tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39096949925430477782024-03-05T00:32:40.274-08:00Portable DinosaursLaura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-32410891515641365162016-04-11T11:56:00.000-07:002016-04-11T12:47:40.545-07:00How A Series BeginsAs many of you know, I have been recovering from a late March neck surgery (ACDF, Levels C5-7, if it matters.) I'm doing pretty well, well enough, in fact, to move along in a series I began in early March, just before the operation.<br />
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For some unfathomable reason, I felt a strong desire to work again in oil. I also had this idea that I'd like to do some figure work, too. It's been a while, and I think all artists come back to the human figure several times over a lifetime, if indeed they ever leave it.<br />
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Several sketches and throwaway paintings happened. Here are a couple of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOc121kgJXuGPIcdUlr8T8D4rbgxbtyW1zEhK3J2P45u5CpZMUBDUqBoWuq5lnDuLGXuVzAjR2gmncdD6kWNbMudS50ZdZA8hTXtaULmearX4NfCZOrsLvwwcVju_ue3jLGNzNNmyInK/s1600/IMG_20160324_103532_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOc121kgJXuGPIcdUlr8T8D4rbgxbtyW1zEhK3J2P45u5CpZMUBDUqBoWuq5lnDuLGXuVzAjR2gmncdD6kWNbMudS50ZdZA8hTXtaULmearX4NfCZOrsLvwwcVju_ue3jLGNzNNmyInK/s320/IMG_20160324_103532_resized.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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During all this, a thought came and wouldn't leave: why is fifty percent of Western art composed of variations, with varying degrees of sophistication and technical excellence, of the shower scene in <i>Porky's</i>? Can't a woman (or a barely pubescent girl, for that matter) take a goddamned bath without an entire hemisphere's worth of men and women leering from the bushes? Jeez, art people, what is up with all the peeping?</div>
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So I made this one. The figure has no face; she's just something to look at, like architecture. But she still seems pretty monumental anyway. I don't consider this a finished, exhibit-worthy piece, but there's something about this one that I started to like.<br />
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I decided, in the few days before I went to the hospital, that what I liked was the architectural shapes. The interaction of squares and line, the way elements of the painting came and went. So I abandoned the figures entirely.</div>
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These are just cruddy phone pics with a quick crop; these paintings may not even really be finished yet. But this has been a new experience for me: I had to abandon my studio and leave a series just as it's starting to evolve.<br />
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Interesting. And enlightening.<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-1461267574228785252016-01-25T18:02:00.002-08:002016-01-25T18:02:26.101-08:00"World On Fire: Abstract Paintings from the PNW" at Chase Gallery in Spokane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa9gigS0MLTPcbW-03QYOrNPR659kXQ3e2L0ZdXNkRrIe3bGSJnN24lSNFhbJgzncsMBh03Jhgbr87Z1zK2St9KaHBAf0aZPaFkJRA-fGGhjWrFFoh6OZ8GIBsFL7_ru9BS7Gf9ZJllZu/s1600/world_onfire-page-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa9gigS0MLTPcbW-03QYOrNPR659kXQ3e2L0ZdXNkRrIe3bGSJnN24lSNFhbJgzncsMBh03Jhgbr87Z1zK2St9KaHBAf0aZPaFkJRA-fGGhjWrFFoh6OZ8GIBsFL7_ru9BS7Gf9ZJllZu/s1600/world_onfire-page-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa9gigS0MLTPcbW-03QYOrNPR659kXQ3e2L0ZdXNkRrIe3bGSJnN24lSNFhbJgzncsMBh03Jhgbr87Z1zK2St9KaHBAf0aZPaFkJRA-fGGhjWrFFoh6OZ8GIBsFL7_ru9BS7Gf9ZJllZu/s1600/world_onfire-page-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa9gigS0MLTPcbW-03QYOrNPR659kXQ3e2L0ZdXNkRrIe3bGSJnN24lSNFhbJgzncsMBh03Jhgbr87Z1zK2St9KaHBAf0aZPaFkJRA-fGGhjWrFFoh6OZ8GIBsFL7_ru9BS7Gf9ZJllZu/s640/world_onfire-page-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
I'm happy to say that there are five new works from my "Planetary" series showing in Spokane this spring. "World On Fire," hosted by<a href="http://www.spokanearts.org/home" target="_blank"> Spokane Arts</a>, is up through March 30, 2016 at the<a href="http://www.spokanearts.org/chase-gallery-1/" target="_blank"> Chase Gallery.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Violet Planet 3' by Laura Allen, watermedia, 2015<br /></td></tr>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-70310948147550626542015-12-17T12:01:00.000-08:002015-12-17T12:01:58.169-08:00New Class at Seattle Recreative: Mixed Media in 3D<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVvcJRj5u1DPZ53ty4rbid-GiZ65wUvdiCrRFFlkUI9Hpou5Hrp1E0ulPRsZAyeGsbb7Li7ZwtvYBRK7T08WuztS7A2sm-_EHMMMc_P3n9GFH9TkDnPa68SHDRPbCnB0JRNp2jrfC6GgV/s1600/AllenLaura_MixedMedia2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVvcJRj5u1DPZ53ty4rbid-GiZ65wUvdiCrRFFlkUI9Hpou5Hrp1E0ulPRsZAyeGsbb7Li7ZwtvYBRK7T08WuztS7A2sm-_EHMMMc_P3n9GFH9TkDnPa68SHDRPbCnB0JRNp2jrfC6GgV/s640/AllenLaura_MixedMedia2015.jpg" width="524" /></a></div>
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Starting in January, I'll be leading a new mixed media workshop at <a href="http://www.seattlerecreative.org/sculpture/" target="_blank">Seattle Recreative. </a><br />
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This funky little Greenwood shop is a hidden treasure trove of (cheap!) second-use art materials: collage papers, assemblage odds and ends, previously unloved art supplies, and more. I'm excited to lead two four-week workshops on basic to intermediate assemblage and three-dimensional collage.<br />
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We'll work hands-on with:<br />
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<li>elements of 3D design</li>
<li>theme, mood, and intent/function</li>
<li>assemblage techniques</li>
<li>textures and finishes</li>
<li>and more</li>
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Materials will be gleaned from Seattle Recreative's awesome hoard, but you're welcome to bring along some of your own if they're meaningful to you.<br />
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Classes will run Wednesdays from 6 to 8, January 6 to 27 and then again from February 3 to 24. Here's a <a href="http://www.seattlerecreative.org/sculpture/" target="_blank">link for more info and registration</a>.<br />
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Oh, and Seattle Recreative accepts donations too....<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-82379941560104446812015-12-04T09:23:00.001-08:002015-12-04T09:23:17.012-08:00Accretion, Part Two...and more pics from <a href="http://portabledinosaurs.blogspot.com/2015/11/accretion-part-one.html" target="_blank">the new series.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJhns2346qphGK9Ao-g2oGTQx-x01nUIvog7ZsFqm8xBSLTWhuFbNa5yk875ODiDpxGx02u1JTPZ0eXm0lX6jnNv1u3XOqN4ELVxVchyAjJBpfMcob5W8eB-a2PcCGtfllZBmYSMq9GHw/s1600/AllenLaura_UnibearBox2_assemblage_2015+%25281024x681%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLea0xW1GeRZTZdJrS2xIIEJ7ECgcuC2u1xvjs2ODI71h1FMOqKAWjmwPfjnRr7CZN5V7zVFNmrI9JAA0ZQct43xKbK8LVzXuotd9UvIOmytu4sHG-9coDSi8vLlmmVKy7tEDYgTTHmhU/s1600/AllenLaura_UnibearBox2_assemblage_2015+%25281024x681%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLea0xW1GeRZTZdJrS2xIIEJ7ECgcuC2u1xvjs2ODI71h1FMOqKAWjmwPfjnRr7CZN5V7zVFNmrI9JAA0ZQct43xKbK8LVzXuotd9UvIOmytu4sHG-9coDSi8vLlmmVKy7tEDYgTTHmhU/s640/AllenLaura_UnibearBox2_assemblage_2015+%25281024x681%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a>S<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCImQF6DXGdaP4iEvYH8YZS4cRC8vlbQvRDPwAVTIAARd_7Rcamf902qHC-iRLd9WBwgkNT8Hq4hazX2xu5knqGiy5FfuZ9KdM2231zzU8FHUXMOraAOcXbf96se5WBKs8rPGfiTfxnxk/s1600/RevolutionsDetail_LauraAllen_mixedmedia_8x10x3_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCImQF6DXGdaP4iEvYH8YZS4cRC8vlbQvRDPwAVTIAARd_7Rcamf902qHC-iRLd9WBwgkNT8Hq4hazX2xu5knqGiy5FfuZ9KdM2231zzU8FHUXMOraAOcXbf96se5WBKs8rPGfiTfxnxk/s320/RevolutionsDetail_LauraAllen_mixedmedia_8x10x3_2015.jpg" width="306" /></a><br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-37543632266300770242015-11-24T08:49:00.000-08:002015-11-24T08:49:26.654-08:00Accretion, Part One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just checking in with a few new pieces...<br />
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...I draw and I paint and I do various things, but nothing makes me happier than creative accretion....<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 0.15in; margin-bottom: 0.08in;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"> ".<i>..I've discovered similar elements among works as varied as
a sonnet or a series of assemblage sculptures: a love of fantastical,
ambiguous narration and shifting frames of reference; a reliance on
synchronicitous accident and stream-of-consciousness process; and a
delight in repeated layers of time, wit, and image....</i>"</span></blockquote>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-84408554259084546482015-08-31T11:47:00.001-07:002015-08-31T11:48:15.797-07:00New Work: A Planetary Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It should come as no real surprise to those of you who know me: science was my first love. If I had known at the time just how creative a science career could be, I might have channeled all my artistic energy into something like genetic engineering and stuck with my original biology track. As it stood, though, I couldn't stand not making new things. So I kept writing and making art instead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsb6pKJDcdg-X-9oqYueSln1X0-j0Z6ng-4d7fHNOg8Ytkk_0pFjrZkQO5Y-Nzzk0vRRykG7fn75rGdjuZ-KresQePcM3egEHRufYXFqqoc7VlxNVR0ocZULT9_WblyacnhmKQ6ugZL-y/s1600/Allen%252CLaura_VioletPlanet4_watermedia_16x22+%25281330x2000%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsb6pKJDcdg-X-9oqYueSln1X0-j0Z6ng-4d7fHNOg8Ytkk_0pFjrZkQO5Y-Nzzk0vRRykG7fn75rGdjuZ-KresQePcM3egEHRufYXFqqoc7VlxNVR0ocZULT9_WblyacnhmKQ6ugZL-y/s400/Allen%252CLaura_VioletPlanet4_watermedia_16x22+%25281330x2000%2529.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
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I don't regret it. Much. But I am still preoccupied with all things biological, geological, astronomical, physical. I've been told that I can consume more science fiction in a month than the entire staff of the NY Review of SF. I read entomological field guides for fun, and when I paint, I paint to Sean Carroll physics lectures; cosmology is all the music I need.<br />
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And when a new abstract series starts to take on decided tones of strange, alien geology, I am very happy. As these new pieces emerged, I worked to develop those exoplanetary overtones: the unfamiliar strata, the unusual chemical colors of the sky and sea, the variable texture of the alien atmospheres.<br />
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(The piece below, "Blue Planet 3", will be included in <a href="http://www.verumultimumartgallery.com/" target="_blank">Verum Ultimatum</a>'s juried exhibition 'Abstract Catalyst' in Portland in September/October 2015.)<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-12871283966414743422015-06-10T14:44:00.000-07:002015-06-10T14:44:08.374-07:00Open Studios This Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbiPVADRAuXyFy07-FOUZaHnfSaApiZUVSHrZDyt0tlPv96g9jGbbHJd9RQ6h1zvTjhd59nUo1BiiduGt1NrodhmU7Wc2fGCTQ3O7X20z6vjvRhsu5impObrJxXKjiRtrGNytE7Eup1qd/s1600/OpenStudios2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbiPVADRAuXyFy07-FOUZaHnfSaApiZUVSHrZDyt0tlPv96g9jGbbHJd9RQ6h1zvTjhd59nUo1BiiduGt1NrodhmU7Wc2fGCTQ3O7X20z6vjvRhsu5impObrJxXKjiRtrGNytE7Eup1qd/s640/OpenStudios2015.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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It's that time again: Open Studios at the Inscape building. </div>
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I, along with dozens of other artists, have spent a frantic two weeks framing and hanging, shooting and matting, cleaning and tossing, and if you make it out on Sunday, don't be surprised to see one or more of us propped in a corner snoring. There's always a lot of prep involved in open studios, but they present a unique opportunity to visit artists on their own turf. </div>
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Of course, it's slightly spiffier-than-usual turf with an atypical quantity of cheese trays, but you know what I mean. Come on out. </div>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-1375482063987535502015-05-06T18:34:00.002-07:002015-05-06T18:34:27.774-07:00Art, Art, and More Art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDU7FlSyhYAQgHUL59i4RnCzMvCUYpRq98nPLAT9vkZRaBMPbOXEWQLvzIGcX0r7ZdjJH-UbzqflXKPfLluOlbtoY5Gi8cCRejMp5cize6cPH7FduK9gU2KL8-7Wcod25CujJYCZPKjOOH/s1600/IMG_1868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDU7FlSyhYAQgHUL59i4RnCzMvCUYpRq98nPLAT9vkZRaBMPbOXEWQLvzIGcX0r7ZdjJH-UbzqflXKPfLluOlbtoY5Gi8cCRejMp5cize6cPH7FduK9gU2KL8-7Wcod25CujJYCZPKjOOH/s1600/IMG_1868.JPG" height="640" width="419" /></a></div>
Sorry so long no post! I've been working in mixed media again; it took a while after the Big Move to resupply my stockpile of random things, but now my hoard is fully loaded and I'm mixing media like mad. This new series is making me very happy, oh yes indeed.<br />
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Here's a preliminary shot of one 3D piece, "Go Now While You Still Can." It has internal motors that turn various bits, a couple of lighted windows, and it's powered by an Arduino Due.<br />
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(Thanks to most awesome Husband for helping with the programming despite my infamous impatience and ridiculous perfectionism.)<br />
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I'll get a video soon, too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXWe7CJLdeQDRzlgZFbAeSXoqXgs5p9UrnikpXmatIBdYyaTcvGzNmSbsyXArwCKZp3LBK15B9dSlv7S4AJwq0TCmdCp-mauWyRB0kFzZIW4oMCJJljYzeheItERY2zpCYfMotieA5ZXz/s1600/IMG_1876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXWe7CJLdeQDRzlgZFbAeSXoqXgs5p9UrnikpXmatIBdYyaTcvGzNmSbsyXArwCKZp3LBK15B9dSlv7S4AJwq0TCmdCp-mauWyRB0kFzZIW4oMCJJljYzeheItERY2zpCYfMotieA5ZXz/s1600/IMG_1876.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a> The piece to the right is called "Come On Down." I'll be showing it, as well as "Go Now" and others during Inscape Seattle's Open House on June 14. I'll post more info soon, but <a href="https://www.facebook.com/inscapearts" target="_blank">here's a Facebook link </a>meantime.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrOALzPBksAOsqx5yVaO6uJekDNeGBrN974QFaU5wcP6JJN3zPBrROr-J9s0cmAc_1uS_VSAoweYzeIssSjO7nagetSgIthT68C-MsW7FriNcRVVBxHfiUNkmjmfSxGbmaMq55ZpQnwbi/s1600/Watercolor+poster+a+9+3+2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrOALzPBksAOsqx5yVaO6uJekDNeGBrN974QFaU5wcP6JJN3zPBrROr-J9s0cmAc_1uS_VSAoweYzeIssSjO7nagetSgIthT68C-MsW7FriNcRVVBxHfiUNkmjmfSxGbmaMq55ZpQnwbi/s1600/Watercolor+poster+a+9+3+2014.jpg" height="200" width="154" /></a>In other news, I've been taking a watercolor class with local favorite <a href="http://www.carrascostudio.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Carrasco</a>. Watercolor has always intimidated me, I'll admit; it requires a bit more delicacy than I can usually muster. Or at least that's what I thought...so far, so good, though. I'm having big fun, thanks to Jennifer and the rest of the gang at C&P Coffee.</div>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-86163572848651970862015-02-03T09:59:00.000-08:002015-02-03T09:59:10.518-08:00New Poetry For February<br />
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I've had a couple of new poems come out this month.<br />
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One's in print, in David Kopaska-Merkel's spec journal <i>Dreams & Nightmares. </i>(My poem "The Dream" is in issue #100. You can order a copy from the<a href="http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> site or his blog.</a> ) <i>D&M</i> has been around since the '80s and is one of the few long-running journals dedicated solely to speculative poetry.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGyNZelzfNzKHm3M_krLBXkT8EVHb7QXmOf7hG3GuMNfa5L0FwBFRfDTKnJlfdbTnbgnB0bEG9gdfI65URSelA768o2ZhG2dDLuK6-2d6t7Yqm4HZK2m9ty98wpsDyGfKWRjjVBkLKQbd/s1600/8591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdGyNZelzfNzKHm3M_krLBXkT8EVHb7QXmOf7hG3GuMNfa5L0FwBFRfDTKnJlfdbTnbgnB0bEG9gdfI65URSelA768o2ZhG2dDLuK6-2d6t7Yqm4HZK2m9ty98wpsDyGfKWRjjVBkLKQbd/s1600/8591.jpg" height="128" width="400" /></a>The other poem, "Andromeda," is online, in the poetry journal <a href="http://www.tinderboxpoetry.com/" target="_blank"><i>Tinderbox, </i>in Vol. 1 Issue 3</a>. Even <br />
though this is a relatively new journal, it's home to some pretty amazing work. Two of my favorites in this issue are "Baby Giant" by Michele Harman and "On the Role of the Atom" by Anna Leahy.<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-7279800811807235472014-09-18T13:32:00.000-07:002014-09-18T13:32:20.429-07:00Upcoming WorkshopsI'll be leading two new poetry workshops for adults this fall at the Inscape Arts building in Seattle. Check these out...you can register through the Brown Paper Tickets links below or through me at laura@laurawaltonallen.com<br />
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<b>Poetry & Art: Ekphrastic Beginnings</b></blockquote>
November 15, 1 - 4 p.m. <a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/873451"><img border="0" src="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/g/6/BPT_buy_tickets_small.png" height="58px" width="108px" /></a> <br />
Inscape Arts, Seattle<br />
$45 per person<br />
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"All art is sensual, and poetry particularly so," said William Carlos Williams. In ekphrastic poetry, writers turn their senses toward the work of other artists (think Keats' "Ode to a Grecian Urn" or Anne Carson's Hopper-inspired poems.) In this three-hour workshop, we'll encounter the work of poets inspired by physical artworks, and explore some of our own responses to the artists of Seattle's Inscape studios.</blockquote>
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<b>Make It Strange: Art Techniques for the Poet</b><br />
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November 22, 1 - 4 p.m. <a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/873467"><img border="0" src="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/g/6/BPT_buy_tickets_small.png" height="58px" width="108px" /></a><br />
$45 per person<br />
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"Art makes the familiar strange so that it can be freshly perceived. To do this it presents its material in unexpected, even outlandish ways: the shock of the new." Victor Shklovsky</blockquote>
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Want to write like a Cubist? Layer meanings like collage? In this short afternoon writing workshop, we'll experiment with techniques usually associated with the visual arts, such as collage, assemblage, and abstraction. Held at one of Seattle's most vibrant arts communities, Inscape Arts, this workshop is sure to freshen your perspective. (P.S.- Prose writers are welcome, too!)</blockquote>
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"Make It Strange: Art Techniques for the Poet" is led by artist, writer, and instructor Laura W. Allen. She has taught for the Writer's Garret of Dallas and McLennan Community College, and her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications and journals such as Bathtub Gin, S/tick, Strange Horizons, and Tinderbox. She is also a working visual artist, concentrating mainly on assemblage and mixed media.</blockquote>
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Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-83603356788250800532014-07-17T11:05:00.000-07:002014-07-17T11:06:27.867-07:00The Night Land, Awake and Otherwise<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAorQqJogfl8KdlpJUPgTPg1H1lXNeEiERFpTozLuGHtGm9jL7M3q8qocbXDDyFJEvGMezQ-znQXdTJq2OF6RygakhQ3Ud9lr1jTUV2-iG9UFpZLehQ-RR_uGvETIRRU3IMIXRnmQXtxn_/s1600/816WGQcqSgL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAorQqJogfl8KdlpJUPgTPg1H1lXNeEiERFpTozLuGHtGm9jL7M3q8qocbXDDyFJEvGMezQ-znQXdTJq2OF6RygakhQ3Ud9lr1jTUV2-iG9UFpZLehQ-RR_uGvETIRRU3IMIXRnmQXtxn_/s1600/816WGQcqSgL._SL1500_.jpg" height="320" width="201" /></a>Ever since reading the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Age_(novel_series)" target="_blank"><i>Golden Age</i> trilogy</a> several years ago, I've been a fan of <a href="http://www.scifiwright.com/" target="_blank">John C. Wright'</a>s work. Insofar as he keeps his sometimes repellent politics out of it, his writing is visionary, unique, and compelling. The worlds he imagines can be stunningly deep and nuanced; what he lacks in character development, he more than makes up with idea development, and that's no easy compliment for an old literature major to make.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-cover.html" target="_blank">Sketches for the final cover</a></td></tr>
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When I approached his latest, <i>Awake in the Night Land</i>, I hoped for good things and was not disappointed. This series of four linked novellas set in the dark, far-future world of William Hope Hodgson's 1912 <i>The Night Land </i>is dark, yes, very dark-- Hodgson was one of H.P. Lovecraft's main influences-- but not at all despairing. As<a href="http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/writer/?cat=8" target="_blank"> reviewer Jonathan Moeller</a> states,<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the world of the book, the sinister powers of the Night Land, led by the terrifying and enigmatic Silent Ones, rule the Earth, and indeed the entirety of the universe. Only the Last Redoubt stands free, and its inhabitants know it will inevitably fall and be consumed by the eternal darkness.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And yet…</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If that was all there was to the book, I would not have finished it and would not be writing about it now.</span></blockquote>
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Indeed. This old literature major is also sick of despair, ennui, and existential bleakness in writing, but it's tough to pull off hope and life affirmation without degenerating into nauseating sentimentality.<br />
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Hodgson's original does it, though, and Wright's tribute does it even better.<br />
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I recommend reading the original first, but please, for sanity's sake, read<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10577778-the-night-land-a-story-retold" target="_blank"> James Stoddard's excellent modernization </a>instead of the original Hodgson, at least on the first pass. The original has some awesome illustrations but the style is unpleasantly like Lovecraft on drugs. The retelling is still one of the most beautiful love stories ever told.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrsZJAbKhqAwBc8VU1jDfnP4MzPdXu5QDlF9LBGApiCZor6_mKa-2Iu2Gto1J65tpcIT4eDtpIaY8ReJOAvTR2_-p3aCXamhcAzIav6t406AmStiFpQYfP8ri-TYlYpPWx_YTBiTHjg3C/s1600/The+Redoubt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrsZJAbKhqAwBc8VU1jDfnP4MzPdXu5QDlF9LBGApiCZor6_mKa-2Iu2Gto1J65tpcIT4eDtpIaY8ReJOAvTR2_-p3aCXamhcAzIav6t406AmStiFpQYfP8ri-TYlYpPWx_YTBiTHjg3C/s1600/The+Redoubt.jpg" height="640" width="482" /></a></div>
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"<a href="http://www.lesedwards.com/Edward-Miller/science-fiction/the-redoubt/16713" target="_blank">The Redoubt" by Les Edwards</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRknKeXklmjxbmH-wVXiZ_VuPOPYefrcCB6TWWOUcxl7DFMYAXgJm3SKgND2aZ17JQi6Gko-OaDNBObiLe5xTTQrA3Tb9NxtzjvTYnuQEt6qP9L6fzhbK74ib9JsEMMNxd1bE-_g_l2Wm/s1600/220px-William_Hope_Hodgson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRknKeXklmjxbmH-wVXiZ_VuPOPYefrcCB6TWWOUcxl7DFMYAXgJm3SKgND2aZ17JQi6Gko-OaDNBObiLe5xTTQrA3Tb9NxtzjvTYnuQEt6qP9L6fzhbK74ib9JsEMMNxd1bE-_g_l2Wm/s1600/220px-William_Hope_Hodgson.jpg" height="200" width="147" /></a></div>
For more Night Land mythos, here are two websites dedicated specifically to them.<br />
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The first, <a href="http://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">William Hope Hodgson</a> by Sam Gafford, makes for some wonderful browsing. With Phillip Ellis, Gafford is working on a collection of <a href="http://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/coming-soon-the-complete-poetry-of-william-hope-hodgson/" target="_blank">Hodgson's poetry</a> set to release in November of 2014.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkksdR_5xRDVe6ZI3J1kfxkUt-Fjus_0tJzfWn1KFIYYd3hzeOykpOIzndHoyw2ROYfRK4y05aggrhjvA4DTdP0wVGDNS-cin53yjwId4HCGRPC8rUXhDqubtuy8mV2tjyQ3DxlrmRFl5n/s1600/nightwatchernw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkksdR_5xRDVe6ZI3J1kfxkUt-Fjus_0tJzfWn1KFIYYd3hzeOykpOIzndHoyw2ROYfRK4y05aggrhjvA4DTdP0wVGDNS-cin53yjwId4HCGRPC8rUXhDqubtuy8mV2tjyQ3DxlrmRFl5n/s1600/nightwatchernw.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thenightland.co.uk/nightart.html#content" target="_blank">The Northwest Watcher by Stephen Fabian</a></td></tr>
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The second, <a href="http://www.thenightland.co.uk/nightmap.html" target="_blank">The Night Land</a>, is an eclectic multimedia site in the grand old net tradition. I love it. It was originally created by Andy Robertson, wh<a href="http://williamhopehodgson.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/r-i-p-andy-robertson/" target="_blank">o passed away in April of this year. </a> Robertson was the first to publish John C. Wright's short stories based on the Night Lands mythos; <a href="http://www.scifiwright.com/2014/03/reviewer-praise-for-awake-in-the-night-land/" target="_blank">here is a post from Wright's website </a>about Robertson and his reviews. Now Robertson's colleague Brett Davidson has taken over the site.Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-83748157049634279142014-06-20T09:44:00.000-07:002014-06-20T09:44:29.987-07:00Simulation Theory, Sexbots, and Sweet Potatoes<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSW4bRLoWqKUUU9WWMV9-4Na7jOksxwo2ocaJvePoxkFRrJwTJLzEwhw9TpKhTXRo9uMb2VTsiLO2EN4_S_HfLH91kJDBUZ5pBlidpj1jh2YvSyhFL-HmmTzYkqU8BXrXwHwShAbjItoRp/s1600/Bruce+Bischoff1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSW4bRLoWqKUUU9WWMV9-4Na7jOksxwo2ocaJvePoxkFRrJwTJLzEwhw9TpKhTXRo9uMb2VTsiLO2EN4_S_HfLH91kJDBUZ5pBlidpj1jh2YvSyhFL-HmmTzYkqU8BXrXwHwShAbjItoRp/s1600/Bruce+Bischoff1.jpg" height="400" width="321" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long-exposure photo by artist <a href="http://www.bricebischoff.com/" target="_blank">Bruce Bischoff</a></td></tr>
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Since I haven't posted anything in weeks, I thought I'd pop in and add, at the very least, a newsy sort of update.<br />
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Speculative literature journal <i>Strange Horizons</i> has published <a href="http://www.strangehorizons.com/2014/20140616/allen-p.shtml" target="_blank">one of my poems, "Heirarch."</a> This one comes from a series of posthuman poems that's been in progress for...well, for a long long time. Maybe it's not a series. Maybe I just like posthuman/Singularity/upload/simulation theory themes enough to keep writing about them.<br />
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And on that note, I have two other poems out now, too. The Canadian feminist literary journal <i>S/tick</i> will be publishing "Peeling Sweet Potatoes" and "GirlsGirlsGirls" in their upcoming issue, bu<a href="http://s-tick.tumblr.com/post/88965203565/laura-walton-allen" target="_blank">t both are also available online here.</a> "GirlsGirlsGirls" grew out of the same posthuman roots as "Heirarch." How will our tools feel about us?<br />
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The sweet potato poem? Probably not technological at all, or is so only in its reference to a paring knife, that most perfect of manmade augments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMI4GbN7hP20XsIDkYnXB_TgLcESOmFVJf0gnRf9MsD0QPNe-9C21yUpeg9F4qYVcHWdzo_zqarVsBK2v65okI0Sf-ZOWjvVapNDFNNw8hMDWY4wBBZ4xsekbQNQgU7Tc0SobyMASV6PHi/s1600/Bischoff_Bronson_Caves_14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMI4GbN7hP20XsIDkYnXB_TgLcESOmFVJf0gnRf9MsD0QPNe-9C21yUpeg9F4qYVcHWdzo_zqarVsBK2v65okI0Sf-ZOWjvVapNDFNNw8hMDWY4wBBZ4xsekbQNQgU7Tc0SobyMASV6PHi/s1600/Bischoff_Bronson_Caves_14.jpg" height="506" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another of Bruce Bischoff's <a href="http://www.bricebischoff.com/bronsoncaves1.html" target="_blank">"Bronson Caves" series</a></td></tr>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-74542969236033986522014-05-08T10:52:00.000-07:002014-05-08T10:52:45.147-07:00Some Chariots<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
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<i>Always behind my back I hear</i><br />
<i>The spastic clicking of jerked knees</i><br />
<i>And other automatic reactions</i><br />
<i>Tracking me through the years to where</i><br />
<i>Time’s winged chariot is double</i><br />
<i>Parked near the eternity frontier</i><br />
<i>And in such moments I want to participate</i><br />
<i>In human life less and less</i><br />
<i>But when I do the obligatory double take</i><br />
<i>And glance behind me into the dark green future</i><br />
<i>All I see stretching out are vast</i><br />
<i>Arizona republics of more</i></blockquote>
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-"Human Life" by <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176455" target="_blank">Tom Clark</a></div>
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from the<a href="http://www.tarothistory.com/caryyalevisconti.html" target="_blank"> Cary-Yale Visconti</a> deck, Milan</div>
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from the<a href="http://editions-sivilixi.com/english/the-tarot-of-jacques-vieville/" target="_blank"> Jacque Vieville deck</a>, France</div>
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mid-1600s</div>
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from <a href="http://www.galomagazine.com/artdesign/reading-the-tarot-the-legacy-of-salvador-dali/#.U2qtuPldXwo" target="_blank">Salvador Dali's deck</a>, released in 1984</div>
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from <a href="http://www.innerlightsociety.org/new-tarot.html" target="_blank">The New Tarot</a> by Hurley, Hurley, and Horler</div>
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California, 1974</div>
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from <a href="http://www.housewivestarot.com/" target="_blank">The Housewives Tarot</a></div>
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from <a href="http://aryayogi.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/rohit-arya_sacred-india-tarotcreating-the-chariot/" target="_blank">Sacred India deck</a> by Rohit Arya</div>
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from <a href="http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/lo-scarabeo.shtml" target="_blank">The Celtic Tarot by Lo Scarabeo & Saverio Tenuta</a></div>
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from the <a href="http://ensemble.va.com.au/Treister/HEXEN2/HEXEN_2.html" target="_blank">Hexen 2.0 deck </a>by Suzanne Treister</div>
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from a project by<a href="http://fragocon.deviantart.com/art/The-Chariot-Tarot-Card-165538090" target="_blank"> fragOcon here on deviantart</a></div>
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added on 2010</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTHo7jCfX0uV9kT4fR69NnxRvZ0OyKoM1KsHxCOl_KagTg00cEwFK6Z7rpkG-YbmC2F_RIF7Voz4v7DInTz5zxlnSVe5j8SdvXSpP1JHymoOdmPay699-_wAv641DZSvZpFDmIinKvZA4/s1600/Chariot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTHo7jCfX0uV9kT4fR69NnxRvZ0OyKoM1KsHxCOl_KagTg00cEwFK6Z7rpkG-YbmC2F_RIF7Voz4v7DInTz5zxlnSVe5j8SdvXSpP1JHymoOdmPay699-_wAv641DZSvZpFDmIinKvZA4/s1600/Chariot.jpg" height="640" width="440" /></a></div>
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from the <a href="http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/voyager/" target="_blank">Voyager Tarot </a>by James Wanless</div>
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1986</div>
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from the <a href="http://www.tarotpassages.com/amano.htm" target="_blank">Amano Deck </a>by Yoshitaka Amano, 1991</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-align: left; text-indent: -1em;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-indent: -1em;"> <i> Here is where</i></span><br />
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<i> You can get nowhere</i></div>
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<i> Faster than ever</i></div>
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<i> As you go under</i></div>
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<i> Deeper and deeper</i></div>
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<i> In the fertile smother</i></div>
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<i> Of another acre</i></div>
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<i> Like any other</i></div>
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<i> You can’t peer over</i></div>
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<i> And then another</i></div>
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<i> And everywhere</i></div>
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<i> You veer or hare</i></div>
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<i> There you are</i></div>
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<i> Farther and farther</i></div>
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<i> Afield than before</i></div>
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<i> But on you blunder</i></div>
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<i> In the verdant meander</i></div>
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<i> As if the answer</i></div>
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<i> To looking for cover</i></div>
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<i> Were to bewilder</i></div>
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<i> Your inner minotaur</i></div>
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<i> And near and far were</i></div>
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<i> Neither here nor there</i></div>
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<i> And where you are</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-indent: -1em;"><i> Is where you were</i></span> </div>
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-"Corn Maze" by <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/245402" target="_blank">David Barber</a> <i> </i><i> </i></div>
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Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-90157261173376629392014-05-06T11:06:00.001-07:002014-05-06T11:06:53.333-07:00Outsider's Outsiders, and Leonora Carrington<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Should an artist choose one art form and stick with it exclusively? </div>
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I've heard dozens of pros and cons on all sides of this argument, and I still haven't made up my mind...which is, I suppose, a way of making up one's mind. </div>
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Having more than one primary art form-- fiction and painting, say, or screenwriting and dance-- is liberating, but even aside from questions of divided effort, it's also the source of an odd sense of personal discomfort. Are you really a writer? Or a painter? Or neither, since you won't choose? In a world that is geared very tightly toward hyperspecialization, where do the unrecalcitrant multitalented people go?</div>
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Outside, usually. While the sense of outsiderhood is certainly imposed by cultural norms, it's also intrinsic to the situation; on a very basic level, the need to navigate a very diverse set of social and professional circles leads to a certain degree of personal discomfort. Differences between functional groups-- the artists' coop down the street, or the poetry peer critique that meets at the bookshop-- aren't all superficial. Different groups value different approaches, different methodology, different mindsets, and the artist with multiple career paths will find it difficult to switch personas often enough to truly satisfy any core in-group.</div>
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They remain outsiders, even from groups of outsiders.</div>
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In honor, then, I've found a few selections from the diverse and many-headed Leonora Carrington, definitely an outsider's outsider.</div>
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"Ab Ao Quod" 1956</div>
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"Who Art Thou, White Face?" 1959</div>
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Here's one of Carrington's short stories, "The Beloved.". You can<a href="http://biblioklept.org/2013/11/04/the-beloved-leonora-carrington/" target="_blank"> find it here at Biblioklept,</a> along with "The Debutante" which I just studied in a Hugo House <a href="http://www.erinmorgangilbert.com/events/" target="_blank">class with Erin Gilbert</a>. Both of these stories have strong women's themes; both are brutal and lovely.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“The Beloved” by Leonora Carrington</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ONE LATE afternoon, passing through a narrow street, I stole a melon. The fruit man who was hidden behind his fruits seized me by the arm and said to me: “Señorita, I’ve been waiting for an occasion like this for forty years. I have spent forty years hidden behind this pile of oranges with the hope that someone would steal a fruit from me. I will tell you why; I need to talk, I need to tell my story. If you don’t listen, I will hand you over to the police.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I’ll listen,’ I said. Without letting me go, he took me to the inside of the store, among fruits</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Without letting me go, he took me to the inside of the store, among fruits and vegetables. We shut a door at the far end, and we reached a room where there was a bed on which an immovable and probably dead woman lay. It appeared to me that she had been there for a long time since the bed was covered with weeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I water her every day,” said the fruitman with a pensive air. “In 40 years I have not succeeded in knowing whether she is dead or not. She has never moved, nor spoken, nor eaten during that time. But the curious thing is that she remains warm. If you don’t believe me, look.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The man lifted a corner of the cover, which permitted me to see many eggs and some little chicks recently hatched.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“As you notice,” he said, “I incubate eggs here. I also sell fresh eggs.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We each sat down on one side of the bed and the fruit man began to tell his story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Believe me; I love her so much! I have always loved her! She was so sweet! She had little agile white feet. Would you like to see them?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“No,” I answered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Finally,” he continued, after exhaling a deep breath, “she was so beautiful! My hair was blonde; hers, magnificently black! Now, both of us have white hair. Her father was an extraordinary man. He had a mansion in the country. He was a collector of lamb chops. For that we came to know each other. I have a certain skill in drying meat with a glance. Mr. Pushfoot (so he was called) heard about me. He invited me to his house in order to dry his ribs to keep them from rotting. Agnes was his daughter. We loved each other from the first moment. We departed in a boat by way of the Seine. I rowed. Agnes said to me: ‘I love you so much that I only live for you.’ I answered her with the same words. I believe that it is my love which keeps her warm, perhaps she is dead, but the warmth persists.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a short pause, with an absent look, he continued: “Next year I will grow some tomatoes; it wouldn’t surprise me if they would grow well there inside … It became night, and I didn’t know where we would spend our wedding night. Agnes had become very pale, because of fatigue. Finally we had scarcely left Paris behind when I saw an inn that faced the river. I moored the boat and we walked toward an obscure and sinister terrace. There were two wolves there and a fox, who began to walk around us. There was nobody else … I knocked and knocked at the door, on the other side of which a terrible silence prevailed. ‘Agnes is tired! Agnes is very tired!’ I shouted with as much force as I could. Finally, an old lady’s head appeared at the window and said: ‘I don’t know anything. The landlord here is the fox. Let me sleep. You are bothering me.’ Agnes began to cry. There was no other remedy than to direct ourselves to the fox. ‘Have you beds?’ I asked several times. Nobody responded: he didn’t know how to speak. And again the head, older than the other, but which now descended slowly through the window tied to the end of a little cord. ‘Direct yourself to the wolves; I am not the landlord here. Let me sleep! please!’ I understood that that head was crazy and I did not have the heart to continue. Agnes kept crying. I walked around the house a few times and finally, I was able to open a window, through which we entered. Then we found ourselves in a kitchen with a high ceiling; over a large oven made hot by fire were some vegetables that were cooking and they jumped in the boiling water, a thing that much amused us. We ate well and then we laid ourselves down on the floor. I had Agnes in my arms. We did not sleep. That terrible kitchen contained all kinds of things. Many rats had stuck their heads out of their holes and then sang with screeching and disagreeable little voices. Filthy odors expanded and diminished one after the other, and there were air drafts. I believe that it was the air drafts that finished my poor Agnes. She never recovered. From that day, each time she spoke less . . .”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the fruitman was so blinded by tears that I could escape with my melon.</span></div>
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"The Burning of Giordano Bruno" 1964</div>
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"The Giantess" 1947</div>
<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-70606070559775866962014-04-06T21:18:00.001-07:002014-04-06T21:18:27.012-07:00Houses, Part Two<br />
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"Crescent of Houses" by Egon Schiele</div>
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"Old Houses" by Frank Brangwyn</div>
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bioart <a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2012/02/the-amazing-mould-covered-urbex-art-of-daniel-del-nero/" target="_blank">mold houses by Daniele Del Nero</a> (left) </div>
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from <a href="http://www.secrets-of-shed-building.com/handmade-houses.html" target="_blank"><i>Handmade Houses: The Woodbutcher's Art</i> by Art Boericke/Barry Shapiro</a> (right)</div>
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one of Andrew Wyeth's houses</div>
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three houses by <a href="http://www.yerkaland.com/" target="_blank">Jacek Yerka</a></div>
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"Yamazato" by <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/santcugatenc/ray-morimura/" target="_blank">Ray Morimura</a></div>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-59613106352203870142014-04-03T09:55:00.000-07:002014-04-03T09:56:17.451-07:00Houses, Part One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Lately, everything in my life has been subordinated to the rituals of new-house-hunting. The hubby and I have researched houses; looked at houses; consulted multiple professionals about houses; talked about houses; argued about houses; mooned over houses; gotten excited, disappointed, and totally meh about houses; gotten sick of houses and then enthused about houses all over again; all this and more, and all in the last week.</div>
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Obsession is, after all, the soul of...something, I'm sure. </div>
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This is an illustration of Edgewood by Peter Milton for the <a href="http://www.littlebig25.com/Editions.html" target="_blank">Incunabula edition</a> of John Crowley's classic <i>Little, Big</i>. This became one of my favorite books of all time before I even finished it, and I've reread it a dozen times since. Here's <a href="http://reads.kfpl.ca/2014/02/08/forgotten-on-the-shelves-little-big-by-john-crowley/" target="_blank">a good article on this book</a> and Crowley in general on FPL Reads, though there are countless others, some of a serious literary bent; Harold Bloom called this book<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/mar/04/little-big-crowley-faerie-fairys" target="_blank"> a "neglected masterpiece.</a>"</div>
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Our new house will probably not look like this, nor exist simultaneously in multiple dimensions.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(concept art for Meduseld by <a href="http://www.leadinglightdesign.com/services_productionIllustration.php" target="_blank">Leading Light Design</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">As far as famous houses go,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heorot" target="_blank"> Heorot</a> is also one of my favorites. Heorot is the Danish mead hall of king Hrothgar, patron of good old Beowulf. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">(Here's a </span><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172777" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">link to an Old English version</a><span style="text-align: left;"> from Poetry Foundation. Read it aloud.) </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbxbucUoZ37MR6dSCO2MB1LaXnQUN1MSRv6AkulM-MxFFzHnHtxL0I_PIQ9rLBilkknmRtHCnjGOfe7EOaf7koard9yfU3zR0qZhflQWIsZKtXtsct8HyU3f4LRybqVKr40g3p0hdxX2y/s1600/heorot+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbxbucUoZ37MR6dSCO2MB1LaXnQUN1MSRv6AkulM-MxFFzHnHtxL0I_PIQ9rLBilkknmRtHCnjGOfe7EOaf7koard9yfU3zR0qZhflQWIsZKtXtsct8HyU3f4LRybqVKr40g3p0hdxX2y/s1600/heorot+%25281%2529.jpg" height="262" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOVHvwqfhKAZmERdOWYlnNPy3xcITS2I1WSZMma3EmQrXun7rBSV_kTgCC9FiGuAkR9mJL-u8H9nIzmggBiPEvvhAsRUk2pL3N_KChLsgD1lC_ugXrvEjiKzzOL9Irat2a0nbhogd0Lm7/s1600/stave-church11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOVHvwqfhKAZmERdOWYlnNPy3xcITS2I1WSZMma3EmQrXun7rBSV_kTgCC9FiGuAkR9mJL-u8H9nIzmggBiPEvvhAsRUk2pL3N_KChLsgD1lC_ugXrvEjiKzzOL9Irat2a0nbhogd0Lm7/s1600/stave-church11.jpg" height="400" width="291" /></a><span style="text-align: left;">Heorot was the ideal behind Meduseld, Tolkien's central symbol of the Rohirrim and their ruling family. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I doubt we'll get to live in an AngloSaxon mead hall either, though. There are probably zoning laws pertaining to quaffing and wenching.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4S4EHUk8QJULGXtNzoJW6pnCIVGQLSWgbVMZrLgSolQA4CAr5B6bHwrypUanlhzvoHdJ2gbO6MfRw2jS1UsuOdZHP3SKd9ploXvq7941gPI_mHcIaebFYKa6PjsjWOO4KXyqv2zuhuGB/s1600/The-Burrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4S4EHUk8QJULGXtNzoJW6pnCIVGQLSWgbVMZrLgSolQA4CAr5B6bHwrypUanlhzvoHdJ2gbO6MfRw2jS1UsuOdZHP3SKd9ploXvq7941gPI_mHcIaebFYKa6PjsjWOO4KXyqv2zuhuGB/s1600/The-Burrow.jpg" height="288" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'd be okay with<a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/The_Burrow" target="_blank"> The Burrow,</a> especially if they throw in the teleporting fireplace. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWfZ8sBEh19g7jwsDRjOxxQMr8RJ0XJSF4kZFg6RvajN7TZMJIOqqec8MYN36_ZtBr2g4CALS9qi2BhKLGylqnobOwDR46ZGxtDchZg_8PM94A9Wjjt3p9s4wnFRWyprpU0ge_ez6keH5/s1600/house02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWfZ8sBEh19g7jwsDRjOxxQMr8RJ0XJSF4kZFg6RvajN7TZMJIOqqec8MYN36_ZtBr2g4CALS9qi2BhKLGylqnobOwDR46ZGxtDchZg_8PM94A9Wjjt3p9s4wnFRWyprpU0ge_ez6keH5/s1600/house02.jpg" height="296" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8wq-_8C9IFdyF-aFzHT_NMiLoX1GnUEYaoG1KZjbmWQ3wcAlII1yxi2bIvxc3pM9jkkLy6Z0Fzm7X_VovLhSn1nCRqZsDixdkhO9nXOcJr22tvrAFw22d4EKd9lX3ZqRXWqP4R2ri4Mx/s1600/AF+image+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8wq-_8C9IFdyF-aFzHT_NMiLoX1GnUEYaoG1KZjbmWQ3wcAlII1yxi2bIvxc3pM9jkkLy6Z0Fzm7X_VovLhSn1nCRqZsDixdkhO9nXOcJr22tvrAFw22d4EKd9lX3ZqRXWqP4R2ri4Mx/s1600/AF+image+3.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a>The <a href="http://addamsfamily.wikia.com/wiki/The_Addams_Family_Mansion" target="_blank">Addams Family mansion</a><u> </u> would be fine too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVtptDM876_WSDfisUFI1NYzbPT6tdZySL5RKjVRVBavOmkGW5ne7yJnLHCvkwv8BzNgYlrZ1GUw_SNzZ2ZgCZZvL6biRGbTnRI6iLr70n9CbiJf2OZxLEn5UbtOs70cX7qDWNE0-fmLu/s1600/visdevprogressv3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVtptDM876_WSDfisUFI1NYzbPT6tdZySL5RKjVRVBavOmkGW5ne7yJnLHCvkwv8BzNgYlrZ1GUw_SNzZ2ZgCZZvL6biRGbTnRI6iLr70n9CbiJf2OZxLEn5UbtOs70cX7qDWNE0-fmLu/s1600/visdevprogressv3.jpg" height="304" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's an illustration panel by illustration student Jasmine Lee, found<a href="http://jasminelee90.blogspot.com/2013/07/visdev-progress-process.html" target="_blank"> here at her development blog.</a> It's the Professor's House from <i>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i> by C.S. Lewis. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"It was the sort of house that you never seem to come to the end of, and it was full of unexpected places. The first few doors they tried led only into spare bedrooms, as everyone had expected that they would; but soon they came to a very long room full of pictures and there they found a suit of armor; and after that was a room all hung with green, with a harp in one corner; and then came three steps down and five steps up, and then a kind of little upstairs hall and a door that led out onto a balcony, and then a whole series of rooms that led into each other and were lined with books--most of them very old books and some bigger than a Bible in a church." --<i>Chapter One, Lucy Looks Into a Wardrobe</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUm9Uo3cgcB0vWgr-Zqgf1L_DkXMfcKqZL-gv9sGhSaPZi2vkP46Dqdjr3vCILhRcq9y544UOZ6R-BBrUyb6uCX8VcS95P5CcUoen8PWkNXhWxNSt3CKvOlBn6Ge2MLaImRFO6-LuzWNTR/s1600/wardrobe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUm9Uo3cgcB0vWgr-Zqgf1L_DkXMfcKqZL-gv9sGhSaPZi2vkP46Dqdjr3vCILhRcq9y544UOZ6R-BBrUyb6uCX8VcS95P5CcUoen8PWkNXhWxNSt3CKvOlBn6Ge2MLaImRFO6-LuzWNTR/s1600/wardrobe.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-16518248500006161962014-03-26T12:11:00.002-07:002014-03-26T12:11:59.588-07:00New Work: Gaming Assemblage Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
They say that art imitates life, but I'm not so sure. I've heard various interpretations of the old saying over the years: none of them seem to hold up very well under scrutiny. More often I think that life imitates art, especially if I've been keeping up with the social networks. </div>
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That being said, though, I will admit that life certainly creeps <i>into</i> art. An artist's work tends to reflect the things she immerses herself in outside of the studio. A poet who rides, for instance, will come back to horses and horsemanship as a motif, over and over. A painter who loves antiquity will paint Greek scenes, over and over. And so on.</div>
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It happens to me all the time. Right now, my husband and I spend most of our free time playing board games; this new series was inevitable, really. </div>
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These are a few representative pieces from the assemblage series I've been working on for the past couple of months. Thanks (a BIG thanks!) to my friends from<a href="http://www.meetup.com/West-Seattle-Board-Games/" target="_blank"> West Seattle Board Games</a>, they all include gaming components in some way.</div>
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Of course they do. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNhw5BofivFWodj_7gQqKgOnR09u1HHs4YyPmr6AP1UxPbJ-mynMhw94dzncIojK0Ugm5Mc1bkmguWkxtQnj6EZWtRp83ODOLYVSjsJXqzB1D41UQUg3kpnsvwkmaXOwsla4d4JKjoQjv/s1600/2014-03-26+11.11.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNhw5BofivFWodj_7gQqKgOnR09u1HHs4YyPmr6AP1UxPbJ-mynMhw94dzncIojK0Ugm5Mc1bkmguWkxtQnj6EZWtRp83ODOLYVSjsJXqzB1D41UQUg3kpnsvwkmaXOwsla4d4JKjoQjv/s1600/2014-03-26+11.11.53.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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This one's called "Storm Mage" and it's my favorite. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVy-JHZhuWWdBOlaWcS9XEadmrHItCgkEnRN3cfBDoGblYuj81Tecl-42hqwtnKvsUKYAeh5WzwKuRf7MNxmhIkP19hpSWiaS8rE4Civ84TfTc4j3B6gdP9-dJU74sij4-qMGwFcwonQA-/s1600/20140320_130343-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVy-JHZhuWWdBOlaWcS9XEadmrHItCgkEnRN3cfBDoGblYuj81Tecl-42hqwtnKvsUKYAeh5WzwKuRf7MNxmhIkP19hpSWiaS8rE4Civ84TfTc4j3B6gdP9-dJU74sij4-qMGwFcwonQA-/s1600/20140320_130343-1.jpg" height="640" width="354" /></a></div>
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"This Way" is a little sleeker, more contemporary. I like how the duochrome finish developed. </div>
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The piece to the right is called "Blue Machine," and it was showcased in the lobby show at the recent Open House event at my studio space, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/inscapearts" target="_blank">Inscape Arts</a>. I plan to do more of the monochrome "Machine" pieces; I like working almost entirely with texture and line.</div>
Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-29739350955873888792014-03-16T20:07:00.000-07:002014-03-16T20:07:13.697-07:00Tinkelman Sketches<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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More drawings, all these by <a href="http://tinkelmanstudio.com/" target="_blank">Murray Tinkelman</a>...not sketches <i>per se</i>, like those in <a href="http://portabledinosaurs.blogspot.com/2014/02/master-drawings.html" target="_blank">the last master drawings post,</a> but still, drawings. Without the distractions of color or extra dimensionality, a good drawing has an essential quality unmatched in any other medium. </div>
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"Drawing is the honesty of art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad." - Salvador Dali</blockquote>
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The two illustrations above are from Tinkelman's Lovecraft covers, done for Ballantine in the '70s. Here's a<a href="http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/10/murray-tinkelman-how-rhino-turned-into.html" target="_blank"> good article on <i>Today's Inspiration</i></a><i>,</i> based on an interview with Tinkelman.</div>
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The rest of these are from Tinkelman's 1970 <i>Bestiary; </i>here's the <a href="http://50watts.com/Beetle-Brow-and-the-Beasties" target="_blank"><i>50 Watts</i> article</a> in which I found the majority of the images. </div>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-41591502401111018892014-03-07T13:04:00.000-08:002014-03-07T13:04:21.881-08:00Nancy Kress at Hugo House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've just discovered that scifi author<a href="http://hugohouse.org/classy-talk-nancy-kress/" target="_blank"> Nancy Kress will be teaching a short fiction class</a> at Seattle's incredible literary center, the Richard Hugo House. It starts on March 19, right around the corner.<br />
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It's tempting. One of the first recommendations we received upon moving to Seattle was to a.) find Hugo House, and b.) take a class with Nancy Kress. But I'm not the fiction writer in the family; maybe I can talk the hubby into going. Vicarious Nancy Kress is better than no Nancy Kress at all.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MOiZ-srqzxhKtIAqdHS0NIAEgbWhmvIIqijvuZ43w0ImB5l2s00iGWrwwZNeCtWSGGhfp-CZgUHP5o4YSNgnLn4vLQjJcXc6tJNE2P-aQFACR5EH6Ydbl7pyYgLUdoyauxs5cT2LsDzh/s1600/16059443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MOiZ-srqzxhKtIAqdHS0NIAEgbWhmvIIqijvuZ43w0ImB5l2s00iGWrwwZNeCtWSGGhfp-CZgUHP5o4YSNgnLn4vLQjJcXc6tJNE2P-aQFACR5EH6Ydbl7pyYgLUdoyauxs5cT2LsDzh/s1600/16059443.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a>I was happy to find one of her stories-- "The Common Good" -- in<a href="http://www.asimovs.com/2014_01/exc_story1.shtml" target="_blank"> a recent issue of Asimov's</a>, and I also hear that she contributed a story to the Gene Wolfe tribute anthology, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16059443-shadows-of-the-new-sun" target="_blank">Shadows of the New Sun.</a> For some unfathomable reason, I haven't read it yet.<br />
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Here's an excerpt from<a href="http://www.locusmag.com/Roundtable/2014/01/interview-with-nancy-kress-and-jack-skillingstead/" target="_blank"> a recent interview with Kress </a>prior to her appearance at the 2013 ICON 38 in Iowa. (The interviewer is Alvaro Zinos-Amaro for Locus. The JS is Jack Skillingstead. The three are discussing their dream panel.)<br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: 18px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[JS]</strong> If she has Maugham, I’d like Guy de Maupassant.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[NK]</strong> You can have him!</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[JS]</strong> He was a great short story writer. And unlike your guy, he actually wrote something that could be classified if not as SF then at least horror, “The Horla”. A very famous story, in fact.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[NK]</strong> I thought we said we didn’t have to stick to sf or fantasy or horror writers.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[JS]</strong> We don’t <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">have</i> to, but I was just trying to make my dream panel interesting for the con audience.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[NK]</strong> Then I want Shakespeare on my panel!</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[AZA]</strong> I’m surprised you didn’t pick him already. Or Jesus, or Buddha, or, say, Galileo.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[JS]</strong> Okay, I’ll have God on my panel.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">[AZA]</strong> But you already have Theodore Sturgeon.</div>
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Me, I'd take Sturgeon any day.<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-74212483821224072392014-03-03T09:52:00.000-08:002014-03-03T09:56:09.802-08:00On ProcessFor the past decade or so, at least eighty percent of my daily life has consisted of painting or sculpting or writing various things, and teaching the doing of those things to others. Given my circumstances, process has become a central theme.<br />
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Process is the place one settles oneself. Process is intimate and private, like a bedtime routine; some folks are more comfortable sharing intimacies than others, but an artist's process is <i>always</i> personal.<br />
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(This engenders the strange artistic voyeurism that spawns countless articles about other people's processes. "Inside the Artist's Studio- What Really Goes On!" and "Ten Surprising Habits of Your Favorite Authors!" We read these things like others read about celebrity sex lives. We simply <i>must</i> know. I've been unnaturally obsessed with <a href="http://redmonk.com/gearmonk/2013/03/08/review-lifespan-1200dt/" target="_blank">Neal Stephenson's treadmill writing arrangement</a> for years.)<br />
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Process is the only place where any piece moves forward. The future-- the finished painting, the show, the completed story-- doesn't really have much to do with the actual <i>work</i>. The work only happens in the present. Anyone who's ever had a glorious vision that just wouldn't materialize knows this; so does anyone who's ever been monkeying around with no particular aim and somehow made something fabulous.<br />
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I've been interested in figure painting lately. Aside from a couple of paintings I made in college, I haven't really pursued much realistic figurative work. So, I started with process.<br />
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Multiple discreet stages allow me to feel my way through the work: multiple roughs, multiple initial sketches, and then a fully rendered drawing. I spent a full week on those before I considered even touching the underpainting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDHj7t4rnBT_Qsnqaz8kpAqBzhbF-U0ahztByhEPsRF9dtiTkUeeSNk0Rstb4qlC-ls2kb-cKM2Go8V5SW9SbSxmcdF7lOw8aMMcGakgQtwrh2Nowy8tWdlQidEdK7atwEOu2GNwYDoXB/s1600/2014-02-18+16.32.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDHj7t4rnBT_Qsnqaz8kpAqBzhbF-U0ahztByhEPsRF9dtiTkUeeSNk0Rstb4qlC-ls2kb-cKM2Go8V5SW9SbSxmcdF7lOw8aMMcGakgQtwrh2Nowy8tWdlQidEdK7atwEOu2GNwYDoXB/s1600/2014-02-18+16.32.09.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LLWaHrAA6TkX96Xz1kDIPNqEGZ88F17PC7kljJrPZiH8Hq0cu4bw0o99FIY5CkbZ_9Vrge0TqyNkGuN-F63un6BYKvLBUvAWANYIP3cVSTKoVV5IVRKWdy7-yqG_fXE9KS9jLn6m3UNS/s1600/20140220_142400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6LLWaHrAA6TkX96Xz1kDIPNqEGZ88F17PC7kljJrPZiH8Hq0cu4bw0o99FIY5CkbZ_9Vrge0TqyNkGuN-F63un6BYKvLBUvAWANYIP3cVSTKoVV5IVRKWdy7-yqG_fXE9KS9jLn6m3UNS/s1600/20140220_142400.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a> To the left is the final sketch, made before starting the painting. As you can see, it still has some issues. Each iteration gave me a chance to fix the problems I just couldn't live with, and to think about what I was actually <i>doing</i>.<br />
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Above is the underpainting, just as I'm starting to build up color. To the right is the underpainting at an earlier monochromatic stage.<br />
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(I'll post final pics eventually. He isn't done yet.)<br />
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My husband Phil is a writer, and he's also grappling with process as he revises a novel. Here's a quote <a href="http://philandlauraallen.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/deadlines-and-sheer-panic/" target="_blank">from his recent blog post</a>:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: justify;">This revision is also getting in the way of some other projects I’d like to tackle. I have at least three really interesting writing prospects rolling around in my brain right now, and I really want to start one soon. But the unfinished novel leaves me feeling guilty. How can I move on to something new, when this one isn’t even done? </span></blockquote>
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Process is a struggle. It's the place you simultaneously practice to get better and practice to execute; it's where the multifaceted meaning of the word <i>practice</i> ("practice a craft"..."medical practice"..."the practice of patience") is most apparent.<br />
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Process is...well, when you're doing it, it's everything.<br />
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-7957882802976920932014-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:002014-02-20T20:54:03.978-08:00Further Frazetta Sketches<br />
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More Frazetta sketches...I can't help it, I'm obsessed. Without the distractions of color or extra dimensionality, a good drawing has an essential quality unmatched in any other medium. Nowhere is art more human, regardless of subject matter.</div>
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"Drawing is the honesty of art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad." - Salvador Dali</blockquote>
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These few sketches (on the cream toned paper) are from a single page of Frazetta's sketchbook, <a href="http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/1080801" target="_blank">presumably for sale</a>. </div>
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I have a rant about naked ladies and art, a rant which I will refrain from repeating here, but despite my serious boredom with sexed up art, I get the feeling that Frank Frazetta really liked women, of all shapes and sizes and dispositions. I like Frazetta's women because most of them have not only real hips and real bellies and real ten-days-on-a-murderous-jungle-rampage hair, but also real character. </div>
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When they have teeth, they have <i>teeth</i>.</div>
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Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-60670804990583983052014-02-17T11:44:00.000-08:002014-02-17T11:44:57.632-08:00Master Drawings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For today, here's a small collection of drawings by three masters of narrative figuration, Frank Frazetta, Francisco Goya, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones. So much compression....so much information in so few marks....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCk0ttXGVuPl41AcZyLNwbBpJcUYvHzvQ2eD7WHhWAWvUFgvt1LF9N2VVEZm0HCN2afIV4KqpBujzr-Dh8XtR5NHT8Ygufi5ABgEz3JISyL2V0TVu7WF0thjoUu2KqKElkRXe7BoH22f-U/s1600/Frazetta-Mars-sketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCk0ttXGVuPl41AcZyLNwbBpJcUYvHzvQ2eD7WHhWAWvUFgvt1LF9N2VVEZm0HCN2afIV4KqpBujzr-Dh8XtR5NHT8Ygufi5ABgEz3JISyL2V0TVu7WF0thjoUu2KqKElkRXe7BoH22f-U/s1600/Frazetta-Mars-sketch.jpg" height="640" width="436" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWDAhFa1mODswqmlSjCqgxWKr4Svw-0RdUDiMmVLKEXL4VY5dFjxijSKdOZIaepcThFCTNhe2oRk3WCLC8828ZjDns-9WR06gHBToHiTiBGxZ8R-71WdyZFjo2FMvvIs6raY600IqfaQ-/s1600/FrazCavemansketch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWDAhFa1mODswqmlSjCqgxWKr4Svw-0RdUDiMmVLKEXL4VY5dFjxijSKdOZIaepcThFCTNhe2oRk3WCLC8828ZjDns-9WR06gHBToHiTiBGxZ8R-71WdyZFjo2FMvvIs6raY600IqfaQ-/s1600/FrazCavemansketch.jpg" height="640" width="382" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4PbSeeQUJ1Ot0WQzaMoqeO-w9aGgILRAVQ6xFStXBnBEfogBLdFTlfJdlpgQ538Rpaj9jTsMLlNgblN5kVfLWf4D8p7z2lARaQLBkTfJMVJAOYksD5vnu32RQxIxjQm7Urleuq3wH2g6/s1600/Frazetta_canoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc4PbSeeQUJ1Ot0WQzaMoqeO-w9aGgILRAVQ6xFStXBnBEfogBLdFTlfJdlpgQ538Rpaj9jTsMLlNgblN5kVfLWf4D8p7z2lARaQLBkTfJMVJAOYksD5vnu32RQxIxjQm7Urleuq3wH2g6/s1600/Frazetta_canoe.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8M1goQqF72zCKWEH9lXyqEuRh-6DE2aHHCad6qpM2mL3b_LfL6v7sqx7z1fUrynCdYaAY96Xz29H5GpydJzBDE7q_evp4TmAl1zxccbyrRBen0esLKpswI0g1Gyhzk8cKGzkyZnGWH44/s1600/FrazettaLionAttack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8M1goQqF72zCKWEH9lXyqEuRh-6DE2aHHCad6qpM2mL3b_LfL6v7sqx7z1fUrynCdYaAY96Xz29H5GpydJzBDE7q_evp4TmAl1zxccbyrRBen0esLKpswI0g1Gyhzk8cKGzkyZnGWH44/s1600/FrazettaLionAttack.jpg" height="520" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN-SWrVrlou7UyNsXicL0B0rXQ3_YlSsbgJh8HGXXkUwiGhhZktF4J3WfaQ9fpe41NtrzskJpQYTmhPyJXKGqI7gXh9o1R1Ss8YBHvr2pYJgzTnRWc6Uy55T2XJzSkbIuS5aKuqrQO_M7/s1600/khan2_frazetta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimN-SWrVrlou7UyNsXicL0B0rXQ3_YlSsbgJh8HGXXkUwiGhhZktF4J3WfaQ9fpe41NtrzskJpQYTmhPyJXKGqI7gXh9o1R1Ss8YBHvr2pYJgzTnRWc6Uy55T2XJzSkbIuS5aKuqrQO_M7/s1600/khan2_frazetta.jpg" height="640" width="540" /></a></div>
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The above drawings were all Frank Frazetta's, made in the mid-to-late 20th century. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8a2E8b66m6_DLztcihyphenhyphenljb0S6vD7pvQaLsgYl_KqYAnsQSuBPuM5OwHssaMQEjUiFLO6qW_uBmkR6JVzBbN8YRMiAD3_GK8UFvMS1Dt7CWN4eUo_zPQWRQ4xXaY4IRNukF7JyN06K3Qg/s1600/Goya1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8a2E8b66m6_DLztcihyphenhyphenljb0S6vD7pvQaLsgYl_KqYAnsQSuBPuM5OwHssaMQEjUiFLO6qW_uBmkR6JVzBbN8YRMiAD3_GK8UFvMS1Dt7CWN4eUo_zPQWRQ4xXaY4IRNukF7JyN06K3Qg/s1600/Goya1.jpg" height="640" width="484" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NeowZio_FAAthyphenhyphenxSFtNYKbbEQQGj68sDL0KmVQRbG_CEXQkYwpHLBryZ3_-L4GKu0WWtCOrDGJ9nd-p7EGV7XbP5OgI3lxuDfzx2VWLiGfzniToecMD5SbKfs-ttnmQ3oZxNR-P-PTKi/s1600/goya+ink+drawing+2+man+met+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NeowZio_FAAthyphenhyphenxSFtNYKbbEQQGj68sDL0KmVQRbG_CEXQkYwpHLBryZ3_-L4GKu0WWtCOrDGJ9nd-p7EGV7XbP5OgI3lxuDfzx2VWLiGfzniToecMD5SbKfs-ttnmQ3oZxNR-P-PTKi/s1600/goya+ink+drawing+2+man+met+.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFp8NorsuXu5w75XFNvFz4qfcmCcIRfK3vmiBbwqPkYrz4JmNf2v4G1MBsp59wTKiOX9qLip-VrAhFrtAGpbBUzjbXDrH852gqKBGV3rtTGSyCvR4Bbi_gz-PRaiL7kyVOWazMQShbXXhH/s1600/Goya_mirth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFp8NorsuXu5w75XFNvFz4qfcmCcIRfK3vmiBbwqPkYrz4JmNf2v4G1MBsp59wTKiOX9qLip-VrAhFrtAGpbBUzjbXDrH852gqKBGV3rtTGSyCvR4Bbi_gz-PRaiL7kyVOWazMQShbXXhH/s1600/Goya_mirth.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></a></div>
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The three above are by Francisco Goya, done in the late 18th century.</div>
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These last five are sketches by <a href="http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2011/05/spotlight-on-jeffrey-catherine-jones.html" target="_blank">Jeffrey Catherine Jones, the 20th-century artist and illustrator</a> who passed away in 2011. Frank Frazetta himself considered Jones to be one of the greatest artists of their time.</div>
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<br />Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-6250736575018270862014-02-09T15:22:00.000-08:002014-02-11T15:12:00.817-08:00Gene Wolfe <br />
Did you know that Gene Wolfe was an industrial engineer who helped design the machine that makes Pringles potato chips? He's also one of my favorite authors, even though I am not particularly fond of potato chips. <br />
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I've read quite a bit of his work-- short fiction, long fiction, series, etc., even some poetry-- but not all of it. At the recommendation of a friend, I'm currently reading <i>Peace</i>. It's reminding me a bit of the <i>Wizard Knight</i> series, maybe, at least in its frame. Gene Wolfe likes using the frame tale as a device, and he's very good at it.<br />
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[*Edit: Oh wow...I finished <i>Peace</i> last night and immediately started rereading it. What a book. It wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be; in fact, I'm not sure what it is <i>at all, </i>aside from very good and very very unsettling.]<br />
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Here are a few images I've found.<br />
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These three are all by Bruce Pennington (top to bottom: <i>Citidel of the Autarch, Shadow of the Torturer, </i>and <i>Claw of the Conciliator</i>.) I found them in <a href="http://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/03/the-lost-art-of-bruce-pennington/comment-page-1/" target="_blank">an article on Black Gate</a>, an excellent magazine and general speculative fiction/art website.</div>
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This is Richard Bober's 1994 cover for the Tor release of <i>Calde of the Long Sun</i>.</div>
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Gene Wolfe also writes a bit of poetry, one of which won a Rhysling Award in 1978. It's called "A Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps" and can be found in<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0809511622/ref=nosim/strangehorizons" target="_blank"> Alchemy of Stars, an anthology of Rhysling winners</a>. Here's part of it....</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Trump (20)<br />
<i>The L6a6s6t Judgement, </i>and my creed betrays,<br />
Unlearnt foreknowledge of these coming days.<br />
The angels come to smite the sea and land,<br />
The anti-Christ for us-- and slays.<br />
Trump (19)<br />
<i>The Sun</i> the dancing children love,<br />
Casts down this radiance from above.<br />
Fusion, fission, no remission;<br />
So small a house, so large a stove....</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfubVCZP3NWJFwBrdEw00TeCzALRbzoLPr3S1u3T6Q0h4S1Koa4DGCSR2Em29UIA4dIWxfMhHFYOZRKqsWkkTjGmB-AHq3z2d9EoO_wepyShyphenhyphen4P3VMm5kI9nxWjb95IEYapPgr5CqWxXP9/s1600/UrthMap.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfubVCZP3NWJFwBrdEw00TeCzALRbzoLPr3S1u3T6Q0h4S1Koa4DGCSR2Em29UIA4dIWxfMhHFYOZRKqsWkkTjGmB-AHq3z2d9EoO_wepyShyphenhyphen4P3VMm5kI9nxWjb95IEYapPgr5CqWxXP9/s1600/UrthMap.gif" height="256" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now this is interesting: Chaosium, Inc. has released an rpg called <i><a href="http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=5164" target="_blank">The Chronicles of Future Earth</a></i>, written by Sarah Newton and based largely on Wolfe's Urth. I have no idea what to say about the rpg itself-- I've never played it-- but it has some interesting maps. Here's<a href="http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/2011/02/chronicles-of-future-earth.html" target="_blank"> another article at Akratic Wizardry </a>and a <a href="http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15129.phtml" target="_blank">review</a>. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRUPWrS0y78_e_13y-7q28FedeHiARLhxwBy90YvzEgYXgE31ngYo2cgDcP14Q2YvB3VM8D8gyNUsTLt4JNf3msInfwiJnxL95FyThBfSy-qccUvezjrnY0V_dwKORdW_vQfJ-4KqvsZd/s1600/ShadowOfTheTorturer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRUPWrS0y78_e_13y-7q28FedeHiARLhxwBy90YvzEgYXgE31ngYo2cgDcP14Q2YvB3VM8D8gyNUsTLt4JNf3msInfwiJnxL95FyThBfSy-qccUvezjrnY0V_dwKORdW_vQfJ-4KqvsZd/s1600/ShadowOfTheTorturer.jpg" height="640" width="490" /></a></div>
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This is my favorite cover image for <i>Shadow of the Torturer</i>. It was done by Don Maitz for the original Simon & Schuster edition of 1980. </div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_of_the_Torturer" target="_blank">Wiki gods say</a>, "...<i>T</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">he Shadow of the Torturer</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">won the annual</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">World Fantasy Award</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">and</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">British Science Fiction Association Award</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">as the year's best novel. Among other annual awards for fantasy or science fiction novels, it placed second for the</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> Locus </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">(fantasy), third for the Campbell Memorial (</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">SF), and was a finalist for the Nebula...."</span></span></span><br />
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Wolfe's fiction has received quite a lot of critical attention, from within the genre world and from the literary world at large. In one particularly good review, <a href="http://ultan.org.uk/review-botns/" target="_blank">"Mapping a Masterwork" by Peter Wright at Ultan's Library</a>, <i>The Book of the New Sun</i> is compared to James Joyce's Ulysses:</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #222222; line-height: 24px;">It could be argued that </span><em style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Book of the New Sun</em><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #222222; line-height: 24px;"> is science fiction’s </span><em style="background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ulysses</em><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #222222; line-height: 24px;">. Like James Joyce, Wolfe has ‘put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep professors busy for centuries over what I meant, and that’s the only way of ensuring one’s immortality.’ </span><a href="http://ultan.org.uk/review-botns/#n13" name="13" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease; background-color: #fcfcfc; border: 0px; color: #248cc8; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">13</span></a><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #222222; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>However, to do so would be to deny Wolfe’s determination to wed the reading process with his particular conception of existence through his games playing. From his other fiction, it apparent that Wolfe perceives the world as an ambiguous round of perceptions and misperceptions in which the individual struggles, and ultimately fails, to apprehend the precise nature of existence.</span></span></blockquote>
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The three images above of from Japanese editions; artwork is by Takeshi Obata.</div>
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Artist Richard Vass did this cover for the Hungarian<a href="http://www.deltavision.hu/" target="_blank"> Delta Vision </a>edition.</div>
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Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-57134959105390077162014-02-03T20:50:00.001-08:002014-02-03T20:54:26.475-08:00Of Song and StoryRecently-- and by 'recently' I mean in the last few decades-- the trend in popular music has veered away from using the narrative mode. Listen to almost any genre station you like and take a count; the percent of songs that tell stories is quite low.<br />
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Most of songs that get airtime are focused on how rotten or happy somebody feels, how badly they want this or that or the other thing, and so on. That's primarily the lyric mode, and it gets a little tedious. </div>
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I find myself craving story. And of course, I like science fiction and fantasy stories.</div>
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Uriah Heep's "Traveller in Time" from the 1972 release, <i>Demons & Wizards. </i>In a decade when narrative fantasy and scif-themed songs were enjoying a small resurgence,<a href="http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/index.php" target="_blank"> Uriah Heep </a>was one of the most prolific producers.</div>
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Robots! Rock opera! <a href="https://www.styxworld.com/" target="_blank">Styx!</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.venturahighway.com/" target="_blank">America is another 70's band </a>that was somewhat prone to lapsing into narrative mode. This song is from the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn_(film)" target="_blank"> movie, <i>The Last Unicorn</i>, </a>which much impressed seven-year-old me. </div>
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In 1970, <a href="http://www.ledzeppelin.com/" target="_blank">Led Zeppelin </a>gave us the original Viking rock song. (Well, probably not the original, since the Vikings presumably had plenty of their own rock songs.<i>..Beowulf</i>, for one.)</div>
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Another classic, "Children of the Sun" by<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/longway/artist_index/billythorpe.htm" target="_blank"> Australian Billy Thorpe</a>. </div>
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And one more<a href="http://www.billnelson.com/" target="_blank"> scifi tune from Bill Nelson</a>, "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus." </div>
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Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909694992543047778.post-4795369524606857952014-01-30T11:00:00.000-08:002014-01-30T11:00:42.423-08:00Storms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And today, some of the images of storms I've been gathering....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5Z8IRhubKog9OeoujIF0ld_Twp5zeiwrHf_NJdEoFKuuatawRN5IJV-R2damVopUAIJEpmzxbp2RsvuUtj193yMKH1FZs4lQJc3-rn4kf7RlhXC8oRk4rw10oYPjp4g97KNI2cGRseBM/s1600/Turner_Vesuvius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5Z8IRhubKog9OeoujIF0ld_Twp5zeiwrHf_NJdEoFKuuatawRN5IJV-R2damVopUAIJEpmzxbp2RsvuUtj193yMKH1FZs4lQJc3-rn4kf7RlhXC8oRk4rw10oYPjp4g97KNI2cGRseBM/s1600/Turner_Vesuvius.jpg" height="462" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Vesuvius" by William Turner</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDO35hFfc3qebe9IHV4F74h_rTm5MTYB3ljw8LXMQYS5or-AGrMJjWclig9GOemy_6U6ojT4cbvaG4hmT6NnWRwUWlR1gFuoz4SG0Ct8t4qofAatvb5veh77a6-XmCKbsMIy01trd2ite/s1600/Eelco+Maan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDO35hFfc3qebe9IHV4F74h_rTm5MTYB3ljw8LXMQYS5or-AGrMJjWclig9GOemy_6U6ojT4cbvaG4hmT6NnWRwUWlR1gFuoz4SG0Ct8t4qofAatvb5veh77a6-XmCKbsMIy01trd2ite/s1600/Eelco+Maan.jpg" height="640" width="630" /></a></div>
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A very stormy abstract by contemporary <a href="http://eelcomaan.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Dutch painter Eelco Maan</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNVyeF9M9yKrmFp6JSIN-O5NjAaXi5ggCXAaQZXFetfoznP_ZGPjIeS1owXjYyIqPNB4rR2tbf6cWf3Mzy3QWDOyBJe1gbxyueDcOPvRipSls7dL4eURR8g4rYbh6pyURyCpoBaGJiWok/s1600/James+Lavadour+Redface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNVyeF9M9yKrmFp6JSIN-O5NjAaXi5ggCXAaQZXFetfoznP_ZGPjIeS1owXjYyIqPNB4rR2tbf6cWf3Mzy3QWDOyBJe1gbxyueDcOPvRipSls7dL4eURR8g4rYbh6pyURyCpoBaGJiWok/s1600/James+Lavadour+Redface.jpg" height="510" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://pdxcontemporaryart.com/lavadour" target="_blank">James Lavadour'</a>s "Redface"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4_4Gd55BPicqyffwxy9CXTJF5iYh9v2DlThFt_BtRslCCH2gvkUTXOBHYPeM3LVrx3IYfOI5zTzAln3Lb1PmLrBguYEptteViPaMxXNK0Mi6feu6gEJ1pw6jGMtYemddocsPzMLjufsR/s1600/Tumult+by+Zack+Zdrale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4_4Gd55BPicqyffwxy9CXTJF5iYh9v2DlThFt_BtRslCCH2gvkUTXOBHYPeM3LVrx3IYfOI5zTzAln3Lb1PmLrBguYEptteViPaMxXNK0Mi6feu6gEJ1pw6jGMtYemddocsPzMLjufsR/s1600/Tumult+by+Zack+Zdrale.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
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One of my current favorite works, "Tumult" by <a href="http://zackzdrale.com/" target="_blank">contemporary figure painter Zack Zdrale</a>. I love this painting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIMdMfCYGOq_eiDazyujxLp5gL8Jm-gMSz1Kg51uWNVCMhjbcFAL6sf1OQRf4reBJM6e4yf74xFGaTdGuoYAzyA9CfAKMx9wF8TiUXL2wKDFr9pFFhvOCOCY-UiuLHdTYxn2tQs1smn3D/s1600/NorthernSpirit_JohnMartin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIMdMfCYGOq_eiDazyujxLp5gL8Jm-gMSz1Kg51uWNVCMhjbcFAL6sf1OQRf4reBJM6e4yf74xFGaTdGuoYAzyA9CfAKMx9wF8TiUXL2wKDFr9pFFhvOCOCY-UiuLHdTYxn2tQs1smn3D/s1600/NorthernSpirit_JohnMartin.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Northern Spirit" by Nineteenth-century <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/john-martin" target="_blank">Romantic painter John Martin</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqJqURPygtFqojJ3oXl8XqLG30GNalIcT8p35GHe1SVCR-mv7R-1gq_SGP6KMFvIJMI97jRwYpHsahxD0VT_qgo4vwmBdehcE7BQQoyj-CC1EuQv6lZfd1aVaTFJDOXH_v3phrYVdns-l/s1600/SeaWitch_Frazetta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqJqURPygtFqojJ3oXl8XqLG30GNalIcT8p35GHe1SVCR-mv7R-1gq_SGP6KMFvIJMI97jRwYpHsahxD0VT_qgo4vwmBdehcE7BQQoyj-CC1EuQv6lZfd1aVaTFJDOXH_v3phrYVdns-l/s1600/SeaWitch_Frazetta.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></div>
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"Sea Witch" by Frank Frazetta</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1P4hfC5AbLFRhP5fGsenJmV9TTSKrXPYUuEmgE9Fk_ARPQmmJUEqxkMZfQI1LuroozG92xKIO0iKdulWVM32EoKXjC9-D9GlN8Bfj5C3Jt7ZM1RjE-b9pouFfMQ7h-azxWfx14I93c4X/s1600/Amano_Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1P4hfC5AbLFRhP5fGsenJmV9TTSKrXPYUuEmgE9Fk_ARPQmmJUEqxkMZfQI1LuroozG92xKIO0iKdulWVM32EoKXjC9-D9GlN8Bfj5C3Jt7ZM1RjE-b9pouFfMQ7h-azxWfx14I93c4X/s1600/Amano_Unknown.jpeg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div>
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An illustration by Yoshitaka Amano<a href="http://visualmelt.com/Yoshitaka-Amano" target="_blank"> that I can't find a title for,</a> unfortunately.....</div>
Laura Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235339610577813570noreply@blogger.com0