We Found Waldo. And He's A Zombie. Pop Culture Icons As the Undead by Andre de Freitas.

Just a little extra Halloween art for you. A series of "Zombified" portraits of popular cartoon characters from Buzz Light Year To Waldo by Andre de Freitas.

Buzz Lightyear:


Archie:


Batman:


Butcher:


Charlie Brown:


Donald Duck:


Ironman:


Luffy (Monkey D. "Straw Hat" Luffy (モンキー・D・ルフィ, Monkī Dī Rufi):


Popeye:


Raphael:


Ryu from Streetfighter):


Tintin:


See more of Andre's work here

Limited Edition Haunted Beauty Vampire Barbie Is Goth and Gorgeous.

Designed by Bill Greening, this frightfully chic creature brings a new level of gothic glamour and haute couture horror to the vampire lore. “We’ve had vampires in the BC line before,” Bill says. “But I wanted to do a version a little more spooky and gothic, something the collectors have been asking for.”

Last year, Bill Greening created the Haunted Beauty Ghost Barbie shown below, which is now sold out, but can be found on ebay for upwards of $500+:


Haunted Beauty Vampire™ Barbie® comes alive with so much bold color and intoxicating drama she practically grabs you by the throat! Drink in her gorgeous nocturnal glory as she swathes herself in a delicious fashion drenched in deep, rich, bloody red.



This is one vampire who does show up in photographs. She dazzles from every angle, dressed in a red charmeuse and black chiffon gown, with elaborate jeweled accents at the neck and red-and-gold trim on the empire waist. Her opulent, floor-length coat of red shantung features full sleeves and a spellbinding, face-framing collar. It’s an “essential fashion element,” according to Bill. “Her long red coat is perfect for those chilly nights in the crypt.”



Lustrous raven locks provide a striking contrast to the unearthly pale complexion on her Glimmer (Louboutin) head sculpt. Crimson lips and painted white “fangs” emphasize her fierce vampiric look, while black eyeliner and smoky shadow highlight her hypnotic golden eyes.



Haunted Beauty Vampire™ Barbie® doll’s sensational ensemble would earn raves on runways around the world. But this mysterious stunner prefers the darkness of moonless skies to the glaring lights of fame, as she searches for romance that will stand the test of time. “It’s a story of a long-lost love, tortured soul, and timeless beauty,” Bill says. “A creature who has looked centuries to find true love.”



Price: $100 (limit of 5), buy her here

Doll Details
Body Type: ModelMuse™
Skin Tone: Peace
Facial Sculpt: Glimmer/Louboutin
Fashion Sewn On?: No
Eyelashes: Painted
Customizations: Necklace attached to dress
Included with doll: Shoes, ring, doll stand.
For the adult collector.

Why Do I Blog About Barbie Dolls?
I think some of my readers may wonder why I blog about some of these Barbie Collectibles, but dolls, like most anything else, can be artfully designed. The Barbie Collectibles, which are made for adults, include fashion design, sculpting, make-up and in some cases, interesting marketing and packaging.

Just to give you an idea of the difference between the mass-produced $13.99 Mattel Barbie Halloween 2013 Doll and this $100 one, take a look:


So, as long as they keep designing beautiful Barbies, I will keep blogging about them.

images and info courtesy of Barbie Collector

Mordaunte's Coffin Shaped Gemstones & Jewelry Are A Spooky Way To Sparkle.

Mordaunte's Coffin-Shaped Gems and Jewelry specializes in semi-precious faceted gemstones, cut into a perfect 6-sided coffin shape by exclusive contract with an international gemstone company. Gemstones include colors such as Blood, Death, Shroud, Moss, Flesh, Scalded, and Pentacle. In stock sizes range from 3 to 10 carats.



"So far, I am the only one in the world that does this", states Mordaunte - owner, designer and creator (shown below).



In addition to the gemstones, she designs and creates finished jewelry in both men's and women's fashions. These include rings, earrings, pendants, and tie tacks, done in sterling silver as well as 14k gold. In keeping with the coffin-shaped design, purchases are even shipped in a cardboard coffin-shaped box. Mordaunte's clients buy her jewelry for costume decoration, funerary wear, immortalizing a departed loved one, wedding sets, and everyday wear with a "kick". "Most people don't realize it's a coffin shape until you tell them - they just comment that it's a beautiful stone", says Mordaunte, "When I mention that it's a coffin shape, they gasp - "That's awesome!". Many customers refer to her business as "The Morbid Tiffany's".




Mordaunte started her custom coffin-shaped gemstone "business" from her desk in her basement in the spring of 2000. She offered 3 different stone materials in two sizes. She then set up a internet service-provider website and went into business. Slowly, but surely, the business grew both in the USA and Internationally. More and more interest was revolving around her unusual gemstones, especially the idea of offering them in pre-made jewelry. Being in the IT field, she had never set a piece of jewelry in my life. However, after much research and "trial and error" she started setting her gemstones in oval and marquise pre-made settings.




As the business continued to grow it took on a life of it's own. Mordaunte began supplying jewelry to celebrities and rock bands that had found her online site. She was invited by the people at OzzFest to be a vendor on their tour. Radio stations and TV shows asked her for interviews. Haunted Houses, Horror Conventions and Gothic Nightclubs contacted her to be a guest and a vendor at their events. In 2005 Mordaunte re-designed the coffin gemstone shape to the perfect 6-sided coffin you see today and has added several colors to her line since then.



The coffin-shaped gems have made many a wicked woman happy and have been used as engagement rings, such as in the examples shown below.

A white topaz coffin gem surrounded by real diamonds makes for an unusual engagement ring:


above black glove image (cropped) © All rights reserved by Countessa Di Fangxious

Other jewelers use her stones as a source for their own creations, such as Lyndsay Brown of Idle Hands Designs on etsy who makes them into pendants, rings and cufflinks set in sterling silver:



shop for the above jewelry at Idle Hands

Coffin Gems and Jewelry Facts:
•All Coffin Gems are cut from genuine semi-precious stones such as sapphire and garnet
•The perfect 6-sided "toe pincher" coffin shape is exclusive to Mordaunte's Coffin Gems
•Each Coffin Gem is expertly faceted, polished and inspected by a professional gemologist
•Sizes are exact - weights are approximate (different gemstone materials weigh differently)
•Visit the Birthstones page for traditional and modern birthstone color charts
•Visit the Gemstones page for color choices and size comparison
•Each piece of jewelry is custom designed in Sterling Silver to hold the Coffin Gems, but is available in other settings upon request



Mordaunte's Coffin-Shaped Gems and Jewelry can be viewed and purchased at her online store - www.coffingems.com

The Magnificently Macabre Photography of Miss Lakune.

If Heaven and Hell could be combined in an artistic photograph, the beautiful and talented Miss Lakune, has done so with her ethereally disturbing Gothic photographs. The perfect images for the month in which Halloween lies, her work is both simultaneously repelling and compelling.

Zombies, Motorcycles and Poker: Zombie Riders Playing Cards By Gavin Rooney.

Perfect for this time of year, with Halloween around the corner and all, are Gavin Rooney's Illustrated Zombie Riders Playing Cards.

30 Pieces of Poignant and Uncensored Art by U.S. Veterans of War.

above: Autobiography (02) by Maurice Costello

In honor of Veteran's Day, I wanted to share with you some very personal and intimate art pieces from the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. The National Veterans Art Museum inspires greater understanding of the real impact of war with a focus on Vietnam. The museum collects, preserves and exhibits art inspired by combat and created by veterans. The pieces express their experiences through photography, sculpture, paintings, drawings and mixed media.

Please note: The work in this museum- and shown here- was made by veterans of war and the depictions of their experience is poignant and uncensored.

Good Morning PTSD by Christopher Arendt:

Real Life Souvenirs by Jay Burnham-Kidwell:

Towers (1) by Victoria Bryers:

Exiles on Main Street by Elgin Carver:

Title Unknown by Ronald Doc Cook:

58,000 Plus by John Dell:

Angel In The Desert by Marcus Eriksen:

(un)clothed and in her right mind by Iris Feliciano:

Aftermath by Michael Gottschalk:

Orphan III by Bill Hackwell:

In the Jar of Mars by Michael Helbing:

Where the Publisher Meets the Writer by Jay Burton Hellwege:

Tourist Photographs from Iraq - This is How I Wanted to See Myself by Aaron Hughes:

Fascinating Vietnam by William Hoin:

Memory of a Conflict by Louis Janetta:

Blown Away by Richard Lindsay:

Seventeen Months, Twenty-Nine Days by Grady C. Myers:

Early Out by Scott Neistadt:

Morphene, Anyone by Neal Pollack:

Mending by Scott Rogers:

The Wall by Michael Rumery:

Anguish by Bruce A. Sommer:

Together Separately by Anthony Stetina:

They Also Serve (POW) by Gary Tillery:

Prayer Boots by John Turner:

Head by Gregory Van Maanen:

Diptych Self Portrait by Kimo Williams:

This is How You Died by Richard Yohnka:

Punji Trap Wound by Bernie Zawiki:

Autobiography Installation by Maurice Costello:

The above pieces only represent a few of the works within the museum. You can view the online collection here.

God Bless all the brave men and women who give of themselves for the rest of us and this country. Thank You.

all images courtesy of the NVAM Collection Online website © 2012 - National Veterans Art Museum