mandymo

I am a mother of two beautiful little beings and I am also an English teacher at a local high school. I appreciate artistic expression of all kinds, whether it be a play of William Shakespeare or a painting by Mark Ryden, the crayon drawing of a child or a plastic bag blowing in the wind (just kidding about the bag). But that reminds me of the beauty of film and the lyricism of poetry. . . i could go on and on and on. I definitely look for the sparkles on the edges of life (however cliche that sounds) and sometimes I find the dark and sinister aspects of art and life the sparkliest of all. I LOVE the mixture of beauty and darkness and the seedy underbelly of society.The mere suggestion of something ominous lurking just beneath the surface enthralls me. I also love travel and collecting things as well as experiences. Recently, I have become enchanted by the ATCs and I am passing excited to get swapping.

I absolutely LOVE big eyed art/pop surrealism. . . think Mark Ryden. I think it goes back to the picture by Margaret Keane that hung in my grandmother's house. There is just something so innocent and thought provoking about the images. I am NOT into the anime style of big art. My favorite artists in this genre are Mark Ryden and the incredible Mab Graves. If you haven't checked out Mab's work, you should. It is amazing. This obsession has carried over into the world of dolls. I have nine darling Blythe dolls and several ball jointed dolls. They all get along rather well. :)

I love books. I traffic in books. I am part of all that I have read. I love their pages and their mysteries. I interpret much of my life through the filter of great literature. I dig the classics all the way through the contemporary. The power and beauty of language is almost more than I can bear. If I think about how intricate and complex language is for too long it totally blows my mind. My list of faves is extensive so I am just going to list a few: The works of Master William ShakespeareThe Poems of Emily Dickinson (I wish we could have hung out.) *Leaves of Grass *1984 *Stones from the River *Brave New World *Cold Mountain *Slaughterhouse Five *Breakfast of Champions *The Things They Carried *Lord of the Flies *Of Mice and Men *One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest *As I Lay Dying *A Good Man is Hard to Find *The Great Gatsby *A Clockwork Orange *The Road *Middlesex *No Country For Old Men *Haunted *East of Eden *Choke

One of the best ways to enter a story is through great film. Again, too many to acknowledge so some I can watch over and over include: What is Eating Gilbert Grape *The Color Purple *Cold Mountain *The Last of the Mohicans *The Crucible *Pulp Fiction *Shakespeare in Love *Scotland, PA *Bram Stoker's Dracula *Raising Arizona *Little Miss Sunshine *Napolean Dynamite *All of the Alien Movies *PandorumYoung Adult I also love TV shows: The Walking Dead, Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones, The Leftovers, Outlander, The Knick, American Horror Story

I do not care for Disney characters. I also don't care for art that is too scrap booky. I am pretty easy to please. :-)

I like to dabble in all kinds of different crafts. I do something for a bit, then I move on to something else, and then I seem to repeat the cycle. I have always loved making jewelry, creating atcs, and altering boxes. These three I return to again and again. I especially love creating altered matchboxes. I have also made many creations out of old doll heads and parts. I enjoy creating assemblage shrines and flip books. I love using stencils and paints. Basically, I enjoy what I call messing and gomming. My art room is my escape and I like to spend as much time there as possible.

Even though I was born in the 70s, I am in love with the 50s. I have been collecting kitschy items for some time now. My Christmas Kitsch collection is getting to be pretty fabulous. I love the decorations, the ornaments, the art work, the graphics, the toys, pretty much everything. I have a large squeak toy collection from the 50s/60s that I just LOVE! I also collect plastic faced stuffed animals and dolls from that time period. Addicted to Kitsch!

Ephemera, doll parts, old bits and bobs to use in assemblage pieces, lace, ribbon, old bottles, old dolls, anything with hands, craft supplies, embellishments, Dresden accents, Sari ribbon, frozen Charlottes, miniatures, anything kitsch, anything Shabby Chic, Velvet, old brooches, stencils, all things anthropomorphic, Mab Graves (my favorite artist of all time!", Old tins, shrines, anything Eye themed, anatomical hearts, anatomy in general, matchboxes, altered matchboxes, skulls. Victorian themes and images, beautiful paper