Tombstone Memorials
Dark Arts & Loved Crafts is predominantly a way to capture death and the macabre in a whimsical light,
but that isn't to say there isn't also respect in it.
The Tombstone Memorials began with the passing of Trevor Strnad (lead singer of melodic death metal band The Black Dahlia Murder).
It felt like losing a friend, even though I had never met him. Part of my grieving manifested in the will to paint him.
Not to just paint the man, but to cut out and use as a canvas a specific, universal, and finite shape to signify his passing;
A coffin.
As I was working on this piece, I realized it helped me to actually memorialize him.
Spending time listening to TBDM albums and watching their DVDs as I worked,
I felt less of a reminder of his passing, and more of a sense of his immortality.
As with the creation of Trevor's Tombstone Memorial,
so, too, were my celebrations of each of the lives of these inspirational artists.
Comedians, actors, wrestlers, musicians; Figures who had a profound voice in my very own creation.
This is my way to remember them and to share that love.
In memoriam:
Trevor Scott Strnad
May.3-1981 - May.11-2022
In memoriam:
Heath Ledger
Apr.4-1979 - Jan.22-2008
In memoriam:
Maila Elizabeth Syrjaniemi
Maila Nurmi
"Vampira"
Dec.11,1922-Jan.10,2008
In memoriam:
Clifford “Cliff” Lee Burton
Feb.10-1962 - Sept.27-1986
In memoriam:
Windham Lawrence Rotunda "Bray Wyatt"
May.23,1987-Aug.24,2023
In memoriam:
Jill Janiszewski
"Jill Janus"
Sept.2,1975-Aug.14,2018
In memoriam:
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó
“Bela Lugosi”
Oct.20,1882 – Aug.16,1956
In memoriam:
William Henry Pratt
“Boris Karloff”
“Karloff the Uncanny”
Nov.23,1887 – Feb.2,1969
In memoriam:
Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill
May.19-1949 – Jul.28-2021
In memoriam:
David Murray Brockie
“Oderus Urungus”
Aug.30,1963 - Mar.23,2014
In memoriam:
Sir Thomas Sean Connery
Aug.25,1930 - Oct.31,2020
In memoriam:
Stanley Martin Lieber
"Stan Lee"
Dec.28,1922 - Nov.12,2018
In memoriam:
Mitch Hedburg
Feb.24-1968 – Mar.30-2005
In memoriam:
Brittany Murphy
Nov.10-1977 - Dec.20-2009
In memoriam:
Wayne Richard Wells
aka "Wayne Static"
Nov.4-1965 - Nov.1-2014
In Memoriam:
“Peter Steele” Petrus
Thomas Ratajczyk
Jan.4-1962 - Apr.14-2010
In memoriam:
Scott Oliver Hall
“The Bad Guy” “Razor Ramon”
Oct.20-1958 – Mar.14-2022
In memoriam:
Prince Rogers Nelson
Jun.7-1958 – Apr.21-2016
In Memoriam:
Paul Dedrick Gray
Apr.8-1972 - May.24-2010
In Memoriam:
Nathan Jonas
“Joey” Jordison
Apr.26-1975 – Jul.26-2021
In memoriam:
Chi Ling Dai Cheng
Jul.15-1970 – Apr.13-2013
In Memoriam:
“Lemmy” Ian Fraser Kilmister
Dec.24-1945 - Dec.28-2015
In Memoriam:
“Lemmy” Ian Fraser Kilmister
Dec.24-1945 - Dec.28-2015
In memoriam:
“Chris Cornell”
Christopher John Cornell
Jul.30-1964 - May.18-2017
In memoriam:
Philip "Phil" Parris Lynott
Aug.20-1949 - Jan.4-1986
In Memoriam:
“Dimebag” Darrell
Lance Abbott
Aug.20-1966 - Dec.8-2004
In memoriam:
“Dimebag” Darrell
Lance Abbott
Aug.20-1966 - Dec.8-2004
In memoriam:
Vincent “Vinnie”
Paul Abbott
Mar.11-1964 - Jun.22-2018
In Memoriam:
Brandon Bruce Lee
Feb.1-1965 – Mar.31-1993
In Memoriam:
Betty Marion White Ludden
Jan.17-1922 - Dec.31-2021
In memoriam:
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman
Feb.21-1946 – Jan.14-2016
In Memoriam:
“David Bowie”
David Robert Jones
Jan.8-1947 – Jan.10-2016
In Memoriam:
“Chyna” Joan Marie Laurer
Dec.27-1969 - Apr.17-2016
In Memoriam:
Tina Turner
Nov.26-1939 – May.24-2023
In Memoriam:
Eddie Gory Guerrero Llanes
Oct.9-1967 - Nov.13-2005
In Memoriam:
James Owen Sullivan
“The Rev”
Feb.9-1981 – Dec.28-2009
In Memoriam:
George Patrick Dennis Carlin
May.12-1937 - Jun.22-2008
In Memoriam:
Paul Reubens
“Pee-wee Herman”
Aug.27-1952 - Jul.30-2023
In memoriam:
Vincent Leonard Price Jr.
May.27-1911 - Oct.25-1993
Disclaimer:
I made the above Tombstone Memorials with only love in mind.
I mean no disrespect to these artists or anything they have created.
I mean only to memorialize them. It's why their name does not appear on the piece; If you know them, you know them.
These are only artists who have left the mortal coil;
I will not paint a living artist on a Tombstone Memorial.
If you would like a living artist rendition, we can discuss an altar or a different plaque shape.