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Tell us about your yourself… your work

I am the artist and creator of Pocket Full of Posiez™ and have been a staple on the LA spooky art scene for a number of years.  Since I was a young girl, I’ve always dreamt of one day being an artist and making my own line of toys and sharing my vision of black and pink stripes with the world.  Now I finally have found my niche as a playful gothic doll maker, painter, and digital artist. I love painting in acrylic so much and it was so exciting to be able to paint one of my characters inside the mansion for the Halloween Town show! One of my dreams as an artist is to have a painting inside the Disney Gallery, how cool would that be?!

You can find my characters, as dolls, paintings, and on various handmade merchandise in eclectic stores worldwide. I’m currently working on my 3rd limited edition doll, the deadly cute Delilah. She is a pink and black cutie with her skull topped cup cake – guaranteed to melt your heart when she is released in late 2010 – early 2011.

I also do a weekly internet live on cam chat show called QueenieTV with my boyfriend Hideousboi on ustream. We’ve been on for 2 years now talking about various topics. We end up talking a lot about Disneyland since we’re there all the time.

Would you say the Haunted Mansion influenced your artistic style?

It is definitely up there as an influence. It’s not so much the style of the mansion as the idea of haunting things being so lively.  The graveyard scene is another favorite. Despite being dead, they still know how to have a good time.  The Haunted Mansion is dark and spooky with enough of a twist of humor that makes it non-threatening, that’s what I strive for in my art and my world.  I still get giddy every single time I ride it.

Was the tightrope girl your first Disney inspired art piece?

Yes it was I’ve wanted to do disney art for a VERY long time, but I really wanted to establish my own style as an artist first.

Can we look forward to more tribute pieces in the future?

I’ve been thinking about more pieces that I would love to do.  I’ve always loved the tea party cemetery scene.  I’d like to do other Disney tribute pieces as well. The Evil Queen especially!

Do you remember your first ride on the Haunted Mansion?

I think I was about 6, I remember being terrified but loving it. The stretching room amazed me so much and actually believing it was stretching!

Who is your favorite character in the mansion?

My absolute favorite is the tight rope girl. The colors in the portrait are all my favorite and I love her outfit. It wasn’t until a couple years ago that i started identifying with her. A girl on a tightrope with a crocodile waiting to gobble her up. There is so much to be said with that picture. That’s why in my version, she turns the tables. That croc didn’t have a clue what he was getting into trying to threaten her. *giggle*

I wish I had taken more pictures of the art show, but due to certain space constrains and other restrictions, I barely got any good pictures of the art on display (as evident by the awfully cropped picture of Queenie’s “A Ghost Will Follow You Home” painting).  But I’m thrilled to have come home with a copy of Queenie’s Tight Rope Girl on canvas, signed by the lovely Queenie, herself.  Isn’t the expression on the girl’s face just perfectly mischievous?  But my favorite details are the tiny skull and crossbones in the striped background.  So stinkin’ cute!  Thank you, Queenie, for sharing your talents with us and for your wonderful art!

A full collection of original paintings, prints, dolls, handbags, buttons, jewelry, cards, stickers and more can be found at pocketfullofposiez.com and you can join the Pocket full of Posiez™ Facebook Fan Page for daily updates on merchandise, art shows and the internet chat show.

It has come to my attention that in my spam purge, some of my existing comments were also deleted and I was unable to send private emails last week to the following: MG13, Serenity Jess, Halfbeard and Darker Image.  Please accept my apologies.  If you try to leave a comment in the future and have trouble doing so, please email me at carrie@hauntedmansioncollectibles.com so we can get it straightened out!

And Congratulations to Charlotte!  She is the lucky winner of the handmade Oogie by Karl.  And Karl, thanks again for paying it forward.

Now…I’m so excited to introduce our first Fanmade Friday guest for 2010.  In the crazy, fast paced and often nonsensical prosing on Twitter, Mouse of Zen tweets stand out with refreshingly simple, yet captivating lines about one of my favorite subjects, Disney.  The author of Mouse of Zen, J.B. Conway, writes haikus, hundreds of them, all about Disney.  So of course, I had to inquire about my favorite ride, the Haunted Mansion.  Last year, in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion, MOZ released a series of Haunted Mansion Haiku and teamed up with yours truly to combine his haunting refrains with some of my favorite photographs.  The results were pretty exciting!

My pen name is J.B. Conway & go by “Brad” to family & friends. J.B. was my grandfather’s name & I decided to use it for the name tag on my police uniform along with my “author” name of choice. Been in police work since 1998. Before that, I was a “sandwich artist”, LOL!

How did you first come to writing Haikus?  Why that format?

After 9/11, I began writing poetry in reference to how mad the incident made me feel. After about 100 poems into the book, I came across some haiku & began to write my own for the book. I wrote 205 haiku & enjoyed the process of trying to write something rather powerful in such few words, I had several published in various haiku “e-zines” that were well known for rather good haiku. I am after a similar feeling that gave me by attempting to get some of my Mouse Of Zen haiku into Celebrations magazine for the 1000s of Disney fanatics to enjoy!

There seems to be a big leap from your first book of poetry, Crime Scene Lyrics, to your new Mouse of Zen project.  Why the shift?

Simple. “Crime Scene” was prechildren & “Mouse Of Zen” was postchildren! Wanted to create a “database” of how Disney me me feel after bringing our children there for the first time in 2006. Something my kids could share with their own children off in the future!

I love the haiku you wrote about your daughter eating a Dole Whip. Not only do I see her sitting there with her sticky face, but I can also picture you, watching her, soaking in the moment. Does your poetry come to you in the moments, or is it more a reflective process?

I write the “Mouse Of Zen” haiku based on memories of our family trips. Recently, I have found myself enjoying brilliant WDW photography & writing something “on the fly” based on the photo. This past trip in September 2009 was the first trip we have been on since I created the “Mouse Of Zen” so I wrote around ten haiku that was more of ” in the moment”.

How many Disney haikus have you written?  Do you have a favorite theme within Disney?

The first MOZ book has been completed and that will consist of 300 haiku. I have already started the process of writing the next 300 for volume 2. Think I am about 12 into book #2!

How many Disney parks have you visited?  Do you have a favorite?

Only been to WDW but would like to go to Disney Land one day. Due to finances, parks outside the United States will probably always remain a dream of mine. Epcot is my favorite park of WDW!

Speaking of favorites, do you have a favorite haiku you’ve written?  Can you share it?

I don’t recall an exact favorite haiku but it seems my favorites seem to be the ones based of memories of my children!

When can we expect your Mouse of Zen book to be released? How can I get a copy?

The book will be avaliable within the next couple of months. I plan on offering signed copies of around a 100 limited run. If there is demand for more “signed copies”, I will gladly increase that past 100!

reprinted with permission – © J.B. Conway

If you would like to learn more about his Mouse of Zen projects, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook and of course, www.mouseofzen.com

Every time MOZ’s  ”Disney inspired, mouse-size poetry” pops up on twitter, I’m instantly transported into my own personal Disney oasis.  Even if its just for a moment.  I can taste the dole whip, smell the churros and popcorn, feel the magic of Disney.  I’m really honored J.B. joined us today for Fanmade Friday.  I know I can’t wait to get my hands on his new book.

]]> http://www.hauntedmansioncollectibles.com/2010/02/fanmade-friday-mouse-of-zen/feed/ 1 http://www.hauntedmansioncollectibles.com/2009/10/kreepy-karl/ http://www.hauntedmansioncollectibles.com/2009/10/kreepy-karl/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:05:11 +0000 Carrie http://www.hauntedmansioncollectibles.com/?p=732 Fanmade Friday is here again and I’m so jealous of our guest’s talent, I could spit. Don’t worry, I won’t.  Because spitting’s gross.  Why do we say ‘I’m so fill in the blank, I could spit!’  anyway? What would spitting accomplish, really?  I stay up late pondering these things, you know.

Sorry, my brain wondered off there for a minute, and my fingers decided to follow.  You know, I used to stop and censor what I wrote, but I don’t now.  I’m sorry. I know its torture. But I no longer have the luxury of proof reading anymore, now that I’m homeschooling my kids and trying to run a home business.  See, there I go wandering again.

My apologies to this week’s fantastic guest for my disjointed intro.  I’m so excited to introduce you to Karl, who joins us all the way from Korea!  I just love the interweb, don’t you?  It really has brought people together. So, with out further ado, here’s Karl, or Kreepy Karl, as he’s know on the Doombuggies forum.  Where ever did he come up with that name, I wonder?

I was born in Scarborough Ontario on October 22.  I’m sure the proximity of my birth to Halloween instilled my love for all things creepy and spooky.  As a child, I loved the Saturday Monster Matinee and watching the Hilarious House of Frightenstein.  I read anything about ghosts, myths, and monsters.  I used to draw quite a lot of monsters when I was little.  Halloween has always been my favorite holiday.  I spent hours of my youth playing out stories with my toys.  But one of the problems I had was they never made toys of all the things I really wanted.  Because of that, I started making toys, accessories, clothes, vehicles and monsters to play with.  As far as I can remember, I’ve always loved making crafts.  I used clay, toothpicks, wood, fabric, paper and metal.  I made some conventional models, but I always preferred to make my own.  I stopped doing crafts in High school, but I still had the urge to make “something”.  I was even lucky enough to be a Stained Glass Artist for a couple of years.  These days, I’m working in Korea as an English teacher. It is a lot of fun, and it is both rewarding and challenging.  I also get to spread the meaning of Halloween to a different country.  I also have time to make crafts.

When was your first trip to Disneyland?

I first went to Disneyland when I was 3 or 4.  I immediately fell in love with the Haunted Mansion, POTC, Space Mountain, Dumbo and Mr. Toad.  I don’t think I liked Snow White (a girley ride) until after I went on it.

Do you remember riding the Haunted Mansion for the first time?

I remember sitting between my parents shivering in fear throughout the Haunted Mansion.  I especially remember the shadowy hands on the 13 hour clock.  Ezra was my favorite character.  I always wanted him to be in my doombuggy.  Afterwards, I loved seeing the masks and Randotti skulls in the magic shop or at Leota’s cart in WDW.   My family had a Lakeside Haunted Mansion game which I played all the time until it was damaged in a basement flood.  So last year I got some images of the game and built one.

What is your favorite model you’ve created?

What’s my favorite HM model?  Hmmm.  That’s really hard to answer.  I love my Walt Disney World Paper Mansion.  It is one of Ray’s wonderful models. I have space reserved on my shelf for his Disneyland and Phantom Manor models.  My Corridor of Doors is also cool and is mostly my own creation.  Well, I did borrow Ray’s Door template, and photos I got from the net.  I also really love my Graveyard.    If I had to choose, I’d have to say my favorite one is whatever I will do next!  I think about it, make it, and then move on to the next project.  Another crafter, Marie (Darker Image) who you’ve interviewed before (great HM themed bags and maid costume) refers to this obsession as (Mr.) “Toad Mania”.  That’s a good description.

As much as I love my Haunted Mansion models, my true pride and joy is my Halloween town.  I’m a huge Nightmare Before Christmas Fan.  It always bugged me to see Christmas stuff before November.  So the movie really struck a cord with me.  I loved the characters and the sets.  I first started making it in September 2001. But it was only in the last 4 years that I got serious with it.  It’s still not finished, nor is it ever likely to be finished. Just like Walt’s idea of Disneyland.  Eventually I intend to make all the characters from the movie that there aren’t already toys for.  I’ve also got dozens of characters of my own imagination that I want to make.

Do you like the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion overlay?

What could be better than marrying Nightmare Before Christmas and the Haunted Mansion?  I love the idea of it, and I was lucky to see it once in Tokyo.   I look forward to seeing the Disneyland version someday.  I printed out the Tarot cards to hang on my Halloween tree.  I liked Oogie’s Wheel of Misfortune so much that I just had to make one (or 2!)

My version spins and Oogie’s platform can also rotate.

Do you have any tips for making models?

My first tip would be to believe in yourself.  Most people look at a project and think “I could never do that!”.  I’ve found this to rarely be the case.   It is also wise to start small.  Which is advice I’ve never been able to follow.  Ray’s Crypts should have been my first paper projects, not my last.

Color outside the lines.  When I first made my Walt Disney World Mansion, I want everything to be accurate.  However, finding the right plants and the sheer amount of space needed to do that made it impractical, to say the least.  People will recognize elements taken from elsewhere.  In the end, my projects are unique, and fill with the aspects of the rides (all 3 mansions) that I love best.  Who care if the crypt arm-torches weren’t in the Corridor of doors?  I don’t have the space to make the entire mansion (but I’d like to!).

Find a community of hobbyists.  When I saw all the great creations on the Doombuggies forum, I was really inspired to make my own.  It was also great getting praise, advice and feedback on my projects.  It is also nice to meet really cool people who share my obsessions.  It’s good to have a network of like minded people.  They kept me inspired and it was fun to share tips.

Mistakes are just another way to make it look original.  Some of the world’s greatest inventions were accidents.  I’ve heard time and time again when an artist admitted that that cool effect was an attempt to cover up a mistake.  I believe that some of the Haunted Mansion effects (like the staring busts) were happy accidents.

Using your hands to make things reduces stress.  One of the biggest reasons for stress is our lack of control.  Crafting offers absolute control over your environment.  Also, it forces you to slow down. While you make crafts, your subconscious is filing things away and sorting things out.  Crafting reenergizes!  I have a long list of things I’d like to make.  It gives me something to look forward to.

Wow! Thank you, Karl, for giving us a peak into your miniature kingdom. I’m blown away by the amount of detail you add to each little vignette.  I could spend all day looking at ‘em!

Your insight and advice is something I truly needed to hear right now. I couldn’t agree with you more about the energizing qualities of crafting.  I’m at my happiest when I’m creating.

To see more of Karl’s creations, browse thru the pages of the Doombuggies forums here.

Also, since he has trouble procuring specific items for his craft in Korea, Karl is interested in trading.  Learn more about that here.

Here’s Karl’s display in all its spooktacular glory!

Now, you know how much I love it when a guest offers up a prize! It makes my day, and winning one of Karl’s miniatures will surely make yours! So don’t be shy.  You know how this works, right?  All you have to do is enter some feedback love in the comment section to be entered into a random drawing for his handmade Oogie’s Wheel of Misfortune miniature.

The Fine Print

One entry per boil or ghoul, please…no matter how spirited you are.

No entries after the witching hour (12:01am, pacific time) Tuesday, November 3rd.

Winner will be announced Wednesday!

One last thing, Happy Belated Birthday, Karl! I hope you had a spooktacular day! Thanks again for sharing with us!

Check out David’s tribute video to the Haunted Mansion and this week’s Fanmade Friday submission! See if you can’t help but smile….

My name is David King. I hail from Long Beach, and have basically lived in and around the Orange County/LA County area my whole life. I’m currently a busy college student, hoping to major in English with emphasis on Creative Writing, perhaps dabbling a bit into film. Writing is a big passion of mine, so I might drift towards screenwriting. My other hobbies include collecting nautical objects, listening to jazz, playing Nintendo and being a geek for all things classic Disney.

How long did it take you to create the video?

I shot the video over the course of three different Disneyland visits between late May/early June, though in reality the first scenes were filmed several months before I had even decided I wanted to put this thing together for certain. It started out as a weird idea I had after attending a faculty dance concert at my college. They had dance choreographed to various Queen songs, Don’t Stop Me Now among them. The idea of putting some oddball skit to what might be my favorite Queen song buried itself in the back of my head and didn’t go anywhere…until last Halloween. The Groundskeeper costume triggered some interesting comments at a Halloween party I attended, such as “So, they finally gave you a night off at the Haunted Mansion?” And that settled it. I had wanted to make some sort of tribute to the Haunted Mansion for its upcoming 40th, and everything just fell into place in my mind. I shot the first scene that very night, in my friend’s front yard, which interestingly looks a bit like the graveyard at the mansion (where the Groundskeeper leaves his shovel and lantern behind and sets off into the night). After that, it was only a matter of waiting until they took the Holiday-overlay down at Disneyland.

Did any cast members or guests react while you were filming the scenes and were they good or bad reactions?

The strangest thing about filming this was how, well, “normal” people’s reactions were! I was expecting people to wonder why I was walking around Disneyland in summer weather wearing a scarf and coat. But no, I got only a few passing glances now and then and a couple raised eyebrows. I guess people are used to seeing odd things at the parks. Some nice park guests even held the camera for me on the days I was trying to film solo, which still wows me a bit. I was also expecting potential suspicions from cast members. Thankfully none of them seemed to care, and a few were actually fairly helpful – for example, while trying to get from Frontierland to Fantasyland via Big Thunder Trail as the park was closing, one nice cast member held the gate long enough for us to dash through before the path was closed.

It was a lot of fun to do, though! I had no formal plan, so a lot of it came to me during the course of filming, trying to fit elements of the parks to work with the song and also going off the suggestions of my “film crew” (whatever friends/family happened to be with me at the time). My favorite scene to film is possibly the bit with the Sword in the Stone. I love visual comedy, and I tried to get into a bunch of silly poses going while trying to pull out the sword. But I think the scene at the end was the funniest one to film, solely based on the spontaneity of it; it was actually my mom and my sister’s idea to set up the “car accident.” My sister bravely volunteered to run out in front of the motorcar! What a trooper! For some reason, my mom cracks up every time she sees it.

Last, tell me about your earliest memory of the Haunted Mansion? Do you have a favorite character or part in the ride?

Practically growing up at Disneyland, the Haunted Mansion has always been my favorite right (closely followed by Pirates). For me, all my memories of the mansion experience sort of blur together, and I can’t even recall my first time taking a trip through those dark and gloomy corridors…in my mind, it’s always been there. It’s an experience. And I have never grown tired of it! There’s something alluring about that old dark house and its cast of 999 happy haunts, and I think its re-living that nostalgia again and again, when so many other things change, that makes the Haunted Mansion so special to me. It’s like visiting a bunch of old friends – Ezra, Phineous and Gus have always been welcome to follow me home and have done so in my childhood mind hundreds of times. The fact that it’s been around 40 years really says something about how magical it is. The video is my own weird little way of saying “thanks” to a truly unique and special attraction.

Because a post is always better with a picture, here is a (blurry) picture of me, age 5, standing in the queue at the Haunted Mansion during my first trip to Disneyland.  I love that despite the quality of the picture, you can still see my Cheshire grin.  I was so excited to go on this ride.  And that bouquet of balloons I’m holding? They were given to me by one of the 3 Little Pigs when I told him I was at Disneyland for my birthday.  In my mind, that bouquet of balloons was huge; it practically carried me away like Mary Poppins’ umbrella!  And then I see this picture and laugh because memory can play funny tricks on us sometimes.  I do know that I cried terribly when my mother told me I had to let them go because they wouldn’t fit into our Nova when it was time to go home.  Ok, die hard Haunted Mansion fans, who can list what’s different about the queue line today based on what you see in this picture?