Happy Beautiful Freaks Fest!

Today marks the beginning of Beautiful Freaks Fest! An online celebration of all the beautiful freaky people out there and the things that they love. It probably comes at no surprise to most of you that I would take part in this. In the words of Lydia Deetz “I myself am strange and unusual”. Which is why I decided to use this opportunity to give you a little background on myself and my art.

I have been doing art since I was a young batling. The minute I was able to pick up a crayon I knew this was what I was meant to do. CREATE! When I wasn’t religiously watching Labyrinth  I was using markers to make my Barbie’s look “different” and entering coloring contests to win tickets to the circus. I also always took in anything my Dad would teach me when it came to art. That is why my coloring contest entries actually had shading (those other kids didn’t stand a chance ha ha).

When I was given an assignment in school I always ended up doing something different then everyone else. When I was in the 5th grade we had to do a drawing along with a small essay about a bird. I chose an owl. Most likely influenced by my Mom (who had passed away) and loved them and had statues and macrame versions of them all over our house. I will never forget when they hung all the drawings up in the hall for the parent teacher conference. Here were all these beautiful, colorful birds drawn perched on branches and then there was mine….  an owl in mid flight with a mouse captured in its talon. And to me it was just as beautiful if not more so then the others. I also remember the parents pointing mine out. Maybe they liked it maybe they didn’t but I felt such satisfaction knowing mine stood out from the rest and it just came naturally to me. I have thrived for that feeling ever since.

Growing up and even as an adult I continue(d) to express myself in all aspects of life from my own personal fashion sense (if people don’t like crazy colored hair, tattoos and horror t-shirts that’s on them) to my artwork. My favorite quote is “Be yourself everyone else is already taken” (Oscar Wilde). If something I do suddenly becomes trendy I tend to stop and move on to the next thing. But I never let anyone stop me from being me. I find beauty in the dark, spooky and mythical. If something is odd or macabre I am usually drawn to it. Same goes for fairies and other fantasy creatures. Aspects of these things tend to come through in my creations as an extension of myself. I always tell people I grew up to be a mixture of my 2 childhood idols….Elvira and Jem. “Give me spooky and creepy with a side of glitter and glam… that’s me!” I find a lot of that comes out in my Dead Girl Decay accessories

People often ask me how the name Living Dead Girl Nicole started as my signature artist name. Some of my art online says my maiden name of Nicole Birmingham, my married name of Nicole Garcia and then there is of course Living Dead Girl Nicole. This name stuck with me thanks to my love for horror and all things that rock. What started as an online screen name due for my admiration of Rob Zombie stuck with me when people started to associate my artwork with the name as well. I found it rather fitting as Rob Zombie had always been someone that inspired me as an artist. I could relate to
his work and it always reminded me that it’s ok to break out of your shell and to continue doing what I love no matter how dark the genre is. If people wanted to associate me and my artwork in that way then I was honored to be known by it and still am.

I am also honored to have so many Freaky Fanatics and people who follow my work. Just the other day my friend posted this photo on Instagram. Its of his zombie welding helmet with my logo sticker on it. The caption says “represent”!

Having the support of people like this is what makes me keep creating! It means you love what I do and are proud to embrace the beautiful freaks that you are!

AND to celebrate just that here is a coupon code! Just put in code BEAUTIFULFREAKS17 at check out in my Etsy shop and watch 13% get slashed off your orders (of $5 or more)! This code is only good during the Beautiful Freaks Fest so make sure to place your orders before Monday!

And to end this post with a rocking bang here is my girl Kimberly Freeman of One Eyed Doll singing a song that should be this event’s anthem! When your done rocking out take a click over to Little Gothic Horrors blog page to see all the other blogs participating in the Beautiful Freaks Fest and go visit their pages! Don’t forget to show some comment love on their posts too! Us freaks need to unite 😉

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Dead Girl Decay: Burlesque Vintage Owl Barrette

This barrette that I made is now owned by one of my best friends, Heather.

The middle features a vintage owl brooch sitting on a flower petal and accented with black, brown, turquoise and peacock feathers!

What I love most about making these Burlesque Vintage Decay Barrettes is that they are unique and no two will ever be the same. The barrette or pin is always made with the central focus being a vintage piece of jewelry that is one of a kind.

Check out more of my Dead Girl Burlesque Vintage Decay Barrettes both on my official website and in my Etsy shop! Bookmark these links because I plan to make more of these as I find more vintage pieces of jewelry and once they are gone they are gone!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Remains: Turrise Wedding and Gifting

I had posted photos a couple of months ago from my cousin Nellie’s bridal shower. Well the big day was yesterday. For October in Chicago they could not have gotten a more beautiful day. Everything about the wedding and reception was beautiful. You could just see how in love the 2 of them are and how perfect it all fell into place for them. It’s really neat knowing that they started dating in high school and stayed together all these years just like Frank and I. The kicker… the same high school. BT love stories I tell ya ha ha.

I have been sick for the past few days (digestive disorder is a bit out of control) so I was just happy to be able to attend, support them and witness how memorable it all was. Starting to finally feel somewhat better today and taking it easy the rest of the day while editing photos and laying around.

Frank and I decided to join forces and make them a wedding gift. I am so happy we got a head start on it with me getting ill. The idea came to me as I was thinking how well we did working together to make our great niece Violet a wooden Marie wall hanging. I thought it would be rather symbolic if we joined forces again to make another special gift together for Nellie and Vince’s special day. Even more so it being from one married couple in the family to another. I had a vision of sorts in my head because I knew Nellie loved owls. You all know my appreciation of owls comes from my Mom so when I have a chance to use them to make something special I am all over it.

I thought this time it would be fun to not just share the finished piece but to also share some photos of the work in progress.

I sketched it out with different ideas and versions. Frank got the wood and had me draw the final idea we both agreed on directly on to the wood. He then cut it out by hand with a saw and hand sanded it to make sure it was a smooth surface.

I then did my thing and painted it. This shot was taken during the painting process.

When it was all dry I painted the sides and back and then Frank put a nice clear coat on top of it. Then I wrapped it along with an picture hanging kit in cellophane, attached the card and added a cute polka dot green ribbon (Nellie’s favorite color).

When we got to the reception we saw my Dad also made a artistic gift for the couple (now you see where I get it from ha ha). He drew a caricature of them and included a mat for all the guests to sign! Our wall hanging set perfectly next to it and the other gifts that people brought.

For fun here are a few photos I got at the reception (before we had to leave because of me not feeling well.. ugh)….

Frank and I with the stunning newlyweds Nellie and Vince

Me with my beautiful cousins Nellie (the new wifey Turrise), Chelsea (the maid of honor) and our awesome Aunt Maureen

A photo my Dad took of Frank and I at our table

My new favorite photo of me and my Daddio 🙂 Not only my Dad but my artistic inspiration.

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Freaky Fanatics: Owl Paintings On Display V.2

My cousin Patrick sent me this updated photo of his girls’ bedroom. He moved the owl paintings I did for them to a shelf and I am totally digging the way it looks. You may recall I painted these about 3 years ago. You can see them in these previous posts as well.

And of course this has been added to the awesome Freaky Fanatic Slideshow on my website! I love nothing more then photos like these showing the ways people are enjoying, sharing and wearing my work. So please continue to send them to me! I would love to feature your photos as well.

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole