Author Archives: Angelique

November 2015 Featured Artist Interview: Janis Logsdon

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To find where Janis Logsdon sells her wares visit her artist page on HAB. 

Interview with Janis Logsdon of Janis Logsdon Jewelry and Art (Jan’s Beads):

At what age did you discover your love of Halloween?

Grade school really. I grew up in the 1950s and there were a TON of kids in my neighborhood. We all trick or treated together like a mob! It was so fun. Besides who did not love to get dressed up as some one else as a kid? OK… or even as an adult.

What is your fondest Halloween memory?

My funniest really. That mob from above went out one year and a neighborhood man held us up a while with his tricks – yes, magic tricks. While we all stood open-mouthed waiting at the door for candy. Crazy, fun filled people in my childhood neighborhood.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

We used to go out to dinner every year at a restaurant in La Habra, CA, where the staff dressed up in insane costumes. Then we would go home and give out candy to the little ones. Now we pretty much stay at home and do the candy thing. However this year we celebrated at the Aiken Fall Steeplechase. That was different. To be clear, the people dressed up; the horses did not.

When did you start creating in your medium and what training have you had?

I started 20 or so years ago by making all holiday jewelry, charm bracelets mostly. When I got to Halloween and Day of the Dead I found my calling and have been there ever since. Self taught mostly. Over the years I have taken and taught jewelry making classes. What is really nice is to get together with a few like minded friends and create. It is wonderful bouncing ideas off of each other. That is what is so special about HAB. Lots of talented people giving you encouragement.

What was the inspiration to create what you create and when did you know you wanted to create Halloween?

This is so hard to answer. Somehow it was just a gut feeling I could not ignore. And, well, for some reason little bone skulls just make me smile. I have thousands of them in my collection. Honestly, some I will keep forever.

Happy Halloween

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Happy Halloween-By Angelique Duncan

For many of us we long for the first snap of a cool front and the spiced scents and pumpkin flavors of fall. The first fallen leaves are a welcome signal that it is coming. We notice the sun begins to set differently in the late afternoons and the moon hangs more prominently with a greater glow in the night sky. The call of a distant crow and the grackle comforts us. The orange and black is our banner and the grinning carved pumpkin our friend. We are Autumn people and we carry with us, a love for Halloween.

We wait all year to unlock our spooky decorations from their captivity and set them free displaying them about in our homes. To us, those figurines and die cut window cut outs are our familiar family come to visit for a while. We carry out the ritual of selecting the greatest pumpkin; one that is not too tall, not too round but the perfect canvas upon which to carve a creepy or cleaver face to scare costumed knockers who dare grace our porches and stoops. For those who do dare; we fill large bowls with candy treats and give generously to those who will scream “Trick Or Treat”!

Why do we love Halloween? We just do. It is something inside us that is inherent, like the beating of the heart or taking breath into our lungs. We don’t expect others to understand it, and often they don’t. However for us, Halloween is special. It can not be separated from who we are.

To some it is a day of merriment and amusement. It is the joy of hosting costumed parties and Trick or Treat adventures. For children and adults alike, it is a time to dress in masquerade, hide behind the mask and for one night be something one is not. There is something magical to a child, that for one night to be whomever they want to be, staying up late to run the streets in the darkness of night knocking on doors demanding crazy amounts of candy; and the satisfaction that adults must comply with the child’s demands of treats for threat of trickery.

Maybe for some of us celebrating Halloween is a way to capture the exhilaration of childhood memories of happy Halloween’s past that we just don’t want to let go of. October 31st is all the innocence, mischief and wonderment of youth wrapped in one orange glowing holiday.

Perhaps it goes further than childhood back into the antiquity of man to Samhian. Could the love of Halloween route back over 2000 years ago to a slumbering knowledge of ancient bonfire rituals on hilltops that stirs and wishes to be awakened? Maybe some never really forgot the ties to seasons and moon cycles. Perchance the need to celebrate what is now Halloween is a vestige to long gone practices and insights into the spirituality of this realm.

Halloween is second most popular holiday in America, second only to Christmas. The fascination with the day is gaining popularity in other countries as well. Possibly as a passing fad or it is a part of our collective history and culture that demands to be acknowledged. Through out time in some form or fashion, under many names whether as Samhain, Witches night, Beggar’s Night, All Souls Day, Hollow’s Eve or Day of the Dead or Halloween; it has been celebrated. From bonfires and carved pumpkins, sheet ghost and costumes, crepe paper and wax to sugar skulls it takes it’s form.

Autumn people take comfort that that we are not alone, there are others out there. Others who feel the tug of an October wind and come the 31st, they will keep their Jack o lanterns lit for the love of Halloween!

Angelique Duncan is proprietor of Twilight Faerie Nostalgic and Capricious Objects. Check out her artist page to find links to her shops and vintage inspired traditional holiday art. Visit again next month for more traditions and folklore.

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE BE VAMPIRES HERE

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YES, VIRGINIA, THERE BE VAMPIRES HERE
 -By Debbi Decker

Born in October of 1925, amidst the rubble and wreckage in a collapsed railway tunnel, he rose up and stumbled out of the smoke, a wraith-like silhouette against the fire lit sky. Those who hid in terror reported a visage of jagged and blood dripping teeth, skin shredded and hanging from the bones. A few hardier souls tracked the creature as he stumbled, moaning and keening, along the river and on to the cemetery where he disappeared into the entrance of a large Gothic tomb. Attempts to open the door of the tomb came to naught and the hysterical requests to the cemetery officials to open the tomb were denied. The gossip in the bars and homes in the days to come claimed the creature was a vampire. “How else?” they whispered. “How else can you explain the bloody teeth, never mind the entry into a sealed tomb?” The owners of the tomb did not stand idly by. “I heard they moved the family bones” a neighbor told another neighbor. “Had to have done it by day” the neighbor answered. Both nodded. Everyone knows that vampires sleep by day. No one questioned why the family did not destroy the vampire while it slept. With a stake to the heart. Isn’t that the usual way one dispatches a vampire?

Years passed and the legend passed along with them. Reports of strange noises from inside the tomb. Orbs and strange mists emanating from the doorway. Tales of Satanic activity and markings around the tomb. It is now 2015, and people still come from far and wide to view the Tomb of the Richmond Vampire.

As with all legends, there is some truth to this particular tale. A railway tunnel did collapse on the night of October 2, 1925 on Church Hill in Richmond, Virginia. A young man, Benjamin F. Mosby, managed to escape the wreckage bearing injuries much like the oft-described vampire in the tale. He was admitted to Grace Hospital, where he later died of his injuries. Not much is told of where Mr. Mosby was found or why he supposedly chose that particular tomb. William Wortham Poole was an upstanding citizen, a secretary/clerk who died at the venerable age of 80, and subsequently buried in the family tomb in 1922. Perhaps Mr. Mosby was trying to reach the river which travels along the cemetery borders. Perhaps he was only able to get as far as W.W. Poole’s tomb where he collapsed inside the dark entryway, thereby spawning the rumors that he disappeared into the tomb. To this day, there are still reports of strange noises and paranormal activity. Since we know Benjamin Mosby died at Grace Hospital, who (or what) prowls the shadows of the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia? I am personally of the opinion that we do not have a vampire here, but the rather pissed-off ghost of William Poole, wandering and cursing the tale that led to his, and his family members, removal from the august family tomb to parts unknown.

Photographs “Tomb Of The Richmond Vampire” and “Tomb Of The Richmond Vampire-original” provided by Crazed Poppet Creations and are copyrighted images. To contact Debbi Decker for purchase of these prints visit her website.

Debbi Decker is proprietor of Crazed Poppet Creations Art & Assemblage Emporium. Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next month for the telling of hauntings and ghostly tales by Debbi Decker.

Featured Artist Interview October 2015: Crazed Poppet Creations

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To find where Deborah Decker sells her wares visit her website Crazed Poppet Creations. 

Interview with Deborah Decker of Crazed Poppet Creations:

At what age did you discover your love of Halloween?

I do not remember ever not loving Halloween. It was still a big deal when I was a kid during the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The churches, communities and schools all still celebrated. People would make their own costumes and decorations, and some would even make goodies to give to the trick or treaters. It was a more innocent era, and I sure miss the handmade aspect of it all.

What is your fondest Halloween memory?

It was Halloween day, and my school hosted an after-school Halloween party. I was 5 years old and in kindergarten, and I dressed up as a Gypsy. Somehow, I missed the school bus home and then decided I could walk home by myself. I recall walking in a field towards home as the sun was setting. It was truly one of the creepiest feelings I have ever had. Something about the shadows and the way the light was playing out in the sunset. I still get the shivers when I think of it, and crazily enough I would have to say this is my fondest memory because it was a true Halloween experience!

How do you celebrate Halloween?

These days after I host the trick or treating on Halloween evening with the grandchildren, I light candles and think of my ancestors, look over the past year and think about goals and things I want to achieve in the future. I usually try to stay up until after midnight but as I get older that gets harder. Halloween is when I celebrate the New Year and it is a very special day for me. My family even calls me on that day to wish me a Happy New Year!
 
When did you start creating in your medium and what training have you had?

I do not have a specific medium and am mostly self-taught in whatever I do. I have been creating gothic and Halloween art since at least grade school. It has always been an interest of mine.

What was the inspiration to create what you create and when did you know you wanted to create Halloween?

I get inspiration from all kinds of places, from stories, poetry, and history. I prefer the old style Halloween items that were popular from around the Victorian era to the early 1950s.

When did I know that I wanted to create Halloween? That’s a tough question. It seems like I have been creating Halloween since I started school. It’s not like I woke up one day and decided that Halloween was what I liked creating. There are people who say that Halloween is a lifestyle, and in many respects I do think that is true. Because I can’t simply take Halloween and set it outside of me as a stand-alone subject. It is just too much a part of me.

I have to give kudos to a fellow HAB team member, Twilight Faerie, who saw some of my works, pushed me to create more, and urged me to sell some of what I create. In the past, I used to see the different Halloween artist groups and wish that I could be a part of that kind of community. You can imagine how very exciting it was to become a member of Halloween Artist Bazaar!

The Owls on Halloween

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The Owls on Halloween-By Angelique Duncan

Owls have always been associated with Halloween. Often they are depicted as secondary characters in vintage postcards and decorations to other Halloween symbols. Owls can be seen circling overhead or in the skyline with witches, ghost and others familiar spooky icons. However, in recent times they have become more prominent and have become a popular main character in the cast of Halloween imagery.

By virtue that they are nocturnal, they carry an air of mystique. Their appearance has all the features of something mystical; large oddly blinking eyes, a head that turns in an unnatural fashion and sharp claws on their feet. Some scream and screech, some hoot and coo with voices that drift over darkness often heard, but never seen. Depending on the culture and era owls have been perceived to be scary creatures of the night or as wise messengers and protectors.

Owls are thought to be one of the oldest of the bird species and perhaps their association with wisdom comes with the inherited age of the species. The notion that owls are wise may also come from their association with Athena the Greek Goddess of wisdom. In many cultures they are seen as intelligent, observant and helpful messengers.

Owls and an association with Halloween go way back to ancient Celtic times and Samhian. Owls could be seen flying and swooping near Samhain bonfires. It is reported to have been a common scene. Given the nature of midnight celebrations and the association with the “witching hour” and the presences of the nocturnal creatures, owls became connected to witchcraft through their frequency in legends and symbols of witches.

One folklore states that if one sees an owl flying or circling low during the day they are bringing an omen or news that will affect the person who see’s them. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is a warning to prepare the person and an action of protection, although foreboding.

Some believed that an owl perched on a house or in a tree near a house is a warning that someone will die in that home or that something evil will happen there. In other folklore it is believed that an owl perched on ones roof is offering protection from evil. Many believe that to see an owl during the day is an omen and to take heed. It is said to see an owl at midnight is bad luck.

It has been thought that owls, due to their wisdom are the familiars of witches and they will carry messages for them. Other myths state that owls are themselves witches that have shape shifted to travel undetected under the cover of darkness.

Over the centuries and continents there have been numerous legends and stories of owls as deities, demons or gods, some benevolent and some of ill intent. Two popular folklores originating from Mexico and Texas is sightings of the Lechuza and of the Aswang. Often in the Autumn and near Halloween. The Lechuza became a popular image during the romanticized Victorian era. It has an unusually large owl body with a human women’s head. The Aswang is just the opposite having a human woman’s body and an owls head. Both are said to be a form of witch transformed. Both are also said suck the blood of their victims. The Aswang is thought to attack pregnant women and steal their unborn child. Rumors have also risen that both the Lechuza and the Aswang steal children out after dark. Some legends report that when one hears an owl screeching or hooting at night they are trying to lure small children out of the house to take away to the woods.

Images of owls exist in almost every culture and the stories attached to them are wide and varied. Sometimes the evil villain, some times the voice of reason, a protector or warrior or wise sage. The owl wears many hats and only they know who they really are and their intent. So when you hear the haunting hoot off in the distance be warned, the owls may be talking to you.

Illustration “Wilbur” Copyright Intricate Knot. To more of Intricate Knots art and where to buy visit her artist page Art For A Gloomy Day.

Illustration “Owlie On The Moon” Copyright Michelle Angelique Duncan. To see more of Twilight Faerie’s art and where to buy visit her artist page Twilight Faerie Nostalgic and Capricious Objects.

Angelique Duncan is proprietor of Twilight Faerie Nostalgic and Capricious Objects. Check out her artist page to find links to her shops and vintage inspired traditional holiday art. Visit again next month for more traditions and folklore.

Featured Artist Interview September 2015: Art By Sarada

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To find where Art By Sarada sells her wares visit her artist page on HAB. 

Interview with V. Sarada Holt or Art By Sarada:

At what age did you discover your love of Halloween?

I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t my favorite holiday – having a birthday about a week after Halloween, they always kind of went together as festive, fun time of year. I conspired with my grandmother every year to figure out what my costume would be. I remember the first costume that was my own conscious choice, when I was around four, was a witch. I also made sure to get both princess and fairy princess in at an early age as well. After that, you could say that it was fandom based! I was born in 1973, so childhood was the 70s and early 80s, and there was some Princess Leia in there, a cat from the musical “Cats,” and even a character from the anime show “Star Blazers” – which no one else recognized, I’m sure. While it was all about costumes and candy during those years, I think I was born to love horror movies as well. My parents had been big fans of Hammer Horror and other 1960s and early 70s horror movies – I grew up watching them on TV on Saturday afternoons during the “Creature Double Feature” on a local TV channel. The fact that there was a time of year – around my birthday, no less! – devoted to these kinds of pursuits, AND dressing up, was more than I could handle.

What is your fondest Halloween memory?

It’s hard to say, as the actual day of Halloween itself has always revolved around just being home, trick or treating, or greeting trick or treaters. In recent years I have a new tradition that I love to indulge in, which is watching weird old horror films with my husband until we can’t stay up any longer. We joked about it for weeks, with me promising him that we’d stay up “’til 6 a.m.!” watching our favorites. Typically this includes a vampire film by the French director Jean Rollin, a favorite Hammer or Vincent Price movie, and maybe a gothic Italian film from the early 60s. I don’t think I’ve made it until 6 a.m. yet but I manage to get about five movies in most years. Last year we went to the Museum of Funeral History here in Houston on Halloween as well, which was a nice touch. Every year Halloween gets better than the one before, even though we mostly just stay around the house, it is always special.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

On the actual day of Halloween, it’s not too much different from any other, around here. I’ve never had kids, so I don’t get to experience trick or treating from that side, but I love to drive around neighborhoods to see how everything is decorated, and hand out candy at home or at a friend’s house. Then we have our movie marathon, as I noted above. My year-round wardrobe tends to include plenty of Halloween themed fabrics that I’ve used to make things for myself, when it’s not just all-black clothing to begin with, but I always go the extra mile on Halloween. It’s funny, because I don’t do much in the way of decorating or going all-out with festivities, because I feel like I live in a Halloween mindset all year round. We usually spend the entire fall watching favorite horror movies, aside from the big night itself, and I read lots of Victorian ghost stories in the weeks leading up to it. I just like to revel in that time of year, and the fact that for about three months you can go into stores and they will be full of bats, cats, spiders, moons and witch hats.

When did you start creating in your medium and what training have you had?

I started painting in 1986, after spending my entire childhood drawing fantasy creatures and images. I was inspired largely by my love of Dungeons and Dragons, at that point, and fantasy in general. I started to paint with acrylics, focusing on dragons, fairies and the like. I used acrylic paint, and was entirely self-taught, though of course I had a couple of elective Art classes in high school. I took a couple of classes in college as well but did not enjoy taking art as a subject. I liked taking art HISTORY, but as for hands-on creative work, I was more interested in just finding my own way. I experimented with oils as well and have used them more in recent years. I’m very much in favor of people seeking instruction and training in their chosen art form, but I enjoyed finding my own way, experimenting based on what I saw in other peoples’ work, since I was doing it mostly for my own amusement, and not as a professional pursuit.

On a side note, one of the main inspirations for me to start painting was a woman I met at a mall art show near my childhood home in central New Jersey, I think around the summer of 1986. Amidst all of the landscape and other decorative paintings on display was a booth where a woman was painting a purple dragon on a misty mountaintop. Her paintings were all on similar themes – fairies, dragons, angels, magical women. Her name was Ann-Marie, and we corresponded for some time after that, as she encouraged my interests. I took the same kind of themes as my favorite subject matter in my teens and was very influenced by her self-taught style and approach. I bought a number of her prints over the years as well and I still admire the detail and unique, original style she developed. Seeing someone paint up close and in person like that, and being able to see all of those paintings that were so close to my heart in their themes and inspiration, really gave me a huge creative push that has never gone away.

What was the inspiration to create what you create and when did you know you wanted to create Halloween?

After college, my painting pursuits trailed off a little as I felt my subject matter wasn’t going to be taken seriously by anyone. But I put a few little paintings on eBay when I started selling odds and ends from around the house, on that site around 1999, and the reception was pretty warm. I had started to collect antique Halloween postcards from the early 1900s around then and was captivated by the imaginative imagery. It occurred to me that I could make new versions of these kinds of images, and that proved to be fodder for art for years to come. I’ve continued to explore other themes that I love, including fantasy, surrealism, nature, gothic and ghost imagery and other subjects, but I always come back around to Halloween. I like to do things that are cute, but not cutesy. I love a colorful, bold palette with classic, antique imagery.

Please DO Feed the Ghosts

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Please DO Feed the Ghosts
 -By Debbi Decker

We are in the midst of a pretty dire season. We’ve only just made it past the dog days of summer and are thinking thoughts of fall, cooler weather, football, and our favorite of all holidays, Halloween. Don’t get too ahead yourself though. Right now you better be feeding the ghosts.

We are smack dab in the middle of a period that is recognized by the Buddhist tradition as the “Hungry Ghost Month”. Based upon the lunar calendar, this period usually starts in July. However, this year (2015) it started on August 14 and will end September 12.

Hungry Ghosts are believed to be the souls of the evil dead that reside in Hell, condemned, due to the sins they committed, to suffer eternity feeling hunger. Some souls will be hungry for wealth, some revenge, and some simply for food. Once a year, during the seventh lunar month, the gates of Hell are opened and these souls are released to roam the earth.

So, you are probably thinking that you have already missed half of the month and are saying “so what?” It is never too late to get on the right side of these spirits. Just as you ward your homes against the usual bad actors, you need to up the stakes during Hungry Ghost Month. Here are a few tips and things you can do to be sure that everyone is happy, both corporeal and incorporeal:

Burn fake money. Called “Hell Notes” or Joss paper. Do this in front of your home, your business, or anywhere else you want to protect. Never ever pick up any money you find on the ground during this period. That money belongs to the ghosts. Give money freely to charities and to the living during this time period.

Leave offerings of food and drink outside your home (be nice and use good plates and glassware). This should be left far enough away from your normal pathways so that you do not encounter any of the local wildlife that may investigate that tasty chicken leg. Never ever chase away any animals or bugs that might be near or on the offerings, and never touch the offerings after you have left them out for the spirits until the Hungry Ghost Month is over. Then you may clear away whatever is left. Do this respectfully, perhaps putting the remains in a compost pile. You may either destroy or ritually cleanse the plates and glassware and put all away for next year. I personally think it would be nice to have a small selection of pretty dinnerware and glassware to be used solely for rituals such as these.

Burn incense inside and outside the home. Rock salt sprinkled at doorways and on windowsills will keep the spirits from entering. Try not to conduct new important business or start new projects during this time. However, if a project or business venture was started before August 14, you can continue to move forward.

Never ever kill an unusual insect or bug inside your home during this time (roaches being the exception). It is believed that those unusual creepy crawlies could be reincarnations of your ancestors and they are simply stopping by to check things out and to say hello.

No whistling, going out alone at night, or hanging laundry out to dry. Any of these activities will bring attention to you and the spirits may decide they like you and move in. If that happens, you might have to have your home cleansed or exorcised by a professional. Wear a protective amulet during this time and have it cleansed when the period is over.

Following these tips will leave you unscathed, and the Hungry Ghosts will, with toothpicks in their mouths and money in their pockets, travel back to lounge on their couches in Hell to bet on a little after dinner football.

Sounds like Thanksgiving to me.

Debbi Decker is proprietor of Crazed Poppet Creations Art & Assemblage Emporium. Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next month for the telling of hauntings and ghostly tales by Debbi Decker.

2015 Trick or Treat Give Away

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Trick Or Treat!


Trick Or Treat!

Congratulations to Stephanie Grant!

The 2014 Trick or Treat Give Away has concluded! The winner will be contacted via email. Thank you to all the folks who Trick or Treated! Visit Halloween Artist Bazaar to find more holiday events and give aways through out the year. We appreciate your interest in Halloween Artist Bazaar and for keeping the spirit of Halloween alive!

Keep your Jack o’ lanterns lit in solidarity, and to all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Congratulations To the winner!

How To Enter:

Step 1: Visit one of the contributing HAB artist from the list below. If the artist your Trick or Treating is an Etsy store contact them using the “contact the owner” tab on the left sidebar of their shop. If they are on the HAB catalog use our contact form. Leave them a message that states “TRICK OR TREAT!”.
Step 2: Visit our Facebook page and “Like” us and comment “TRICK OR TREAT!” on our wall.
Step 3: Fill out the official Trick or Treat Give Away entry form below.

Official Rules

Entry deadline is Midnight on October 20th 2015 Central Standard Time. The Winner will be chosen at random. One entry per person. Winner will be notified via email. The prize will ship on October 21st 2015. The winners name will be posted on the Halloween Artist Bazaar website and Facebook page. Information obtained will only be used to contact winner in regards to contest. HAB does not release or sell information from our entry forms or contact page. All ages welcome to enter. Members of Halloween Artist Bazaar are not qualified for entry. Contest open internationally, however please note that prize may not arrive before October 31st due to international shipping delays. *Your countries custom charges may apply. * Prize value an estimated $280.00

Contributing Halloween Artist Bazaar Artists in order of photo appearance:(check back as the list grows and photo’s of the winnings are posted!)

Twilight Faerie
Crazed Poppet Creations
Ghost Gap
A Paper Witch
Art By Sarada
Gothbunny
Jan’s Beads
Jynxx Designs
Lttle Shop Of Horrors
Plum Batty
PunkinPrims
Sauvage Raven Creations
A. Ryer Studio
Chaos In Color
Wicked Alterations
Art for A Gloomy Day

Faceless

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Faceless
 -By Debbi Decker

There sits on a shelf a doll with no face. All in red, round head and star shaped body. No gender implied. It is called a Sarubobo, and it comes from Takayama in the Gifa prefecture, located in the mountainous Hida region of Japan. Legend says grandmothers of long ago would have made this doll for a grandchild in various colors, with red bringing luck in marriage, fertility, and childbirth. That fact that the doll is faceless also allowed the possessor to project whatever image they wished upon the doll, such as the face of a mother, father, or even themselves.

Here in the United States, the Amish traditionally created faceless dolls based upon Christian biblical teachings that forbid people from creating and/or worshipping graven images or idols. A faceless doll would not allow the children to see it as a human likeness, and therefore they avoided the sin of loving or “worshipping” an idol. The faceless dolls of the Amish also kept a child from identifying with a beautifully-rendered doll and so guarded against the sin of vanity. In my research I found Islam also forbids the depiction of facial features of any kind, including those on dolls.

Still another example of a faceless doll would be the corn husk dolls of the Iroquois, a Native American confederacy. Traditionally, the women would plant and tend the corn, which would then be harvested and the husks saved to make rugs, masks, medicine bundles, and dolls that had no faces. Their reasons for the lack of faces runs the gamut from religious and medicinal purposes to teaching life lessons to the children. There is a creation story told by the Iroquois that tells us that the first corn husk doll had a beautiful face. She was put on the earth to take care of and to guide the children. When she caught her reflection in the waters of a stream, she became so enamored of her beauty that she continually stared into the stream and thus neglected the children. The Creator then took away her face to punish her for her vanity.

Sarubobos are made in other colors for love, health, money, and removal of bad luck. Corn husk dolls have been found in Iroquois medicine bags, and it was also believed by the People that to give a doll a face was to give it a soul. Waldorf dolls, another faceless variety, are used as educational tools for invoking imagination and fantasy. A Voodoo doll in times past would have been made without a face at the start, and only given one as the spell work upon the doll progressed, and only if necessary to increase the spell’s success. As an aside, Voodoo dolls actually came from Europe and were not an original part of the religious practices brought over with from Africa. The European poppet was a doll used in fertility rites and other magical working, and some were buried in the crop fields to insure a good harvest.

Dolls trigger all kinds of emotions and feelings. Many do not like them and avoid them, while others collect them and fill their homes with them. Then there are those like me who find the faceless dolls intriguing and useful. The thread that ties together the aforementioned dolls is the use of imagination to project images and feelings upon the dolls. Which is an important part of all magical workings. The components and tools that we use in our spiritual practices are, as a rule, imbued with our thoughts and feelings, and certain outcomes are projected upon the components as a whole. I will, however, rarely buy any kind of used doll at a flea market, collectible or antique store, as I have no way of knowing who had that doll before me and what that doll meant to any previous owner.

My Sarubobo was given to me by someone who knew I would be appreciative of the magical purpose for the doll, but who clearly did not realize the correlation of the color. At the time of the gift, I had already married, birthed children, and divorced, and I was well beyond the desire to ever remarry or have any more children! Therefore, the doll sits on the shelf, is rarely handled, and, in my mind, remains faceless. After all, I am keenly aware that to handle dolls is to imbue qualities upon them and to awaken the magic they hold. And I am afraid that should an aspiring husband show up on my doorstep I will be forced to bring out that other faceless doll of ill repute and begin a working with some pins.

Photographs “Sarubobo”, “Faceless Goddess”, “Faceless Poppet and “Voodoo Doll” provided by Crazed Poppet Creations and are copyrighted images. To contact Debbi Decker for purchase of these prints visit her website.

Debbi Decker is proprietor of Crazed Poppet Creations Art & Assemblage Emporium. Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next month for the telling of hauntings and ghostly tales by Debbi Decker.

Featured Artist Interview August 2015: Intricate Knot

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To find where Intricate Knot sells her wares visit her artist page on HAB. 

Interview with Intricate Knot of Art For A Gloomy Day and Tarryfails Corner:

At what age did you discover your love of Halloween?
My love of Halloween began several lifetimes ago, at least a few centuries. Hope there aren’t any witch hunters out there reading this!

Seriously, my love of Halloween did begin over a multitude of pagan incarnations. In this lifetime it is pure icing on the Jack O’ Lantern. From the time I was first allowed out of the house to Trick or Treat (somewhere around the age of 6), I realized that Halloween is the best thing going.

What is your fondest Halloween memory?

This is a challenging question, as all my Halloweens are filled with fond memories. If we’re talking this lifetime, putting together costumes for my son’s trick or treating adventures. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we loved getting creative with my brother’s old make up kit (from his theater days). One year, my son transformed into the Terminator. Resplendent with partial robotic skull exposed (alá scar putty, oozey fake blood, and humble tin foil), and the ever-important black leather motor cycle jacket. Schwarzenegger eat your heart out.

Recently, I would have to say the first year after I joined HAB and participated in the Trick or Treat Giveaway. It was a first in many ways, not the least of which it was the first time I’d ever participated in a giveaway. It gave me such a wonderful feeling seeing a photo of my offering lined up next to such amazing pieces done by the other artists in the group. I felt like, phew! It’s been a long time coming folks, but I finally found my tribe.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

If time and energy allows, Halloween celebrations begin with some kitchen magick: making candy apples, apple pies, cinnamon potpourri, simmering, savory stews…and the list goes on! My husband and I decorate our sizable patio and our house. Stringing up candy corn lights, red skulls, and glowing purple LEDs…oh my!

Halloween is the great no-pressure holiday. It’s more than that, though. There is the entire season of autumn…the snap in the air, the energy that all builds to the day itself. The images, art work (especially the creations of our group!), sheer fun (and horror), not to mention the most excellent treats and tricks of Halloween is a spirit that I carry within all throughout the year.

When did you start creating in your medium and what training have you had?

Well it all started with a doodle of something that looked like a cross between a gloomy gene and a disgruntled meatball. (Hopefully) I have improved from there. I’ve had no training what-so-ever or at least not in any formal capacity.

When I was a kid I wrote stories and doodled pretty much 24/7 and by the time I reached the age of 16, I’d decided that this was what I was meant to do with my life. Then [insert dramatic music here], I allowed one teacher’s opinion of my work dissuade me from this course. Years went by. Then one day, I had the proverbial epiphany (more like a swift kick to the head) and now I just don’t look back. I still doubt my work…I think all artists and artisans do. Just part of the package! But the difference is now I keep going, despite the doubts.

What was the inspiration to create what you create and when did you know you wanted to create Halloween?

I’ve always loved all of the symbology of Halloween: witches, black cats, Jack O’Lanterns, scarecrows, ghosts, goblins, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, ravens, owls, haunted trees, and on goes the list! Artists are inspired by what draws them in and Halloween draws me in. It’s simply a magical time and the only time of the year when it’s not only okay, but you’re actually encouraged to come out of the proverbial closet and be a witch, which is freeing. That’s what inspires me.