Many years ago, my friend (Rachael) painted a portrait of my pug, Barnaby Jones Pickles. Several years later he was killed by a rattlesnake, but I’m pretty sure those two things are unrelated. At least, I hope they are, because Rachael’s now doing Day of the Dead art and she just surprised me with my own portrait. Which is completely bad-ass, but maybe not entirely worth death by rattlesnake.
Luckily, I’m much bigger than Barnaby Jones Pickles so I would probably survive a rattlesnake bite, and it would make a cool story. So, I guess what I’m saying is that Rachael’s paintings are worth being injected by venom, nearly – but not quite – to the point of death. Also, I’m not sure why she doesn’t hire me to write advertising copy for her, because this shit is gold.
PS. Here’s her site if you want to commission your own portrait.
Love it!
COOL~!
That is way cool and beautiful.
Very, very cool.
It’s pretty BA
Bloggess de la Muerte!!
I am OBSESSED with Dia de los Muertos. Prob because it’s my birthday…
Jenna
callherhappy.com
I absolutely must come up with funds to commission a piece of art like this. This is the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I saw a guy walking down Sixth Avenue with a cat on his shoulder.
Thanks for sharing. I am going to show this to my husband when he gets home from work. He draws. He’ll love this.
She is talented! That is the coolest painting!
And you? You look totally awesome. I think you should make yourself look like that for Halloween.
She gave you a pug nose. Unless that’s your actual nose. Doesn’t matter. I’m a pug person. So, I find it stunning! Also, RIP Barnaby Jones Pickles
Hello! I think you may have found a portrait to miniaturized and hang on the wall of the haunted dollhouse.
I love it Jenny, and since I met you I am becoming more interested in the creepy and the macabre. But I will never go as far as you do, because I am running for political office.
Seriously, it is strangely beautiful. Can we do it now?
That is really cool. Maybe you’ll just get a few rude phone calls from a garden snake. That’s tolerable.
Naked Girl in a dress made a great point… the one I was going to make! Halloween costume HECK YES!
I have this suspicion that this is what you really look like, and that you put on make-up for the sole purpose of appearing normal to the rest of us. I’m right, aren’t I?
So jealous you have an artist friend. My friends can’t draw for shit.
Super cool!!
I don’t know, I don’t like it. Kind of scary. But then again, Halloween is around the corner right? 🙂
Is it a compliment or insult to say you look pretty awesome when you’re dead?
Love it! This is worthy of printing on canvas and putting up in your bedroom… Victor’s office perhaps?
There is just enough of the Heath Ledger style Joker in there that I hope you will be careful with your sleeping pills tonight.
Death by rattlesnake? Sounds like a noble death. Also, one could use my favorite death bed quote: “AVENGE ME!”
That’s what I look like when I wake up in the morning! Uncanny!
outrageously talented but, I must admit, im a little sad she didnt wrap rattle snakes around your curlers
You have a way of making creepy stuff seem perfectly normal. How do you do it?
That is such a fucking good painting. She’s quite talented.
–>She left off the cat on top of your head.
Good Goddamn. I think you need to have that tattooed somewhere.
You are a lucky girl, getting such cool swag all of the time! You need to photoshop Copernicus in there somewhere, he would fit in quite well.
Death by rattlesnake? Better than being eaten by snake- not that you were looking for a list of good v. bad ways to die but being eaten alive is worse than death by venom.
Good god woman people have been scared of clowns for millennia and now you are adding a new psychotic Borg like demon to send them to shrinks in fact why don’t you give your shrink a copy for her to hang above her couch – LUV it!!!
my latest blog http://tomstronach.blogspot.com/2011/09/niqab-women-fined-by-french-court-world.html
This will be an awesome halloween costume! You should do your face up just like that, rollers and all!
VERY cool!
PS, did you see LC tryin to look like you on her new website?
http://thebeautydepartment.com/about-us/
I’m a little freaked out by that portrait, but in a good way. I think.
Here’s to getting bitten by a rattlesnake, but to not being filled with death inducing amounts of venom. You know, so you have something cool to blog about in a few years. Gotta always be heads up for those future posts, yo.
My new tagline: “Rachael’s paintings are worth being injected by venom, nearly – but not quite – to the point of death. – Jenny, The Bloggess.”
Pretty awesome, and just in time for Halloween!
Very cool!
Um…I’m sure she is a talented artist, I mean it’s painted well and she’s clearly creative, but frankly I’m creeped out. Then again, I am not a big fan of Halloween either. Sorry about Barnaby…I hope the snake got eaten by a badger.
That is awesome-sauce. I now want to commission a portrait of a rattlesnake, thus completing the cycle of life…or death? I’ve never been clear on cycles.
This is so very awesome. I love Day of the Dead crap. I would so do this but more than I love Day of the Dead I hate my face so no pictures for me. 🙂
That’s very pretty and also terrifying. I kind of want one but I think I’ll wait and see if you get bit by a snake because that’s like my number one fear.
That looks awesome!!
That is gorgeous!!
This is cool, but more importantly…will you name my next pet for me? Sweet dreams, Mr. Pickles.
This is awesome, I love it!!! That girls’ got talent!
I totally want to make a halloween mask out of this. Imagine, a thousand little ‘Bloggess-es’ running around the USA on Halloween night. If some of us ran into others, it would be like a completely awesome paradox where earths collide and shit.
Fuckity. I’m doing it.
It’s perfect!
I’m with Chelsea up above. That would make the best of tattoos. Just think how amazing you would feel knowing that was riding around on your ass all day.
the 1st in a zombie series?
Hope.
Well, not really.
Love it.
The facial expression was captured perfectly. As if to say “I’m dead and it bores me”.
That’s awesome!
Wear boots…..
thats freakin’ fantastic!!
LOVE IT! Frame worthy. Near the front door where everyone can see it as they enter. Priceless!
I am so unbelievably jealous! It is an amazing painting—she is so talented!
That is completely awesome in a totally creepy sort of way.
Personally, I love the portrait, especially the flower behind the ear! But the death by rattlesnake sounds boring compared to my favorite death . (And yes, I do collect fabulous obits and newspaper ” fillers” mentioning quirky death.) Seems some guy many years ago worked as a fork lift operator. During his shift his load also shifted and hijinks ensued. The fellow was crushed to death by Eskimo Pies. What a way to go! One can only hope all the pall bearers were dressed as Good Humor men.
That is seriously AMAZING. And I don’t mean “seriously” like I’m seriously kidding. It’s AMAZING. Seriously.
This looks like a portrait of you dressed up as Delirium of the Endless dressed up as a Dia de los Muertos zombie. In other words, fucking badass.
Wow, this is so much better than those photographs they used to take of people after they really died! Who wants to wait around for the corpse to decompose to get this kind of detail?
People like her should be only children. I happen to know she’s got a sister that can’t paint worth shit. And it’s been happening for years. But seriously, some of my favorite work that she’s done.
Whatever the hell holiday you’re supposed to celebrate by hanging that up, I’m TOTALLY IN! It looks like a holiday greeting card for a mash-up of a “Halloween-slash-Mother’s Day-slash-drinking binge” kind of holiday.
This is beautiful!
(In this painting) You look like the next star of a Tim Burton film! Killer!
Just in time for Halloween! One of my friends turned a picture of me into a zombie, but he used photoshop.
That portrait is awesome! Totally worth a non-lethal rattlesnake bite. Poor little Barnaby Jones Pickles. I love pugs.
That’s AWESOME!
Just a side note – see if she can make a mask. That way you’re TOTALLY ready for the Zombie Apocalypse.
🙂
That’s AWESOME!
Just a side note – see if she can make a mask. That way you’re TOTALLY ready for the Zombie Apocalypse.
🙂
That is so Tate worthy! Homage to Elsa Lancaster! Exquisite! Perhaps the Brits should commission her to capture the true essence of Good Queen Liz!
Careful what you wish for–maybe check your shoes for snakes in the morning.
Can you say “Halloween Costume”?
LOVE the artwork! And what a cute Day of the Dead icon you make! 😀
The only reason I have ever wanted to get married is to get engagement photos done. And now I want to have those – when I get them – turned into Day of the Dead paintings. And a coordinating one of Kitten Thunder.
I’m getting married Halloween weekend. I’m rethinking the bridal portrait thing now.
I must agree, that really is a kick ass portrait!
So sorry to hear about
Darn phone. It submitted before I was done!
I was trying to say, so sorry about Mr. Pickles.
I want to make one of these for everyone who is a DOUCHEFACE! Sorry, a little hurt right now.
Every time I read one of your posts and think to comment, I see that already fifty bazillion fans have already put in their .02 and figure you don’t need my voice. But this rendering is seriously badass, and so here I am to let you know. Simply awesome. I’m going right over to Rachael’s site now.
Holy shit. Rachel is crazy talented. I spent Day of the Dead in both Guanajuato and Guadalajara and this is just as good (if not better) than any of the portraits I saw there.
I mean, it helps that you actually have eyeballs and skin and there isn’t a big cavernous hole where your nose should be. But still.
Jesus Christ, if that impresses you, you should get a load of MY day of the dead one of a kind original art.
That is awesomely beautiful. And I love the curlers — it’s important to look your best.
That is so cool.
Tremendoulsy badass.
Creepily beautiful. Please check for rattlesnakes wherever you walk though.
it is beautiful, but somebody should tell her you always wear lipstick, even when you are dead.
That is very cool but I’m a spaz and would be afraid of a Day of the Dead painting of myself. Then again, I’m also afraid of the perfectly normal portrait of myself as a toddler that’s somewhere in the bottom of my closet. What? Don’t judge.
should TOTALLY be on the header of your blog.. Definely shows the true you
I agree with the person who suggested masks of this. Full of win.
In other Nathan Fillion News: http://thefire.mobify.me/article/13595.html
Nothing like a death photo to make folks smile. Ah I feel like curling up next to a gravestone and cuddling.
Peace, Love and Chocolate,
Tiffany
Victor doesn’t sleep well does he?
that’s definitely awesome.. I might just look into getting my own done.
Her work is great but honestly, I look pretty much like that every dang morning…No need to commemorate the occasion…
You look so…. distinguished.
Do you find that as troubling as I do?
No?
Okay.
__________
Well..there goes a good night’s sleep tonight.
Thanks a fucking lot.
Do not, I repeat do NOT type in Rattlesnake bite into google and then hit the images button.
Barnaby died from a rattlesnake?!? I thought it was a bee sting. I just shed a tear for Barnaby.
(We thought it was an allergic reaction from a bee sting, but then later I found out that our neighbors dogs had been bitten by rattlesnakes and that it was fairly common for dogs in that area. This is why I will shoo spiders out of the house, but have no compunction about shooting a rattlesnake in the face. If I had a gun and good aim, that is. ~ Jenny)
moooooooog35 rofl
u kinda have a LOT of oos
I would totally hang a pic of myself all “Dia de los Muertos” in the living room with pride. That is very cool.
Very Frankenstein-meets Edward Scissorhands-meets Coraline. I especially love the gardenia/s (?) in your hair.
Jesus H. Christ. I’m already afraid of clowns and spiders. I have to worry about that now, too?
I keep telling the man that I want a Day of the Dead themed wedding. (It’s possible he thinks I’m kidding.) This is totally giving me ideas on how to do my makeup. Lovely work.
Again. Halloween masks. “What are you for Halloween?” “Well, I’m The Bloggess”. EXCEPT. We’d have to not only wear the mask but we’d also have to wear ONLY the “Knock, Knock Motherfucker” towels. And a push up bra, because for some reason, all grown women think that Halloween means, “dress slutty”.
So, in conclusion. Let’s make masks and be Slutty Bloggesses for Halloween!
She does watercolours on water-proof paper?
Fucking AWESOME!
That picture definitely reminds me of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Which is just so FUCKAWESOME I can’t handle it.
brills.
SOOOO cool!! I have some friends that do a lot of paintings like these. You look like a Mexican “Katrina” doll! Love it. You’re all set for Dia de los Muertos. Maybe you should celebrate it on Barnaby Jones’ grave. Aww! I remember when he died, poor pooch.
I concur with mooog, all I see is a clown zombie and I’m not going to get any rest.
Wow, that’s a fucking awesome clown zombie photograph! I love it!
Coming from a fellow artist. That is FUCKING legit. I absolutely love it and I really freaking wish I had the money to get one. So fucking cool.
I love this! When I went to San Antonio I bought a Dia De Los Muertos painted skull, it is to my husband what James Garfield is to Victor. Nuff said.
Very trippy!
love the portrait! you need a zombie alter-ego name to go with it. or do you have one already? i’m a new fan so have lots of catching up to do! since your dog’s name was so unique, i can’t wait to hear your zombie name!!!!
That is a SERIOUSLY cool painting 😀
I love the way the permanence of your medium contrasts ironically with the emphemorality of the human condition embracing the paradox of the underlying metaphor of, . . . um . . . of the, uh, . . . the whole damn thing.
i want 1 fo fwee.
that’s a really cool hat, i think your portrait is fantastic, I don’t see clown zombie, no zombie would have a cool swirly stuff unless it happened accidently and then it would be red with little bits of throat stuck to it not pretty colours like that . GET REAL PEOPLE when’s the last time you saw a zombie that looks like that.
I love it!
That’s pretty bad ass.
random thought i had and also the best idea ever. or not. put “please hire me” on the front of a shirt and printed on the back your resume. never know who you might run into at the grocery store etc…but that’s just my opinion. my life’s falling apart and i’m desperate enough to make a shirt like that. but then i might actually look too desperate….hmmm
That totally describes “awesomesauce”.
Also, I think saying *anything* is so good that being nearly killed by a rattlesnake is worth it is a helluva good endorsement. Rachael should copyright that shit, stat.
Excellent portrait. Gee, I wonder if my kids would like one of me for Christmas. heh heh
Is it weird that I look at it (and it’s wonderful) and think that your Japanese tour guides would have approved? Something about it feels like Japanese art to me.
Also I think I just revealed how long I’ve been lurking without commenting. Oh well.
ha! yes, bad-ass. i really love the colors.
Now THAT is canvas art material right there. ;p
It don’t get much better than having talented friends. Also I dunno why my inner Appalachia is coming out in my typing today. I reckon hit don’t make no never you mind.
This is BAD ASS.
On a completely unrelated note, I have found more awesome blogs off of this website than I ever would have guessed.
I think you should consider using it in your header for a while.
Zombies and day of the dead–Brilliant!
That painting is amazing. Slightly scary, but amazing nonetheless.
Kismet? I dunno. I picked up a plastic skull to do a whole Day of the Dead painting on..Imma cheat & look at this pic while doing it. 🙂
oooo ooo…and lookie this….
http://www.artistryofpoland.com. They have Dia de los Muertos ornaments!
it’s not the sunken eyes, the gapping nose or the decaying flesh but the sorrowful, lost from within expression that makes this so absolutely haunting
That picture is so cool..in a creepy way! Love the colors. My daughter found the coolest photographer that takes pictures of woman in their wedding dresses AFTER they get DIVORCED!! Spray paint/Mud/Dirt/ cool cool pictures. The above pic reminds me of those! What a neat way to celebrate a divorce!! T:)
Her work reminds me a bit of 14 at Gallery of the Absurd.
love the pic. I’d like to do a Day of the Dead theme for Halloween.
It boggles my mind how she is able to make you look sexy with a skull as a face. Amazing!
Sorry about the doucheface outburst yesterday. I need to be more zombie like and less like a sensitive human. I wrote about hookers and strippers today. And I would totally buy one of those portraits if I could.
The purple, pink, and blue hues are perfect for El Día de los Muertos!
Actually, now that I looked at it 59 times, I think IT IS kind of cool! So disregard my last comment.
Holy crap, that’s scary. ( but in a good way–if that’s possible).
Maybe you should put a (dead/skeletalized) bird on it.
And maybe someones already wrote that, but frankly I wouldn’t know since I didn’t read all the comments above mine.
-AA
*I meant written. I usually have better grammar. Stupid autocorrect.
-AA
I’m oddly disturbed by this. . .reminds me of clowns. . .clowns ain’t right. That being said, your friend has gots the mad art skillz, yo!
I would just like to roam around inside the head of someone who names their dog Barnaby Jones Pickles for a day. Ah-mazing.
And I love the portrait.
I swear to God, all the very best people love pugs. Excellent pre-zombie image of you.
reminds me of beetlejuice in a way….
Dude, that picture is worth getting a rattlesnake bite for.
Well, maybe not. I don’t particularly like it when critters bite me. Especially poisonous ones. That would probably require a trip to the E.R. and then a co-pay and then hospital bills to try and coerce our insurance to pay for… Basically, this is sounding like a whole lot of trouble for you. Still. At least you have a back up picture for your “about me” page, right?
I wonder how many people are going to dress up as Undead Bloggess for Halloween this year after reading this post.
I can see why you liked that. I want to like it too, but I can’t find the button!
Wow, I had no idea … She’s one of my favorite artists, and to find out that you two are friends is just…
I’m so amused I’m almost speechless. What can I say, it takes a lot to truly make me speechless, but still!
Commenters: YOU’VE BEEN HEARD.
I’ve added “Jenny The Bloggess Day of the Dead Cut-out Mask” to the rewards on my Kickstarter project. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rachaelrossman/dia-de-los-muertos-day-of-the -dead-portrait-series
You could be the next Joker in the Batman movies like this.
Hi there, Bloggess. I’m a long time lurker, first time commenter. I LOVE Dia De Los Muertos art, and I LOVE this likeness of you! 🙂 I am jazzed it’s become more mainstream recently. 🙂
Wow, I like it. Kind of scary in a way. But, I like it.
That is just freaking awesome.
This portraiture thing is probably a much better – and less illegal – version of what I had planned (which my husband says will not happen and I’m not sure how much say I am going to have in the matter). I wanted to have my actual skull painted Dia de los Muertos-style after I die. I mean, I don’t want to be buried cuz that’s creepy, and I don’t really want to be burned because too many of my ancestors have already been there and done that, and I’d like to donate my body to science, but there’s a freakin’ long waiting list now, so I thought stripping the skin from my skull and taking it to New Mexico or other Mexico to have it painted all pretty and fancy and sugary would be the next best thing and then it could have a place of honor and color on the mantlepiece (we don’t actually have a mantle so it would have to go up on top of the TV cabinet, but that would be festive, too) (also, in a related note, I found out it’s not legal to leave your body in a national park to be eaten by mountain lions, bears, and badgers, which is a shame because there’s a national park-like-area right out my back door and that would have been exceptionally convenient and also very circle-of-lifeish. I even know someone I could commission to make a metal sign to hang upon my person so that no one mistakes me for a murder victim, but even that is not good enough) Anyhow, Mr. Husbandface and I have watched “Bones”. We know how to strip a skull of flesh and hair and stuff. But then he said that probably also is not legal – both the stripping of a spouse’s skull and the carrying it across state lines and maybe country lines to have it painted – and so he won’t do that for me. I don’t think my nieces or nephews will, either. And this is exactly why I should have had children and raised them without morals. >:{
Totally sorry your dog got killed by a rattlesnake…and your portrait is totally awesome!
Ooh, I LOVE it! If I had one done of myself, I’d frame it so that I could pretend I’m edgy and cool.
I almost choked on my tater tot because I laughed so hard. Even though I learned a long time ago it was dangerous to eat or drink while reading your blog.
This awesome portrait of you would be the perfect companion to the skeleton dude in Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” video who goes by the name of Zombie Boy in real life. I may or may not have a strange attraction to him in that video.
If you haven’t already seen this, I highly recommend you skip past the oogy birth of a slimy alien being at the beginning of the video. You’re welcome. Zombie Boy appears at 4:10.
Gah. Meant to include video link in case you’re bored out of your mind looking for Zombie boy entertainment:
http://goo.gl/fJSD5
This is badass!!! Hope no rattlesnake crosses your path.
I know your feelings on zombies and preparedness. I thought you might like the idea behind this run.
http://runforyourlives.com/
I want do have her do one of my pictures for this! It’s so cool!
I like how she uses your quote about being injected with venom and all that on her site, haha.
Her portraits are awesome!!