Lyric, an artist first platform allowing my art collectors another way to shop my creations (the company rebranded as Latchet)
Bestselling Author, Award-Winning Screenwriter, & Entertainment Journalist Staci Lane Wilson interviewed and featured me and my work on Women In Horror
My split face portraits “Nothing Is Trivial” of Brandon Lee as Eric Draven and “Maybe Today Satan” of Kierna Shipka as Sabrina Spellman were selected and featured in the Artflow Alliance Virtual Art Exhibition: Haunted Histories from Halloween – Dec 31st
I was commissioned and completed 7 portraits that will be used for promotional and fundraising efforts for the fantasy web series Sommoners Tale created by Brandon Nyte
In celebration of the final season of Stranger Things I conjured up a limited edition Vecna – Upside Down picture frame to showcase an 8×10″ giclee print of my Pretty Bitchin’ split face portrait of Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Seasons 1 and 2
I checked Mia Goth and Pearl from the X Trilogy horror movie series off my art bucket list by completing my split face portrait “I’m Not Staying On This Farm”
I checked Walton Goggins and Uncle Baby Billy Freeman from the Righteous Gemstones off my art bucket list by completing my split face portrait “Voila! No More COVID!”
My split face portraits “Chop Driftwood” of Bill Moseley and “Shit The Bed” of Sid Haig were featured on multiple episodes of the Slash Sisters Podcast on Youtube
I was contracted by the realtor/owner of Teighlor Made TX to set up her WiX website from their brokerage’s company template. This included adjusting layout, updating media, hyperlinking, SEO & social media share settings, alt text, blog set up, setting up forms, service/meeting requests bookings, automations, notifications, label tags for segmenting contact leads, setting up admin roles, giving the client marketing and process feedback
I was once again the VIP Prize Collaborator for Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Con where I doubled the number of prize contributions resulting in a very happy crowd and another successful VIP Cocktail Reception Party for celebrity guests and ultimate ticket holders!
And most importantly, I want you all to know… I’m not stopping anytime soon!
Happy to say I was commissioned to make another one of my Cotton Candy Cocoon Ornaments and it is now being packaged up to ship to my new art collector!
This is now the 6th one of these that I have made for fellow Killer Klowns From Outerspace fans, and I love experimenting every time I make something I have made before. Always raising the bar and learning along the way on how I can improve my techniques. The upgraded hand sculpted toppers were the first thing I improved on and now this time I extended the cotton up a tad higher and also made it a little smoother. Needless to say, I am really happy with how it turned out and so is the client.
Once again I want to give a shoutout to my hubby Frank for always lending me his mad engineer skills to drill and make the tubing fit and work so perfectly every time I am commissioned to make one of these.
For those of you that are new to my work or stumbled across this post due to your love of campy 80’s horror movies, these handmade ornaments measure approximately 8″ from the bottom to the top of the hook. Each one is handcrafted so no two are ever the same. Unfortunately you can’t drink the essence of the person inside them as they’ve been pretty drained already, however they make pretty rad handmade horror decor for your home or Yule tree (if you like a spookier vibe for the holidays). My art collectors tend to display them next to their collection of Killer Klown figurines, Funkos, etc.
Also, these sold out very quickly when I first pre-made a couple of them so now I offer them as a Made-To-Order item in my Etsy shop. So if you are interested in commissioning me to make you one be sure to reach out with any questions or check out using the listing here.
