Little did they know

Way (way) back in July I had a contest. I have been remiss in getting the winners' picks done. For some reason I can't quite fathom, my brain just wasn't going there. I've had a lot of trouble with this Sketchbook, actually... but I'm getting there (I'd better be! It's due at the end of the month!)

Anyway - I now have one done. "Little did they know" was Bella Sinclair's title. I'm sure, knowing Bella, she had something cute and whimsical in mind. However, for some reason, my mind went a little darker. Bella, dear, I hope you don't mind.

Snail Ride

Bendy

If you have not read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern yet, you should absolutely do so. Especially if you are an artist, or a dreamer, or wanted to be a magician when you grew up (I was a total magic geek!)

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night".

It is the most wonderfully imaginative book I have read in years. Years, I tell you! Seriously, I'm not going to say a whole lot more about it, but you must check it out. 


Anyway, I read it over my Christmas vacay and am well into my second reading. It has inspired me. I have started a new set of art based on things from this amazing book. Once I am done with my Sketchbook Project project I will devote myself to it as much as I'd like, but I'm woefully behind on my Sketchbook...

In any event, I thought I'd post a little sneak peek of where I'm going with these. Sort of a faux paper cut style.

My first piece:  The Contortionist.

Mewey Christmas

or something like that!
Out for the next few days, but I  hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and most merry of Christmases!

subway angel

Still reading (and loving!) all the poems from dVerse, but finished this and thought I'd go ahead and put it up here.
For the Sketchbook.

Art In Poetry In Art (in poetry [in art...]...)...

So my dear bloggy friend, Brian Miller, has given me the distinct honor of using some of my art for his hosting of the dVerse poets site today. It doesn't go live until 3pm (est) but he started the ball rolling with this most lovely of poems.
** update ** dVerse is  now live. To see the poems go to comments and click on each blogger's link and it will take you to the site to read the poems. (You can't see me, but I am so doing the happy dance right now!)

Be sure and check out the other offerings, I'm sure they will rock almost as much as Brian's.

Poetics: Balloons & Dirigibles

You want to see the world?
You want to see the world?

Let me fix you a cocktail
     one part Crash, cause it hits every angle
     mix in some P.S. I love you
     stir with Hotel Rwanda
     and garnish with a spritz of Once

Watch them all in one night, no matter
how your eyes sting, not from lack of sleep
but where the shards of what ricochets
round your chest scRaTCHes tunnels
out your tear ducts, one spoonful at a time
like Edmond Dantes,

“Moral wounds have this peculiarity -
they may be hidden, but they never close;
always painful, always ready to bleed when touched,
they remain fresh and open in the heart.”

But tonight I am in McDonald's & she
is wiping trays, with a white rag speckled
in slight stains

swipe
        stack
swipe
        stack
swipe
        stack
swipe

they say she is touched, fucked up or just
REtard-ed (oh, how i hate that word)
with their looks or stance or awkwardness
as they pass with perfect polished balloons
& she a dirigible, which may seem more
powerful but pulls her here & there, especial-
ly when she opens her mouth as her face

goes sideways, everything rolling gravel,
elongates & does a twist as it passes her lips,
so she mostly
               just smiles

Kids love her, gather at her ankles
with empty trays, cheeks red sun rays
at the twinkle in her eyes, opposite the ones
that turn away as if she is contagious, or act
oblivious in ignorance

The kids though they know she is a special
kind of beautiful---
        my son pops in the last nugget of his
        happy meal, seals the red & yellow box
        with prize inside and goes to slide
        out the booth, tray in hand, but i intercept
his pass, not wanting to miss the chance to intersect

& say "Thank You" just to bask in those pearly whites
so brite i'd hate to pay the light bill, on our way out
as the credits roll on just thirty minutes of life at McDonald's,
so tell me

You want to see the world?
You want to see the world?

Let me fix you a cocktail, better yet,
try taking a trip on a dirigible.


-brian miller

Playing around with some old art

About 100 years ago - well, okay, maybe more like 20... I did a few sketches of some fairies. Dunno exactly what I was going to do with them, maybe a calendar or something.
Anyway, not too long ago I found them in an old folder, so I thought I'd scan them and then do my digital "thing" with them to update them.

Here's the first one, my Ice Fairy.