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Long Lost Friend Studio is my self-publishing imprint, the studio space where we work, and a YouTube channel featuring videos about art and creativity. This blog covers everything happening with me and Long Lost Friend Studio.
Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good.
Bustin’ makes me feel good. There. I said it. In fact, bustin’ makes me feel so good, that Michelle and I celebrated the release of the latest Ghostbusters sequel by engaging in a no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out sculpting challenge. And you know what? That makes us feel good too.
A Bear Walks Into an Art Gallery…
The latest Gallery1988 show is called Off The Leash and it celebrates all of our favorite non-human characters in pop culture. Scooby Doo, Kermit the Frog, Wilbur the Pig, Chewbacca, Cujo, Rocket Raccoon, and more. A great theme and a perfect fit for a piece Michelle and I have been wanting to do for a while: Fozzie Bear, up on stage at a show, absolutely killing it.
Revisiting Lady In White with a Frankie Scarlatti Sculpture
If you’ve been following this blog and our YouTube channel (sincere thanks to all nine of you) then you might have caught on to the fact that Frank LaLoggia’s Lady In White is one of my favorite Halloween movies. We’ve done an ink and watercolor illustration of the movie’s protagonist, Frankie Scarlatti. But this week we decided to enter the third dimension and sculpt Frankie in polymer clay.
Muppets Diorama: Tribute To An Underrated Gem
I don’t know what we were all doing In 2015 that was so darned important, but a good portion of us decided to not watch The Muppets, and thus we’re to blame for its cancellation after only one year. This week’s Muppet diorama is our attempt to make up for our part in that.
The Mothman Cometh, As Prophesied
A few weeks ago I ham-fistedly constructed my first needle felted sculpture, a cryptid that haunted my childhood, a chimera known as The Jersey Devil. This week, Michelle answered my Monster Sculpt-Off Challenge with her own cryptid, West Virginia’s famed and feared Mothman.
The Jersey Devil Made Me Do It
Toss another skill onto the pile. I just tried needle felting for the first time and, contrary to my worst fears, it didn’t turn out too bad. And as long as we’re discussing fears, I employed a childhood terror as inspiration. The Jersey Devil, a beast I heard countless tales about during my youth in New Jersey, served as the spark for this sculpt.
The Monster Walks: Another Gallery1988 Exhibit
Frankenstein’s monster has risen from the slab once again, and Michelle and I have only ourselves to blame. Well, maybe Gallery1988 should shoulder some of the blame, because this mixed-media Son of Frankenstein diorama is part of their current show, The Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Things They Call ‘Art’ These Days
When I was a kid, toys were toys, cartoons were cartoons, and monsters were monsters. Simple childhood concepts. But, as it turns out, you can now make a posable action figure of a Scooby Doo monster, call it an art doll, and hardly anybody looks at you sideways.
Our First Gallery1988 Group Show: 25 Years Later
A few months ago, I told Michelle that I’d like the opportunity to show work at Gallery 1988, one of the most talked about pop culture galleries in California. Michelle looked at me like I was nuts. Full disclosure, she always looks at me that way. Maybe she’s right. Doesn’t matter. We managed to get a spot in Gallery 1988’s current show, so who’s crazy now?
Making A Monkey Out Of Me
This week on our YouTube channel, we made Ben Cooper-style Planet of the Apes masks (and accompanying window boxes). We don’t have a vacuum forming machine, so we sculpted them out of papier mache and foam clay.
Making An Eight-Limbed Villain With My Own Two Hands
Recording stuff in our studio for our YouTube channel means someone’s always hovering over your shoulder with a camera, capturing everything you work on, warts and all. But sometimes it works out. Like when it caught most of my Doctor Octopus sculpting process and gave me some relatively-wart-free content to post this step-by-step this week!