Probably because my status has shifted from mother to um…crone (even though I don't have the long white braid wrapped around my head like a secret ninja whip — wouldn't that be cool? )…I have been rediscovering with a new found pleasure all those story variants of the old woman who went to hell and […]
To Hell with a Handbag. 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 »
One of the most instructive texts on the Commedia dell’ Arte that I read while researching The Innamorati was John Rudlin’s classic Commedia dell’ Arte: An Actor’s Handbook. It is a wonderful combination of history, explanation of the different stock characters and their individual personalities, mask work, and performance technique for Commedia. It has been argued
Research Notes: John Rudlin and Commedia’s Masks III. Read More »
I love Gillian Welch's album "The Harrow and the Harvest" — but it is this song that gives me the chills. Not sure what it is I love best — perhaps it's the way the young woman transforms a haunted past into a reclaimed realm. The night becomes beautiful and evocative, the bones in the
Left Me With a Dark Turn of Mind Read More »
Sometimes in the midst of all our work, it seems impossible to find the breath or the balance to stay upright. I love this video of RIGOLO Sanddornbalance 2012 Art Installation – it has an almost instantly soothing effect. This is the way to work, breathing, focusing, a quiet intensity which balances effort on an
Remembering It’s All About Balance After A Couple Of Long Weeks of Work Read More »
Really, I think the Japanese are hands down the best illustrators of weird and wonderful monsters. Pink Tentacle — one of my favorite sites for all things Japanese-bizarre — continues to offer smashing posts on Monster Scrolls from the 18th and 19th century. Many of the monsters are not just part of traditional folk lore, but more urban myths created
Japanese Monster Scrolls: Something to Creep Out Almost Everyone Read More »
