The Night the Haunted Mansion Followed Me Home

How a childhood visit to Disneyland became a memory I’ve carried with me for more than fifty years!

As you know by now, I grew up just a few miles from Disneyland and had a cousin who lived just literally down the street from the park. I have great memories of being at his house as a kid and hearing the Mark Twain whistle from his house! Summer brought memories of watching the fireworks from the front yard. Another memory inside the park was looking up at the ominous sign on the lamppost outside the completed mansion building with gates shut tight that let us know that they were busy recruiting ghosts, that they were to apply to the Ghost Relations Dept before we would be able to enter the gates. That set up anticipation like no other ride in Disneyland has ever done before! Especially to a 7-8 year old!

Fast forward to August 1969, my cousin Jon & I couldn’t wait to see what the mansion had in store after waiting for years to see the new ride. Our first trip to Disneyland on our own, yes, we were 10 & 11 years old, this was 1969 and no one thought twice about our being there without an adult! We were there at rope-drop and ran to the Matterhorn since it had the longest lines and we wanted to get the day off to a great start! As the day went on, we decided to wait to ride the Haunted Mansion until it was dark, a decision that my cousin was more comfortable with than me.

I’ll never forget waiting in line, entering the first room with that eerie, flickering chandelier and the stretching room that followed. I was glued to my cousin’s back who always acted brave but was just as scared as I. The ride didn’t disappoint, in fact, we knew that this was our new, most favorite ride after Pirates of the Caribbean that had premiered just 2 years previously. We thought we had done it, we rode Mansion and we were brave and fearless but that feeling would be short-lived.

On a Saturday night only a couple of months later, my parents drove me to my cousin’s house , they were going out to dinner with my Aunt & Uncle. Jon & I decided to stay home and order pizza to be delivered and watch TV, one of our favorite things to do. Parents left, pizza came, and we had just started to eat when we heard the wind outside blowing loudly through the trees. We had only eaten maybe 1 slice of that delicious pizza when the lights went out. Or more accurately, they almost went out, just enough electricity to barely light them. We wondered what had happened, and wandered through the house towards the front door when we saw the chandelier in the entry hall hanging there, candle lights flickering, just like the one in the Haunted Mansion!

We ran out of the house so fast it was like one of those cartoons where the characters’ feet spin! We went to a neighbor’s house a couple of blocks away where the electricity was still on and found comfort there. About an hour later a phone call came from my Aunt & Uncle wondering if we were there and could we please come home. We found out the wind had blown a large tree branch down on the electric wires just down the street and had caused the brown-out. By the time we got home all was well except we had left the pizza on the couch and the dog had eaten the whole thing and then proceeded to vomit it back out all over the house. Oh well, so much for being brave!

I’ve since rode the Mansion numerous times with Jon, then with girlfriends, and eventually, with my wife & kids, who have heard this story several times since. the Haunted Mansion holds a special place in my heart as Jon is no longer with us but my memories of growing up with him are more precious than ever. This painting is my version of the mansion, it is closer to how the mansion appeared to us as we rode it that first time, a little scarier than it is in actuality. A living memory of that fateful first night at the mansion, and how I shared it with my cousin. This painting is dedicated to that first visit to the Haunted Mansion. I hope you enjoy it!

“View the Mansion Beyond the Gate”

I’m grateful to Walt Disney

It’s funny how a lifetime of enjoying the worlds of Disney can be taken for granted until you really stop and think about it. Growing up literally a few miles away from Walt’s park, we could watch the fireworks from our backyard, and from my cousin’s house you could hear the Mark Twain whistle. We looked forward to family visits to the park, sometimes with just our immediate family, sometimes with the Indian Guides families. Either way, it was always a memorable time and it took my Dad from his busy life and forced him to be with us to just have fun together.

I was reminded last December of the day we heard on the radio that Walt Disney had passed away. I was in the barber chair, my Dad was there with a room full of boys & Dads and we all stopped what we were doing as time stood still and we just considered what this meant. I thought it would all end, Disneyland, World of Color TV show, the movies, all of it. I felt so sad, the only other time I remember feeling that way was when we heard about JFK being shot. The good news of course, was that Walt had gathered together a wonderful group of talented people and had created such an environment of creativity and direction that the company continued on, much to the credit of these people and, of course, Walt’s brother, Roy.

I can’t imagine our world without the influence of Walt Disney. If you’re not a Disney fan, that statement probably sounds ridiculous, but for those of us who appreciate and love the magic of the parks and classic Disney movies, TV and characters, it makes a lot of sense. I have loved art all of my life, drawing Disney characters as early as I can remember, oil painting has been my favorite form of art for the past 30+ years. I am thankful for the skills that enable me to re-create areas of the parks, scenes and situations that take me back to memories of times with my parents, times with my wife, and times with my kids which continue to this day. My hope is that everyone who purchases my art will also recall their own memories as they look at the art on their own walls.

My now adult kids are always onboard for a trip to Walt Disney World, and so we continue, after over 60 years to create memories all thanks to one man with a vision, who didn’t listen when everyone, including his wife told him it would not succeed. I’m grateful!

“Why I Paint the Parks: The Story Behind Storylight Studio.”

Well, here we are, after many weeks of work perfecting my first pieces for the world to see and countless hours spent on designing this website, the day is finally here! And my art is on display for everyone to see, I am excited and encouraged as I look forward to many years of creating and sharing art that will communicate my love of the Disney parks with anyone who shares this love. I grew up in Orange County, California in the sixties and like most all kids my age, a trip to Disneyland was a rare treat and one we looked forward to like nothing else, except maybe Christmas.

We lived so close to the park I can remember summer nights watching the Disneyland fireworks from our backyard, my cousin who lived in Anaheim, could actually hear the Mark Twain whistle from his house! He & I would enjoy many trips to the park growing up as close as brothers, eventually taking our dates to the park. Much later, we would take our wives and children and tell countless stories of adventures during our many trips to the parks for them to hear over and over. I digress, this is supposed to be a blog about my new art business.

I have enjoyed painting for many years and have sold a few pieces on other sites but just recently have had the idea of creating my own website and selling my art. I’ve painted many subjects reflecting my love of travel, landscapes and , of course, Disney. I knew I had to find a niche, one theme for my art and the Disney parks was of course, my first choice. I have such a lifelong passion for Walt Disney, I love his story and his parks. My hope for my artwork is that it will reflect that love and passion and bring back memories of time spent with friends and family at the parks. Whether you live on the west coast or the east, or even in another country, if you have a passion for the parks, my hope is that my art will be a lasting reminder of those experiences.

Thank you for reading this and for checking out my site, I know I only have 3 pieces now, but I will be adding more, one by one and I hope you will take the time to write to me via the contact form and let me know which rides or areas of the parks you would like to see me paint. I have many ideas for future works of art but I really would like to know what you would like to see.

I am looking forward to sharing my art with you all and I hope you enjoy my interpretation of our favorite rides and look forward to seeing each new artwork as much as I look forward to creating them and bringing them to you to enjoy.