Spitting Image: Well Shit The Bed!

4

I finished an art piece last night that I am not ashamed to say … I am very proud of. I can’t help but look at it and smile because it came out just how I envisioned.  So here is a little background of how this piece was master minded.

The other day I was reminiscing over this specific photo…

v__41d7

….and more so the moment it was taken.  It is a special photo to me because it was taken by my husband Frank when I was reunited with Sid after years of being M.I.A from horror cons (and pretty much life) because of all my health scares, surgeries, hospital stays and recovery. Sid and Suzie were following my journey on GoFundMe along with the rest of my family and friends so he knew just how happy I was to be out and able to see him. He stopped me in the hall, pointed me out of the crowd and said “you’re out amongst the people!!!” and gave me a big hug. It was such a nice reminder of how far I had come with my health and how I was finally getting back to life and being out doing what I love and seeing the people I admire so much again.

Now as you all know from all my Sid related posts that this photo is not of the first time I met Sid.  I have been blessed with many memorable moments with both him and his wife Suzie and consider them friends.

And as you also know this is not the first time I have been inspired by Sid either.  I even dressed up as a female Captain Spaulding last year for Halloween and also have a Captain Spaulding tattoo. I also drew Sid and Suzie and mailed it out to them as a surprise gift when they got married back in 2007.

sidBut the first time I drew him was back in 2004. Rob Zombie’s old website had a very active message forum and they posted they were looking for House of 1000 Corpses art for a fan based book. I immediately got to work at drawing Sid as Captain Spaulding and Howdy Folks was created. I remember being so pumped that I actually finished it in only a few days! The sad thing is I dropped the piece in the mail and it has never been seen again. The book never happened and despite including a self addressed stamped envelope and a letter saying to please return it if it was not selected… it is still unknown what ever happened to it. There are 2 prints ever made of the piece and Sid and myself are the owner of them. So I guess that makes the prints that much more special. But with gifting out so many of my originals to celebs that I admire and Sid being so much more closer to my heart, I wanted to give him an original to replace the one I was never able to give him.

Since my split face portraits give me more of a challenge and allow me to be more creative, I decided to to do a new one that reflects his fun personality and why I love him and his Captain Spaulding character so much.  I couldn’t help but call it “Well Shit The Bed!” because it’ a fun joke about the first time we met and my screen name on his site.

Sid Spaulding Split Face Logo

I already emailed it to Sid and can not wait to see him again to give it to him and see his reaction.

For those of you that admire Sid as well you can purchase prints and shirts of the piece in my Etsy Shop!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Days Of The Dead 2016

5

Well the anticipation is over. This past weekend was mine and Frank’s belated anniversary celebration. We decided to hold off doing something for our anniversary (Halloween) and splurge for Days of The Dead since it was only a few weeks after! It worked out perfectly. We got a hotel room and had a blast.

The hi light of the trip was giving Alice Cooper my Zombie Alice head prop. I prepared like I did for Chandler Riggs and made a special box to put Zombie Alice in. I decided that “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” was the perfect song title to use on the outside. I then just painted the box in the colors that are used on the shirt her wears on stage/on his album cover.

6tag_171116-235519

Due to the fan chaos of him being there we decided to only stand through one long line for the photo op and not do the autograph line. We were smart to do it on Friday because as expected Saturday was absolutely insane. Another reason it was smart to just get the hotel for the whole weekend and not stress. This was me in our hotel room just moments before going to get in line for the photo op. I was stoked!

mealice

We stood in line for quite a while because it was a bit of a cluster at first. The staff working were a little bombarded on what to do with all of us. Once they got the hang of things and Alice arrived things moved a lot more quickly. When Frank and I walked up to him and I handed him Zombie Alice. His first reaction was “Wow! You made this!” and then he shook my hand. Then I told him I made it for HIM he said “It’s gonna be so fun getting this on the plane when I fly home” ha ha. He was making little jokes with everyone that walked up to meet him and was so laid back and easy going. It really was a “nightmare” come true. We have never been able to afford the meet and greets at his concert so even though we only got a brief moment with him it was an incredible experience.

This is a scanned copy of our professional photo op…. EEK!

alice-cooper

The next thing on our list was to play catch up with my dear friend and favorite “clown” Sid Haig. We waited until his line died down for a little bit on Saturday to stop by and shoot the shit with him. Of course I had to get a picture to add to my millions of Sid moment photos. sid-haig-9
It was so nice to see him once again and catch up. He said he really liked my Halloween costume and I of course thanked him for my hot dog shirt. It went by too quickly as the line started to build again from us chit chatting and we didn’t want to hold up all the people looking forward to meeting him (and some for the first time). A girl who was buying something at a vending table later on in the day went on to me about what a class act Sid was and how some others were not so kind. I didn’t bother to tell her how many wonderful memories I have had with him since 2004 and how I now consider him and Suzie friends. Instead I let her ramble and agreed 110% with her. I remember how it felt to meet him for the first time and I remember feeling the exact same way about him. It’s so great to see people getting that same feeling from him all these years later. There are some celebs you meet at these things that just seem to go through the motions and some who you know really care about their fans. Sid cares and always has. He is a rare gem!

While visiting him we had him sign us a mini bucket of Captain Spaulding chicken. He had them for sale at his table and are replicas of the ones used in the Rob Zombie Pin Ball machine. One of the most meaningful things we got all weekend.

Another meaningful piece was this statue we saw that immediately drew our attention because it made us think of our departed Sabbath (Sabby Girl). See she liked to spill things just for fun. This included always trying to knock over my cup of water/brushes when I would paint. She also had a bad habit of knocking her water bowl across the kitchen or spilling cups we left out over night. She would tip them over, watch it spill and literally walk away. She was crazy but we loved her.

wp_20161119_001

We bought a lot of other really cool things. I won’t bore you by listing them here but if you really want to know leave a comment and I can fill you in. I know some of my fellow horror fanatics might find them amusing! The vendors there had a great variety. We got life like props, t-shirts, limited edition collectibles etc. Here are just a few pics we posted on Instagram during our con venturing showing off a few.

Overall this past weekend at Days of the Dead was the perfect little getaway to celebrate our belated 7 year wedding anniversary. So memorable!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

 

Days of the Dead Chicago 2014

2

I have not been able to go to a con for the last 2 years due to all of my surgeries so this weekend at Days of The Dead Chicago was very memorable for me.

I got to meet one of my all time favorite actresses Rose McGowan and finally gift her the portrait that I drew of her as Cherry Darling….

SCAN0057

We all know Rose is gorgeous but her beauty really shines through even more due to her genuine personality and appreciation of her fans. You can also tell she is an artistic soul.  Which a girl like myself can relate to. She was an absolute doll in person. Just how I had imagined her to be. She was so excited when I told her she got to keep the piece of art that I drew of her. She even gave me a big hug and told me how her father and husband are also artists and that many fans just want her to sign their art and she never actually gets to keep it. I was so shocked to hear that. I told her for me it’s my way of giving back to the people who I admire and are inspired by.  Call me a fan geek if you want, but I am still in awe.

V__4043 WP_20141122_20_11_47_Pro

On top of all that awesomeness, I also I got to see our dear friend Sid again. It’s seems like forever since I have gotten to play catch up with him in person. I got lucky to cross paths with him in the hall where he pointed me out of the crowd and with excitement in his voice hollered “you’re out amongst the people!!”. He told me how happy he was to see me out and about and not in a hospital bed. He gave me a big hug and told me to make sure I stay well. Seeing him always lifts spirits.

V__41D7

I got asked to enter the tattoo contest they were having but due to us waiting on the photo op pics I missed it. Maybe next year. It was pretty cool that they pulled me a side to tell me I should enter when they saw my work.

Oh and to make the con complete this obnoxious and amazing cardigan sweater is all mine thanks to the greatest husband in the world 😉 He got the last one! SCORE!

WP_20141123_11_49_56_Pro WP_20141123_11_51_23_Pro

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole