Endicott Redux

Rats!

    

The latest offering in the Interstitial Arts Foundation's benefit "jewelry auction" is the gorgeous piece above by our own Helen Pilinovsky -- who, in addition to being a fairy tale and mythic literature scholar, co-editor of Cabinet des Fées, and a reviewer here at Endicott, is also a professional jewelry maker and silversmith. The necklace was inspired by Veronica Schanoes' brilliant adult-fairy-tale story 'Rats,' published in the IAF's anthology Interfictions.

Here's what Helen has to say about the piece: " 'Rats' is a fairy tale inspired by a nightmare, a retelling of 'Sleeping Beauty' which overlays the death and life of Nancy Spungen, late of punk-rock legend. I read 'Rats' for the first time in the spring of 2006, I think, knowing nothing about Nancy Spungen or Sid Vicious - all I knew was that it was a beautiful, mind-blowing, heart-breaking revision of a fairy tale that had never really appealed to me. The innate passivity of 'Sleeping Beauty' had ticked me off since I was a child (maybe I was too influenced by an early reading of Hamlet: the line that always rang in my subconscious following her curse was 'were it not that I have bad dreams'). I could never figure out why she’d been so quick to trust, why she’d sought out the tender prick of the spindle in the first place. But, give our heroin(e) a reason to seek the needle? I’m there. All I know is, 'Rats' made me cry, which almost never happens.

"Lily, Surrounded by Rats is made up of antique faceted gunmetal glass beads, twinned black stick pearls, and a luminous tear-drop of jelly glass found in a junk shop."

To bid on the piece, go here.

     

Bunnies on the auction block!

I've just sent this painting off to the framers for an exhibition and auction at Monks Withecombe Gallery in Devon at the end of this month. All the works in the show (including these little sleepy fellows) have been donated to raise money to preserve the beautiful Commons in the Devon village where I live. There will be work by many other local artists as well, including Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Marja Kee Kruyt, Katherine Lightfoot, Chris Chapman, Susan Derges, and Stephen Dooley. If you're in the southwest of England and would like to attend the auction, contact the gallery for  dates, times, and other information.

The painting is called "Nap Time on Chagford Commons," 20 x 12 inches (unframed), oil paints and pencil on canvas paper. It's based on a similar image I painted last year which was damaged by a printing company. This exhibition gave me the excuse to re-create it, and all for a good cause.

Duirwaigh Gallery: Moving Sale Extravaganza

Angi Sullins of Duirwaigh Gallery is having a huge (over 300 items!) moving sale on Ebay from May 1st through the 14th. Here's a chance to purchase some really terrific pieces of art from well known fantasy artists. Here's the description of the sale: " A treasure box of items will appear for auction here on Monday May 1st to help Duirwaigh find homes for many of its art-children! To make their cross-country move easier, lots of limited edition signed prints, original paintings, unique drawings, one-of-a-kind sculptures, animation cels, collectibles and fun things will be up for auction May 1st - May 15th. Items from Wendy and Brian Froud, David Delamare, Kinuko Craft, Linda Ravenscroft, Amy Brown, Ian Daniels, and Nene Thomas will be featured in the sale."

For more information, stop by Angi's blog for photos and news updates about the sale.

Blue

Blue is a new exhibition at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC that explores the creation and meaning of the color blue on textiles ranging from Greco-Roman and pre-Columbian tunic fragments to installations by five artists who are currently using indigo dyes in Japan, South America, and the US.

Indigo has long been seen as mythical and magical, with many cultures attributing talismanic properties and health benefits to the dye. To make the indigo dye, "plants are cut shortly before blossoming and placed in a container with water. Enzymes and bacteria in the plants break down the indican, indigo's precursor, into a nearly colorless indoxyl and sugars. This fermentation continues for at least 12 hours. After removing the plant material, the remaining indoxyl must be oxidized by vigorous beating with sticks or hands and feet. This precipitates an insoluble indogo which may be dried and formed into cakes for future use or trade. When needed, the cake is joined with an alkaline substance such as dates or wine in a vat with water. Fibers removed from the vat are yellow, but immediately become blue when oxidized by the air. Seemingly worked by magic, this alchemy introduced indigo dyeing to local superstition, myth, and ritual."

Contemporary artists include Hiroyuki Shindo, a Japanese artist working near Kyoto who has developed innovative patterning techniques, Shihoko Fukumoto, one of Japan's foremost artists working in indigo, and Rowland Ricketts, an American-born artist who spent many years in Japan's Tokushima area and has worked on a indigo farm and apprenticed to a master indigo dyer. Also included are Maria Eugenia Davila and Eduardo Portillo, who are now raising silkworms in Venezuela and spearheading techniques of weaving with locally produced fibers and coloring with the region's natural dyes.

The exhibit runs through September 18, 2008. For more information on indigo, see Terri Windling's post from last year (when the exhibition appeared in England). The image above is a detail from a long cloth from Indonesia, Yogyakarta (in the style of Ceribon) from the 20th century.

Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday

      

Were you looking for a way to celebrate Shakespeare's 444 birthday? Why not celebrate at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC? On April 27, from noon to 4 pm, there will be jugglers, jesters, music, song, and dance. Also, you can perform your favorite lines of Shakespeare (what ARE your favorite lines of Shakespeare?) on the Folger stage, or take part in treasure hunts of the Folger's reading rooms on the only day of the entire year that they're open to the public.  What fun! Click here for all the info.

And if you wanted to do a little light reading on Shakespeare to prepare for the party, why not try Bill Bryson's Shakespeare: The World as Stage? The book is devoted to what we DON'T know about Shakespeare, and it's full of amusing anecdotes -- such as that he never spells his name the same way twice in the signatures of his that survive -- Willm Shaksp, William Shakespe, Wm Shakspe, William Shakspere, Willm Shakspere, and William Shakspeare.  Oh, how my inner proofreader cringes!

**The art above is by an unknown artist. It's oil on panel, late 1600s to early 1700s.

Catching up....

"April 1st: This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four." — Mark Twain

      

First of all, our apologies for the erratic nature of this blog recently. Midori had to take time off from Endicott & JoMA over the last couple of months while she's back in the Midwest selling her old house, and I've been coping with health problems this winter, making my own work schedule unpredictable. Midori will be back to the Endicott office in Tucson soon, and then, between us, we should be able to return to a more regular schedule. (Many thanks to the other Endicott reviewers, who have been pitching in when they can.)

Here are some things to catch up on, a combination of recommendations sent to us and items that recently caught my eye:

* Our Monday Video this week (okay, it's Tuesday, nevermind) is "Achilles on Skyros Island," a short film about the mythological imagery on ancient Greek pottery (above). It was recommended by mythic artist and musician Catherine Crowe, whose beautiful work can be viewed over on Imago Corvi.

* The New Yorker Magazine recently published a fascinating article by Jill Lepore discussing fake memoirs, factual novels, and "the history of history" vrs. the history of the novel. ("Just the Facts, Ma'am" in the March 24th issue. You can read it online here.) "Historians and novelists are kin," writes Lepore, "but they’re more like brothers who throw food at each other than like sisters who borrow each other’s clothes."

* If you live in southwest England, there's an event here in Devon on Saturday night that promises to be terrific: "Stones and Spirit: An Evening of Music and a Visual Journey across the Steppes." Katy Marchant and Steve Tyler (from the fabulous Daughters of Elvin) will be performing Traditional and Early Music, and archaeologist Dr. Kenneth Lymer will give a talk on rock art discoveries in Kazakhstan. "During this talk we will take you on a journey through the steppes and mountains of Kazakhstan," they say, "not only in the exploration of ancient rock art images, but also to provide a poignant introduction to this fascinating land and its peoples." Where: Endecott House, Chagford, Devon. When: 7:30 pm, April 5. Tickets are £5. For more information: [email protected].

* When I wrote about the Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov in the March 19th post below, I didn't even realize that an exhibition of turn-of-the-century Russian art is currently running at the Royal Academy in London, featuring a large selection of paintings from the "Wanderers" (a.k.a. "Itinerants") movement. More information is here.

* Over at the Green Man Review site, they're honoring Peter Beagle (author of such fantasy classics as The Last Unicorn and A Fine and Private Place) with the "Oak King" distinction this year. The site will be offering four podcasts of Peter reading his work, one reading per season. The spring podcast--of a brand new story, "The Stickball Witch"--is online now.

* Here's a bit of interesting, and maddening, history: A rejection letter from the Disney Studios to a young woman who applied for a position at Disney's animation training school in 1938: "Women," they told her, "do not do any of the creative work in preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school." The young woman in question eventually became an animator during World War II, working for the war effort.

* JoMA reader El Edwards has tipped us off to this little movie trailer, Wise Women Speak, from Cowgirl Films. Boy does it make me want to see more.

* Salon has an insightful article by Laura Miller on David Hajdu's new book,  The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America. Interesting stuff.

* I've only recently become aware of the pudú, the world's smallest deer, and I'm utterly smitten by these magical little creatures, which are native to Argentina and Chile. You can find pictures, and the video of a pudú adoption, on the Fauna Andina website.

My recent infatuation with the pudú has led, in turn, to the webcomic Little Dee by Christopher Baldwin, in which a pudú is a recurring character. It's a charming comic about a little girl lost in the woods and befriended by animals. You'll find it online here. Or you can purchase print versions of Little Dee here.

* For those of you in the New York area: Howard Gayton and I will be doing a reading in New York on the evening of June 18, as part of the KGB Fantastic Fiction series. That's at the KGB Bar in the East Village (85 East 4th Street, just off 2nd Avenue), at 7 pm. We'll post about this again closer to the date, but I wanted to give you an early "heads up,"  as it would be nice to see some Journal of Mythic Arts readers there....And though it's April Fool's Day, I promise this isn't an April Fool's joke -- despite evidence to the contrary in the picture here! (It comes from a gig that Howard did as a Fool for Daughters of Elvin, as a matter of fact, just to tie some of these posts together.) The April reading at KGB, by the way, will be by P.D. Cacek and Jack Ketchum, on April 16 at 7 pm.

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone.

Lori Field in NYC

 

I'm deeply envious of all of you in the New York area right now, because you can go to Lori Field's new exhibition and I'm going to miss it! Damn.

Lori is an absolutely amazing collage artist who lives and works in Montclair, New Jersey. Her new show is on display until April 26th at the Kinz, Tillou and Feigen Gallery at 529 W. 20th Street in Manhattan, running alongside an exhibition of drawings (the "Rappaccini's Daughter" series) by Megan Greene. "Both artists," the curators note, "share an affinity for incorporating imagined and enigmatic subject matter in their fantastical work.

"Lori Field's encaustic paintings with collaged drawings portray hallucinatory visions derived from her flirtation with demonic realms, personal fairy tales, and the human world. The chimerical creatures that populate Field's mixed media works are at once familiar and mysterious. They are the realization of modern day myths that draw on a primitive lore. Her fanciful visual and cultural vocabulary is embellished with elements such as thread, lace, and insect wings - a mélange that inspires discovery and wonderment."

For more information on the Field and Greene exhibitions, visit the Kinz, Tillou and Feigen Gallery website. To see more of Lori's gorgeous, dreamlike imagery, visit the Lori Field Fine Art website.

Kids' Chalk Art Project

This spring the Kids' Chalk Art Project in Alameda California will attempt to produce the world's largest sidewalk chalk drawing. The group's mission is to "re-enchant the world through art" and the project seeks to raise awareness about the importance of art in the lives of children. At the end of April, children and adults will come together to create the single chalk drawing over a two-week period, "culminating with a multi-arts festival, open to the public, on the decommissioned Naval Air Base of Alameda Point on June 7, 2008."  They are also planning a satellite photo of the project and are attempting to beat the current Guinness World Record of 60,439.3 square feet (in 2006 in Belgium, made by 700 volunteers). You can check out lots of photos of the current and past Youth Art Chalk projects here.

There is a terrific article on the project at Edutopia and you can now follow the adventure at the Kids' Chalk Art Project Blog, hosted by artist and organizer, Mark Wagner. What a spectacular way for a community to come together and create something extraordinary. (And consider making a tax deductible donation -- after all, that's a lot of chalk!)

O.R. Melling wins Green Earth Book Award

JoMA would like to extend a hearty congratulations to O.R. Melling, whose novel The Light Bearer's Daughter recently won the Green Earth Book Award and was listed in the ALA Top Ten Youth Books for the Environment. (You can read my review of this novel and the whole Chronicles of Faerie trilogy here.)

Along with a money prize, the award also contributes money to an environmental agency of the author's choosing. O.R. selected Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project, a project to reintroduce the Golden Eagle, which was hunted to extinction in Ireland in the 19th century. About the project's success in Ireland, O.R. told me "The project -- bringing young eagles from Scotland to the cliffs of Donegal -- is now in its seventh year and had its first great success in December." Pretty cool. It also resonates with one of the novel's most important themes, articulated by the fairy wood mouse: "not all that is gone is gone forever." Below is a photograph of one of the new chicks. Beautiful!

Paula Rego Retrospective

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is having a spectacular retrospective of the Portuguese painter Paula Rego that will run from February 1 to May 25th. If you have any reason to head to Washington D. C. don't miss this show. Rego's work is so powerful -- all of her remarkable earthy female figures evoke mythic strength, whether it is a matronly, full figured dog-woman (such as "Grooming" below), a poignant, youthful Mary in "Pieta" (bottom image), or even as above in "Looking Out," which depicts a woman caught in a moment of mysterious reflection, one bare foot planted on the ground, the other ready to step up and out.

Here is a description of the show from the museum: " Paula Rego is one of the leading figurative artists working today, producing richly imaginative art rooted in memories, fantasy, literature, art history, and direct observation. A native of Portugal who lives in London, Rego uses her art to explore the precariousness of human emotions and the complexity of life’s experiences. Although her work is acclaimed around the globe and is represented in leading contemporary art collections, NMWA is the first U.S. museum to present a retrospective of her work. Featuring more than 100 works—including paintings, pastels, prints, and drawings—the exhibition provides an in-depth study of Rego’s 50-year-plus career."

You can see more of her work at the Saatchi Gallery as well as this terrific site from the University of Cambridge's Spanish and Portuguese department.