by

Halloween Wars on Food Network: Sunday, Oct. 2

I’ve gone off to war. No, not with guns and bullets, but rather with knives and spoons upon a battlefield as spooky as it is delicious: the smoldering kitchens of the new Food Network show Halloween Wars.

I’m carving pumpkins on this new mini-series. Assigned to a team including a cake artist and a candy artist, I help create edible Halloween-themed displays by summoning my inner Edward Scissorhands against unsuspecting vegetables.

Four other teams of expert food artists oppose us. After four episodes, only one team will stand victorious with a bounty of $50,000.

The show is hosted by Justin Willman, and judged by cake decorator Shinmin Li and legendary concept artist Miles Teves. Special guest judges venture into the battlefield, including Jaime King, Scout Taylor-Compton, Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, and the one and only Rob Zombie.

Halloween Wars will premiere this Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. The remaining episodes follow weekly: Oct. 9, Oct. 16, and the grand finale on Oct. 23 (plus reruns Wednesdays at 8pm).

Read more about it in this press release. If you haven’t seen them before, here are my Memorial Jack-o-lanterns.

by

Faces: Aug. 5, Idle Hands Dry Goods, Santa Cruz, CA

I’ll be showing some of my portraits in Santa Cruz for the August First Friday event in a couple weeks. It will include a bunch of pieces from my forensic artist days in NY that I’ve never exhibited before, including criminal suspect composites. The art will be showing all month, but I’ll also have some of my Musical Anatomy drawings up just for the opening night. The excellent venue, Idle Hands Dry Goods, offers a bounty of great handmade and vintage clothing.

Faces
Friday, Aug. 5, 6-9pm
Idle Hands Dry Goods
803 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA

by

Cornelius Cardew’s Treatise – Realization

I uploaded an electronic realization of Cornelius Cardew’s massive graphic score, Treatise, that I made back in 2002. Sine waves are generated from the black areas of the score as it scrolls from right to left, with the y-axis corresponding to pitch. An imaginary vertical line in the center of the screen is the “sounding membrane”. Cardew created Treatise in 1963-67. This fairly literal realization is fifteen minutes long, which you may find maddening or mesmerizing.

by

The Dio Memorial Jack-o-lantern

The time has come for the annual Memorial Jack-o-lantern, commemorating an artist who has died since last Halloween (and I decided I’ll keep focusing on musical artists). Selected from the notables this year – including Vic Chestnutt, Alex Chilton, Guru, Hank Jones, and Eyedea – was Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), the consummate heavy metal vocalist. He was the voice of bands such as Elf, Rainbow, and his own eponymous group, Dio. Following the departure of Ozzy Osborne, he became the front man of Black Sabbath, always greeting the crowds with devil horn hands. Starting in 1979, Dio was involved with the organization Children of the Night, which is dedicated to rescuing America’s children from prostitution.

Thanks for the music Dio, and may we never settle for less than metal.

A time-lapse video of the carving is on the Memorial Jack-o-lanterns page.