Today marks the beginning of Beautiful Freaks Fest! An online celebration of all the beautiful freaky people out there and the things that they love. It probably comes at no surprise to most of you that I would take part in this. In the words of Lydia Deetz “I myself am strange and unusual”. Which is why I decided to use this opportunity to give you a little background on myself and my art.

I have been doing art since I was a young batling. The minute I was able to pick up a crayon I knew this was what I was meant to do. CREATE! When I wasn’t religiously watching Labyrinth  I was using markers to make my Barbie’s look “different” and entering coloring contests to win tickets to the circus. I also always took in anything my Dad would teach me when it came to art. That is why my coloring contest entries actually had shading (those other kids didn’t stand a chance ha ha).

When I was given an assignment in school I always ended up doing something different then everyone else. When I was in the 5th grade we had to do a drawing along with a small essay about a bird. I chose an owl. Most likely influenced by my Mom (who had passed away) and loved them and had statues and macrame versions of them all over our house. I will never forget when they hung all the drawings up in the hall for the parent teacher conference. Here were all these beautiful, colorful birds drawn perched on branches and then there was mine….  an owl in mid flight with a mouse captured in its talon. And to me it was just as beautiful if not more so then the others. I also remember the parents pointing mine out. Maybe they liked it maybe they didn’t but I felt such satisfaction knowing mine stood out from the rest and it just came naturally to me. I have thrived for that feeling ever since.

Growing up and even as an adult I continue(d) to express myself in all aspects of life from my own personal fashion sense (if people don’t like crazy colored hair, tattoos and horror t-shirts that’s on them) to my artwork. My favorite quote is “Be yourself everyone else is already taken” (Oscar Wilde). If something I do suddenly becomes trendy I tend to stop and move on to the next thing. But I never let anyone stop me from being me. I find beauty in the dark, spooky and mythical. If something is odd or macabre I am usually drawn to it. Same goes for fairies and other fantasy creatures. Aspects of these things tend to come through in my creations as an extension of myself. I always tell people I grew up to be a mixture of my 2 childhood idols….Elvira and Jem. “Give me spooky and creepy with a side of glitter and glam… that’s me!” I find a lot of that comes out in my Dead Girl Decay accessories

People often ask me how the name Living Dead Girl Nicole started as my signature artist name. Some of my art online says my maiden name of Nicole Birmingham, my married name of Nicole Garcia and then there is of course Living Dead Girl Nicole. This name stuck with me thanks to my love for horror and all things that rock. What started as an online screen name due for my admiration of Rob Zombie stuck with me when people started to associate my artwork with the name as well. I found it rather fitting as Rob Zombie had always been someone that inspired me as an artist. I could relate to
his work and it always reminded me that it’s ok to break out of your shell and to continue doing what I love no matter how dark the genre is. If people wanted to associate me and my artwork in that way then I was honored to be known by it and still am.

I am also honored to have so many Freaky Fanatics and people who follow my work. Just the other day my friend posted this photo on Instagram. Its of his zombie welding helmet with my logo sticker on it. The caption says “represent”!

Having the support of people like this is what makes me keep creating! It means you love what I do and are proud to embrace the beautiful freaks that you are!

AND to celebrate just that here is a coupon code! Just put in code BEAUTIFULFREAKS17 at check out in my Etsy shop and watch 13% get slashed off your orders (of $5 or more)! This code is only good during the Beautiful Freaks Fest so make sure to place your orders before Monday!

And to end this post with a rocking bang here is my girl Kimberly Freeman of One Eyed Doll singing a song that should be this event’s anthem! When your done rocking out take a click over to Little Gothic Horrors blog page to see all the other blogs participating in the Beautiful Freaks Fest and go visit their pages! Don’t forget to show some comment love on their posts too! Us freaks need to unite 😉

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole