Thrift Store Monster Paintings – Chris McMahon and Thyrza Segal

Though I most certainly appreciate thrift stores for providing a great service to re-sell “old” consumer goods, I also often find them incredibly creepy.

If you’ve ever spent much time in a thrift store, perhaps you’ll agree that they smell very strange, and are absolutely full of clothes from dead people. The moment grandpa kicks the bucket, his relatives are sure to pack his earthly remains into big green garbage bags and drive them straight over to the nearest thrift store. That’s just the way of things. Some of grandpa’s belongings may even include some of his favorite paintings… you know, that sunset you walked past in his kitchen for the last 20 years, or that scenic forest at dusk with the giant, uh… monster in it?

Chris McMahon

About a year ago I covered an artist from The Monster Engine that took children’s terrible, poorly coordinated monster drawings, and transformed them into highly detailed paintings based on the originals. They’re super awesome in their own right, and so are these monsters by McMahon and Thyrza Segal. These two collections of, er… modified painting, takes monster art to a whole other level by “updating” thrift store landscape paintings with, well… giant, scary monsters.

This first collection is by Chris McMahon…

I don’t want to play favorites here, but I’ve got to say… this just might be my favorite. It’s like a mix between a frozen, hairy Twinky, and a unicorn. I don’t know exactly what it’s doing, but the creature looks rather nonplussed about the whole affair.

Enter Thyrza Segal

As you can see, the style changes quite a bit here, and with this awesome cowboy painting, we’re off to an awesome start.

What do you think? I don’t know about you, but seeing these makes me want to pick up a brush and start “improving” some of the crap I see in thrift stores every so often. After all, I don’t think I could possibly make some of the paintings there any more generic or uninteresting.

More?!!?????

If you’re interesting in seeing more of Chris and Thyrza’s work, then you’re in luck. They both have website, and in fact, they actually sell this stuff as well. You too could have one of these awesome monster paintings adorning your family room. You can set it right next to your classy portrait. You know, the one of you petting a cat while wearing a smoking jacket on a high backed, plush red chair? Yeah, that one.