My husband Frank and I just got back from another eventful Days of The Dead – Chicago. One of our favorite horror cons to attend. When I got strep throat a week ago we were nervous that I wouldn’t be well in time to go but everything fell into place after a week of feeling like hell. We always know that Saturdays are a mad house at any con so we planned everything we wanted to do celebrity guest wise on Friday, leaving us Saturday to enjoy the con.
I have been begging our local cons for years to get Fairuza Balk at one of their shows. Well, Days of the Dead delivered. She was the first table I headed for when we got into the con and she was beyond “punk rock” in person. It was one thing to be able to give her my “I Bind You Nancy” split face portrait. But it was another to have her hold it and just stare at all the detail and really take it all in. She pointed out how well I did the eyes. I told her they were the hardest part because her eyes are so beautiful and I really wanted to capture that. Then the look of joy on her face when she realized she got to keep it and all the hugs that followed. It meant more to me then just an actress receiving my art. She too is a very talented artist and to get that type of reaction from her really meant alot. It was a 90’s Teen Artist dream come true!
The next table we hit up was Lisa Marie. Another actress that I admire and had an incredible time meeting. When I handed her my “Siren” split face portrait she recognized me and the art piece from my Instagram posts. She seemed shocked as well when she asked it if was a print and I told her no it was the real deal and it was all hers. We took multiple photos together. She had us test out the lighting in various angles until we got the best shot. I never thought I would be giving Lisa Marie a piece of my art let alone get to have a little photo booth session with her. I thought it was great that she really wanted the photo of our memorable meeting to be the best it could be. Out of all of the ones we took this one is my favorite..
We waited for Jen and Sylvia Soska to return to their table and as soon as they arrived we paid them a visit. As you all know I am a huge fan. I had missed an opportunity to meet them the last time they were in Chicago. I had made them American Mary Dead Girl Decay Barrettes and ended up having to mail them because of my surgery. They were kick ass and emailed me photos of themselves rocking the barrettes for my site. It made me feel really special that they went out of their way to do that to cheer me up during my recovery. And it felt really great to finally be able to tell them that in person. As expected they were a blast to finally meet and Frank and I enjoyed all the hugs they gave us. They genuinely were into knowing how my recovery went and were really interested in knowing what all had happened to me and how they fixed it. They were even super stoked to get to see a picture of my large intestine on Frank’s phone ha ha.
After that we were excited to hear that Felissa Rose was back at her table so we headed that direction. She had already seen my “Happy Camper” portrait on Instagram and I had given her a heads up that I was bringing it for her. When we got to the table and I pulled it out she immediately gave me a hug and put it on display at her table for everyone to see. She also told me she already knows where she plans to hang it in her home and that her husband is going to love it as well. Another scream queen who genuinely appreciates her fans. This is our second time meeting Felissa and it was just as memorable as the first time we met her. She is really a ton of fun and you can tell she really loves her fans.
Since our good pal, Sid (Haig) was taking a break from the con, we decided to roam, shop and meet Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and Strangeland, He was really laid back. A super cool guy. We are going to hang this photo next to the ones we have with legendary rockers Henry Rollins, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper.
When the show started Saturday we made sure to see if Sid was at his table first. We were worried when we didn’t see him the day before, but he was feeling better and was already full speed a head meeting fans at his table. When he saw Frank standing there amongst the crowd, his face lit up, he pointed him out and said “HEEEY!” Then he saw me and I plopped a squat next to him at his table like I always do to shoot the shit with him. Seeing him is like being re-united with family. It never gets old and it makes your heart smile every time. And when you part you can’t wait until you see them again.
I gave Sid the shirts I had made for him and Suzie of my “Shit The Bed” split face portrait (that I had given him in July in Indy). He seemed to really like them. When we said our goodbyes and started to walk away, we noticed he pulled the shirts out of the bag to get a better look at them. He then proceeded to hold them up so the crowd around his table could see them. Frank captured this great shot of him.
Before leaving the con we picked up a few more things to add to our convention haul. Some being items we wanted to buy previously online but knew we could wheel and deal price in person and also not have to pay shipping. And with this being our belated anniversary celebration we splurged a little.
Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole
