In 2019, Erin and I started a movie project: every week, we watched one film about (and filmed in) a different state. Then, we both got creative: Erin made earrings and I (mostly) drew a caricature inspired by a character from each film. This is a gallery of our artwork for Movie Night Monday.
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ALABAMA: Selma
Erin: I was inspired by Selma to create a pair of earrings for Coretta Scott King, who was MLK Jr.’s rock and his fire. I used hematite to signify ‘rock,’ which is also Alabama’s state mineral.
ALABAMA: Selma
Jim: I painted MLK with coffee, tea, and a little bit of marker.
ALASKA: Big Miracle
Erin: For Rachel Kramer’s character in Big Miracle, I made blue feathers with green jade (Alaska’s state gem) to symbolize the earth mother that she is. The three stones on each represent the three whales in this inspired-by-true-events story.
ALASKA: Big Miracle
Jim: I used a custom-made potato stamper to create the whales.
ARIZONA: Raising Arizona
Erin: I particularly enjoyed making this one. Jim suggested a long black braid, and even though Randall Cobb’s character didn’t have hair like this, it seemed like something that might be flying in the wind from his ensemble. I added a beaded bullet bandolier, ‘grenade,’ wheel, and skull, and the two turquoise stones represent Arizona and his crystal-blue eyes.
ARIZONA: Raising Arizona
Jim: I love Coen Bros movies and this is one of their funniest, it was nice to revisit. Nicolas Cage’s hair deserves some kind of award.
ARKANSAS: Mud
Erin: For the girl with the bird tattoos, swallow earrings were a natural choice. I finished them with leopard jasper to stand in for bauxite, abundant in Arkansas, and clear quartz for diamonds, which you can mine as a tourist only in this state. I thought the qualities of both suited free-spirit Juniper, a flawed person who was a perfect gem in the eyes of Mud.
ARKANSAS: Mud
Jim: The two main actors were great- Tye Sheridan from Ready Player One and his sidekick Jacob Lofland as Neckbone. They are the brave and loyal kids I wanted to be at that age. Oh yeah, Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon were in it too.
CALIFORNIA: Point Break
Erin: In the film, Tyler only wore a simple stud in her left ear. For petite Lori Petty, I made her character’s surfboard in mini shrinky-dinks.
CALIFORNIA: Point Break
Jim: It’s a nice little time capsule of the early 90s, but boy is the acting bad! And so many angry surfers… the ones I knew from Ocean City were super chill like Bodhi.
COLORADO: The Naked Spur
Poor Lina Patch didn’t have much of a personality apart from what she could do for the men in the film, so it was kinda hard being inspired by her static character. I went with the colors of her clothing and made something reminiscent of her neck scarves…symbolic, I think, of yet another squelched female voice on the big screen.
COLORADO: The Naked Spur
Jim: Jimmy Stewart and Janet Leigh in a classic western about a guy tracking down a wanted man for reward money. As a big fan of It’s A Wonderful Life, it was hard seeing Jimmy Stewart as anybody but George Bailey and especially as a cowboy. I think I would enjoy the genre more if it weren’t for all the mistreatment of women and horse-tripping stuff.
CONNECTICUT: The Ice Storm
Erin: I love Sigourney Weaver’s character in this film, and her outfits are fabulous. She needed the confident earrings of a self-assured woman, perfect for her next cocktail party. I chose warm red-brown glass with gold chain for this 70s sexpot.
CONNECTICUT: The Ice Storm
Jim: It was nice to revisit this Ang Lee film set in the 70s, with a great cast including Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood.
DELAWARE: Fight Club
Erin: For the girl with all the addictions, cigarettes were a natural choice. Though physically gritty, they have an allure that’s hard to deny…coal-black poison covered in a smooth, shiny shell. The red ‘flames’ at the end double as drops of blood. The soothing, deceptive distraction of vice.
DELAWARE: Fight Club
Jim: I haven’t watched Fight Club in a long time, it’s 20 years old now! The message is just as relevant but the violence feels gratuitous to me. “We are consumers. We’re the by-products of a lifestyle obsession.”
FLORIDA: The Florida Project
Erin: Known in the real world as ‘The Naked Cowgirl,’ Sandy Kane plays larger-than-life Gloria in The Florida Project, so she needed some big, flamboyant earrings to go with her crazy makeup and outfits (or lack thereof).
FLORIDA: The Florida Project
Jim: The Florida Project was both colorful and depressing.
GEORGIA: Smokey and the Bandit
Erin: Off with the veil and on with the skin-tight jeans. Sally Field’s Carrie/’Frog’ wasn’t quite liberated–but getting there.
GEORGIA: Smokey and the Bandit
What’s your favorite quote?
HAWAII: The Descendants
Erin: One meaning of the native Hawai’ian plumeria, or frangipani, is ‘the strength to withstand tough challenges.’ Underneath her tough exterior, Alex was a fragile human being. Plumeria blooms are known for their strong fragrance, so I thought it a good symbol for Woodley’s character in this film.
HAWAII: The Descendants
Jim: A movie about a guy who tries to connect with his two daughters after a tragic accident. It stars George Clooney and Shailene Woodley and takes place in beautiful Hawaii.
IDAHO: Napoleon Dynamite
Erin: Deb, the friend we should all have in our lives–and the person we should strive to be. Non-judgmental, accepting, and true to herself, Deb is represented by her pink fanny pack and purple Caboodle case.
IDAHO: Napoleon Dynamite
Jim: If you vote for Pedro, all of your wildest dreams will come true. Like Erin and mine’s dream- to meet Jon Heder, and we did!
ILLINOIS: The Blues Brothers
Erin: Carrie Fisher’s vindictive character in this comedy cartoonishly embodies the vengeful rage triggered by those button-pushers we all have in our own lives.
ILLINOIS: The Blues Brothers
Jim: Everybody needs somebody to love.
INDIANA: Hoosiers
Erin: Barbara Hershey’s Myra was a mostly-static character who should have won an Academy just for her RBF (can’t say that). She was such a flat female cartoon, compulsively ball-busting (can’t say that!) the new coach every time she encountered him, but I didn’t know how to make deflated-looking basketballs. I wasn’t too inspired by her role, and (big surprise) there weren’t any other female roles of significance, so she just gets little basketballs. After all, she did finally ‘come around’ to support the coach and succumb to love like most women would. Ha.
INDIANA: Hoosiers
Jim: One of the most romantic basketball movies I have ever seen. Who knew the grouchy coach would end up with the bitter teacher? Not me. Oh, sorry for the spoiler!
IOWA: Field of Dreams
Erin: I think I was inspired more by character Beulah’s name in the credits than I was by Beulah herself. Let’s step outside, Beulah the book-burner!
IOWA: Field of Dreams
Jim: The line is as misquoted as “Luke, I am your father!” The actual line is, “If you build it, HE will come.” It’s about the guy’s dad, who is not James Earl Jones… who is the voice of the guy’s dad in Star Wars.
KANSAS: Paper Moon
Erin: Adamant Addie wanted her $200! If only I’d had the pluck and business savvy at age 10 (or even now) as she had in this film. Both smart and sentimental, Addie always knew the account balance and kept her treasures close to her heart.
KANSAS: Paper Moon
Jim: I don’t know how I haven’t seen this film sooner but it’s a gem. I can see how contemporary filmmakers like Coen Brothers and Jim Jarmusch may have been influenced by this grifters road movie full of characters.
KENTUCKY: Coal Miner’s Daughter
Erin: Coal to diamonds was Loretta Lynn’s theme in Coal Miner’s Daughter. Who doesn’t love a good rags-to-riches story? We have a new appreciation for her music, too.
KENTUCKY: Coal Miner’s Daughter
Did you know that Sissy did her own singing in that film? I didn’t even realize she had recorded a couple of albums until we randomly found one in a thrift store.
LOUISIANA: The Big Easy
Erin: Mama, played by the interesting and talented Grace Zabriskie, was the only compelling character in this film. I just found out that she hails from New Orleans, which explains her spot-on accent/dialect in the movie. We don’t know much about Mama, since none of the characters really had much ‘character,’ but her crazy-eyed expressions tell me she’d be the type to wear shrimps for jewelry.
LOUISIANA: The Big Easy
Jim: The Big Easy, What a crapfest. I thought this film was supposed to be some kind of classic but it was just bad. Sorry, John Goodman. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the synopsis: Dennis Quaid plays Lieutenant Handsy Mumbles who has some sort of accent from another planet. I’m so thankful for subtitles but they didn’t really matter because the dialogue was just bad. So Mumbles meets Ellen Barkin’s DA and he’s all like YES! And she’s all like NO. And he’s all like YES anyway. So yeah, not cool. Then later, you think she’s still all like NO but Mumbles has his police buddy pick her up while she’s jogging and kidnap her to a party where everyone is all like YES and she’s still all like NO. It feels like an arranged marriage thing. She still says NO. She runs away. People die. There are drugs. The movie ends. The Big Easy!
MAINE: The Iron Giant
Erin: Beep-bop-boop, you’re wired. I don’t think the Iron Giant would wear earrings–do robot aliens even get fashion?–but if he did, they might be made of self-screwing robot bolts with some extra gears for good measure.
MAINE: The Iron Giant
Jim: One of my favorites: The Iron Giant
Who doesn’t love a big robot with a big heart? “You are who you choose to be.” You can use your powers for good or bad, it’s always your choice.
MARYLAND: Cry-Baby
Erin: Although I couldn’t stand this movie, it was still fun to create a pair of cartoony earrings for Wanda, the character I kept mistaking for Rebecca De Mornay. She was the coolest. Her go-to expression is pretty relevant, embellished with black tears.
MARYLAND: Cry-Baby
Jim: It’s kinda like Grease but a lot kookier.
MASSACHUSETTS: Good Will Hunting
Erin: Sweet-as-apples (how d’ya like them?) Skylar. I had the most fun making the napkin grooves, which I hammered into the leather using a long bolt.
MASSACHUSETTS: Good Will Hunting
Jim: It’s not your fault.
MICHIGAN: Only Lovers Left Alive
Erin: Type O negative blood-on-a-stick. The only type for cultured vampires (obviously). The handles are also fangs (duh). #tildaforever #tildaliterallyforever
MICHIGAN: Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim: I was unaware of this Jim Jarmusch film from 2014 and would have been surprised at his foray into the horror genre if I didn’t know about The Dead Don’t Die, which came out last year. But in true Jarmusch fashion, the movie still plays as a subtle, quirky, indie flick.
MINNESOTA: Purple Rain
Erin: It’s understood that none of this movie’s characters are ever going to be a match for Prince’s sparkly charisma, so these earrings are inspired by him but worn–asymmetrically, of course–by Apollonia.
MINNESOTA: Purple Rain
Jim: I expected a Spiderman-type story where Prince has to learn how to use his super powers for the greater good. But no, he was just born that way, or maybe just came to our planet like that.
MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi Burning
Erin: So-called ‘trumpet pitcher’ flowers with a baby and a flame. McDormand’s character wasn’t well-developed (she didn’t even get a first name!), but when she held that baby, you knew she was one of the more human of the people portrayed in the film.
MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi Burning
Jim: Mississippi Burning stars Gene Hackman and Williem Dafoe. I’ve already drawn those guys so I thought I’d draw the ever-brilliant, Oscar-winning, Frances McDormand who played the jerky deputy’s wife.
MISSOURI: Winter’s Bone
Erin: Lawrence’s Ree was a survivor; I loved the rawness of her role and of this film. Some clear quartz chips represent her missing meth-cook of a father.
MISSOURI: Winter’s Bone
Jim: Winter’s Bone stars this scrappy little kid named Jennifer Lawrence. This was a rewatch for us but it was nice to revisit as we had forgotten some of the storyline and the performances were excellent.
MONTANA: The Horse Whisperer
Erin: I was really grasping for it with this pair. Grace inspired me more than Annie, but not by much…so here’s a ranch cowboy with her horse, Pilgrim.
MONTANA: The Horse Whisperer
Jim: It was my first time seeing this movie and it wasn’t what I expected- it turned out to be a goofy romance movie and not about horse gossip like I had thought. I was glad to find out that they used some animatronic (robot) horses for some of the stunts instead of real horses.
NEBRASKA: Children of the Corn
Erin: Representing one of my least favorite films in the Movie Night Monday project, these earrings were the most fun to make out of this set. I re-taught myself the brick-stitch beading method and had fun watching these materialize. Green leather husks. Poor Sarah.
NEBRASKA: Children of the Corn
Jim: What a kooky film! Issac and Malachai are just as creepy as I remember.
NEVADA: Desert Hearts
Erin: Newly-divorced English Lit prof meets casino worker and the rest is herstory. Little desert blooms smashed together.
NEVADA: Desert Hearts
Jim: 1986’s Desert Hearts has some interesting outfits, my favorite being the shiny silver space cowgirl costume. We felt like it should have been in a scene from Gentlemen Broncos or something.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: In Your Eyes
Erin: Blue-eyed doctor’s wife from New Hampshire sees brown-eyed ex-con’s life in New Mexico and vice versa. Horrible movie! I like how these little weirdos turned out, though.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: In Your Eyes
Jim: In Your Eyes is about two people who can see and hear through each other, without those pesky iPhones.
NEW JERSEY: Clerks
Erin: Oh, Veronica! With your lasagna and your college classes and your big old Elaine-bow and your hang-ups. Dante doesn’t deserve you.
NEW JERSEY: Clerks
Jim: It was nice to revisit this 90s Jersey time capsule.
NEW MEXICO: The Man Who Fell to Earth
Erin: I didn’t care for Mary-Lou’s character–which is why these earrings are for Thomas Jerome. I did have to put her best line on the screens…the quintessential quote for all maddening, neurotic love.
NEW MEXICO: The Man Who Fell to Earth
Jim: No, it’s not a documentary, even though I always assumed The Starman was from outer space. It was pretty entertaining with a lot of good one-liners and kooky 70s sci-fi vibes.
NEW YORK: Do The Right Thing
Erin: Ice cubes and a slice for Tina…what else? #specialdelivery
NEW YORK: Do The Right Thing
Jim: The film celebrated its 30th anniversary not long ago, but it’s just as relevant today.
NORTH CAROLINA: Bull Durham
Erin: Annie was stuck between two envious and entirely different bats.
NORTH CAROLINA: Bull Durham
Jim: Bull Durham stars Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, & Kevin Costner. Lots of minor league metaphors and innuendos in this baseball love triangle. ⚾️ This is our second Costner movie for the project and man, he is hard to caricature!
NORTH DAKOTA: Fargo
Erin: Good old Marge! Prowler needs a jump.
NORTH DAKOTA: Fargo
Jim: Such a great movie, every cast member is perfect, but of course Frances McDormand shines. Oh, you betcha!
OHIO: Bubble
Erin: I can’t say much about this pair without giving away the plot–but I love how they turned out (thanks, Jim!).
OHIO: Bubble
Jim: Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Bubble is a lo-fi indie flick set mostly in a doll factory in Ohio. A love triangle happens and someone is murdered. At first I thought the movie’s title is a reference to the little bubble of a world in which these people live, but it also could imply a bursting of the protagonist’s bubble as her world becomes shattered in many ways.
OKLAHOMA: The Outsiders
Erin: Cherry was a bit surface-y, so here are a few of her accessories.
OKLAHOMA: The Outsiders
Jim: This was a movie that I have never really watched in its entirety but I’m glad I finally did. In the early 90s, C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy Curtis) was filming a movie on the boardwalk in Ocean City. The only movie I knew him from at the time was Soul Man, so I called him that when a few of us at the movie theater saw him walk by. He came back for autographs and I apologized for calling him Soul Man. He said, “It’s ok, I’ve been called worse.” Stay Gold, Ponyboy.
OREGON: Wendy and Lucy
Erin: Wendy, in her royal blue hoodie stealing cans of dog food and jumping train cars. Blue symbolizes loyalty, strength, wisdom, and trust; yellow means neither stop nor go but some kind of limbo here, and maybe optimism, too.
OREGON: Wendy and Lucy
Jim: A heartbreaking indie film starring Michelle Williams.
PENNSYLVANIA: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Erin: Rachel, rich with quirks and talents waiting to be discovered by anyone willing to go exploring.
PENNSYLVANIA: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jim: This movie surprised me as I initially assumed it would be too melodramatic. Instead, it was a fun and beautiful film about getting to know oneself by getting to know another person. Great cast too, from the young leads to Nick Offerman and Molly Shannon.
RHODE ISLAND: Moonrise Kingdom
Erin: Suzy comes across as stuck-up and closed-off, but it turns out she’s open to anything–including fish-hook ear-piercing–with the person who sees her for the Raven she truly is. No one understands her, but Sam does. Fun fact: a group of ravens is called an unkindness, or conspiracy.
RHODE ISLAND: Moonrise Kingdom
Jim: Who doesn’t want to live in a Wes Anderson world?
SOUTH CAROLINA: The Patriot
Erin: Another initially quiet character is young Susan Martin, whose heart is broken by Daddy but whose loyalty ultimately lies with him. I used tiny war figurines in colonial colors for little Susan.
SOUTH CAROLINA: The Patriot
Jim: Mel Gibson loves blood! The Patriot is a fictional Revolutionary War film that takes place right here in Chucktown. I really wish it had a Drunk History narrator but no, it was just “Rambo’s Revenge on the Red Coats.”
SOUTH DAKOTA: Dances With Wolves
Erin: Stands with a Fist has lived among the Lakota since her family was killed by Pawnee at a very young age. She is mourning the loss of her husband and ready to take her own life when Dunbar finds her and saves her. She repays the favor by bridging the gap between him and the Lakota using her long-forgotten knowledge of English, and is bonded to Dunbar by their exchange. I admired her character’s strength and resilience in the face of deep sadness. I added glass beads–including a red fist–in Lakota colors to a pair of feather earrings I already had.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Dances With Wolves
Jim: Here is Kicking Bird’s advertisement for Tatanka hair wax, the secret to his spiky Sioux mullet.
TENNESSEE: Nashville
Erin: Jeff Goldblum’s Tricycle Man doesn’t say much, but he has some style.
TENNESSEE: Nashville
Jim: A nearly 3-hour long test in patience, one can see how this movie inspired much funnier (and shorter) Christopher Guest mockumentaries.
TEXAS: Friday Night Lights
Erin: Mrs. Winchell was primarily ‘football mom’ to player Mike, and we don’t know much about her other than that. She was also one of the few credited female ‘characters’ from which to pick. Horribly one-dimensional movie.
TEXAS: Friday Night Lights
Jim: Man, I’ll just never understand football. 🏈
UTAH: SLC Punk!
Erin: Trish looks cool in lavender and lime, but she’ll probably kick your ass if you cross her. Locks and chains and razor blades to keep everyone at a safe distance.
UTAH: SLC Punk!
Jim: This movie wanted so badly to be Trainspotting but didn’t even come close. I decided to draw Jason Segel’s minor character, who as they joked in the movie was the most punk even though he looked nerdy, and I believe he was. The other dudes were punk posers and there’s nothing worse than that. 🧷
Please, if you want to see a good portrayal of punks, and laugh while doing so, watch The Young Ones tv series instead.
VERMONT: The Trouble With Harry
Erin: Mrs. Wiggs, art rep to cocky artist Sam, is the least-developed of the film’s characters, but she sells paintings and was the most interesting/relatable role to me.
VERMONT: The Trouble With Harry
Jim: Here’s a rendering of Jerry Mathers (Leave It to Beaver), a little tyke who discovers a dead body.
VIRGINIA: The New World
Erin: For Pocahontas, I altered a pair of feather earrings I had by adding little leather anishinaabe eagle emblems to represent her tribe. The film’s story was hers alone, about who she was and how she dealt with issues of love and foreigners in her own young, raw way.
VIRGINIA: The New World
Jim: Here is Pocahontas as a tree, sort of like Daphne in Greek mythology. She takes root in a new life with the British and she represents the natural world. Or maybe Poca is breaking free from the tree? I need to think on this more.
WASHINGTON: Singles
Erin: Janet–the pushover dating the band guy; been there. I was disappointed that she ended up with him, but one day he’ll piss her off/hurt her enough and she’ll snap and then she’ll be a bad-ass who’ll no longer put up with men’s shit. So hang in there, Janet–your time’s coming.
WASHINGTON: Singles
Jim: Revisiting the film some 27 years later, it’s a nice time capsule from the year that grunge hit and takes me back to simpler times.
WEST VIRGINIA: The Night of the Hunter
Erin: Little Pearl, with her cash-stash dolly. What kind of father would give something like that to his daughter and then endanger her life by mentioning hidden money to some psycho in prison? A pretty shitty one.
WEST VIRGINIA: The Night of the Hunter
Jim: The Night of the Hunter stars Robert Mitchum as a menacing con man. It is a surreal and haunting movie that is a favorite of Spike Lee’s. He pays homage to it in Do The Right Thing with Radio Raheem’s lesson: “It’s a tale of good and evil. Hate: it was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: these five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love.”
WISCONSIN: The Giant Spider Invasion
Erin: No amount of screaming or skin-baring could save poor Terry. If only we knew who she had been as a person.
WISCONSIN: The Giant Spider Invasion
Jim: Great bad movie from the 70s.
WYOMING: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Erin: Jillian, the incompetent mom with hardly any interest in keeping her son. Had she had some break with reality before we meet her? Is she completely drugged out? We’ll never know. At least she makes up for it later with that pink bunny costume. May these earrings serve as reminders to her every day when she faces herself in the mirror.
WYOMING: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Jim: Richard Dreyfuss loves mashed potatoes!