Month of Fear

Until Death Unites Us Again

Reiko Murakami

Inspired by "Don't Fear The Reaper". 

I always thought death is the end of our journey and something to be feared. However after watching a documentary about near death experiences, it changed my mind. One person on the show said she felt welcome as if she's going home, like the place was where she actually belongs. Thinking death as being reunited with our loved ones and spiritual peace makes it easier to live and appreciate everyday more I think. Knowing we will be welcomed home at the end allows us to drop our fear for future and focus on what we have in our current life. So, until the day comes, let's live in the moment.

It's been a blast to join the last MOF this year. It's such an honor to be in this community you started, thank you so much Kristina! I've had multiple pieces from MOF that pushed my career to higher level. Many of my Spectrum pieces are in fact from MOF as well. I also discovered and friended many artists through this. Thank you again for creating this community. I really appreciate it. Now I'm back in town, let me know when you have time to hang out!

Title: Seven Devils

Inspired by: Seven Devils—Florence and the Machine

  While listening to the song my brain couldn’t let go of the image of a crown made from fire—and devils. Add a little bit of exorcism and, voilà, this is the result.

You can find my portfolio here: https://janaheidersdorf.com

Untitled Piece inspired by: Poe, "Haunted"

Come here.... No I won't say pleaseOne more look at the ghost before I'm gonna make it leave

I tend to be too literal when I am given assignments, even within what are intended to be more "free-form" projects-- perhaps out of a fear of disappointing others,  and it's something I really want to change about myself.So this time, I really wanted to do a more symbolic, emotional piece which explores more of what the song made me feel or think rather than what it might be specifically saying.I imagined this was a song about someone whose spouse has died, and they remain wrapped in the memory of their touch, their smell, their everything. Their favorite room is untouched, their clothing still folded in drawers.I wanted to make an image about someone facing their love for the final time, and gently beginning the process of pulling away from the comfort of sadness and rejoining the world. Misery would love to keep us in its grasp--sometimes we don't know who or what we would be without it--but the work of healing eventually must be done.

Ashley Hankins

Laura Siadak / Matthew Siadak

fallenlights.net / backwardsknight.com

When going through the list of music, I kept repeating the two songs about bones - Pet Sematary and Dead Man's Bones. My idea kind of literally spiraled, like Alice in Wonderland down the Rabbit hole. When I was a child, most of my nightmares were about falling down holes full of stuff, so for colors I went with how my mind usually tinges nightmares if there's any color at all. The piece was made with plant based watercolors. The writing was created at the same time as the sketches, which were then added directly into the piece, layer by layer.

32. NO ONE LIVE FOREVER

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Remember ‘The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo’? You know, from 'Forbidden Zone’? How about the abbreviated 8-piece 'Oingo Boingo’? Maybe with neon spelling out their name while they perform for Rodney Dangerfield and Robert Downey Jr. in 'Back to School’? Or maybe Lucifer himself - Danny Elfman - composing film scores and singing in Henry Selick’s ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’? Maybe you remember them... maybe you don’t. But one thing is certain - no one (no one no one no one no one) lives forever*.

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*Possibly exempted is the Simpson’s theme - some deals with certain devils really do break the bounds of known reality.

For more art sacred and profane, iconic and iconoclastic, ridiculous

and

sublime, please visit

Nine Lives

Reiko Murakami

This week's piece is from "Pet Sematary". Originally I was going to use the frame for a different piece, but I didn't like how it looked together when I tested it and decided to make a new piece for the frame instead. The background of this piece is rendered darker than my usual scale for this reason, to match the contrast of the frame. "I don't want to be buried in a pet cemetery/I don't want to live my life again" was a catchy phrase; I wanted to make art about it. They say cats have nine lives, and I have the sparkly acrylic to have fun with, so here we go. 9 simmering metallic paint eyed cat. Reiko Murakami

Haunted by Julia Griffin

www.juliagriffinart.com

23. Love Song for a Vampire

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The year was 1983 and Annie Lennox came to me in a vision. I was shaken. And stirred. Since then, many of my sweet dreams have come true, and I’ve travelled the world (and the seven seas). I’ve come out the other side much changed and everything looks different from where I stand today. Well… almost everything.

Miss Lennox remains perfect. Young, pale, and smashing in her crisp suit and perfect tie, riding crop in hand. She remains unchanging and unchangeable - bewitching and beguiling. I know that pictures lie, and I know that the camera doesn’t really steal one's soul, but that vision remains as powerful - more powerful - than ever.

So let us raise our rose-tinted glasses to the ageless Miss Lennox. Here’s blood in your eye!

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For more art sacred and profane, iconic and iconoclastic, ridiculous

and

sublime, please visit

Undead! Undead! Undead!

Reiko Murakami

This one is called “decadent decay” and it was the first tiara for the Month of Fear art challenge. Sara Felix