This one was a lot of fun. It is very busy, and I want my audience to look at it again and again. I am imagining this now as a sixty-year-old with the kid still inside, so let’s scare ourselves silly. I wanted to find my haunted memories or inner demons or goblins, now happy haunting memories. Back in 1972, my brother tried scaring me by telling me that the witch might fly on her broomstick to come, scare, and get us. I was always told as a child that there was no such thing as ghosts, witches, or goblins. Two witches fly to our backyard. Based on two animated mechanical figures at the state fair’s midway attraction: one small witch with an evil angry face and razor-sharp teeth stood on a ledge bowing and holding her broom, and on the ground, a six-or-seven-foot-ticket-stand shaped like-a-mechanical witch turns, holding a sign that reads: “Buy Tickets here, then see my castle,” and waving her arm as if she is casting a wicked spell. The two witches conjure and cast spooky spells. An entourage of spooks comes; two skeletons appear, as one dance around while the other is chained to the ground. Inanimate objects, such as two black metal clothes-line poles, wooden clothes pins, ropes, and sheets transform into two spiders, bats, snakes, and ghosts. Between the blond monster and the robot, a tree comes alive, and a red bush transforms into a spider. A tree with fall foliage turns into a fire-breathing dragon. The house comes alive with teeth and seems about to devour us. The moon is alive and can watch us, so there is no escape or nowhere to hide on earth. The witch as the focal point warns me on her sign: “Come Back to my castle, or ELSE!” Happy Haunting! Happy Halloween!

Acrylic

12” x 12”