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As a child, my fascination with small, intricate objects was insatiable. I spent hours poring over American Girl doll catalogs, marveling at the minuscule treasures. I started collecting miniature versions of everyday objects, and even drew tiny pictures that I carefully cut out and kept in a collection. Looking back, I realize that this early interest in detail and composition has greatly influenced my current work. 

When I discovered the magic of stop-motion animation with The Nightmare Before Christmas in the 90s, I was immediately captivated. The film was full of tiny, extraordinary and almost unbelievable details, which served to bring the characters and worlds to life. I didn’t even know how the movies were made at the time, but it was somehow inherently obvious that painstaking craftsmanship went into every movement and expression. 

Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the MOPOP in Seattle, and view the brand new exhibit “Hidden Worlds”, which featured the movie props and behind-the-scenes looks into Laika's films. As a long-time admirer of their work, I was thrilled to be invited to the opening by Studio Laika.

Laika has a rich history in the stop-motion field. Originally known as Will Vinton Studios, the company rebranded in 2005 and was named after the famous dog sent to space by the Soviet Union. It was during this time that Nike, Inc. owner Phil Knight acquired the studio and provided the funding needed to produce feature-length films. Henry Selick - the director of my beloved childhood favorite, The Nightmare Before Christmas - later joined the studio as a supervising director, further solidifying its position as a pioneer in the stop-motion animation industry.

Walking through the exhibit, I was transported to the enchanting worlds of Laika's films. There is even a glowing hallway inspired by the one in Coraline to walk through! The intricate details of the puppets and sets were breathtaking, and it was fascinating to witness the entire process behind the making of these movies. From initial sketches to finished products, each piece was a testament to the remarkable creativity and hard work that goes into producing a stop-motion film. 

What sets Laika's films apart from any others, in my eyes, is the studio's dedication to meaningful storytelling. Each movie is a unique blend of whimsy and darkness, delving into themes such as identity, family, and the human condition. It's no wonder that the studio has garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards over the years. 

As I left the exhibit, I was filled with a sense of nostalgia and wonder. The films of Studio Laika have always held a special place in my heart, and being able to see the movie props up close was an absolute dream come true. 

I left feeling grateful for the immense talent and commitment of the studio's artists and technicians, who bring these extraordinary stories to life with such precision and care, and a renewed sense of inspiration and wonder to take home with me.

After I visited HIDDEN WORLDS, I was able to wander the rest of the museum, where I snapped some photos in the fantasy exhibit as well.

by Alyssa Thorne

[alyssathorne]

Props from a recent preliminary (natural) lighting test. Diaphanous and glowing, even under the dark film of cloudy northwest skies. Recently, I've been taking my time on creating new works. I've always spent a lot of time on each piece I make, but I had started pushing myself to finish faster, and I burnt out completely. I found out that output does not necessarily equal income. When I was throwing piece after piece into the world, I had no time to live outside my art practice. My creativity wore so thin, it was threadbare. So I slowed down. Firmly and with purpose. I love it. I have never felt as connected to my work as I do now. I’ve been building that feeling carefully these last few months. Weaving it together fiber by fiber, reveling in the minutiae that defines my work: preliminary sketches and careful selection of props, trial shoots, editing with a meditative clarity that only comes when I’m not rushed. For the accompanying writing with each piece, I pen outlines, embark on historical research, personal memory recall, and make multiple drafts. There are notes in every area of my house, mind, and digital workspaces. I'm trying to find an elusive balance. Earning enough to live and create, but also giving my art the necessary space & time to grow. Each piece needs to fully blossom before I clip it out of my garden. I create my most complete & resonant pieces when I take my time to nurture them. With this shift in my approach, I'm able to have more time to document my process. Here, you see props likely destined for a work in progress titled, "Devotion."’ A piece regarding the many forms of dedication 🤍 Once I choose props & decide on florals, I'll sketch a rough draft and start expanding my written outline. If you want to know what’s next, come back to see another process post soon, where I’ll share the sketch, and the first line of the statement. 🤍 https://www.instagram.com/p/CpBWPIJSLS_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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[alyssathorne]

Swipe for the raw photo. I always get asked if I use filters on my work. I don’t. I do edit the living daylights out of my work though 😂 in Lightroom mostly I use filters in casual, momentary content like stories & old reels (I use Adobe rush to edit now) but not in my work. Why? I would never be able to achieve what I do in my art pieces with a blanket, one-size-fits-all filter or preset. Don’t get me wrong, presets can be great, even for professional photographers. Especially if you shoot weddings/portraits or you’re a content creator who needs extremely cohesive photos. Presets are a really efficient way to get a group of photos edited faster, or provide you with the right starting base. I have had people tell me they’re useful tools for learning how to use Lightroom as well. I shoot single pieces unless it is client work. I would say on average 4-12 hours editing each one. Sometimes if it’s a really important work, I’ll leave it and come back to it. It can take months to finish. I use (probably too many) masks to spot edit and adjust the light, and so many tweaks to color etc by hand that it would be impossible to do what I do most of the time, with just a filter. That said - I think presets are fun, and I did utilize them a lot when I was doing commercial work/portraits. I have been thinking of creating some to sell, since so many people seem to be interested in my editing style. I cannot pretend you will get the EXACT results I do, but if enou people are interested, I can create some downloadable presets to help you apply the ~vibes~ and general style of my artwork. If you’re interested in purchasing something like that or joining a future online class with me, raise your hand! https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYJkWOS2lK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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The shape of things to come ✨ I have been taking my time editing new works and writing statements for them. It was really important to slow down and enjoy my art process again. I hope that between new pieces, I can give more insight into that process and the life that shapes the work. This is a tiiiiiiiny part of an upcoming piece. I think only @elisavitafineart and @ghostgallery have seen the full unfinished work so far. I often will shoot little pieces of the larger photo, so that I can try out color balances that I might want to use in a less overwhelming way than attacking the finished piece without knowing how I want the colors to look yet. Helps my ADHD brain stay organized and on task. Swipe for the before! And if anyone can guess what rhe non-floral element is in the finished work (that you can’t see here) I’ll give you a free phone background ✨ Hint: this element is only in ONE piece of the current catalog of work on my site. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiQfWxLPTPi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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“Death Of Seasons” A favorite piece from my catalog, that was created to encapsulate the feeling of the end of summer, which ….is still going at the moment here. It’s September first though - soon we will be free of the heat ✨ Swipe the photo to read the artist statement. Art prints and phone cases are available with this piece in my shop 🤍 Snake skeleton is cruelty- free paper as always, by @mothandmyth https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch-efrDPq1k/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Alyssa Thorne X S. Elizabeth

In a banner week for being able to do “pinch me I’m dreaming” jobs - I have something thing I created for a friend to show you! This was made for @ghoulnextdoor - otherwise known as author and notorious perfume sniffer, S. Elizabeth. I also know her as a pal; one whom I feel incredibly lucky to have met in this weird world. She is the most spectacular person and I could talk about her for days! But you should just get to know her yourself.

This piece was created EXCLUSIVELY for the Patreon that accompanies her incredible TikTok perfume review channel, Midnight Stinks. If you like perfume, this is THE TikTok for you. Her voice is so soothing and the descriptions of the smells are like nothing I’ve ever heard before, and are incredibly unique, transportive, and sometimes funny as heck.

For this piece, I imagined a tableau that represented the feelings I get when I watch her videos. So I present: Midnight Stinks - a fantastical, imaginary vanity table with luxuriant floral overgrowth, magically springing from the surface. A scene with shimmering bottles, gleaming jewels, yellowing old books full of notes on various scents. A table fit for a notable scent historian.

I also included a sneak peek at the book photos I shot for her upcoming book, The Art Of Darkness - it is gorgeous and you need to pre-order and see it for yourself! Pre- Order the book HERE

When I asked what she would like people to know about the book, she said

"It was conceived of at a time when "Good Vibes Only" was a big thing that influencers and wellness gurus were all espousing. And that really rubbed me the wrong way. We've since started talking about that attitude as "toxic positivity" and I was sort of thinking of this book as the antidote to aggressively good vibes, and a way to sit with distressing, uncomfortable things that don't feel good in a safe and sometimes beautiful space."

Here is a quote from the book to illustrate this (in my opinion) super refreshing perspective.

"Ever since I learned as a child that we all at some point experience unpleasant feelings or behaviors or conditions, whether that be fright or fury, melancholy or misery, sadness or sickness, I have been fascinated by how we describe and communicate these things, these darker aspects of the human condition–especially as it relates to language and visuals, and in particular the way these things are depicted in art.

We all experience darkness. We can’t avoid it, and I don’t think we should. If we’re eternally trying to live the light where it’s always bright and happy, where we ignore or evade our distressing, uncomfortable feelings, then we are starved of shadows, of nuance, and risk an existence robbed of the richness of contrast. When we only validate our positive feelings, we vastly restrict our tools for looking at the world. We are neither dealing with reality as it is nor adequately readying ourselves for the random pains and struggles that life has in store for us. We deny our inner darkness at our own peril. Because tragedies and calamities are inevitable and darkness will descend at some point in your life, no matter what sort of mindset you have. Despite what you may have heard, good things don’t only happen to good people, and bad things don’t only happen to bad people, and whatever it is, your positive or negative thoughts did not make it happen. Shit happens. Pain is pain, feelings are feelings. And as humans, for our emotional health, it is important that we experience and embody the full spectrum of feelings and emotions."

Honestly, please seek out the book if you like dark art. It's truly special.

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Things have been quiet over here lately, but I am editing LOTS of new work to show you, and there are some exciting things coming up I can tell you about soon ✨ I’ve had lots of asks for the 2023 calendar and you’ll be happy to know I am working on it right now! The release date will be in the newsletter going out tomorrow. It will also have updates on all my September happenings and some insight into my recent personal and commission work! Sign up at the link in my bio to get in on it. This piece is “Still Life With Dogwood” and is available in my shop 💕 https://www.instagram.com/p/Chp76IWvgMZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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I have tons of ✨postcards✨ in the shop! These bad boys are $10, printed a nice thick cardstock, and coated in a velvety soft finish. The most luxurious postcards I’ve ever felt. If you want a little art for your bulletin board, fridge, or to send to a friend (it has a functional postcard back!) I have plenty to go around. I also have fine art prints, mini frames, magnets, greeting cards, puzzles, and more! www.alyssathorne.co on the web or the link in my bio here. Thank you for looking!💕 https://www.instagram.com/p/ChdEBZSv2mO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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“Some of us, that day, she led inexorably through the gates of death. Some of us, innocent and unsuspecting, took, unwillingly, that one last step to oblivion. Some of us took very little sugar.” ⁃ Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in The Castle. 🌿Still quite a few Blackwood Mini Masterpiece Magnets in stock. Prints are always available but the magnets are limited! www.alyssathorne.co 🌿 Artist statement for Blackwood: ____ I waited patiently for the blackberries to grow again in the yard. I snipped each stalk, pricked each thumb, said hello to many bumblebees, and ate quite a few berries during the making of this. There is, quite literally, a lot of my blood in this piece. Creating this work felt like weaving a spell that Merricat would be proud of. This book means a lot to me as does all of Shirley Jackson’s work. The way she writes speaks to my soul in a way that is hard to articulate. She knows every secret magic, every ghost in the walls. I feel a kinship with her books, I try to do what she did with my own work, making something that is still but somehow alive, something quietly vicious, beautiful, and unsuspecting. Something that makes you look twice and not see the same thing each time. I hope that Shirley would be proud of this piece. I sure am ❤️

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My new stamp for prints 🤍 I am so in love with it! It took me a really long time to settle on something I thought was perfect. I hope you all love it! Flip through the carousel to see some photos of my prints 💕 Every giclee fine art print from me comes with a care sheet, a thank you postcard with a print on one side, and a bookmark. Currently I have a special on my site where you can also grab a phone background free with any print! Every order also comes with my eternal gratitude for supporting my art. I am so so grateful to those that choose to be here and help me to create my heart’s work. Whether by getting a print, sharing a post, sending me lovely emails, commenting encouraging words, telling a friend about me…it all helps me to be able to do this for even part of a living. It’s already beyond what I ever imagined it could be, and I’m still just getting started ❤️ Thank you all so much for being here. It means a lot to have you on this journey.

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This book of poetry belonged to my great-great-grandmother, Myrtle. She signed her name on the inside. I never met her, as she died well before I was born. All the same, I think about how two women of the same bloodline can hold the same book, in two different times and places, and feel the same emotions about the words written therein. Literature transcends time. I wonder how her life was, what she felt, who she was. It’s fascinating. I was recently given several family books and as a poetry lover, this one is my favorite. When I opened it, there was a lovely antique birthday card in it, in the middle of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”. I think we would have gotten along. I don’t really own a lot of antiques or vintage items. I have a prop trunk for my work with various items I’ve gathered, but I tend to use them and pass them on to save space in my tiny apartment. I don’t like to use new things since I’d like my work to lose a sense of time, to exist in a liminal space that could be any time. I own very few permanent pieces and almost all of them are sentimental in some way. Heirlooms are something that have a great deal of meaning to me. Like this book. I love to look at and learn about antiques even though I don’t own many. I believe a connection to the past and learning from what our ancestors have gone through, is incredibly important in order to create a livable future ❤️

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Beautiful flowers from a shoot last week ✨ can’t wait to show you the result! I shot a reel as well so you’ll be able to see a little of how I created the forthcoming piece. I hope everyone is having as good a Monday as is humanly possible!

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Alyssa Thorne, 2021. Title: A Long Midnight" I am consistently asked what piece of mine is my favorite. This is it, “A Long Midnight”. It’s actually the only piece of my own that is hanging in my house! Things I love about it: - it was inspired by one of my favorite pieces of writing - “The October Country” by Ray Bradbury. - It features grapes which I find to be the most beautiful of all fruits. Especially these ones. (Cotton candy grapes. If you know, you know) - It is, in my opinion, the most painterly of all my photos. Most people will know that the darkness and contrast in my work is not meant to be spooky or gothic, but instead is used to emulate the classical chiaroscuro technique of the old masters. I’ve loved it since I was a child and it’s fun to work with. - It’s the only piece I’ve made where my execution is almost identical to the idea and vision I had for it. Most pieces deviate quite a bit, but this ended up being spot on. You can read more about this piece via the information section in the listing in my shop If you have a favorite of my pieces, which is it? 💕 Prints of “A Long Midnight” are in the shop at www.alyssathorne.co ❤️

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Alyssa Thorne

[alyssathorne]

Hi! I’m Alyssa! You can find my artist bio and all my art for sale at www.alyssathorne.co - you can follow me one Instagram @alyssathorne.co

Please do not remove the credit or links when you share my work! ❤️ support the livelihood of independent artists by properly crediting ❤️