Untitled Document

SHAG with s.c. jones at the opening of "The Face of Horror" show.

In October, 2000, I sat down on the Halloween weekend and began painting a portrait of Anthony Perkins in Psycho.

Anthony Perkins - Psycho

I was viewing my traditional marathon of classic horror films, and I felt a need to be creative rather than just a passive observer.
Forgoing my usual habit of overworking detail, I emulated the expressive style found in portraits featured in classic horror films (such as Corman's Poe films). I used the colors available to me, forcing myself away from an inherent desire for naturalism. Pleased with the result and the freedom this new style gave me, I began selecting horror film icons that have special meaning to only myself (and perhaps a few other demented folk).

Bela Lugosi - Dracula

Boris Karloff - The Mummy

Elsa Lanchester - The Bride of Frankenstein

After a year, I had created over 30 paintings of various sizes and surfaces (as I ran out of canvas, I turned to watercolor paper). I intended on displaying the works in October of 2001. Then, the true horror of September 11th hit our society, and I found myself hesitant to celebrate the trivial horrors associated with my paintings.
In 2004, a few were displayed at Dirk Vermin's Tattoo shop as part of a large Halloween show.
In October of 2006, I was finally able to convince a gallery, The Box Office in Las Vegas' Arts District, to display the complete series.
The opening was crowded with many friends, family and guests. It was the 4th anniversary of Las Vegas' First Friday. I couldn't have been happier to finally have all the works displayed in one place. Meeting and spending time with Shag was a great bonus.

Vincent Price - The Tingler