8 Artworks to Get You in the Halloween Mood!

*This post contains the artwork of eight different artists who have created and posted Halloween-themed artwork online, and I've been lucky enough to come across it! All images and artwork are copyright the respective artists.*

I love, love, love Halloween! We only do minor decorating at our house for it, a few things here and there, and we complete the look with a couple big orange pumpkin-design leaf bags in the front landscaping. In fact, we don't even hand out candy because we are out Trick-or-Treating with our girls! But I love the costumes and looking at the decorating that other people do, and who knows, maybe someday when the kids get older I'll get crazy with yard decorations and hand out the full-size candy bars. Maybe someday.

For now, I've been enjoying seeing the Halloween-themed art that artists have been creating in celebration of the holiday at the end of this month! Here are 8 of my favorites that have come across my social media feeds in the last few weeks:

Who says Halloween art has to be scary?

8. John Ramsey (Twitter: @jramseyi) is one of the first artists I followed when I started my Twitter account! He describes his art as drawing "cute animals with RPG elements." And it's so accurate. Look at these adorable ferrets and ghosties! I can't help but squeal with delight!

Cauldrons and potions and skulls, oh my!

7. Hannah Claire (FB: HclaireArtz) is another artist I love to follow. Her paintings have a wide variety of subjects, but I picked this one to feature because a skull/candle/potion/cauldron still life is essential for inclusion in a list of Halloween art!

Pretty sure I NEED this in my life!

6. Natu (Pinterest: Bucreshki) is a more recent discovery for me, and I was instantly hooked when I saw her stuffed creations! I really love that in addition to the dolls she also sells the digital plans and instructions so you can make your own! How excellent is that!?

She's a good witch!

5. Joni B. (FB: Peace Keeper) is an artist who works in different mediums, but I'm especially fond of her wrapped wire figures! She has a variety of different themes for them, but this little witch with a matching wire broom and pointed hat just had to be included here. 

Super cute AND terrifying!

4. Rose Falcon Nagel (Insta: @silverfalc0n) I was introduced to Rose's art after a friend of mine highly recommended her! She makes a variety of cool things, like sculptural boxes or fandom art. Seen here is her pin-up style drawing of Ghostface, the killer's persona from the Scream movies! 

I just want to give them both hugs!

3. Maria Kvam (Insta: @novembervinder) How fantastic is this photorealistic painting of two sweet bedsheet-ghosts sharing a tender moment? This one isn't overly Halloween-ish, and could absolutely be hung year-round in someone's home and appreciated for the excellent piece of art that it is.

A small selection of spooky but cute artwork!

2. Mark Gagne (FB: Mindmelt Studio) I apologize for the phone screenshot here, but I couldn't pick just one piece to feature from this talented artist! His mixed media pieces where he combines photographs of abandoned buildings with looming ink creatures are beautifully haunting.

How could anyone NOT love these?

1. Rebekah Love (FB Rebekah Love) Friends, these are little collages made of paint samples and various papers. Seriously. She's been working on a Pantone challenge for a while, and I look forward to seeing the new ones she creates pop up on my feed because they are AMAZING!

I've said it a million times, and I'll say it a million more: one of the best things about art is the sheer variety! This teeny tiny selection of Halloween-themed has such a wide range of mediums and styles, and I love being able to share these artists and their artwork here on my blog, instead of yet another recipe for pumpkin spice something-or-other after wading through 4 pages of beautiful descriptions of the smell of fall leaves.

Have a safe, spooky, and spectacular Halloween! :)

(I actually really like pumpkin spice and the smell of fall leaves.)

Is Artistic Talent Hereditary?

I believe a person could be born with a natural talent or eye for art, music, writing, etc. But unless that creativity is fostered and encouraged, it will wither and die like so many of my houseplants in the past (and present, because as I’m writing this the basil plant across the table is wilted and beyond saving.) 

However, I’d also argue that the responsibility of nurturing here doesn't just lie with parent(s), but also with the individual. If they are unwilling to put in the time and effort to practice, their skills will simply stagnate. If you haven’t drawn anything since you were 7, well, you are probably still going to draw like a 7-year-old. No hate here, I love kids’ drawings! They have their own way of seeing things, as I’m finding out. And if your drawing skills are lacking as an adult, your skills in another area of your life are probably pretty great!

I often tell people (mostly my kids) that art is like anything else and there's no secret to success: practice makes perfect. When I was a kid, I drew like every other kid my age. But in high school, I drew every single day. I came up with hundreds of unique characters, illustrated once and forgotten. I wish I had an official sketchbook from that time, that I could dig out and redraw them 20 years later. However, much of my art at that time was in school notebooks, on assignments and tests, doodling in the margins and around the text I was supposed to be studying. It was the daily drawing practice for so many years that got me to the level I am today - and I'm still learning and practicing!

Didn’t everyone decorate their 2003 calendars like this?

So is creativity genetic? Can it be inherited from your parents or grandparents? There are countless examples throughout history of multiple generations of creative people in a single family: sons of singers who are just as talented musically as their mothers; daughters of painters whose fathers put brushes in their hands before they could walk. 

My own father is an art teacher, my brother is a musician (he occasionally creates visual art as well,) and my sweet mother is an accountant. I'm not sure of anyone else proceeding me in my family tree who was artistically inclined (although my maternal grandfather was a tinker who created a variety of incredible functional things, without much of a formal education.) But my parents were so supportive of me in becoming an artist, they'd look at every angsty teenage drawing I showed them and ask thoughtful questions about the characters - most of which I had no answer for. Why is that fairy holding a giant bloody wrench? How should I know, I'm just the artist! (But probably to cover up the hands or feet!)

“Monkey” by Emma McAndrews, crayons on paper, 2022

A few months ago my own daughter, at 5 years old, informed me that she is an artist like me. I believe her, because A. all children are artists, and B. she loves drawing and coloring, so she does it often and as a result she’s getting pretty good!

Will she always be an artist? I can’t predict the future. But as long as she is interested in creating, I’m going to encourage her. And if her interests shift to something else less creative, I’ll still be just as proud of her. Because when it comes down to it, I believe that it’s not the genes you were born with but the effort and passion you put into something that makes it art.

Cover Reveal: Counting Toasters 1 to 10

If you've stopped to talk to me at any of the art fairs and events where I've been selling my art in the last six months, or if you've been following me on Facebook or Instagram, (or if you've read every single blog post I've written here) you've probably heard about my second children's book, Counting Toasters 1 to 10!

I have loved writing for a long time, and have even worked on a few (not great) novels over the years. Kid's literature, however, has meshed my love for the written word with my love of drawing. Looking back, I probably should have known illustration was the right creative route for me - especially after that one essay I wrote in college. 

I wrote my second and third children's books shortly after publishing If Only I Had. I haven't talked much about #3, as it will be a much larger undertaking and is currently a few years out. Counting Toasters, however, is only a few months away from publication! 

With my toasters growing in popularity (y'all are weird and I love you for it) it made sense to have a children's book featuring my little electrical creatures going about their daily lives, playing games with each other, and just plain living their best lives! 

So here it is, the cover of my upcoming children's book:

So many toasters!

This book is written in rhyme, counts from one up to ten, and then back down to one again! The illustrations are created with watercolor paint, colored pencils, and ink pens. If you're curious about the process I'm using for illustrating this book, I broke it down step-by-step in a previous blog post.

I cannot wait to finish this book and get it published. So many people have already expressed their excitement about a toaster book. I'm excited to get the first copy so I can finally read it in its entirety to my girls (I've read them the first few pages, and it's just not the same when you have to end at "9 little toasters...") But being the author and illustrator has its downfalls, as I have no impatient author hustling me to get things done faster! 

I only have about 3 more illustrations to finish now, so keep your eyes peeled because it won't be long before January 10th, 2023 arrives and you'll be able to get your hands on your own copy of... Counting Toasters 1 to 10! 

Artist Interview: Melanie Cable, Ms. Chevious LLC

I can’t think of a more appropriate artist to interview in October than Melanie Cable, AKA Ms. Chevious from Canby, MN! She had a cameo in a previous blog post, as she is ¼ of the HalloWhimsical Women art exhibition at the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake, IA (the exhibition will be on display for the month of October 2022.) Cable describes her artwork as having a “perky Tim Burton” vibe to it. “It feels whimsical and odd,” she explained. “And has a tendency to make you wonder.” I wholeheartedly agree!

 

Ms. Chevious in all her glory as she decorates her son’s room!

Cable took some art classes in school, but soon realized it wasn’t the right path for her. “It wasn't a positive experience, as my professor was very rigid in his ideas of what art was and should be,” she said. “I was one of those art students that liked seeing how far I could push within the boundaries of expectation and still do what was asked.” A great example of this out-of-the-box attitude is from her high school days. “When instructed to pick one shape to replicate over and over for a representation of the color wheel, I chose the shape of a sumo wrestler,” Cable said. “I had a color wheel of sumo wrestlers, and the high school art teacher couldn't find a reason to dock points as I had stayed within the perimeters she had instructed.”

This year she’s had a few big projects on her plate, including making new art to hang as part of the HalloWhimsical Women exhibit. “I had planned a large mixed media piece for the show, and I have it completed. It's a piece titled “Creativity Leak”, and features a self-portrait captured in stone, with 'Creativity' leaking out of my mind with various colors,” she describes. “It's a fun acrylic painting on canvas, and completely sealed in resin.”

Creativity leak indeed!

“Aaaand then one of my fellow artists mentioned the word 'theme' and I panicked,” she admitted. “Having a theme for the show never crossed my mind, and I had no idea what direction to take until inspiration struck, and now my brain has committed to an additional six paintings that will evolve around the large original piece I have ready to go. I'm excited, because it involves my original sculpture characters, Octosquatch and Snakesquatch, and also different aspects of my imagination. Collectively, it will be a seven-piece series of what it's like inside my head.”

Recently she’s been working on a series of retro-themed pieces for Siouxpercon, a comic/fandom/anything-nerdy-goes convention held annually in Sioux Falls. She said she’s always been a fan of pop culture and horror movies, so she’s combining the two in entertaining ways: like the Demigorgon from Stranger Things disco-roller skating, or Smeagol from the Lord of the Rings in Candyland. “I feel like I know it’s good when I have to stop and cackle with glee as I’m painting it,” Cable said. “It’s been happening often!”
 

Boooooop!

I asked Cable if she had a favorite art piece, since she has such a variety. “There is a very large, awkward part of my heart that belongs to Snakesquatch,” she answered. Snakesquatch is a three-and-a-half foot long sculpture made of wire, tape, paint, hot glue, and discarded fur from her orange Persian cat, Smooshface. She used an airbrush to add accents to Snakesquatch’s fur, built him a carrying case, and even made him the subject for one of her Acrylic April challenges! “His personality grew and deepened with each painting I made: he is a friend to many, quirky, fun, and dramatic. He has a shelf in our home that used to be a built in phone nook, and he wears different costumes depending on the season (or my mood.) I bring him to shows with me and people either absolutely love it or they hate it,” she laughed. “There's no in-between. Either way, he does his job, because as one of my favorite quotes states: ‘Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,’(Cesar A. Cruz.)”
 

He looks surprisingly snuggly!

Her favorite tool for making art is, get this… A power drill! “I bought it nearly ten years ago when I started getting active back into making art,” she explained. “I was single and needed it to help me make my own frames for canvas. I used it often, and if I had to guess, we made probably 30 canvases together, as well as every single painting I hung in the last decade. I made my son's bed with just that drill and a hand saw. We remodeled a big section of our farmhouse with it. When I finished a mural in my son’s room in January 2022, I went to hang a photo for him with my drill and it started smoking. My husband looked for replacement parts but we had found that model had been discontinued a while back. I haven't replaced it yet, because I haven't found the right one.” RIP sweet power drill!
 

I’m not usually a fan of spiders over 3’ long…

What’s an issue or stumbling block you’ve encountered? “I've had a few over the years, some stumbles just irritate me more. In my notes I jotted down: small towns, mental health issues, and kids...those are the three bigger ones for me,” Cable said. “My stumble with the smaller towns is that my niche crowd seems to not be in the small conservative Midwest towns where I've resided, but rather the bigger cities that set my anxiety on fire. As far as the kids go, it's easier now that they're older and not destroying the world with industrial-strength adhesive and freelance painting the house because I was in the bathroom for 4 minutes instead of two. We have six kids and I balance things mostly by focusing on my painting during the school year, and work my photography angle and touring during the summer. It allows me to be more present and I can always spontaneously grab my camera and click at things that make me happy versus spending 10 minutes setting up my painting area just to be called away for rides to town or making meals.”
 

I love these!

Cable said her most popular artwork is her 'Octo+Skull+Fruit' series. “It came up because I thought it was a good recipe for different pieces. An octopus with a different type of skull and fruit with a color pattern. I believe I have 8 in that series, and they are my best sellers both online and in person.”

Her advice for artists just starting out? “Try different mediums! For me, it was just as wonderful to find out what I was bad at (and didn't like to do) as what I was good at. I know, practice can make you good at many many things, but take tattooing, for example. I tried that and wanted to cry the whole time. I hated it, feeling the buzz of the gun and knowing the pain I was inflicting. It made me nauseated. Sewing is another art form that is nearly torture for me. I can do it but would much rather appreciate someone else doing it. Coming from generations of quilters, that's awkward. But I found I have a knack for chalk, watercolor, and photography, among other things, and they soothe my demons.”

Give the poor squirrel a break!

“It's not a competition. The more artists we have in the world who notice the art in every little thing, the better the world will be. I don't care if it's welding, sewing, origami, baking, coloring, doodling, gardening, body work on a car, tattooing, acting, singing, painting, whatever. It's all art and it's all needed.” Can we get that on a loudspeaker so everyone can hear it, please?

Want to see more of Ms. Chevious’ artwork? She’s active on Facebook @Ms.CheviousMurals, Instagram @Ms.Chevious, and her website can be found here.