[Etsy.com’s tagline is “Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.” Coincidentally, there’s a lot of spooky on Etsy, and each Tuesday, we highlight one of the sellers. If you’re looking to spruce up your look, redecorate your tomb or get a gift for that special something in your afterlife, Etsy.com is a place for spooky econo.]
Mister Reusch (http://www.etsy.com/shop/misterreusch)
Spring cleaning means a lot of things here at the Local. It might be a bit presumptuous to think that we’re on our way out of the blistering misery that has been the Winter of ’10-’11 (unofficially called ‘You Cold Bastard!’). But maybe if everyone acts that Spring has sprung, then it’ll actually happen. We think that’s how Freddy Krueger and the Tooth Fairy operate, and you know they’re both real as reason.
So, it’s with optimistic delirium that we start to clean and freshen up the look around the Front Offices here. Doc Killian will soon be around collecting for his Mary Shelly Yardsale, where he stitches together savings from pieces of many people’s clutter. While we rid ourselves of things we’ve outgrown, it frees up the space for something new. Instead of leaving our walls bare and dull, we could not think of a better addition than the works of Mister Reusch.
Grim Reaper on Big Wheel Halloween Signed Print by Mister Reusch
Mister Reusch’s use of vivid colors and bold lines makes his paintings stand out, which helps bring a room to life. With that said, some of his better pieces feature the Grim Reaper, like the work above that has a diminutive(however, still deadly) black rider eschew a skeletal horse in favor for a much more enjoyable ride, the Big Wheel. We spoke with Bernie Freakshow about why this painting is so appealing. Outside of the colors and Mister Reusch’s visible talent, this print displays a strange principle of Creeptomotry. The Grim Reeper is creepy. Children can be TERRIFYING. Big Wheels are awesome. Creepy x Terrifying / Awesome = Appealing. It’s referred to as the Epstead Equation.
Here, we see the Epstead Equation again. Grim Reaper x Children / Lowrider Bike = a fantastic print. Bernie Freakshow is working a correspondence Master’s course on Creeptomotry so he was happy to help define the principle here in between using his backhoe to finally dig Strange Jason out of his first floor apartment.
However, if you are one of the few people left in the Northern Hemisphere who isn’t completely repulsed by snow, then this wonderful pinup will do well for your wall. There are those who are in love in the winter and had the wildest time over the past few months. We can’t say that those here have been too thrilled. We’re used to being six feet deep of earth, not snow. But if snow came with more characters like this one by Mister Reusch, we might not object so much.
With the recently sad passing of Tura Satana, this poster by Mister Reusch for a 2003 Russ Meyer Tribute show may be a bit bittersweet. But perhaps you can have your own tribute to the incredible woman that has become synonymous with Russ Meyer and overall bad-assery. Seriously, that woman was amazing and if you buy this poster to have a daily tribute to her, we totally are on board.
What really drew us to Mister Reusch was his style. There’s a real personal touch in his work that makes it distinct. Like this picture of Frankenstein’s Monster rocking out on a six-string. If you look at this, you can immediately point out that it looks like nothing else. That’s an incredible feat for any artist to do, to establish his or her own swagger. Bravo, Mister Reusch.