This time they featured the photos from mine and my husband’s recent day date adventure where we got to see a nostalgic masterpiece in person… the one and only Studebaker featured in The Muppets Movie!
So honored once again to be featured. Shout out to Craig Shemin, his writing talents, and the work of the Studebaker National Museum for keeping Jim’s legacy alive for all us lovers and dreamers! 🌈✨️
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.
Once the layout is complete the artists who contributed their work will receive notification of when and where the mural will be installed in the spring! So stay tuned!
Missed the announcement about my submission? Read all about it here:
And for my fellow lovers and dreamers who feel a rainbow connection to this piece, there are made-to-order* 8″ x 8″ canvas prints and t-shirts available in my Etsy shop! I also have one 8″x 8″ canvas print currently available to see and purchase in-person at a discounted price* in my Cabinets of Curiosities at Closet Collectibles (in Crete, IL.). This allows my art collectors to not only own a piece of artistic history but to also give them a unique way to join forces with me in honoring Jim Henson’s legacy. 👩🏻🎨💚🌍✨
It’s never easy to say goodbye to the greatest holiday of the year, but I always find that sharing my annual costume and memorable moments with my followers always seems to help me get through the post holiday blues. And speaking of holiday blues I had quite the “Gemstones” on mine this year.
That’s right, not only did I finish my “Voila! No More COVID!” portrait of Walton Goggins and Uncle Baby Billy Freeman, but little did anyone know that while working on it I was also simultaneously working on my Halloween costume to transform into him as well. Needless to say it was a very “Righteous” Halloween this year.
Ta-dah! Look who it is! Y’all can’t start Halloween without no star now.
To top it off my husband Frank joined in on the fun as Teenjus and one of the trick or treaters even told him “I need to read your book more” 😆
As most of you know we got married on Halloween in 2009 and donated the base of our wedding arch to my brother’s Halloween yard display. Each year we try to remember to take a photo under it and it amazes me how my brother has kept it going strong (like us) after 16 years.
We got your miracle right here nerds!
We got blessed with a perfect sunny and crisp Samhain here in the Chicagoland area. My nephew Michael who has pretty much taken over the duties of passing out candy over the years decided to use his role to inspire his sweet costume as Willy Wonka. My great niece Violet chose to be a plague doctor this year because well she’s the ghoulist kid I know and I wouldn’t expect anything less from her. Having my Baby Billy virus elixir prop for my costume could not have been more perfect for taking a photo with her.
And the festivities did not stop there. I was also informed that like my Dr. Teeth costume that was featured in 2022, my Mokey Fraggle costume from last year made it into the Tough Pigs Muppet Halloween Parade for 2025! There are always a ton of great costumes that get submitted for this, so it is always an honor to be chosen by hardcore fans who for many moons have been doing such an amazing job to help keep Jim Henson’s legacy alive for all of us. 🌈✨️
Enjoy seeing me transform? Then be sure to check out a few of my featured past looks on the Skinned page of my portfolio website.
