Hellequin Rabbit-- Halloween is upon us!

This shoot took place a few months back, but since I'm too busy at the moment to shoot a specific  halloween concept--- this should fill in nicely.


On a visit to L.A. i found this beautiful light weight treated metal crown that i had to have..it fit perfectly atop the head of my other worldly spirit rabbit!


The concept is semi surreal based on the idea of The Hindu god Shiva (Shiv) ; the destroyer of the ego and ultimately of the universe BUT MOSTLY from the Old French Hellequin, leader of la maisnie Hellequin--Harlequin varient ''The notion that the Harlequin motif grew out of France is evidenced by Hellequin, a stock character in French passion plays. Hellequin, a black-faced emissary of the devil, is said to have roamed the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell.' ( wiki)  


The rabbit element of course always harking back to childhood themes, Lewis Carrol...




Our model here, again,  is the amazing,Wednesday Mourning who bravely mastered a rabbit pose over the human sized nest of brambles ( I made it a couple years prior).. I did hair and makeup for this as well...


HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!  and thank you for reading.....


Im looking forward to my next shoot this november ! Stay tuned for my next picture-story....


enjoy.


Darla

A Carnival Of Saints And Souls....

Join us in New Orleans for the Artist's reception --October 2nd. for this amazing show!  I can't believe how fast it's coming up, but I'm ready ( almost).

Fledermaus Rubbermoon.. Sister Midnight

''Sister Midnight''.....

 From my Fledermaus Rubbermoon series.....

The basic idea is based of course on the hundreds of vintage..and in my mind, iconic.. paper moon photos. I wanted something simple, but something a little different than the smiling cheese moon with stars. I wanted it to be black on black..which I associate with everything midnight. I made the glass glitter bats in alternating angles and lengths relative to my " sister midnight" which is to say, the spirit of the night..of course this spirit is a woman! The moon is comprised of black rubber pearlized balloons... The motif is more reminiscent of cabaret, than of the ethereal portrait or souvenir examples of paper moon images. 

My fabulous model is Burlesque Starlette, Cardinal Cyn ( A.K.A Jorie Lodes) whom I met through singer, Colleen Duffy. She has done make-up & hair for me a few times ( which she did for this shoot) and i'm in awe of her expertise (especially eyebrows!)  She has an adorable Atelier in Austin, TX called  La Petite Rouge  at which you can get your hair or make-up done by this artist !

As always you can see most of my images on my site under ''photo''.

Enjoy xx

http://www.darlateagarden.com/

+ moon and bats not electronically added+

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iksr4RAvc

Zelda and Creed

I had a shoot with my friend Gail Chovan's twins... Zelda and Creed.

It was on location and it was so hot my lens kept fogging up. Needless to say the kids wanted ice cream STAT. It was at a goose hutch that is shaped like a church off the texas  highway.. It's this creepy little church thing... i thought , well that would be good! It lends itself to a southern gothic-ness.

I should state for the record, even though miss zelda cannot see with her eyes, she sees perfectly well in all other capacities..instead of opening her eyes, she likes to tilt her beautiful face upward, or keep it close to her chest.
Gail, their mother sweetly spoke to them in french to keep things moving right along....

I'm honored that my portrait of  Zelda was published in the beautiful SHOTS MAGAZINE..fine photography journal. Look for it at your news stand ..or order online via SHOTS issue 109.




















                                                     

See the shoot on page 11  in "Photos"  HERE

A Thousand Gestures In One Frame :

Hand-made Optical Toy

SHISHIGAMI~

Like most, I'm distressed about the  BP oil leak, so I decided to pay homage to Mother Nature by creating my own version of Japanese Director Hayao Miyazaki's  forest spirit character, SHISHI-GAMI.  This character , in short, is a combination of goat and deer, life and death.


In the gallery to your right are some images of each component created essentially for one frame. I love the idea of ephemera and it's fragile often one use nature. The optical toy ,Thaumatrope ( I made with paper and ink),  seemed a perfect way for this character to speak in my image. ''Thaumatrope Prophecy'' shows the toy at work
( eye in a cage) communicating Shishi's notion that human beings will continue to look through spaces yet remain imprisoned, unable to be free to except their role as savior. ...Her violin ( another way to speak) tells of hope *Aut viam inveniam aut faciam - *I will either find a way or make one*.


I created a white Angora wig and used real deer horns, lacing them with crystals.  I often use a dummy head to paint on my make up concepts before my shoots so I may gain a better idea of the whole picture. Glittered paper hooves suggest whats underneath the gown created by designer Christine Hall.


.....Christine is a wonderful artist who has created a line of  high quality bustle gowns as well as movie inspired gowns. You can find them here: http://www.ckhall.com/. I chose the lovely white mourning gown and love it's delicate pleats and Mandarin-like collar.


Mushrooms are among literature's mysterious and romanticized objects. They promise hallucination, death,
a marker for other worldly lands, or simple sustenance.; fast growing, yet delicate. I sculpted dozens of faux fungi out of chalky clay and cut a lattice pattern to adorn their tops. They are so cute I'm still trying to decide what their next life will  be.I can't just toss them!

Mushroom Making

Make-up by Darla

Shishi model was Wednesday Mourning. A soulful person with silent  movie star eyes. I enjoyed working with her very much on two shoots (Hellequin Lapine *hell rabbit* and this) and appreciate her willingness under duress ( being blind folded above sharp brambles and strapped with dangerously heavy horns) and alabaster doll-like beauty.

Cutting Lattice Pattern For Mushroom Tops

Gown: Christine Hall

SHISHI GAMI

See all photos here

She goes like this...

Welcome to my Photo Blog. It is on this piece of interweb property I will share my day of shooting with you.

Thanks For Reading,
Darla Teagarden
xxx