During my sabbatical I am taking a creative writing class. Oh yes, I’ve been moving the brain in new and mysterious ways, highly recommended. I may one day need to write a play about philosophical zombies and sock puppet identities, for example. Perhaps it will be a musical, featuring bands of ukeleles. I am stockpiling skills.

Friend and gallery owner Michael Rosenthal recently sent me a story by Donald Barthelme (1981) titled Zombies. It brings to mind the lesser but greatly hyped Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

And speaking of that marketing success, Dawn of The Dreadfuls, the prequel to Pride and… is coming hot on its heels next month, following the “post-script prequel” trend haunting all manner of horror lately. The cover for Dawn… is above.

I am learning Tip Toe Through the Tulips, on the ukelele.

With any luck I will one day be as good as the late great Tiny Tim, my ukelele hero. For anyone else desiring some ukelele skillz, here are load of free Ukelele scores. And an online tuner.
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Update: my friend Adie pointed me to chordie.com, for even more Uke-playing fun!
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And now, some inspiration…

Tiny Tim’s Tip Toe Through the Tulips:

Nick Lucas’s Tip Toe Through the Tulips:

In other Ukelele awesomeness, virtuoso Jake’s Ukelele Gently Weeps:

And the also late and great IZ plays Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

RedRum, my show at Hallwalls is up and running now through late February. It features a new video, also titled RedRum that features young ghosts and houses that drip with blood.

Dear Buffalo,
Thanks to Hallwalls for everything and curator John Massier for the fabulous production assistance; the students at Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and Jam Vafai for being my crew and actors; Joan Linder and Paul Vanouse, Julian and Colette Montague, Sandy Ludwig and Mark Kerwood, and Dennis Maher for lending their homes; The Buffalo Soundpainting Ensemble for creating uber-creepy sounds and introducing me to the ocean harp; Gerry Mead and Cori Wolff for lending paintings from their collections; and Debbie and Gary Hill for hosting me. Buffalo, I miss you already!
~love, Jillian

Although there are many zombie sock monkeys out in the world, my dear dear friend Kelty in Vancouver sent me this prize specimen for Xmas - how could anyone not love that precious face, at least from a safe distance? Thanks Kelty!

These are stills from my video, RedRum, currently in post-production. It will premiere at Hallwalls in Buffalo, opening Jan 15th!

I’ve been filming a new video in Buffalo, New York called Red Rum. It features a group of teenagers and me, as ghostly apparitions, in Victorian homes. And a decent amount of fake blood. Stay tuned.

…production still, above…

The desert, the rocky coast, the snowy tundra… you can take a girl off the prairie but you can’t take the barren landscape / big sky appeal away from the girl.

-Jillian

In case you thought I had long forgotten about Tempe and the desert, think again! Today I am furiously (actually, rather calmly) editing a stop motion animation shot on location at a private swimming pool, filmed with the help of three fabulous ASU graduate students - Alison Sweet, Cory Weeks, and Julie Ganas, and the uber-talented John Spiak. There are neither zombies nor vampires in this video, and no cacti were harmed.

Production still above.

-Jillian

Despite the title, no buffaloes will be harmed!

However there will be blood in Buffalo, New York this week as I head north to shoot a new video in residence at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Red Rum, filmed on location in Buffalo, features local young actors, musicians, and homes.

Stay tuned…

-Jillian

-Jillian