Shivers of Delight

On the day that marks 100 days till Halloween, I am so excited to share with you a side project that I've been working on for 18 months with Kristen Stafford of Halloween Art & Travel podcast. I present to you our new website for Halloween art collectors. If you've been following my blog for a few years, you probably noticed I've posted less. Previously I had relied a great deal on Etsy to manage my favorite Halloween artist shops, but then Etsy turned corporate bullshit and all my favorite artists started leaving and scattered with the wind. I started wishing there was a place I could visit to find where all those artists moved to. It also occurred to me that we are in an amazing period of time when Halloween art is flourishing and really, shouldn't someone be capturing that? I made the decision that it should be me! I knew it was a project too big to tackle on my own and so I immediately reached out to Kristen. We share so much in common and have complimentary ski...

I am stunned to see that I have no posts about artist Jana Seven of Rag and Bone Dolls . Of all the artists in my Halloween art collection, she is the most represented! Have I subconsciously been keeping her to myself? I don't think so. I talk about her with other collectors all the time.  It could be that Jana releases her art in collections all at once and they sell out very quickly. I really can't post ahead of time about what you might find. She gives very little notice before she opens her shop. The other reason could be that I know that she doesn't consider herself a Halloween artist and I haven't wanted to put that label on her. However after a great deal of thought and discussion with fellow collector Kristen Stafford , I've come to the conclusion that I collect works by artists that fit in with my curated art collection which, if I have to define it, focuses on Halloween, memento mori, and folk tales. Jana Seven surely wouldn't dispute that she fits wel...

As my Halloween art collection grows, I find I lack the space to display it all. I hate that! Thankfully, many artists create small pieces using spun cotton and felt that I can tuck just about anywhere. The needle-felted witches from My Dreams Lab are just precious. I like that that they can soar around the room on their brooms as ornaments. Witch on a Broom with Ghost Witch with Crow and Pumpkin Skirt Witch Standing on Broom Witch with Orange Skirt Witch with Cat Hat Admit it- they're adorable. I'm going to need more than one. 

Kaitlin Martin's modern-medieval whimspookal banners have been bookmarked on my Halloween Shopping tab since at least 2020, but it's been awhile since I've wandered back to her shop CoolCatKMart . Martin paints on fabric and makes really fun pennants that remind me of a ghoul joust. I was excited to see she is now painting on silk scarves and doilies!  The pennants are painted with acrylics on canvas and are one-of-a-kind. Ghosties Pennant Fancy Dragon Pennant Martin's doilies and scarves are just as fun. Skeleton Knight Painting The Ruins Painting Coven Painting The shop also offers mini paintings on felt, stickers, and cool prints like this one: Three Witches Print This is a fun site to shop in and don't forget to bookmark it!  

I haven't looked at a zine since the 1990s when I lived in Athens, GA and Henry Owens had a music zine. Were you even alive then? Fast forward 25 years or so and an artist friend, Bruno Perosino (@bperosino on Instagram), recently showed me some of the cool zines that he makes.  Today I was browsing the online shop of Pam Wishbone and happened upon her zines! I just love Wishbone's style and her zine Signs of the Night: Sigils of the Order of the Empty Cup (and others) are sitting in my shopping cart. Little did I know there are loads of Halloween and spooky zines out there that cost less than $10. It's the perfect way to support an artist and feed your longing for spooky art. Let's take a look. Calendar Observations: Order of the Empty Cup zine (Pam Wishbow) All of them BRUJAS mini comic zine (Rebecca Artemisa) The Idgaf Book of Spells Halloween zine (Rebecca Artemisa) The Graveyard's Call zine (dMcMpDesign) All Hallows Lore zine (Lys Reese, The Pomegranate Kid) N...

For a long time, I've been interested in learning how to hook rugs. My interest really peaked when we visited the Shelburne Museum in Vermont in 2017 and saw an exhibit of hooked rugs. (I remember the date because I just looked at my photos. 😂) Last fall, I purchased a small pumpkin hooked rug at Brimfield Antique Flea Market that my cats, unfortunately, have adopted as their sleeping spot.  Anyway, I was aimlessly wandering around Etsy last night while drinking an Old Fashioned (a favorite) when I came upon some wonderful finished hooked rug pieces made for Halloween.  The finished pieces I could even contemplate being able to purchase are made from patterns. A one-of-kind piece would be way out of my budget right now. A pattern piece doesn't make it any less desirable though because it takes a great deal of skill as well as artistic talent to successfully recreate the pattern. Here are a few of the pieces I found that are delightful from Wellesley Willow , Tweedful Things ,...

Please excuse the mess and keep an eye on the page for new posts. Happy 2025!