Holiday with Cthulhu

Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s brilliance and his most charming creation Cthulhu – Here is a series of photos created with my friend Adam for the holidays.

Yuletude Greetings from the Elder Things and Deep Ones!

Eggnog

Eggnog

 

Group Action

Group Action

 

Mistletoe

Mistletoe

 

 

 

 

Cryptid Miscellanea

Earlier this summer I was asked by illustrator Bil Donavan to take part in a mythology themed drawing night at the Society of Illustrators.  It sounded like fun so I gathered together some of the creature costumes that I’ve created over the past few years and took them to over to the Society. Working together with three models I created a motley crew of fantastic beings that were then drawn by the illustrators in attendance.  Such fun! It was such a great experience to see my designs come to life and be rendered in pen, ink, watercolor…  – with such amazing illustrative talent!  Below are a few images that were graciously shared with me by the artists.

Illustration by Clifford Faust

Illustration by Clifford Faust

 

Illustration by Clifford Faust

Illustration by Clifford Faust

 

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

 

Illustration by Clifford Faust

Illustration by Clifford Faust

 

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

 

Illustration by Clifford Faust

Illustration by Clifford Faust

 

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

 

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

Illustration by Joan Chiverton

 

Illustration by Clifford Faust

Illustration by Clifford Faust

 

The Minotaur modeling    photo: Bil Donavan

The Minotaur modeling    photo: Bil Donavan

 

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stealing of the Kine

Last week in Philadelphia, in the Conwell Dance Theater at Temple University, Wolf-in-Skins (a dance-opera I have been designing with co-creators Christopher Williams and Gregory Spears) had it’s avant-premiere showing of act one. My costume designs for the opera’s supernatural characters made their first appearance on stage. Many thanks to an amazingly gifted cast of dancers and singers who transformed and transported us to netherworld realms.

I had my camera with me during the dress rehearsal. Here are some photos of my costume designs for the race of the “Fay.”

Gwrgi, Bleiddwen, Gwyddrud and Gwydden (Matthew Flatley, Kira Blazek, Jordan Isadore and Steven Zarzecki)

Gwrgi, Bleiddwen, Gwyddrud and Gwydden (Matthew Flatley, Kira Blazek, Jordan Isadore and Steven Zarzecki) _  photo: AndyToad

Llaethwen, Llaethenwen and Maiddwen (Chelsea Retzloff, Caitlin Scranton and Andrew Champlin)

Llaethwen, Llaethenwen and Maiddwen (Chelsea Retzloff, Caitlin Scranton and Andrew Champlin) _  photo: AndyToad

A pack of wolves and hounds

A pack of wolves and hounds _ photo: AndyToad

See more photos here.

 As for the future of Wolf-in-Skins, we will continue working on its second act this year, and the complete dance-opera is slated for debut in New York City in 2014. More info as it develops

Watermill Center Residency with Christopher Williams

Watermill Center   _   photo: Gregory Spears

Recently I returned from a week long stay at The Watermill Center where I was in residence with Christopher Williams and Gregory Spears working on our upcoming “dance-opera” Wolf-in-Skins. During our time there we worked to further develop the choreography, music, and designs for Wolf-in-Skins. Watermill provided an enriching experience, an awesome opportunity to be amongst my collaborators for an extended amount of time and to focus on our work. In an amazing space. (Thank you Watermill!)

The Knee at Watermill Center   _   photo: Gregory Spears

In my studio space at Watermill  _   photo: Gregory Spears

The Watermill Center’s large collection of world masks, objects and photographs offered me much inspiration as did exploring the library’s vast book collection. I spent the majority of my time at the center sketching, planning and refining the costume designs for the race of The Fay and The Hounds of The Fay (both played by dancers), and the Ellyllon (played by opera singers).

Friends in my studio  _   photos: AndyToad

The sacrifice totems  _   photos: AndyToad

Some sketches by AndyToad

Ellyllon shapes by AndyToad

In conceptualizing the costume design Christopher and I have set some guidelines for the look of these primordial characters. The Fay come from a time of mystery and elegant magical craft whose history has trickled down to us through myth. The time of the Fay roughly corresponds to our geological time period known as the Stone Age.

The Ellyllon are very ancient elemental entities, older than The Fay. The Ellyllon are the storytellers, the voices guiding the narrative. They are Shapes and shadows in the process of forming and un-forming.

The aforementioned races exist in a time prior to human mastery of fabric and tailoring. The Fay and Ellyllon “garments” are more hide and skin-like – shells, vegetation, skin, bone, teeth, amber… organic and manifested in unknown ways.

Costume Textures   _   photo: AndToad

Hound mask in progress  _   photo: AndyToad

Christopher with dancers Matthew Flatley and Caitlin Scranton  _   photo: AndyToad

Wolf-in-Skins in progress showing  _   photo: Jake Schlichting

Wolf-in-Skins in progress showing  _   photo: Jake Schlichting

Observing a hound in progress  _   photo: Jake Schlichting

Hound in progress  _   photo: Jake Schlichting

Ritual Union

The bride and groom in avian form

Over the past few months my buddy Rebekah and I have been working on a wedding dress for our friend Brooke. (Andytoad bridal…?!)

I designed the dress I hoped to make and together with Rebekah, and her amazing tailoring skills, we set out to build it. (Also cap, veil and masks.) Not wanting to reveal anything before the special day I’ve been kind of mum. However the wedding was this past weekend so I’m spilling the beans…

Brooke waiting to walk the aisle

Years ago Brooke, knowing what kind of work I do, asked if I’d make her wedding dress. Thinking she was joking or just being nice I said yes. Flash forward five-ish years.  I get a call from Brooke. “I’m getting married! Remember you’re going to make my wedding dress.” She was serious. So excited and nervous we began.

The bodice with it’s many pieces

Brooke found a nutty bride’s dress from the 70’s that was mostly tulle and beaded applique, a friend of mine donated a white satin dress he had around the house, I fell in love with a WWII silk parachute – we had our materials.

Where we began:  the puffy 70’s dress, the satin dress, silk parachutes

Rebekah models the parachute

Parachute preparation

We stripped apart, reworked, and reconfigured these materials and fashioned a dress (loosely inspired by the white peacock.) The wedding had a myth/ storybook theme to it  with a masked ball reception afterwards. Guests were given masks to wear when they arrived and the bride and groom entered the hall after the ceremony wearing peacock masks.

A lot of the work I make is used for art and performance purposes (costumes, masks, set pieces…) And honestly you don’t have to stretch the imagination much to see a wedding as performance art. It’s been exciting making the centerpiece costume for an ancient ritual. And Brooke was awesome and open to me making the dress in a way that was interesting to me.

Brooke and Jeff

The silk train / The wedding party

Using these material harvesting techniques is appealing to me. They give one a set of limitations to work within that often leads to unexpected results. Sometimes those results can be quite wild but I don’t think that’s the case here. I think Brooke’s dress is unique, flashy, and lovely in a subdued way (for me.) Knowing where it came from I think we streamlined and reworked well.

Brooke looked beautiful and she was happy. And I’m very pleased with what Rebekah and I made together. Mission accomplished.

Bride and bridesmaids

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All photos by Andytoad except for aerial parachute image by Bettmann/CORBIS