A Vampire Hunting We Will Go

Vampire Hunting with Michael deMeng

 A Vampire Hunting Kit Workshop in New Orleans

May 12-18,  2014

 Click Here To Join the Elite League of Vampire Hunters

I have never met a vampire personally, but I don't know what might happen tomorrow.

- Bela Lugosi

The Workshop:

Nixing Nosferatus is not like getting rid of raccoons in the attic.   It takes skill and training but it also takes the right tools and devices.  So in this workshop you will be using your artistic skills to modify an everyday box or case into something that will send shivers down the spines of those nocturnal lurkers.  Of course, to make a proper vampire hunting kit one must understand the type of vampire at large and use the appropriate method to exterminate.   

Before you get to New Orleans you may want to do a bit of research into the type of vamp your dealing with. In the famous words of vampire hunter, Hieronymous Grost, “There are as many species of vampire as there are beasts of prey. Their methods and their motive for attack can vary in a hundred different ways.”  Take this into account when devising your kit You’ll start off with a nice portable briefcase, suitcase or toolbox and then you will transform it into a home for anti-vampire gizmos.  Some of the items that you might deem necessary for you kit are things such as: 

• Undead Irritants - like garlic…silver….Britany Spears etc.. 
• Protective Baubles- amulets, religious artifacts, holy water, etc.
• Vampire Detectors- things that clue you into a vamp being in the room, like mirrors…though a bloodless corpse is a pretty good indicator.
• The Killing Device – things that will get rid of the rascals for good such as stakes, liquid sunlight,  etc.

Don’t forget…the most important aspect of a Vampire Hunter’s kit is that it looks cool (vampires hate a stylin’ Vamp Hunter), so you’ll want to make sure you bring lots of nifty adornments for your stakes, vials, case, etc.

  

Here are but a few of the possible late night nibblers lurking among us:

Types of Vampires

Homo Wampyrus Lamia

Rael stands astonished doubting his sight, struck by beauty, gripped in fright;

Three vermilion snakes of female face, the smallest motion, filled with grace.

Muted melodies fill the echoing hall, but there is no sign of warning in the siren's call: "Rael, welcome! We are the Lamia of the pool.

We have been waiting for our waters to bring you cool.”

The Lamia – lyrics by Peter Gabriel

These are demonic vampires from ancient Greece…and earlier.  Watch out…they are shape shifters who can appear in a pleasing guise.  They are seducers and also child snatchers.

Best places to find them: 

Near water

Where children play without adult supervision.

Tell tale signs

Snake-like body when not in disguise (sometimes full snake, sometimes just the lower body}

Viper like fangs

Snake scales

Affinity for streams and bodies of water

Protection

Silver (annoyance)

Silver knife (fatal)

Rosemary, salt and fire (fatal)

Homo Wampyrus Nosferatu

Graf Orlok: "Is this your wife? What a lovely throat."   -Nosferatu – Symphony of Horror

These are vampires that had a tough time shedding there mortal coil…thus they usually quit physically deformed.   They are more like zombies in many ways…just blood-drinking beasts, with very little finesse.

Hangouts:

Cemeteries – typically their own grave

Dark alleys

Rural, dark and sparkly populated areas.  Since they are beastly in appearances they use the cover of night to stalk there prey

Often found in areas with much pestilence or disease as a way of disguising the cause of death.

Tell tale signs

Hideous looking

Typically bald

Long claw-like hands

Front two teeth are sharp fangs.  Rat-like teeth

Pointy ears

Usually dusty or dirty from sleeping crypts.

Extremely pale

Never visible during the day

Protection

Cross (annoyance)

Garlic (annoyance)

Sunlight –this is the best way for these beasties (fatal)

Stake through the heart (fatal)

Destroy it’s coffin or prevent it from returning to its grave – these monsters need to sleep on there native soil. (fatal)

Homo Wampyrus Draco

“I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth; these protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years.”

― Bram Stoker, Dracula

This type of vampire is closely associated with Count Dracula.  They are the most human like of all vampires and often walk among them.  They are extremely powerful with tremendous powers of persuasion and seduction, thus making them extremely dangerous.

Hangouts

Nightclubs

Dark urban alleys

Subway stations

Tell-tale signs

Canine fangs

Pale skin

Well dressed, often in clothes that are from earlier eras.

Usually wealthy – High intellect years of immortality have allowed this vampire to acquire vast amount of money

No reflection

No shadow

Can change shape into many things…wolf, bat, mist, younger, older.

Protection

Religious artifacts, such as crosses, holy water, magic amulets. (annoyance)

Garlic (annoyance)

Beheading (fatal)

Stake through the heart (fatal)

Sunlight (annoyance-  usually only weakens…not necessarily kills)

Fire (fatal…if the body is thoroughly burned…must be burnt to ashes)

Homo Wampyrus Sauria  

It took us centuries to make them believe that we are no more than just bad dreams. We should give them no reason to suspect.  -30 Days of Night

These are vampires who typically don’t mingle in the human world unless hunting.  A close nit vampire clan with there own language and ways.  Extremely violent with a tendency to binge feed…then go for long periods without nourishment. 

Hangouts

Remote places with little outside contact

Places with long days – Russia, Alaska, Nova Scotia.

Cold climates

Tell Tale Signs

Teeth all pointed like a lizard.

Usually blood stains around the mouth due to the ferocity of there attacks

Pitch black eyes

Unusual accent  and language- they are a clan vampire and have a special language of there own.

Protection

UV lighting (can be fatal if in large doses_

Sunlight (fatal)

Beheading

Vitamin D (annoyance)

New Orleans - Vampire Central

New Orleans is rich with Vampire lore so this will be are base of operation, as we search for the beasties in the French Quarter bars, cemeteries and jazz clubs.  Are you ready to join the Elite League of Vampire Hunters?  If so...prepare to report for duty.  

If so then Click Here: http://www.valleyridgeartstudio.com/artventures/new-orleans-2014/

Vampire Cinema: May 22 Episode 2

Welcome to the Second edition of Vampire Cinema - Undead Movie Club of the Month.  

Each month I will put together a little video introducing a vampire film of note (some classic...some downright horrible yet fun). I'll give you a bit of vampire lore and film history and a few clips. Your job will be to track the movie down and watch it.  

I've also set up a FaceBook Group that members can compare notes and comparisons of the various films.   Click Here to Join Vampire Cinema Group 

Vamp Hunting 

in New Orleans

Registration Starts Friday May 24th!  

All this is being done to promote my upcoming Vampire Hunting Workshop in New Orleans 2014.  More info coming soon on the workshop and itinerary.  Here's the date: May 12- 18, 2014.

Come back to this blog on Friday for the entire scoop.

Now this edition of Vampire Cinema.

Feature One

Black Sunday 

click here if you have trouble viewing

Intermission

Yummy Cocktail of the Undead Recipe

click here if you have trouble viewing video

Feature Two

Interview with the Vampire

click here if you have trouble viewing the video

See you on June 22nd for another edition.

If you want to get ready for next month's films

Here's what I'll be featuring

Billy the Kid vs Dracula

and

Dracula (1958) 

with Christopher Lee

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

You want to know what I hear all the time when someone who is familiar with my art meets me for the first time? "Wow, I thought you'd be much weirder in person."  Yes it's true.  I'm a fairly normal-ish dude….other than my obsession with vampire movies and transforming dollies into various monstrosities.  So it seemed to me I should write a little post on why I think that is…why is my art weird and why does an everyday guy like myself lean toward a darker aesthetic?  Well I'll give you a few reasons that I think this is the case

1. Simulates Danger…Without Being Dangerous.

We have all had or experiences where you feel out of control, where something dark and looming threatens us or someone we love.  This could be anything from a home intruder to big ol' nasty black widow crawling across your face.  Playing with dark themes gives you control of those frightening forces.  A good example of this is how I started messing around with monsters in my art.  When I was a kid I had nightmares about monsters….like most kids.  My solutions was to draw them in ways that I could conquer them.  A big ol cyclops would haunt me in my sleep….solution: I'd draw the big ol' cyclops being zapped by me with a ray-gun.  Voila, I have conquered my monster.    A funny thing though…over the years the monsters I created eventually became my friends…protectors if you will.  The truth is that there are a lot scarier things in the world that cyclopses and vampires.  

2. We All Need Make Offerings to Our Dark Side.

I am a firm believer that we are all filled with light and dark. I also believe we need both.  But the question is how to feed the dark without becoming an "evil-doer".  From my personal experience, I know that if I didn't have art I would probably be a lost soul.  As a kid I was shy and afraid…but I had my art.  Sure my creations were a bit sinister, but better to make your piece with your dark side using Crayolas than allowing the darkness to consume you.  In many cases I believe that fear and depression, and sometimes violence can be thwarted by creative thought.

3. It's Fun Being Something We are Not

Most of my grimly inspired art friends (though not all) are actually very kind and gently people.  I'm sure they get the same response from folks that I do about my art…ooooh it's so dark.  But, you know, it's fun to play a part for a while.  I am really not dark in the way I live my life but I can still experience devilishious things without become devilish.  It's similar to the value of holidays like Halloween, where we be have fun playing a fiend.  

4.  Tom Foolery Can Be Incredibly Inspiring

I see it in workshops I teach all the time…folks who are in creative ruts, but get an incredible surge of creativity when they can be a bit subversive.  Recently I was teaching my "Baba Yaga BirdHouse" class, which is based on the slavic witch who live in a house that was perched on a giant chicken leg.  I watched as an entire room of everyday folks did the most devilishly bizarre things.  There were houses with big monster mouths, crazy periscopes popping out of the roof (each with glass eyes peering out), or with bat wings that flap.  This group of mothers and wives,and grandmothers and husbands were having a blast making crazy creepy things.  It seems to me that when dealing with an eerie subject matter, you can have a lot more freedom.  This is because there is not the constraint of trying to be "pretty".  Creepy can be almost anything and everything….to make something look beautiful, however can be much more limiting…mostly because when trying to create something of beauty there is often more reverence given to the viewers approval.  

So next time you pull out a pencil or pen…or perhaps a dismantled crusty dolly head…don't be afraid to take a step on the dark side.  Ironically you may be a better person for it.

Vampire Cinema - Episode #1

Welcome to the first edition of Vampire Cinema - Undead Movie Club of the Month.  

Each month I will put together a little video introducing a vampire film of note (some classic...some downright horrible yet fun). I'll give you a bit of vampire lore and film history and a few clips. Your job will be to track the movie down and watch it.  

I've also set up a FaceBook Group that members can compare notes and comparisons of the various films.   

Click Here to Join Vampire Cinema Group 

All this is being done to promote my upcoming Vampire Hunting Workshop in New Orleans 2014.  More info coming soon on the workshop and itinerary.  Here's the date: May 12- 18, 2014

Today's Double Feature: Nosferatu and Shadow of the Vampire

Here's this month's Videos

Part One:

Nosferatu

Part Two:

Intermission!

Cocktail Recipe of the Undead

Part Three:

Shadow of the Vampire

Next Month's episode airs May 22nd

and will feature

Black Sunday (aka Mask of Satan)

and

Interview with the Vampire

Start tracking the down.

See you then!

Man in the Moon Monster - the remake

Once upon a time...
a preschool version of me wrote a story called the Man in the Moon Monster.  It started out with an astronaut heading to the moon.  When he lands he is greeted by a giant cyclopian moon monster, who proceeds to crush the visitor's rocket ship.  In response the spaceman whips out his ray gun and blasts the monster into outer space.  Stranded, our hero radios earth for help, and moments later a compadre arrives to save the day.  En route they fly past the monster floating lifelessly in space.  Back on earth, the two astronauts land and are greeted with flower leis ( I was living in Hawaii at the time). The End
The climatic scene looked something like this:

I had to draw this from memory.  My mother has the original stashed away somewhere.

Flash ahead forty some years later...I decided to do an reinterpretation of this story.  Here's what I came up with:

 Man in the Moon Monster - Redux

 and here is our little spaceman

 and his spaceship...prior to smooshing.  

The End

Past ON-Line Workshops Now Available To Watch On-Demand

On-Demand On-Line Classes

These are on-line classes that were previously run as "live"workshops but are now available to watch and download at your leisure. Here you'll find a variety of courses designed to to inspire you creatively.                 

$39.95    

Shades of Alchemy 

with Michael deMeng

If you've ever wanted to play with paint in non-traditional ways using a variety of mixed media techniques. This is the class for you. Learn Michael's special color mixing recipes along and tricks of the trade.

Click here for more info

$59.95

Alchemists Tool Box 

with Michael deMeng

One thing you learn when you're an assemblage artist...tool are your friend.  Learn a variety ways to uses tools when mixing and matching found objects.

Click here for more info

$59.95

Crusted Crumbled Cracked 

with Michael deMeng

Here's a class for you if you've wanted to learn how to distress, antique or to transform something so it looks downright bizarre and weird. Learn everything from rusting to lizard skin effects.

Click here for more info

$99.99

Pez Dispensing Totems 

with Michael deMeng

Oh sure it's a candy dispenser...but it can be so much more! Learn how Michael modifies everyday Pez dispensers into something rich and strange using a variety of assemblage and painting techniques.  

Click here for more info

 

A Fistful of Journals - deMeng de los Muerto 2013 Mexico City

deMeng de los Muertos

La Capital Mexico City

“A Fistful of Journals”

October 28 – November 3, 2013

Remember last year when the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world?   Well it didn’t…but then again…maybe it did…that is, if you look at ending as a time for change and transition.  So assuming you believe this paradigm, 2013 is a time for new beginnings and that is exactly what is happening with my annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) workshop in Mexico.   My organizer, Colleen and I decided it was time to shake things up in both location and format.

This workshop will be very different than other workshops I've done.  Students will not need to bring a suitcase full of rusty things to take the class.... believe it or not, all you will need is some basic art supplies..."The Five P's"(pencil, pastel, paint, paste and photos) from there we will visit a variety of wondrously strange places in the Mexican capital where we can sit, work and be inspired.  I will be giving instruction on journaling techniques, sketching, painting, etc.  I will also be showing students some nifty effects using mobile phone/ ipad or small cameras.    Every night we will end with a show-and-tell of our art-ventures...perhaps while enjoying a margarita, cerveza, or Aztec hot chocolate.  

A few things to expect:

• Sketching:  I’ll be sharing a variety of sketching tips for those so inclined to take to pencil and paper
• Painting:  I’ll be sharing a variety of painting techniques that are specifically appropriate for journaling.
• Collage:  Specifically I’ll be showing folks how to use this medium in conjunction with paint, pencil and pen.
• Bookbinding:  My wife Andrea will show folks some basic bookbinding techniques for those who want to work on sheets of paper that could later be bound into a book.
• Smartphone Photography:  I’ll be sharing a few techniques using various apps to create some nifty photos using your smartphone.   We are looking into the possibility of bringing a portable printer, so that photos taken on the trip could be printed out and used as collage elements.
• Ephemera Collecting:  One of the great things about journaling is the incorporation of paper memorabilia.  Mexico City has plenty of this.
• Hanging out and taking it all in:  The best part about this workshop is that we won’t be rushing.  We will be able to spend some time enjoying a variety of locations with journal at hand.

What you’ll need to bring: 

1. A sketchbook or journal or paper - whatever size you’re most comfortable with. 
2. Pencils, erasures, pens –
3. Acrylic Paint – not too much…small tubes or bottles that can get thrown into a travel bag.  Definitely bring a small tube of white (or titan buff) and black.  Maybe a few other colors.  I’ll be bringing Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Anthroquinone Blue, and Quincridone Red (these would give most of the color spectrum).  It’s up to you.
4. Optional
1. Smartphone, camera, or ipad, if you have one, for photos- I’ll recommend some good apps to download before we go.
2. A few bookbinding supplies if you want to learn and use some of these techniques.  Nothing major and I’ll give you more specifics, as we get closer to the event.

Bonus Dealio –

Free Online Workshop Mixed-Up Media Journal Cover Workshop

Just prior to the Mexico City trip I’ll be running an online workshop on how to modify a sketchbook cover using assemblage.  This is optional for those who want to show up with a modified journal justwaiting to be filled up.

The online component will be open to the public but those signed up for Mexico City will get it for free…woo hoo!

Itinerary

Monday Oct. 28:  Arrival day - Time to get settled in the hotel and get ready for an adventure in one of the most populous cities in the world.

Tuesday Oct. 29:  Introduction to Mexico City - We will start in the Zocolo (main square) visiting the Templo Mayor (Aztec archaeological site), the murals of the “big three” Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueros, the Bellas Artes opera house and art museum, the Municipal palace murals, the Department of Education murals, El Colegio San Ildefonso murals and so much more. There will be time for sketching and photographing as we go.  Welcome dinner to end an art packed day.

Wednesday Oct. 30: We will travel by van to the Xochimilco floating gardens and visit one of Michael’s favorite spots “the muy creepy” Island of the Dolls. We will also visit the Museum home of Dolores Olmedo Patino.  She was a patron of Diego Rivera and has a large collection of paintings by Diego and Frida Kahlo.

Thursday Oct. 31: We will start at the Merced market, home to supplies for religious festivals and curanderos (healers), followed by an excursion to Coyoacan (once a suburb of Mexico City and now a small neighborhood) to visit the home of Frida Kahlo and La Casa Azul.  It has a beautiful town square and many sketching spots and photo ops.

Friday November 1: Van excursion to Teotihuacan, the pyramid of the Sun and Moon.  It is an enormous archaeological site with lots of opportunities for sketching and photography.  We will see the shrine of Guadalupe and in the evening we will visit the Luchador (masked wrestling).

Saturday November 2: Free day – Possibilities include Chapultepec park which is home to the Museum of Anthropology, the Rufino Tamayo Museum, the Modern Art Museum, the Castle of Maximilian and more.  One could spend the whole day here.  There is also shopping and more sketching.  In the evening we will gather together for a farewell dinner.

Sunday November 3:  Time to fly home

This workshop includes:

Hotel stay for 6 nights

 and lunch daily

Welcome Dinner

Farewell Dinner
Excursions and tours

Workshop price: 

$1595 for double occupancy

$1795 for single occupancy

Deposit to confirm reservation:  $250 Balance due September 15, 2013

Cancellation Policy:

Full refund minus $50 administration fee, prior to August 15, 2013

$250 deposit will be forfeited for cancellation after August 15, 2013

No refunds (unless we are able to fill your space) after October 1, 2013

Ready to sign up?

Contact Colleen Darling

805-448-1509

colleen950@gmail.com