MRS. DEATH WAITS FOR NO ONE - Fiercely Powerful

It brings me nothing but the greatest joy in this world to bring Mrs. Death to life. As a little kid, I was always obsessed with skulls and skeletons (something which as weird as I am sure that my mom must have thought was, she still supported my unique tastes). I truly believe that problem solving is one of my greatest super powers… so what does that have to do with Mrs. Death? Back in late August I was at Michaels and they had just set out all of their Halloween decorations. I was browsing through to see if there was anything that would make a great prop. As I browsed and noticed that, of course, everything would make a great prop. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on props that I might not use for a while. But, there on one shelf were styrofoam skulls. I could not help myself – one of them had to come home with me. Not knowing what to do with it, I would just trust that I would find a purpose.

One morning, I got anxious. So anxious. I had just come home from a shoot that I totally bombed (didn’t time the light right) and my hair was straight. My general rule is that I do not let straight hair ever go to waste. I looked at the skeleton head (now named Skully so that is what I will refer to it as from here forth) and just began to think to myself, “What can I create with you?” I kept staring waiting for Skully to talk to me. Then I thought to myself, “Okay, I have this problem (prop) and I need to use it in a photo. What do I create with it?” So then I challenged myself to just come up with as many concepts as quickly as possible. I thought to myself, “Mrs. Death.” What would she look like? What would her personality be like? What would she do in her normal deathly life?

I picture Mrs. Death as a somewhat sassy life force with plenty of attitude. She definitely has a touch of glamour and drama and a wicked sense of humor. While her husband (Death) is out there claiming souls she is no different. She is out there doing her soul bidding as well.

In this portrait, “Mrs. Death Waits For No One” I really wanted to play on her attitude and impatience – cocked hips and arms on the waist. She is holding her head on the side showing a more playful side to her. The irony though, is that Mrs. Death IS waiting. This is my first of several Mrs. Death portraits that I have planned this month. I hope that you enjoy Mrs. Death and the adventures of Skully which I share regularly on my Instagram stories.