Greetings from my desk friends.
Some stationery (note paper) with a can do attitude and best wishes for the month ahead. A little bit of support from friends can go a long way.
Month: February 2016
Categories
Lear
It was a grey morning. The King’s jet landed, without pomp, on the wet tarmac. To demonstrate the urgency of the matter at hand, he held court in the hangar.
Flunkies prepared champagne infused strawberries, seared swordfish, and dark chocolate wrapped in silver vark. All nestled peacefully by a hedge of white lilies. The floral scent was powerful enough to obliterate the King’s rage.
Cordelia smeared wasabi on her swordfish with a flash of defiance. Her father had filed a lawsuit (€1.2 trillion) against her to “recover assets essential to the economic prosperity and political stability of the nation.” This morning, he’d asked to see her without their lawyers.
He spoke, judging her. “The Imperial Household is divided but there you sit, eating sashimi.”
“Dad, his cousin’s going to be Empress. She is the rightful successor.”
“You cannot be in love,” trumpeted the monarch. “In this era, love’s flight risk factor is treble thousand. That boy …”
“That man. That heart surgeon.”
“One rank up from butcher, cosplaying as normal. It is undignified for a future Emperor to touch the flesh of yet dead men.”
“This is incredibly bigoted!”
“Pledge your loyalty to me. Rescind this vile protest and I will abdicate. You will be Queen.”
Succession contracts wafted about her face, close enough so she would catch sight of the lucrative terms. Cordelia did not flinch.
⚜
Lear | SB
Photo credits: 365/26 – Lotus Elise and Karl der Große, Rathaus Osnabrück, both by Dominik Bartsch via Flickr.
Categories
Wax Horizon
Gouache on wood panel (wet/processed photo)
Ad septentrio video
haec ceram caelum clara
supra mare stella Martis
To the North and I hail
in full this wax horizon
bright across
a Martian sea*
(Original; starting point of a colour study)
Meaning: Dust yourself off and try again. Notes: I didn’t realise until Thursday afternoon that the painting resembles the horizon as seen from Victoria Crater, Mars. *As you know, Mars is dry; however, 19th century areographers used “sea”, “lake” and “ocean” while mapping the planet. Thank you so much for viewing.
Categories
Goneril
Washed in oils of honeysuckle and thyme, the crypt ushered her in with antiseptic strength. She asked after the King’s body. None of the responses congealed in her hearing. Phrases like, “legal property of Vojda Research Laboratories,” “insurers,” “exclusive” and “living will,” went over Goneril’s head as she faded to the floor.
She was shaking. “Hold me. To hell with protocol! I need to be held.” A minder enfolded her in his arms. From there, her eyes rested on the brushed silver canister that cradled her husband’s remains. His ashes muffled her distress.
“You mean,” she said, breaking through somehow, “my father is alive because he got better life insurance coverage?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the Prime Minister said, “and until he has officially recovered, you are Queen, regnant.”
⚜
Goneril
Photo credit: Schloss Belvedere, Wien/ Belvedere Castle, Vienna, courtesy Dominik Bartsch via Flickr. I was fortunate to find the amazing photography of Dominik Bartsch on Flickr. It is difficult to find images that bring the right ambience to a story. But I found everything I needed in one place.
Notes: This is a teaser for two short stories based on Shakespeare’s King Lear. They are here: Lear and Long Live the King!
Categories
Love notes and masking tape
[i] Retro spicy love
Masking tape on notebook covers.
These postcards are for you. Have a great Valentine’s Day.
[ii] Mono loves mono
The notebooks are appreciation gifts for two lovely colleagues. To create the look, I used a lot of masking tape on the (paper) covers.
The method is simple:
- Select a minimum of four styles of masking tape in complementary and contrasting colours.
- Tear off tape, varying the length, overlapping and criss crossing for texture. Cover the entire surface, leaving no spaces.
- Use a pen or marker to outline a shape.
- Add contrasting tape to fill in the shape.
For best results, I suggest pressing the finished project under something heavy or leaving it alone for a few days to set. After that, transparent tape may be used to protect the edges if you use the notebook a lot.
Good luck, warm light and love, my friends, until I see you again.
Musical inspiration: Wiz Khalifa “See You Again” with Charlie Puth [Official Video] from the Furious 7 Soundtrack.
You know those days when you go all Cypress Hill and say, “Who you trying to get crazy with ese, don’t you know I’m loco (loco, loco)?”
Four and a half private rants in, I remembered my own advice as well as the wise words of the uber talented writer/director/producer Dagmar Baumunk of Tomorrow Definitely. She said…
I put my hands on my ears and go:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah 🙂
She’s adorable. Of course, I did exactly that.
While my voice reverberated in my skull, I had a brilliant idea.
I decided to OD on TLC with the choco. My feeling was, “I could talk about you, or I could choose to act like a queen.”
Bandaids don’t fix bullet holes (thanks Christopher) but I heard that plugging them with cocoa butter and sugar works like magic.
Ooops. My eyes are rolling over in my head and I forgot to offer y’all some.
Hey!
Note: Heavy on the musical references to “Insane in the Brain” by Cypress Hill and “Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar.
Categories
Poet’s Brew
Rusted dials
fond shadows threw
o’er hapless sonnets
in poet’s brew
♞
Poet’s Brew | SB
[The photo is a hapless page from my journal, a red A5 Zequenz 360° roll up. I have tried but it never rolls up for me (story of my life). Keep chipping at that stone. Best wishes for February.]
Saint Joan (Creative Studio) 