Ghost Writer

Three weeks since the last post! I guess ol' Bindlegrim has been spending the energy of writing elsewhere, and hopefully for a good cause which to be told is finishing up the first slim volume of spooky short stories - Sketchbook of Straw (A Collection of Tall Tales for Slippery Tongues). And it is hoped this collection will be out early next month.

With such a long absence, happy to have this Bindlegrim interview Halloween Art, Decor, and More with Bumble Bindlegrim show up today on Happy Halloween on squidoo. Please stop by for a quick read, and afterward spend lots of time on their website - amazingly packed full of Halloween ideas and goodies!

By the way, if you have been tuning in Bindlegrim Halloween radio on live365.com for those old Halloween tunes, I may have mentioned in a couple of tweets, since the last blog post, the addition of three more tune, this time with a most devlish theme.


First there's a rollicking jazz tune called Putting Salt on the Devil's Tail by Jack Teargarden with fun lyrics such as "I'm going to throw salt on the devil's tail to slow that old boy down." (Anyone have an idea what that might mean)? Second, is an upbeat tune There's Gonna Be the Devil to Pay performed by Willie "The Lion" Smith. (And while I will likely include the version by another stride style artist Fats Waller (for the lyrics) in future, the raucous instrumental by Willie Smith is just too amazing to pass up). And then finally, third, a much quieter tune, but with a ton of slow strolling attitude, is Pagin' the Devil by the Kansas City Six. May the musical selection bedevil ya!

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Oh, and one final note. There also was some fun to be had recently playing curator on etsy since the last blog post. Bindlegrim played curator finding Halloween themed items that went beyond the standard colors of orange and black. If you get a chance check out the artists collected here that expand the typical Halloween color schemes:

Bindlegrim's 1st Newsletter: March 2012

With the unexpected quickness these last few days of producing the first Bindlegrim newsletter (starting March 2012), I wanted to link the content here as preview and provide an alternate online version. Below is a screenshot that links to a legible, clickable posting:

If your curiosity is piqued you can sign up for this monthly newsletter: 1) here on the blog, top right, 2) the newsletter sign-up page on bindlegrim.com, 3) or the newsletter tab on the Bindlegrim facebook page.

As a first go at a newsletter, I welcome your suggestions, and hope in future to make them even more worthy of opening from your e-mail's inbox. Thank you all once more, and here's to the newness of spring, finally melting away the snow at Ichabod's and a cottage near you.

Halloween Lantern v1: The Pumpkin Dream

Arghhh! Once again Ichabod's Cottage has been dumped on by heavy snow and the scarecrow has officially had it since being dumped on back in October - as have the Bindlegrim denizens maybe even long before then, with a single tiny blue snow shovel to dig them out. With all this white stuff falling, at least work is proceeding on the warm orange glows of  a new hex-shaped paper lantern!

Now that The Haint House has sadly departed, not only has there been development of new images, but also a glance back to the original lantern content of style #1. I was nervous that with the excitement of getting really spooky for #3 The Haint House, it would have spoiled me, however, I'm really thrilled with #1 The Pumpkin Dream, (also a limited edition of 5), especially now that I see it complete. I'm enjoying the simplicity of the imagery that to me seems very classic Halloween. The mostly even positive and negative space of the orange and black seems to focus attention on the silhouettes within the fields of orange!

Here is #1 The Pumpkin Dream, Halloween lantern, in a series of shots spinning the lantern to the left, so that you can get different views of the form in six and four panel increments. (I decided this time to show a peak at the lantern in  darker settings lit by a 3 watt flicker bulb). 

So for the uninitiated, The Pumpkin Dream theme is directly related to a book of the same name released last year in 2011. (I was actually working on completing the book in earnest around this same time last year, so in a way, for me, this lantern is commemorative)...

The Pumpkin Dream poetry was a tradition-in-process of mine for a few years, that was illustrated in retro style characters with a palette of orange and black, and released as a DIY publishing venture via various local stores, my favorite pumpkin patch, and Amazon. Note: I've decided to list the lantern with a copy of the book - yet if you are interested in the book itself, I might suggest etsy for a signed copy.

For those familiar with the book, you'll see some small twists in the imagery of the lantern. This final version is a mix of characters and dingbats brought together in new scenes. While the major characters are still present, some of the minor trick-or-treat characters took center stage in panels of their own --- the Princess and the Superhero have found love, the "Jack the Ripper" is being spooked by a spider, and while the Trick-or-Treat Ghost is being haunted by real spirits, the Devil has absconded with his JOL parade lantern.

Hope you enjoy the new adventures of these characters and I'll be sure to post a Bindlegrim blogger entry, facebook message, or twitter message, when this limited edition lantern, in style #1, is available. Happy hauntings from beneath the snow covered cottage of Ichabod's.

Grim Happy Outtakes (ILMO El Sr. Muerto)

Here are some early shots and outtakes from the photographic story of Christmas Gnomes from the original 2001 version of The Grim Happy Christmas  --- with a special tribute to the late great El Sr. Muerto:

In 2001 the part of the villain in The Grim Happy Christmas was played by a chain smoking Day of the Dead character (who was known to always play his roles with a sombrero and a cactus backdrop).

This scene (above) taken on a wet rainy day in Seattle and from the original book was redone for the 2011 version with a different actor. The original actor, I believe is listed on IMDB as the late El Sr. Muerto.

Above is an early unused behind-the-scene photograph of Red Hob and El Sr. Muerto preparing for their photo shoot in 2001. Red Hob is getting into character here as the loveable hero, while El Sr. Muerto sticks up his chin looking for the right balance of macabre and machismo.

In this outtake, Red Hob, who is supposed to be scared witless, can't help but laugh as El Sr. Muerto gives him Marty Feldman eyes. Sadly the two were unable to reunite for the newer version, since El Sr. Muerto had fallen apart some years previous in a fit of loco.

And, finally, above is a dramatic take from the early photos used in the 2001 version of this tale as only the great El Sr. Muerto could achieve. While below, in 2011, The Grim Happy Christmas (new version) cast, was honored, to have a new yet seasoned actor playing the role of the sinister villain, and we offer this small blurry outtake from the new photography as a small preview.

The Grim Happy Blurb Preview

Red Hob and Green Hob are happy to announce the availability (for the 2011 Christmas season) of their 40 page photographic adventure book "The Grim Happy Christmas: Another Fireside Tale from the Library of Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim", on the shelves of blurb.com and would like to direct you to this preview of approximately the first 16-17 pages of the book.

The Grim Happy Christmas by Robert Aaron Wiley

The Grim Happy Christmas

Following the last post (Peeking into the Christmas Box), I wanted to follow up with news that The Grim Happy Christmas photo book will be available soon within the next few days from the Bindlegrim library located on blurb.com, and here are a few sneak peeks of the cover and first few interior layouts of the book:

What happens next? I hope you will enjoy finding out.

The story is a simpler tale with simpler text (than that of poetry in The Pumpkin Dream) and is intended for a larger audience and families; the story follows a gnome who wakes up at Christmas wondering where the holiday he had dreamt of all year can be found, because something in this house seems terribly wrong!

From the inside cover:

Red Hob & Green Hob (front flap)

The characters of Grim Happy Christmas, Red Hob and Green Hob, were cherished vintage ornaments handed down from family and became the centerpiece of this book during a particularly skint holiday.

Christmas Gnomes (Tomten, Nisse, or Hobs) were Christmas kitsch ornaments Made In Japan during the 1950s of hand painted hard plastic faces topped by flocked paper hats. Arms, legs, and hair were chenille, and the bodies and feet were made from spun cotton.

Bindlegrim and Wiley (back)

Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim was a collector of holiday literature, and is said to have lived his later years among wild rabbits and mossy apple trees of an orchard on the San Juan Islands of northwest Washington.

Robert Aaron Wiley ( author of The Pumpkin Dream) is also an avid fan of holidays. He is known to explore the arts via writing, illustration, photography, design, digital media, music... as well as the history of vintage ephemera and kitsch.

Peeking into the Christmas Box

We may be rushing Christmas a bit here at Bindlegrim Productions, but snow has fallen before Halloween could arrive, and even now snow keeps doing its best to extinguish the presence of the Jack O'Lanterns. (And if you've been following the gardens at Ichabod's Cottage, check out our pumpkin-head scarecrow trying to chew its way out from under the snow in this late season battle between Autumn and Winter).

And so while the Halloween poem The Pumpkin Dream is finding its way back on a temporary shelf (and we happily thank all of those who purchased a copy in its initial year of self publication), there is another holiday classic from the Bindlegrim library being dusted off, and given a fresh design, for your Christmas enjoyment in 2011. And here's a little sneak peek:

Is it time to unpack the Christmas box?
Photograph (c) 2001 Robert Aaron Wiley from The Saddest Christmas Ever

Are you already thinking about Christmas too?
Photograph (c) 2001 Robert Aaron Wiley from The Saddest Christmas Ever

Above are just a couple of the original photographs from a book created in 2001. The somewhat sad story behind these photographs is that we had decided at our house, due to ongoing financial challenges, to cancel Christmas (something that happened quite a few times in the immediate years that followed). I had decided that year to at least use a few things on hand (an inkjet printer, a tiny sketchbook and pen, and the digital camera) to create a tiny book/card gift to my partner, containing an original story that will be revealed here over the next couple of weeks.

This year the book is being updated and it's characters looks forward to sharing a message of hope with everyone. Below are a couple of facing pages from this updated version:

I believe the content of the book is relative to all of us who haven't always had the means to celebrate the holidays, and the book would be appreciated by those who seek deeper meaning in the madness and/or emptiness that sometimes surround these celebrations, (this may be even more true as great numbers of us experience a tough economy). So as we work hard here to pull this book together at the studio, we're reflecting on Christmas past and of those to come, and we hope for the best to everyone this Christmas 2011. May the times be joyous!

Punkins, Shows, and the Bindlegrim Interview!

Change is afoot...! and something is happening to the pumpkins!

In the garden the sunflowers have reached their full height, somewhere around an amazing 9 feet tall, filled with a plethora of blooms in different sizes and sometimes odd shapes, covered with pollen laden bees in a frenzy, and birds beginning to raze certain blooms that were once full of seed.

And not too far off, the Connecticut pumpkins are transforming from a green-vein texture to a bright orange... standing out brightly in the summer-dried lawn near the pale Lumina Pumpkins and the yellowish hybrids. And, no joke, as I write this, the clouds have rolled in and a quiet thunder accompanies a small bit of rain.

Summer is coming to a close folks here at Ichabod's Cottage and here are just a couple of photos:

Complexion

Bum-kin Scars

This much orange means Halloween Artist Shows start next month!

There is a frenzy building in the Halloween community as of late. In particular, Halloween artists are putting together the last touches to work in their studios, for the various Autumn shows that will be taking place soon - including, just to name a couple, the Ghoultide Gathering and the Halloween Trunk Show. More news to follow in the coming month.

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And Bindlegrim is out stirring up the word of impending Halloween 2011:

Yes, the clock is ticking down to Halloween celebrations!  And as of this writing, if you click over to Halloween Alliance, the countdown clock notes only 76 days left until Halloween!

If you are not overcome with total panic, and if you read further, as I most absolutely hope you do, you may find that Mr. Bindlegrim was lurking about in a very sincere pumpkin patch  up in the northern lands, and for such a usually retiring character, seems to have been tempted by the flavor of some very delicious pumpkin juice, to share a few words about his history, inspirations, influences, and future plans...

Be sure to read: In the Pumpkin Patch with Mr. Bumble Bindlegrim | Halloween Alliance.

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Are you prepared for Halloween 2011...? Check out Halloween Alliance for tons of ideas for celebrating the holiday, including a digitally available book to help you out called Party Halloween!