Author: Head Candy Corn

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Triple T Day 8 Drawings Show-n-Tell!

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Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 8 to enjoy a slideshow from the family known as Triple T!

The artist of the drawings is 10 years old and VERY into minecraft right now, and rightly aligned her pencil skills to go along with some dragon metamorphosis illustrations to go with this year’s Gothtober theme “Metamorphosis.”

The drawings are available for download so that you may adorn your home or office with poster reminders of dragons, eggs, and destroying the city, and napping! Who doesn’t like napping?

In other news, the photographer, the Mom of Triple T has shared some seasonal recipes from other blogs on her cooking blog, sloCooking, so if you want to check out free recipes for Scary Treats, Frankenstein Cookies, Halloween Cupcakes and more, give it a peek!

Here is also a wonderful recipe for Triple T Chocolate-Avocado Mousse, which debuted at the Avocado & Margarita Festival in Morro Bay, where the requirement was to cook something for the guests using avocado.

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A Glorious Stop Motion Explosion with Gothtober Day 7’s Harold!

screen-shot-2016-10-10-at-6-29-29-pm Visit www.gothtober.com and visit DAY 7 for a remarkably tremendous stop motion love letter to the 1995 film “Sense and Sensibility” from Sony Studios.

Harold has admittedly seen this movie more than 100 times, and decided that it was high time a bit of art should be dedicated to a certain celebrated cinematic moment. If you have seen this movie, you know exactly what we’re talking about, and if you don’t… well, perhaps it’s time you rented it on Netflix!

Upon watching this elegantly gorgeous and grotesque build-up of paper parts animation, enjoy the satisfaction and release accompanied by some finely drawn gore that just makes me give an unfiltered, unfettered hat’s OFF to our animator! Undoubtedly, the young and capable and entirely talented Harold spent way beyond any acceptable amount of hours to build this work, and it’s just breathtaking. As you may or may not know, the theme of this year’s Gothtober Calendar is “Metamorphosis” and I dare say, this theme is quite gallantly on display for day 7, we kid you not.

The spirit of this short film is a perfect visual response to both the literary and filmic concept of repression, the classic real kind from 1795 and perhaps the modern, current repression we’re watching while an orange-faced candidate for the presidency makes brains explode merely by saying things out of his face hole. screen-shot-2016-10-10-at-6-35-07-pm

The age of original, soul-crushing good-old-fasbioned Jane Austen-era repression was so strong, mind you, that Ms. Austen remained the anonymous author of Sense and Sensibility until after her death! This woman wrote in a room that had a squeaking board outside the door so that if anyone approached while she wrote, she could quickly hide her manuscript and disguise what she was doing by twiddling her thumbs or knitting lace or whatever people were doing to get themselves through the Napoleonic war. This was not a time to be getting your social vision on, it would be decades before the ethics, passion and exploratory notions in Sense and Sensibility would be truly appreciated.

In Lettres Philosophiques, Voltaire writes

What we find in books is like the fire in our hearts. We fetch it from our neighbor’s, we kindle it at home, we communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.

And so we’re seeing some of that deep appreciation here in a multi-level artistic accolade from a dedicated fan to a moment, a moment that encapsulates the synthesis of sense and sensibility, in an outrageous transformation followed by a quiet and faithful heartbeat, a bloody, happy heartbeat.

Thank you, Harold Harold, for the blood, sweat, and tears!

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Gothtober DAY 6 by Nora R

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Visit www.gothtober.com and click on day 6. It is a slideshow of drawings by Nora R, it is silent, no music accompanies it.
The full title of today’s Gothtober Piece is “5150 – The Wood of the Suicides” 
At the heart of observing Autumn, Fall, Halloween and Gothtober is slowing down, and taking a moment to make friends with the night. The night time of the soul is true and real and necessary. Sadness, emptiness, loss, depression, despair, shame, anger, fear, these are often equated with darkness, but are these emotions bad? No, they are not bad, they are fine as soul, a part of the whole that makes up human existence.
Nora’s Gothtober piece takes the time to take a look at a serious subject, we don’t get a lot of pieces like this, and I’m proud of Nora for having the courage to share her work and this subject with us. Here are Nora’s own words about 5150:
“5150” is the section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code which authorizes a clinician to involuntarily confine a person suspected to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themselves, others, and/or gravely disabled. A 5150 hold can at once traumatic and life-saving.
The “Wood of the Suicides” references one of the Circles of Hell, described in Dante’s Inferno (Circle VII, Ring II, Canto XIII). In the seventh circle of Hell, Dante and the poet Virgil travel through a forest haunted by harpies, who feed from the leaves of the bloody oak trees which entomb suicides. The Catholic Church considered suicide to be a deep sin, because it is seen as a rejection of God’s gift of life. 
Dante’s tortured forest is infested with harpies, where the act of suicide is punished by encasing the person in a tree, thus denying them eternal life and damning the soul to an eternity of torture at the talons of the harpies. In addition, the soul can only speak and grieve when it it’s tree is broken or damaged. The trees in the Wood of the Suicides produce blood, rather that sap, and a person remains inside them forever, as a punishment for choosing suicide to express grief or pain.  I read Dante’s inferno in High School, and the imagery of the Wood of the Suicides has stayed with me.  However, I would add a different version. 

I don’t believe in hell, but I do know that some mental illnesses can make this particular circle of hell a reality for a person. People on a 5150 hold are often in great, unimaginable pain, much like the souls entombed in the trees. My piece is an imagining of the internal wood, the internal encasing, that people struggling with severe mental illness can carry with them. 

My hope is that all of these trees are broken, so that people suffering can speak their pain, and tear down everything that keeps us hurting and alone. 

Grassroots organizations on mental illness – The Icarus Project and NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Thank you, Nora.
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Whose Got the BUGS? Rosalind Helfand’s Gothtober DAY 5!!!

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on day 5!

You’re really going to enjoy this bug puppet show by bug enthusiast, Rosalind Helfand! But also, before we get going on this bug post, Rosalind also included a frog and a crab and a bird. So it’s not JUST bugs… but bugs are a big part of this piece. I asked Roz why she loves bugs so much, she was happy to reply:

Bugs are everywhere! Tons of them. All the time. In and on everything. Including our bodies. Many bug species have been around MUCH longer than humans. They’re survivors and adaptors. They are constructed in all sorts of fascinating ways. Take exoskeletons. How cool are those?! They’re part of an intricate ecosystem and they’re just as important as all the big creatures. But we all need each other — the big and the small. Well, we may need them more than they need us. 

Another fun fact you should know about this piece is that the back of the felt board used for this piece is an actual specimen drawer, see the photo! The other photos above are just a few of Roz’s amazing photos she has taken of insects up close and personal.

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Revolt! Gothtober Day 4 with Jefe!

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www.gothtober.com DAY 4 is by Jefe!

He drew for us a Halloween Fairytale about a little girl who summons a demon to restore Halloween after mean authorities in her school try to take it away!

Jefe recorded his own voice, worked with iMovie and scanned in all of his original drawings to make this piece come to fruition.

When asked about his process, Jefe said:

Gothtober is a chance for us artists to stretch out and try new skills and dance on the wire between stunning success and abject failure (I do need more Halloween cookie recipes though, so keep ‘em coming?).

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Trivia:
• Jefe draws for a living. You can see more of his stuff here
http://www.jefflevineartanddesign.com/
• Jefe’s has a pretty good computer with Adobe Creative Cloud on it.
• Jefe came by his nickname honestly, since his middle school Spanish teacher couldn’t find a suitable equivalent to Jeff.

About working for a Gothtober due date he said:

1 days left, Ommigod! Ommigod! Ommigod! Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression Acceptance. Here some other personality takes over, or I was possessed, or I went into a fugue state, regardless I drew 50 odd panels and scanned them in. 

We’re happy that it all worked out, because DAY 4 is a fun-filled subversive story about what to do when “the man” tries to shut down your Halloween! Don’t let it happen to you!

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Bobbugs for Gothtober Day 3

Visit www.gothtober.com and visit DAY 3 to see the Amazing BOBBUGS!!!

Bobbugs is none other than Michael Gump, the Master of Disguise! He and talented colleague, Brandon Minton, collaborated to make a stop-motion disguise especially for Gothtober. Watch how he transforms from mild-mannered mortal man to the shadow of his former self!

Bobbugs conceals  himself with a different every single day. EVERY SINGLE DAY! And he’s on his second year of doing it! years ago he tried on lots of different disguises to make a Gothtober piece, but he decided to try the 365 day challenge, which was so satisfying, that he hasn’t stopped yet! Check out this great story about him that tells you more about the daily challenges Michael faces in creating a new look every 24 hours!

Find his daily disguises on Instagram@Bobbugs! 

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Day 2 with Comic Artist Jenn Paige Gordon

 

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 2 and enjoy a lycanthropic comic by Jenn Paige Gordon! 

It is said that werewolves are shapeshifting creatures with mindblowing strength, speed, reflexes, and senses. Werewolves have a rich, long history. It was in the year of 1591 that German villagers cornered what they thought was a regular wolf and were stunned when it turned out to be not a wolf, but a man named Peter Stubbe from the same village. Just to be safe, they put Peter on a torture wheel, and eventually, his head ended up on a stick for everyone in town to contemplate. It hasn’t been much easier for werewolves since. Just ask Remus Lupin! 

Jenn Page Gordon arts her way through the southland and beyond, navigating and forming wonderful freestyle words and watercolors with bright gorgeous hues and adventurous state of paint! Her pieces are the works of an explorer, vivid views from a traveler, whose work brings you something new every time you look. If you happen to visit one of LA’s many coffee shops, you may catch her schlepping just beyond the bend, napsack on her back, paintbrush in her hand, adventures to be told!

Find more of Jenn’s wonderful work on Instagram as Evening_Creatures! 

 

 

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Gothtober 2016 is HERE!!! Richert Gordon Salondaka on Deck!

 

Click on DAY 1 of www.gothtober.com  to see the wonderful work of Richert Gordon Salondaka!

Mr. Salondaka is a force to be reckoned with, the kind of maestro specialist who is even now scrumpling the windows of various retail locations with Christmas display finery during a HEAT WAVE in sunny northern California! We are honored to begin Gothtober with “The Salondaka Touch!”

“The Salondaka Touch” (as it’s come to be known) is scrumptious, generous, gorgeous, and splendid. Richert has decided to share some of his wisdom with you, a tutorial on how to make your very own eyeball wreath for the upcoming Halloween Holiday! You now have 30 days to go make your own!

Your completed Spider Web of Bloodshot Eyeballs Wreath will have everyone screaming with wild glee and terror!

You can find Richert Gordan Salondaka’s vintage and jewelry designs wares at:

“Gin’Gilli’s Vintage Home” In Geyserville, California:

http://vhcg.blogspot.com/

“Jimmy Girl” Vintage In Santa Rosa, California:

https://www.facebook.com/jimmygirlvintage/

He has also been the Holiday Merchandising Campaign Manager at Corrick’s Stationery & Gifts.  He is responsible for decorating and trimming all of the in-store Christmas trees, tablescape displays, and windows.  Corrick’s is a local, family-owned stationery and gift business, serving Sonoma County for over 100 years!  They offer a broad range of merchandise, ranging from fine gifts to office supplies, and works by local artists to personalized stationery and invitations:

“Corrick’s” In Historical Downtown Santa Rosa, California:

http://www.corricks.com/

Richert also runs and curates a shop on Etsy.com – he is passionate about anything vintage, tattered, forlorn, & once cherished.  In antique objects he is blind to inherent flaws or damage…rather, he celebrate a piece’s “innate beauty”, “character”, & “history”!  Most of the merchandise he purveys is religious or spiritual in nature, but every once in a while he will list something that is a little bit quirky, odd, or unique – he is a firm believer in the adage “Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder”!  Visit his online store here:

Ave Immaculata on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AveImmaculata

Richert & Ave Immaculata proudly announce the debut of a new jewelry line called “Élan Vital Neck Treasures”!  This selection of original and couture one-of-a-kind body adornments incorporates a collection of Holy Medallions, Found Objects, Cherished Talismans, & Sacred Amulets.  Find your own kind of “MAGIC” in one of these unique creations imbued with Poetic Love & Romantic Nostalgia.  Some celebrity clientèle who wear his jewelry creations include: Amy Poehler, Courtney Love, & Delta Burke!!!

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Pumpkin Spice Oreo Review!

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Hey there horror hounds and disco cats!

It’s that time of year again, when night prevails over day, when the most ordinary of folk transform into the macabre and morbid weirdos that we, here at Gothober, embody all year long. Autumn has descended, bringing with it the bountiful harvest of autumnal flavors and variations on the orange hue that food scientists can manage.

Today’s autumnal treat: Nabisco’s “Limited Edition” Pumpkin Spice crème Oreos

Once inside it’s noisy yellow packaging I’m confronted with 3 rows of tawny blonde cookies on either side of deep orange filling, whose hue have echoes of both butterscotch and rust. Wafting upward is a scent that equal parts vanilla Yankee Candle and Pillsbury frosting can, along with a note of sickly sweet; not unlike that new rubber ball.

I quickly, and greedily, lift the treat to my mouth!  I bite down to feel a familiar Oreo texture sensation: the cookie crisp but not brittle, it’s filling yielding and unctuous. Then something new, a rush of holiday flavor! It’s flavor seems more apple cider spice than pumpkin spice. Crunching away, the flavor remains the same. There are notes of vanilla, warm and orange-y like autumnal centerpieces of nostalgia pressed into play-doh and sprinkled with golden spiced hay.

The residual flavimg_2237or of it lingers….lingers….lingering for much longer than one anticipates. Its feeling is of a warm gingery glow whose welcome has been thoroughly worn. All things considered. Nabisco’s holiday offering, while succeeding at the flavor of an ephemeral autumn night, loses points when it hangs around for too damn long.

Something good that stays for too long.

I think I feel a holiday allegory coming on.

Overall: 5 disco blood bags out of 7.

Review by Ordinary Oliver

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What’s Brewing? Gothtober Harvest!

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“Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
George Eliot

Somewhere in the southern hemisphere it’s Spring, but in the northern hemisphere, even though temperatures climb, we’re excited about even a hint of cool wind which would warrant eating something even remotely pumpkin-spice-oriented.

The daylight and the darkness have had their cup of tea, sitting just so on their tuffets, eyeballing each other’s portion of time allotted. Their exact point of equality won’t be here until September 25th, but still, the light bends, and on September 22nd we call it: It’s Fall!

Gothtober is always very excited about this autumnal arrival, the days officially begin to get shorter, we start madly gathering apples for all those pies we’re gonna make in our “spare time.” The Santa Ana Winds are tousling heads of hair all over the San Gabriel Valley, flinging up twigs and cactus spines and whatever other fun things it can throw in the air like “Wheeeee!” it goes. It’s that time of year where your allergies start to chill out, or they go into code red and you can’t go anywhere without tissues.

Tinkering late into the night, or during the mornings, or who even knows when, are all the Gothtober contributors, planning and checking their projects, preparing pieces of the calendar for you to see. As the watermelon moves over and the pumpkin waltzes in, anticipation builds for crisp apple cider, candy corn in bulk, and 31 days of Countdown Calendar joy.