The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know: An Introduction
~Erik Sanko and Jessica Grindstaff

creepings...

Artist: Scott Radke

laTeeFah wRiGht, LadeePuPPette

"ShrouDed in maGic, tHis loa can be traGic! asK him a favour, good moJo to savOr..."



kil studios

Strange Dolls

Strange Dolls

Ugly Shyla

Ugly Shyla is the embodies the dark side of the Moon. When the Moon card appears in a Tarot reading, we are encouraged to to explore the dark landscapes of the Unconscious...the watery realm of dreams and nightmares. With Pisces as its ruling sign, the Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness and genius. It is important to explore this realm with a sober perspective so we don't become hysterical or delusional. After all, nothing is as it seems in the Underworld. We must confront our greatest fears in the depths and unmask the monsters and demons to see them for what they really are. As important as the descent of the soul into darkness is, so is the return from the depths. If not, the core of the personality remains swallowed up by the sea of the night, and the process of self-developement has failed. Gazing into the depths is the feminine path to truth. The greatest danger here is withdrawl from the world or even mental derangement. However, if we listen to the voice of the Goddess of the Moon, the opportunity to become acquainted with our intuition is available. Then we can bring great creativity, powerful magic and visions and up from the depths.



Ugly Shyla is an intuitive artist who conjures images from the Underworld. She invites us to explore the horrors of the collective unconscious through her art and modeling. Her primary focus is her morbid fine art dolls but she uses other mediums as well. You can also find her deconstructed clothing and handmade jewelry in her Etsy shop! And yes, she's a witch...she practices good ol' fashioned Louisiana Voodoo.

"This is the waning moon, the moon of witchcraft and abominable deeds. Such light as there may be deadlier than darkness, and the silence is wounded by the howling of wild beasts. This is the threshold of life; this is the threshold of death. All is doubtful, all is mysterious, all is intoxicating. Not the benign, solar intoxication of Dionysus, but the dreadful madness of pernicious drugs; this is drunkeness of sense, after the mind has been abolished by the venom of this Moon. She is the poisoned darkness which is the condition of the rebirth of light" ~Aleister Crowley~

PUPPET MASTER

Erik Sanko is one of those extrordinary artists that does it all! He is a musician, artist and marionette-maker. The marionettes are complete works of art all by themselves. Erik took it a step further by bringing his characters to life in a marionette show called The Fortune Teller. Danny Elfman provided the erie score...Danny also did the score for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. While the narrative was spoken by Gavin Friday of Virgin Prunes fame. It's a morality play featuring the Seven Deadly Sins. I wish I could have seen it! If you'd like to get a little taste check out this Video.

"The Fortune Teller reveals a world of curiosities as seven unusual characters are invited to the estate of a late millionaire industrialist and informed they've been included in his will.

On a dark night, the strangers arrive at the late millionaire's mansion only to learn their inheritances will be based not on a will, but on the readings of a fortune teller.

One by one, each is delivered what they have coming to them, but perhaps not what they are expecting.
Seven strangers' twisted tales are brought to life in a handcrafted marionette play and woven with haunting music to tell an eerily comic story of fate and fortune..."

If you visit his Website you can follow the links to listen to Erik's Solo music project as well as his band, the Indie outfit, Skeleton Key. Don't forget to follow the link to artist Jessica Grindstaff too!

DOLL LOVE

I've added some doll links of some of my favorite doll makers. See the "DOLL LOVE" category. This section will include puppets and marionettes too. I'll add more soon. I've always loved dolls. When I was a little girl, I had so many! I took really good care of them because I thought they were alive. My favorites were my old fashoined porcelain dolls. I constantly fixed their hair, straightened their dresses, and posed them neatly on my shelves. They stared at me from behind glass eyes, and sometimes they even gave me a good scare! My Aunt Terrie bought me a Charlie Chaplin vantriloquist doll one year for my birthday...he eventually had to be removed from my bedroom permanatly, my little friends were terrified of him. With the exception of a few bad seeds, my dolls loved me, watched over me and told me secrets! This beauty pictured below was made by Sarah of Black Eyed Suzie! I'm happy to announce that she is making an Edgar Allan Poe doll for me!!!


After I dropped out of Art School my creative block magickally disappeared. I started making handsewn poppet style dolls, using velvet, beads, antique glass eyes, and other misc found objects. Each one was stuffed with herbs and other magickal components with specific magickal intentions in mind. For example, Love, Wealth, or Protection. Once I start creating a doll, they practically make themself. I always get the feeling my hands are being guided. It was during this time that my childhood notion was confirmed. Dolls do have spirits! And after further investigation, this idea goes waaay back. Wise Women and Medicine Men thoughout all cultures have made dolls and effigies as for spiritual purposes. The doll's spirit acts as an emissionary between it's creator and the spirit world. There is a sacred text called Tattvartha Sutra (That Which Is) a Jain manual for understanding the true nature of reality. It reveals that dolls, images, effigies, ect. are vessels for spirits, and therefore dollmaking is absolutly forbidden! Witchcraft! And you must remember the tales of the Salem Witch Trials? Poor old grannies burned at the stake for making poppets! Were they witches? Or just making ragdolls for their grandchildren. In any case, ask any dollmaker you know if the dolls they make have hearts and souls...I bet the answer will be YES! So be nice to your dollies!



These lovelies were made by Lateefah Wright of Kil Studios. You must check out her website! I love love love her dolls! I hope to adopt one someday!

FOR THE LOVE OF EDGAR

The dark musings of the Edgar Allan Poe have inspired generations. He is one of the forefathers of the Romantic Movement, a Gothic Icon. Up there in the ranks with the likes of Goethe, Byron, Keats, and Shelley. Recently I've seen some fantastic dollmakers make dolls in honor of our Grim hero. Here are two that I almost considered adopting. The first one was made by Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions.


The second one is great too! He was made by a doll making team called Dylan & Jo. He is up for auction right as I speak!


I've just added links to these artists...I was being lazy! I found them both on ebay! A lot of the "Primitive" doll artists on ebay belong to a group called EHAG (Eclectic Halloween Artist Group) So if you do an ebay search for EHAG lots of goodies come up, especially around Halloween!

Ill Famed Spirits

"Ill Famed Spirits is the dream and vision of Faye "The Tattooed Psychic"
and Miss Oblivious. One day many moons ago...well known doll maker Miss Oblivious, looking for adventure, decided to pack up her pirates and dolls and sail to the salty sea air of Seattle. Little did she know when she arrived there she would meet the well known Psychic Medium Faye "The Tattooed Psychic". Now Faye had been planning on world domination for sometime but felt she needed a partner in crime. One night while Faye was doing her live show...Spiritus...she saw in the audience and amazing spirit and life force with blonde hair and ruby lips. She gave that life force a reading and met her as the fabulous Miss Oblivious! They soon began to tell gypsy stories, drink ales and share ideas. They discovered that they both were ill famed and both wanted to take over the world. So Miss O suggested a TV show. Now Faye had been wanting to do a TV show for sometime and so she knew she found her perfect partner. Now Miss Oblivious has joined as Hostess of Faye's show Spiritus and they are filming all over Seattle and amazing people with Psychic demonstrations and inspiring people with Spirit Dolls." Tune in to Ill Famed Spirits TV!


I can't wait to meet these two ladies in person! Faye and I developed a friendship through MySpace. I knew immediatly that we were destined to meet! Both of us, Tattooed Fortune Tellers with the life path number 7! And both of us grew up under the guidance of our Gypsy Grandmothers. I'm going all the way to Seattle just to attend her Spiritus event! (That's one of my goals for 2008...a much needed 2 day, mini-vacation...with no kids!) How can I resist this carnival folly...a Tattooed Psychic and tribal bellydancers! And now that Miss O has teamed up with Faye the line up gets even better!


I found Miss Oblivious on MySpace too. I can't remember how I stumbled across her page. But I was so impressed by how many dolls she produces! I make dolls too, so I know how long all that hand-sewing takes! Her dolls are so cool, they are called Payne Creation Dolls. She creates dolls of underground punk rock icons like Darby Crash of the Germs and Exene of X. Her latest icon dolls, the "deranged, anarchic, gypsy caberet" known as the Tiger Lillies! She also is the creator of the Oblivious Nation zine. Check out Miss O's Etsy shop to see what she has available!


Top: Miss Oblivious and her Carnie Slut Doll Bottom: my personal favorites...Spiritus Dolls



Thank you for the inspiration ladies! xo

All I Want for Christmas!

I love Kerry Kate's October Effigies! This Boudoir Doll is currently in her Etsy shop. If you buy it before I do, I'll forgive you.


I also really really need this Classic Working Replica Gramophone. It plays 78 RPM Records!


I've had these amazing Silhouettes plates by Thomas Paul on my list forever!