In the Labyrinth

Lost Book Rediscovered: The Ship That Sailed to Mars By William Timlin

I came across a website that featured a gorgeous book, written in 1923 by South African  architect and illustrator William Timlin called "The Ship That Sailed to Mars." It is whimsical science fiction story of the creation of a ship that sails to Mars -- and the fairy like citizens that inhabit the planet. There was a small run of copies -- and no more than about 250 copies found thier way to the United States. The art is absolutely beautiful and I am so happy that a collector who found a copy has digitalized the book and made it available to read online and to enjoy the art work. Treat yourself to this lovely book.

David Liss: The Twelfth Enchantment

In The Twelfth Enchantment, David Liss has written a wonderful and charming fantasy novel set in the early industrial age of rural England. Lucy Derrick is the perfect example of my favorite sort of 18th century heroine -- of excellent breeding, intelligence, and no finances. She must survive on her wits, her courage, and the unexpected discovery of her hidden talent as a "conjure woman." The novel pits Luddites against industrialists and dark forces against white magic, alongside a romantic romp -- with at least two bad boys to choose from: the handsome and completely amoral Lord Byron, or the secretive man who deserted Lucy years earlier and is now returned, but as friend or foe, Lucy can't tell for certain. There is murder, mystery, the fate of humanity in the balance, some really creepy scary scenes, and a lot of terrific dialogue that is witty, fast, and pitch perfect for the era.

Liss is well known for his other novels set in the 18th century (a field he studied in graduate school until he discovered that writing novels was more rewarding than writing the dissertation), but The Twelfth Enchantment was his first foray into the fantasy genre. I would be very happy to see the further exploits of a heroine like Lucy Derrick. Although recently, Liss has taken another interesting turn into Marvel Comics, and is now writing the scripts for a new line comics, Black Panther, The Man Without Fear which promises to be pretty kick ass. 

To Die By Your Side: A Film By Spike Jonze and Olympia Le-Tan.

I love this racy, charming little stop animation video created by filmmaker Spike Jonze and designer Olympia Le-Tan. For a bookish person who thinks all bookstores are magical places anyway, it is wonderful to see the naughty night romances of the cover illustrations.

 

Also -- go and swoon, looking at the gorgeous embroidered book cover "clutch purses" of Le-Tan. Mon dieu, they are handsome!

 

(via Empty Kingdom)

 

Jamie Caliri Animation Test For Kavalier and Clay

Oh my stars! I am so excited by this gorgeous short test video produced by Jamie Calieri for what I hope will be the HBO series of Michael Chabon's terrific novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend it. I used to teach it years ago and can imagine my former students will be silently thanking me once this series comes out.

 

Steampunk Corsets

What can I say, I want one. Check out this beautiful work.

And you can order one for yourself from Brute Force Studios on Etsy.

Seamus Heaney: St. Kevin and the Blackbird.

I love this beautiful poem by Seamus Heaney, "St Kevin and the Blackbird," and think it appropriate for a weekend that will specialize in Irish saints -- though perhaps with more "spirit" than reverence. Still ...enjoy this recording of the poem. The art above, "St. Kevin and the Blackbird" is by one of my favorite painters, Clive Hicks Jenkins. Stop by his website and have a look at his stunning work -- especially Angels and Prophets and Saints and Beasts.

Here is a video of the poet reading the poem...

 

Benjamin Lacombe and The Interactive Fairy Book

Oh my goodness -- it's enough to make me want an ipad. This gorgeous book of flower fairies from French illustrator Benjamin Lacombe and author Sebastian Perez would be enough to sway my heart -- but the tablet ebook version is phenomenal --opening up and moving -- all interactive. Check out the extraordinary video!

 

Raymond Carver: This Morning

Here is a beautiful video and reading of Raymond Carver's somber poem "This Morning." The poem is read by Alessio Morglia and illustrated and animated by Alessandro Ferraro.

"All the things / I hoped would go away this morning. / The stuff I live with every day. What / I've trampled on in order to stay alive."

     

A Woman's History in Self Portraits.

Illustration Art has a gorgeous post on the life of Russian artist, Zinaida Serebriakova, whose life spanned a revolution, and two world wars. Under incredibly difficult circumstances, she continued to paint, work as an illustrator, care for her children, and paint at regular intervals self portraits. Her work is lovely -- and her self portraits incredibly uplifting. I highly recommend having a read through the post.

Renaissance Staple Murals

I love the unexpected -- art where you don't usually find it (here in an industrial setting) and produced out of the most unlikely of materials (here staples!!). These Renaissance pieces are contructed out of thousands of staples (this particular piece is made with 450,000 staples!) -- from French artist Baptiste Debomborg. You can see more of his work here.