It's a time of transitions here at the Endicott Studio, and what better time for it than Hallowe'en -- an outgrowth of the ancient pagan Festival of Samhain, which is New Year in the Celtic calendar.
First, there have been personal transitions. Midori and her husband have moved from Milwaukee, where they lived for many years and raised two extraordinary kids into adulthood. They're now in Tucson, Arizona, just down the road from my winter retreat in the Rincon Mountain foothills. And I'm in the middle of moving too, leaving the 16th century English cottage where I've lived for 15 years. I'll be moving to another place in the same village, so unlike Midori I'm not going far...but it feels like a big change for me nonetheless. One rich phase of my life is ending, and another is about to begin.
Second, the Journal of Mythic Arts is also in transition. As Web technology changes and evolves, we're changing too to keep up with the times. We're switching JoMA from its old hand-coded format, which -- due to being labor-intensive to produce -- limited us to four issues per year. Tomorrow we'll debut the new version of JoMA, re-designed with the aid of blogging technology -- allowing us to post new material much more easily. So instead of quarterly issues, we'll now be presenting new articles, poems, stories and art on a regular basis, all year long. Each new piece will be announced on this blog, which (as of tomorrow) will include links to all of JoMA's new pages. And it will now be possible for readers to leave comments about the pieces. There will also be links to JoMA's archives, where past material will still be easily accessible.
We're thrilled about this re-design for three reasons: 1.) It gives us the opportunity to publish works in JoMA year 'round. 2.) We think the new design looks rather handsome. 3.) It's so much less work to produce (particularly for our web designer, Midori, a.k.a. the hard-working "Code Girl") that we'll have more time for other kinds of work...most notably, our own writing and art. (Midori's working on a sequel to The Innamorati now, and I, for one, can't wait to read it.)
So for Endicott, too, one phase of life is ending, and another one is about to begin. Happy Celtic New Year, everyone. And tune in tomorrow!
The "book elf" picture in this post is by Edmund Dulac. The running fairy woman is by Alan Lee. The painting at the top is "Twilight" by Brian Froud -- a perfect piece for Hallowe'en, for twilight, too, is one of those in-between times when the gates between the worlds open, allowing passage between the mortal and faery worlds, and the worlds of the living and the dead. As another Hallowe'en treat, here's a magical video created by Brian and his son Toby for the German band Qntal:
This is so exciting, I can't hardly stand it! It's going to make everything so much easier.
Happy Samhain, Terri!
Posted by: Elizabeth Genco | October 31, 2007 at 07:24 AM
How exciting!! I cannot wait to see the redesign.
A blessed Samhain to you.
Posted by: Grace | October 31, 2007 at 08:55 AM