Happy 3-0 Sweet Sister

My little sis celebrates the big thirty today. In honor of her special day I present to you:

"Saint Colleen"

All of My Friends Are Saints

At the beginning of the year I was talking everyone's ear off about my latest Icon project idea. That got put on the back burner while I worked on even MORE trees.

So last weekend I finally started a portrait.

Saint Lara - work in progress: watercolor, ink, decorative paper, and thread

Would you like to have your portrait done? Feel free to send me a 3/4 view or profile picture, preferably bust up and no teeth (I suck at drawing teeth). Make sure it's a picture of yourself that you love.

Gifts from Ghent

When I was a kid Australia was my favorite country. Even though I had never been there I felt certain it was the coolest place on the planet. Maybe the wildlife inspired me. I did have a great koala bear stuffed animal. And kangaroos! What’s not to love?



(Image from The History of the Hoppers, by B. Parker with illustrations by N. Parker, first published in 1912 by W.R. Chambers Limited. My copy is a 1979 edition by The David Ell Press but I’m always looking for the original!)

More than likely I came across articles about life “down under” in the endless issues of National Geographic Magazine stacked on our game room bookshelves and the spell was cast. I remember cutting out pictures from different sources and making myself a one-of-a-kind poster for my wall. An image of Ayers Rock (or Uluru) was right in the middle.

Decades later I have yet to hop on a plane and fly there but have been fortunate enough to have met two of Australia’s coolest citizens right here in Portland: Suzie and Don. I write about Suzie often because she manages to bring me back the most amazing gifts whenever she travels. A recent trip to Belgium was no exception.

Whilst visiting Ghent (such a beautiful place!) Suzie wandered through an antique market. These are some of the amazing pieces of ephemera she found and brought back for me.

Fontainebleau, Edition A. Bourdier, Versailles. No date. Ca. 1920s.


A collection of hand-colored panoramic views of the Palace of Fontainebleau.

My favorite images are the library of course…

And “Cour des Fontaines. Comedie et Pavillon Napoleon I”

Souvenir de Paris, L’Abeille, Paris. No date. Ca. 1920s.

A collection of 12 postcards, six of which must have been sent out to someone special many years ago. Here are two views of the Eiffel Tower:

And Suzie also found a group of vintage prayer cards, dozens of them! These two are my favorites. Circa 1934.

The Virgin Mother. Just lovely. And “Sanctus Joannes” whom I believe is Saint John of Patmos.

I can’t fully express how truly wonderful these gifts are but I owe Suzie a trip to Pix Patisserie very soon. Thank you Suzie!!!

Saturday for the Price of Less Than Twenty Clams

February has been a busy month. I’ve been picking up extra hours at an old job, catching up on this year’s somewhat disappointing Oscar selections and polishing up a story I’ve been writing.

Today ended up being a great day to go into Powell’s and Goodwill. Today's treasures became mine for the combined total of $18.88.

William Blake

I found a copy of William Blake at the Huntington (Huntington Library in San Marino, California). Like Arthur Rackham, William Blake is another illustrator I greatly admire. Here’s my favorite image from the book:

Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve.
This is a pen and watercolor illustration for John Milton's Paradise Lost, 1807.

Christina the Astonishing

The story I have been working on for quite some time now involves Christina the Astonishing – Patron Saint of Psychiatrists and the Insane. Nick Cave wrote a beautiful song about her.

Each version I hear is a bit different but I know that she died from an epileptic seizure but rose up from her coffin during her funeral. She avoided humans and their foul smells by hiding in small places such as ovens or up in the trees or rafters of buildings. Many thought she was insane and tried to lock her up but she always escaped. She died (for real this time) in her seventies at a convent. Today I found this charming book:

Lucy’s Eyes and Margaret’s Dragon. The Lives of the Virgin Saints. Written and illustrated by Giselle Potter and published in 1997 by Chronicle Books. It features the tales of thirteen female saints: Ursula, Agnes, Cecilia, Agatha, Lucy, Barbara, Bega, Brigid, Christina, Margaret, Catherine, Joan and Uncumber.

Here’s a picture of Christina mid flight after her first funeral. The hand over her nose is a nice touch. Stinky humans.



Bric-a-brac

The day later led me to Goodwill with the intent purpose of looking through books. Wouldn’t you know it; their bookshelves had collapsed and were taped off. So I was forced to look through the bric-a-brac. Not only did I find this wonderful Kokeshi doll…

…but an aisle or two over this beautiful miniature altarpiece.

It is approximately 9 x 13 1/2 inches when fully expanded. Sadly, the outside panel of the Annunciation is damaged. Mary is missing. I intend to find a similar painting and restore it myself. At the rate I’m going now it will be some time next year before I can blog about that.

Here is a detail of the central panel.

Gorgeous.