And the Winner's Are...

BEFORE YOU READ ON...

Please note that Chris Walas, Ted Haines, and I had a VERY VERY difficult time arriving at the following decisions.  It was not reached without careful consideration of the fabulous work that every competing artist did.  

As I've said before, no one has lost anything!  Because of this contest 23 really cool creatures were brought onto the Earth and I, for one, am happy about it.  But...I'm not a wealthy individual and I only have a limited number of prizes and so from the 7th runner up to the top three, I humbly present the list:

7th Runner up: Christine Rose

For her "Out of the Box" originality!  Great job, Christine!

6th Runner up: Deborah Payne

Using a long-neck Styrofoam head and her artistry gave Deborah the edge!

5th Runner up: Jason Vines

Jason came out strong at the beginning of the contest and offered this AWESOME creature!

4th Runner up: Dany Boivin

We loved Dany's creature!  Really impressive stuff!

3rd Runner up: Bill Baker

Ted really loves Evil Clowns! Love the little corpse coming out of the head!

2nd Runner up: Heather Jones

Those tusks!  That lip!  Those gauge holes! What a face!

1st Runner up: Jasper Anderson

As Chris Walas said: "If we were giving the award based on personality only, this would be the winner!  Nicely done!

AND NOW THE FINALISTS:

3rd Finalist: Noemi Smith

It was the layers of textures, the concept, and the clean execution that got Neomi 3rd Place!

2nd Finalist: Cesar Decol, Jr.

This Shock-Monster really bowled us ALL OVER!  It is EXCELLENT!

The WINNER of the 1st Annual Styrofoam Creature Head contest: Joanna Daignault from Great Britain! 

Okay, this was just PLAIN CREEPY! So well done!  So professional!

Congratulations to Joanna and ALL of our contestants!  Trust me when I said that this was REALLY difficult for the three of us!  DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!  We'll be back next year with more prizes and opportunities to share our work and connect globally in the celebration of creativity!  Thanks everyone for your participation and interest!  Keep working with your hands!

All the best and Happy Halloween,  your pal -

Shannon Shea

Winners Announced Tomorrow!

Halloween is upon us!
That means that this year's Styrofoam Creature Head contest has concluded and all that's left to do is announce winners!

I know that this may sound like crap, but everyone did a fantastic job!  If you've been following this contest here on the blog or on social media, then you know that many very talented artists from all over the world brought their "A" game and made choosing the winners EXTREMELY difficult!

At the end of our long deliberation, co-judges Chris Walas and Ted Haines both expressed how impressed they were with the over-all quality of ALL of the entries!  They asked me to tell you all how much they loved the contest but mostly how much they truly enjoyed seeing all of your wonderful creations!

There are no losers in the contest.  Not by a long-shot!  The fact that you sat down this month and MADE something with your hands is a reward that no one but YOU can award yourself.  Creation is power and you all exercised your creative power this month.  You challenged yourselves and ran an artistic marathon that you completed with dignity and a great sense of fun.

Don't be angry if you weren't one of the top 10.  I'm doing this again next year, so get INSPIRED and try like heck to impress the judges again NEXT year!  That's the only way to GROW as an artist!  Keep at it! Keep creating!  Keep working with your hands!

Thanks again for your parade of monsters this Halloween!  I'll see you all tomorrow with the list of winners!
Congratulations all and Happy Halloween!

Here are the contestants for the FIRST annual Styrofoam Head Creature contest!

I can't tell you how proud I am of everyone who has sent in entries this year!  They are so varied and unique and so well done!  WOW!  I very excited about this parade of Styrofoam Head creatures!  Let's just dive in!

Andy Savage made this FACELESS ZOMBIE!

Cesar Decol, Jr. made this wonderful SHOCK MONSTER!

Christine Rose CROCETED this AMAZING GORGON Head!

Colin John offers this framed ZOMBIE PORTRAIT!

Daniel Cox's incredible CANDY CREEPER!

Dany Boivin's BEBITITE insectoid creature!

Gary Fay's ALIEN lights up and I think the eyes follow you around the room!

Gustav Jungdahl's SCI-FI HELMET was actually made for a project!

Heather Jones' CREATURE spends a lot of money on toothpaste!  INCREDIBLE job!

Jason Vines came out of the gate early with his impressive CABBAGE GOBLIN!

Jesus Vega's ALIEN is OUT OF THIS WORLD!  LOVE IT!

Colorado Chief of Police Jim May offers this WONDERFUL cigar-smokin' GHOUL!

I love Joe WIlson's viney-toothy MONSTROSITY!

Kenneth Calhoun's ALT VAMPIRE is something to GRIN about!

Matt Scott's WITHERED HEAD also works in a Haunt! CREEPY!

From Japan, Misa Hara offers this BLOODY BUNNY GIRL! Hope you don't HOP into her in a dark alley!

Looks like Noemi Smith's BLACK WIDOW is looking for another meal!

Paul Wilkins' ZOMBIE is GROSS-OUT WONDERFUL!

"I see YOUR BRAINS!" says Rob Ceus' BLOODY ZOMBIE!

Toncho Avalos' ZOMBIE is a BEAUTIFUL addition to our DECAYED DENIZENS!

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

From the U.K., Joanna Daignault offers her OUTCAST (note the little skull on the neck!)

This PLAYFUL DEMON is the work of Jasper Anderson!

Coming in RIGHT under the wire is Deborah Payne's SHOCK WITCH! Love that she used a long-neck form!

Due to a glitch in my email, I neglected to post Bill Baker's wonderful creation!  He was included in the judging!

So THAT'S it!  The contest is closed and now it is up to Ted Haines, Chris Walas and I to pick the winners!

We'll announce them on Halloween by email, social media, and here on the blog!  GOOD LUCK and FANTASTIC WORK ALL!!!!!

New Prizes! New Judges!

Howdy Styro-Creature Makers!

There's still a couple of weeks of creating left and I hope that you're all feverishly carving, gluing, painting, augmenting your store bought Styrofoam Heads!  Remember the deadline is October 25th 6 pm P.S.T. - By then you should have sent your entry to:

info@phantomharbor.com

Send photos at 100 to 150 dpi and about 10" x 7" - that way I don't need to convert them to share them on social media - THANKS!

Speaking of thanks, I recently recorded another podcast with Len Peralta and Frank Ippolito for their show CREATURE GEEKS which is a part of the Mythbusters site: www.tested.com .  Check out their shows here: http://www.tested.com/podcast/creature-geek/.

While I was there, they offered me some additional prizes for the contest courtesy of Mezco Toys.  Here's what has been added: 

Who wouldn't want a Ron Perlman big-head figure from SONS OF ANARCHY?

It's JigSaw from the SAW movie franchise!

Yes!  It's a Saul Goodman figure from BREAKING BAD!

I have four of these to give away!!!!

My personal favorite!  The Axe Cop action figure with gun totin' T-Rex!

Now, I haven't quite figured out where these will fall in terms of 2nd, 3rd, Honorable Mention prizes!  I need a day or two to decide, but they WILL BE AWARDED!

AND, I've enlisted the help of two friend/artists known for their creature building prowess!  First off is the legendary CHRIS WALAS, who was not only responsible for the GREMLINS and the exploding/melting heads in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but he also turned Jeff Goldblum into THE FLY and helped bring to screen the best motion picture dragon of all time in DRAGONSLAYER!

Also, I've recruited TED HAINES, monster-fabricator extraordinaire for LEGACY EFX!  Ted has worked on films such as FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SCOOBY DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED, and BLADE II just to name a few!

So, keep building and sending in photos!  I'll be posting new pictures I've been receiving soon! Thanks for all of the support and interest in working with your hands this Halloween season!  And thanks to Christopher Cooksey for his podcast interview for www.leglesscorpse.com 's "The Practical People".  Drop by and give a listen while you're building!

Until next time, 

Shannon Shea