New FB page!

Hey, Since it's soon 2015 and no less then six years since I started putting things on this blog I thought It was about time I got a Facebook page, so march on over and see new pictures (and Photoshop enhanced old photos) I will try my best to put some making of and wip stuff there. Great things is in the making.

"Like" and share with your friends!

https://www.facebook.com/curiomira

Dirty Old Gnome (Slightly explicit)

"Ragnvald? He wasn't just a gnome, he was a Swedish housegnome, came with the Scandinavian immigrants back in the old days, He probably was the only one of his sort mad enough to cross the pond. A real bastard I tell you, he used to piss in peoples drinks, use his weird magic to start brawls for his own amusement, damn sure it was he who torched old Finnegans place back in 59'
 No taller then my boot you see, but hell, he could still drink me under the table and rob me of my wallet. He's a legend now among the drunks and lowlifes in the bad parts of town, the kind of people who's stories you would never believe anyway... Last I heard he was impaled by a stiletto shoe when he crashed a private Christmas party in 1975. Dirty old bastard" 

(interview with "Jerry" Ann Arbor Sun magazine No5,1979)

To be clear the explicit theme was not my own idea, but it was fun to cross the line of what fantasy sculptures usually are. I wanted him to be the polar opposite of the gnomes that appear in children books, the one who went bad, the black sheep of all good hardworking housegnomes, banished to another continent. His full name is Rangnvald Ulfrik Svartgöl, but his "Friends" call him "Raggy".
The sculpture is 38cm tall

Exhibition

Converted my bookcase into an improvised cabinet of curiosities and had a small exhibition at Ume Obscura- Alternative culture festival a while ago , Showed off mostly old things, but it was fun to put them all together. Also made some dodo skulls to sell. Met a lot of interesting people and overall had a great time.

The Bigfoot print.

Indisputable evidence of the creature known as Sasquatch or Bigfoot, collected between the years 1979 to 1993. Found in the home of the eccentric Peter "Mad Al" H. Albronda. Following his disappearance in 2001.

Another Bigfoot themed piece, going away overseas to a new owner soon. This is the most modern thing I've done in a while, had fun making the Polaroids, the "Bigfoot" in them is actually photoshopped versions of  the apes from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.  

The Redcap of Balwearie Castle

Thady Langan, son of Patrick Langan, stood alone among the ruins of  old Balwearie castle. He imagined himself a king, with servants and meals with roast pheasant and honey. The air was still and damp with mist.
 There was a sudden sound of heavy iron-shod boots on the broken-up stone floor. Thady Langan turned his head in fright for he knew the tales of Prowies and Dunters. A small creature, no higher then a foot stood before him, black eyes and sharp teeth gleaming under the red cap. Thady laughed, pointing his stick sword at it, "Be gone, least I take you home and feed you to the dogs little goblin man!" Those were the last words of Thady Langan son of Patrick Langan.

 

You might remember the mummified Redcap I made some years ago- Here. It was great to get the opportunity to make a live one this time. Especially with this level of exposed flesh and anatomical correctness. He is sculpted in Supersculpey and painted with a mix of thin airbrush coats and by hand. I wanted him to be evil and wild, a bloodthirsty ugly little goblin, his clothes crudely sewn together trophies from his unfortunate victims. His red hat rotting with centuries of dried blood. 

      

Lulin

I was asked to do a mysterious forest creature for a short horror film called Lulin. It should be big and as far from human as possible, blending in with the surrounding forest. It was an extremely  limited budget, most of it is construction foam, styrene, foam mat and fabric. Built up from an backpack armature. (Also, I gave this old blog a face lift, about time.)

Concept sketch

Construction underway!

Lulin

Fiji Mermaid

In the dusty corner of an ancient sailors  tavern in Port Moresby it sits, it's true origin lost among a century of tall-tales, the Fiji mermaid. Some say it's hoax, some believe it's a  creature of magic, some whisper of a Danish captain who once offered his entire ship and a casket of gold for it.

I been wanting to do a Fiji Mermaid for years, but I always thought it would have to involve a real fish, freezedried or something, and I never came about to acquire one.
Anyway, as it turned out I could make a convincing one from scratch anyway. I gave it a wig because I wanted a level of whimsy and hinted back story in there, same with the fishing hook in the necklace.

Illustrations

Sometimes i draw, because why not! Here are some old and some new. Acrylic and sharpie on old watercolor paper.

Bad guy 

Taking out the trash.

Attempt at Tank Girl style self-portrait

Good guys.

Pirate Queen (inspired by Jeremy Bastian)

The Land-Diver.