New Work + Movie Recommendation

Just finished two new pieces with a horsey Halloween theme. The first is a mantle clock I picked up at an estate sale. The man that made the clock never finished it but I knew I could have fun with the piece and I bought it. All it needed was a clock movement and a little Hallopunking (my version of Steampunk). I'm really excited by this one. I had been working on the sketch for a few days and took a day and a half to paint the clock. I like how the gold hands work with the flaming pumpkin. I also added a bird in each tree and the trees have human profiles. In the gnarled branches are the numbers "3" and "9". In the grass at the bottom is the "6". Ichabod's old nag has her eyes shut. Maybe she is asleep or just too frightened to open them:)



The next piece is a peg rack I bought unfinished from an Amish woodworker. I was tooling around the countryside the other day with my friend Carolee of King of Mice Studios. We stopped at a shop so she could pick up some children's chairs to paint and I found these cool racks. Right away I could see the possibilities. I have two more left and I think they would make nice bridle racks.



On this one I've painted a Welsh or Shetland Pony giving Halloween hayrides to her black cat friends.

Both pieces are up on Ebay. Click here for my auctions.

Lastly, I promised a movie recommendation. I usually don't write about this type of thing but Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was such and artfully shot film, I had to say something. Every scene was like an oil painting. I wanted so badly to pause the TV and sketch. Of course it doesn't hurt that Jesse James was played by Brad Pitt but I was really surprised by how well Casey Affleck played Bob Ford. I think this picture was robbed at the Oscar's. It should have been up for Best Film and Best Directing.