Haunted MTL Original – Taking Care of Mother – Todd M. Guerra
“Taking Care of Mother” by Todd M. Guerra
Gotta take care of mother. Mother is why I’m here. She’s the reason I’m alive. She kept me alive all those years so I must do it too. That’s what a good daughter does. The house is cold when the bills aren’t paid. I work hard to pay them so Mother isn’t cold.
I scrub the dishes very hard at work. It makes me think of Mother and when she used to wash me in the sink. She got me very clean; she scrubbed me hard. I wish pans could bleed so I’d know they were really clean.
The people at work always give me funny looks. They whisper that I’m slow and weird when they don’t think I can hear them. I’m not slow I’m just busy. I don’t have time to talk about television and boyfriends and getting laid (whatever that is). I have to clean dishes to keep Mother warm.
Mother always kept me warm when I was little. She made me play where it was warm, so I wouldn’t catch cold. It hurt but I know that’s love. I love her, so she stays warm now too…just like when I was young! She’s old now, and she’s like the kid and I’m the mother now. I just want to be as good a mother as she was to me.
I invited a boy over to the apartment once; his name was Donny. Mother didn’t like him because she caught us playing her game together. She told me that’s a game only mothers and daughters play, and I shouldn’t be bringing anyone home to play it with them. She told me boys were evil and wouldn’t do nothing but trouble for me. She said if I got in trouble by a boy, she’d make sure it died. I don’t know what she meant, but it scared me and I tried to never cross Mother again.
I never had a daddy like other kids. I finally asked Mother why. She said he left her with the little shit-maker to deal with and ran off with someone. I don’t know what a shit-maker is. I’ve been looking all over the house to get rid of it to make mother happy. I thought it was the cat, so I dropped him out of the window. It made a real neat splat sound and a really big mess. Mother got really mad when she found out. Things got out of hand and we hurt each other, and since then Mother’s not said anything to me. She’s just mad, but she’ll get over it eventually because I keep her warm now, where you’re supposed to go when you get cold.
End
Todd M. Guerra is a longtime amateur writer who will take this thing seriously one of these days. He is, as Doctor Octopus once described Peter Parker, ‘brilliant, but lazy.’
So I happened upon this very cheesecake-heavy premiere issue of Extremes of Violet, complete with pinups by some of the comic book greats of the time, and decided to make some Peeping Toms collage art by incorporating the voluptuous vixen into various crystal pieces to create a sort of fishbowl effect centered largely on her bosom (which is unavoidable).
Each of the Peeping Toms is shown from three angles because of how much the pieces shift as the light plays off the crystal. I started with these star forms.
The second bowl was even a bit iridescent, and violet at that!
Next I did a series of really perky busty bowls, which really get the feeling across that you are looking through the tiny peephole in a door as well as exemplifying the content even more. Note: these are shown in two rows with side details as well, so there are a lot of pics here…
I experimented a little and tried a couple of other scenes, like the portrait, as well. She’s staring back at the Peeping Toms…
I also tried this more square bowl form.
And finally, I found this little heart, which is my personal favorite of the group.
These works are a continuation of my Creepy Comics collage series, shown on Haunted MTL here.
Creepy Comics 5
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
So I probably should have taken a before picture, but I found a faux wood stained plaster Jesus statue and turned it into Zombie Christ. Because it’s the second second coming. Or something. It’s kind of an offshoot of my nail polish paintings reappropriating thrift store art…
Anyway without further ado, I present…
I was a little concerned that I made him too green at first, but I’m happy with the finished result. This statue just looked so anguished. It’s eyes had been closed but I like them better open and even painted them with blacklight reactive nail polish so they will stand out even more and be interactive in other ways to add creepy factor.
Sadly I don’t have a blacklight anymore or I’d share a picture that way too. Oh well. I’ll leave you with a fun detail shot instead.
Next time I may make him more gray than green though. We shall see…
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
So it’s been awhile since we’ve looked at some of the things I have gathered, so I thought I’d bring back my art collection for another round… Here are the first and second highlights in case you missed earlier explorations.
From left to right: M Pena Windstone Editions bat-winged flap cat, bone mask by Terry and Susan Wright, wood cat in skull by labcreature, real hair art by myself, pencil drawing of Barbarois Elder for Vampire Hunter D anime cel
From left to right: Barbarois Elder for Vampire Hunter D anime cel, Turn Me Royal portrait of my father and stepmother as Frankenstein’s monster and his bride, painted horse skull
Left to right: Overgrowth by Ellie Bradley, heart by TenderFlesh, praying devil girl by Torman’s Treasures
And a vintage plastic 2-foot Jack O Lantern I got at a yard sale and have kept on display on his very own stool in the living room since. So happy.
Anyway, there are some more highlights from my art collection, as it is always growing and evolving. I have lucked into several of these pieces at antique and thrift stores or acquired them from the artists or more. And yes, I still have Da Ting the taxidermy shih-tzu from the first of these posts.
