That’s probably obvious, since I’ve painted Gomez Addams a few times.  So you can imagine how much this made my year:

Occasionally someone asks “How do the people in your paintings feel about it?  Do they ever get in touch with you?”  Truth is I don’t often hear from anyone, though sometimes the now-adult children of some of the actors drop me an amused email.  This fabulous photo is proudly hanging on my wall because of a chain of unlikely events — I met Stephen John Phillips, a highly talented and trippy photographer, at my panel at Comic-Con this summer.  He is one awesome gent because shortly after Comic-Con he went to the Monster Mania con in New Jersey, where John Astin was going to be making a rare appearance.  Stephen was going to bring Astin a copy of his “In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe” (the guy who played Gomez Addams is a Poe fan, naturally) but he also brought several pictures of my artwork to show him.  (Like I said, Stephen is awesome.) Astin liked the pictures so much he asked if he could keep them.  (I just about did a backflip when I heard this.) At this point everybody in line behind Stephen was getting irritated but Astin didn’t care, holding up the picture of “Herman & Lily & Gomez & Morticia” and saying “LOOK, I’M SWAPPING!”

"Herman and Morticia and Gomez and Lily" acrylic on tin

So yeah, I heart John Astin.

Stephen also scored this achingly cute Lisa Loring/Wednesday Addams photo for me –

And speaking of Johns, all the hubbub around the upcoming release of the Beatles Rock Band (which you know I have pre-ordered) has reminded me that I still have a crush on John Lennon, something that his death has done absolutely nothing to diminish.