creepy kids
Diane, a faithful visitor and friend to this website, has started a new blog called
Wouldn't You Like to See Something Strange.
Yes. Yes I would. I always do.
She found this image showing that not all of us are still debating between brains and coffee.
I'm sure most of us can remember a time in childhood when our parents nudged us out the door to play, even though something - be it the local bully or the crazy neighbour's dog that's always loose - was waiting for us. I can remember many a battle taking place at the local park. Though I will admit, I never had to fight zombies (not real ones, anyway).
This corner snapshot from Jason Chan's "Zombie Playground" sums up a metaphor of what it was like to battle those foes way back when.
Gives a whole new spin on "King of the Castle", doesn't it?
If you aren't already acquainted with her, let me introduce you to Katy Towell, author and animator extraordinaire. She is the genius behind the stories and short films on skary.net.
Katy used to be a preschool teacher. I imagine this is where she draws most of her inspiration from. Her protagonists are small children facing life's miseries, usually under macabre circumstances.
My personal favourite, The Little Girl Who Was Forgotten By Absolutely Everyone (Even The Postman), is about a young girl who just wants someone to notice her. She wishes for a companion. While her plea does not go unheard, the results are unexpected.
Visit her website and be sure to watch the collection of short animations in the theatre and browse the images in the gallery.
Last summer I was in Montreal at the Yves Laroche/L'Autre Gallery for "Second Hand Smoke and Mirrors", a showing that combined the talents of two artists.
Let me introduce you to Kathie Olivas from Tampa Bay Florida. She is an artist, collector and curator of what is referred to (so inappropriately) as 'lowbrow art': the type of funky art you see in magazines, on record or book covers, on many an indie concert poster and in shops that sell Vinyl Designer toys (of which I am a collector). Calling it lowbrow is like saying all contemporary and pop-culture pieces aren't art at all, but just meant for key chains and bumper stickers. For some reason creators of what is, I suppose, commercial art tend to have a self-deprecating sense about them. But I digress.
Olivias (and Peters) creates images of children in costumes - often with multiple masks - that have a certain eerie yet cute feel about them. She pairs them with rabbits or other fuzzy creatures who equally produce a sense of uneasiness, whether they are reaching for the child's lollipop or simply standing in frame. And to my delight, she is involved with the launch of Scavengers Mini Figures Series 1, a collection of vinyl toys recently released that are high on my Christmas list.
You can see more of her work at Miserychildren.com, but before you leave let me tell you about another artist.
