I love "road books" — novels whose plot mostly rests on a pair or a troupe of travelers making their way down some famous road. Adventures abound, stories are shared, and the journey becomes more important than the final destination. One of my favorites, which I have picked up again after many years, is the […]
Shank’s Mare: Hoofing It Down the Tokaido Road Read More »
This is an odd moment. Three book ideas I have been working on lately have suddenly come into clarity as a single cloth — not as a trilogy mind you, for each is different enough from the other — but organically they seem to spring from the same desire to write about early, middle, and
Old Bones, New Tales Read More »
Portuguese artist João Lemos sent me this gorgeous and entirely unexpected painting "La Stigmatisée" by French painter, Georges Moreau de Tours (1848-1901). And what a narrative it visually suggests — rich and full of possibilities: a sensual image of a young woman, where both the dressings over the stigmata of her hands and her clothing
Inspiration in “La Stigmatisée” by Georges Moreau de Tours Read More »
Tucson's very old inner city neighborhood, The Barrio Viejo, has some of the best murals painted by residents over many years on the exterior of the houses. When my daughter and future husband were in town a number of years back, they took these wonderful photos of one of my favorite houses. I learned recently
Barrio Viejo: The Blue Mural Read More »
Sometimes it's the best. Almost like dreaming and surprisingly effortless. I think it's time, however, based on this lovely illustration by Italian artist Frank Matticchio, to update the alternate animal taxonomy taken from the ancient Chinese encyclopædia entitled the Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge (and offered by Jorges Borges…which presents us with all kinds of
Night Time Writing Read More »
I am in a frenzy, following up from a the previous post on the art of Katherine Ace. We were writing about the surface of art in painting and oral narrative performance of well known fairy tales contrasted with the subtext of evocative imagery — the tension between the encounters of the
The Skin and Blood of Art: Atwood and Lorca Read More »
This is a lovely piece of animation from Russian animator Ekaterinburg Natacha Černyšovo who studied animation in France. It is so charming and delightful. It has been a few years since I first saw this little video, and in between my first posting and now re-posting, I have become a grandmother, which has made this film
The Return: Beautiful New Animation Read More »
As a knitter and a weaver, I was so struck by how much handwork there was involving knotting, netting, and the interlacing of reeds, braided threads, slivers of metal, and leather in the making of the various armor plates covering the chest, back, top of the hips and arms. While relatively light to wear compared
Samurai Armor: The Textile Quality of the Woven, Knotted, and Tied Armor Plates. Read More »
Let me confess: I'm utterly fascinated by the enigmatic Renaissance rebel poet Pietro Aretino. His writings, which often led to him evading furious cardinals and creditors, and his correspondences with influential men who could have potentially blackmailed them earned him the moniker 'Scourge of Princes.' Aretino's life was a captivating juxtaposition of
Pietro Aretino and The Sixteen Pleasures Read More »
"Let us amuse ourselves today, You will never guess my name, and I won't ask you to try. I am a mad spirit or goblin. I come from the other world, and one of those spirits, Actus or Plautus orders me to tell you that a comedy will be played this evening."
Angelo Beolco, Playwright and Actor 1502-1542 Read More »
