The Big Bad Wolf

Angry lad, this one. He's for sale on T-Shirts and Hoodies in my RedBubble store. The original drawing is available in my Etsy art store.



Savannah Schroll Guz, "The Big Bad Wolf" (2012)
ball point pen on cardstock



Jane Priser and Magical Jasper...



Jane Priser, "Alien Face, Tricolor"


Etsy continues to be an amazing place for me, a hub of like-minded people doing inspiring things. Since I started creating artwork in earnest for the Literary Outlaw store earlier this year, I've 'met' and discovered atists doing some genuinely stunning work. Colorado-based artist Jane Priser is one of those people. Her polymer clay masks, with the haunting, often color-saturated eyes are, at least to my mind, somewhat like reading an A.S. Byatt novel....remember the description of the seance-conjured angel in the two-novella work, Angels and Insects? Or the description of Maud Bailey's flat in Possession? Well, like that. I am completely smitten by Priser's otherwordly beings, which seem to have depth and intelligence in those unblinking gazes.

For my part, I've been doing assemblages in cigar boxes. I've also been making illustrations, like "Magical Jasper", which is supposed to be a hybrid of our dog, of course named Jasper...only with a scaly backbone and fly-away hair (heh, like the hair doesn't fly away on its own in our house...I get out the vacuum one each day precisely because of that). Now, there is something about drawing with a ball point pen that is not unlike meditation for me. It's almost like automatic writing, and somewhat more restful that painting, although I enjoy that, too. Except, except...painting involves a certain level of anxiety. See, painting can sometimes get away from me, and I have to steer it back to a workable format, an aesthetically pleasing product, which sometimes involves reverting to safe imagery. What does that mean? It means, imagery that I've succeeded with before. With ballpoint pen (a good smooth flowing ballpoint), I'm pretty much free to do as I like, and I'm glad for that. I enjoy, too, making and developing the arabesque, nuturing the wisp into three-dimensional believability with the fantastic power of cross-hatched shaing....and then there are the eyes. The muscles of the iris, the diameter of the pupil, all totally absorbing to articulate in ink. Am I an art geek? Well, yes, I'm afraid so.

Savannah Schroll Guz, "Magical Jasper" (2011), ink on paper

Bad Words, BnR Beauty, some Etsy love, and Small Press Librarian!

So, I've gotten involved in something new: BnRs. Yeah, I had to look up what that meant, too. Just in case.... you know?

See, in junior high, I was going around saying a rather nasty expression that sounded funny in phonic terms, but whose definition I did not know. When I happened to use it to punctuate a sentence, as I was standing within earshot of my Dad's office manager, he said: "Savannah, do you know what that word means?" I admitted I didn't, and asked him for an explanation. He turned bright red and declined to tell me, suggesting I go ask my father.

Um, yeah. I stopped saying that word immediately around polite company. I won't tell you what that word is now, only because this a family friendly blog. (Really, it is!) Let's just say it's not a word that sounds anything like what it is intended to allude to. So....long story short, I had to Google what "BnR" meant....'cause little Savannah is not taking any more chances, especially now that I'm nearly 37, and gaffes like the one from junior high are no longer cute or endearing. Right! Perhaps they never were. Anyway....

BnR stands for "Buy and Replace," and while I initially thought it sounded suspiciously like a pyramid scheme, I've found that it's actually pretty excellent. The concept is this: you buy something from an open Etsy BnR Treasury, list the transaction number among the comments, add your shop to the list of purchases, and you're automatically in the next Treasury. Of course, one must operate with caution. There is no guarantee of a sale for your own shop, and as yet, I haven't made one in my art store, although I'm in two BnR Treasuries (both pictured here as screen shots). Still, with revenue I made from my Suite 101 articles, I bought into two more. 

 Now, really, I'm not in it for the sales, necessarily. There are other perks. As of this morning, one Treasury is on the first page of Etsy's Treasury listings, since it's gotten so many clicks and comments. And precisely because my painting "Rocket Bees" is one of the first four items in the Treasury itself, its little avatar appears on that first Treasury page. I call that some awesome exposure. Maybe even more importantly, I've met some really excellent people, who have amazing shops. In this sense, Etsy is a fantastic online community and resource. Lately, I spend much more time there than I do on Facebook because it's become a great place to connect with other craftspeople.

Thanks, Etsy founders, for democratizing the art and craft world. No gallery is necessary now for an artist to promote his or her own work. No bricks and mortar shops, rents, untilities or staffing costs are necessary to put work out into the wider world. And while there are certainly factors beyond the artist's control that impact how often a person's shop surfaces in search results, it is much easier now than ever to turn one's creative inclinations into profit...profit which Etsy and Paypal only take a little of--unlike galleries that take a large percentage. I hope Etsy stays as cool and accessible as it is now, although I know success might encourage the eventual change of fee structures. But, we'll see. Things are in a good place now. I plan to enjoy it. :-)

In other excellent news, Poet and Typewriter Girls Founder Margaret Bashaar currently has a review of Stefanie Wielkopolan's poetry collection, Border Theory, live at Writer Karen Lillis' blog, Small Press Librarian. Margaret makes some incisive observations on the book, and it's a really interesting read. Check it out here!

I'm headed into the city today to lunch with Karen at Red Oak Cafe, where we'll be planning a Seasonal Shorts reading for the summer (very likely July). Stay tuned for details! Over and out....for now. Happy Friday, all!

Yellow Wallpaper (redux) and Some New Treasuries

Photo Credit

It's that time again, kids. Time to teach Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." I get excited about teaching this story not because of the its inherently morbid quality, but because of its potential for bringing the circumstances of the Victorian woman to light. We ladies have absolutely no idea what it was to wear a corset. And I'm not talking about these lovelies, which I might actually consider putting on for fun. No, no, I'm talking corsets that made women like children, since they could not dress themselves without help. (Remember Scarlet O'Hara getting help from her maid while dressing?) I'm talking corsets that changed the shape of the body permanently, from repeated use, much like Chinese foot-binding practices. Miscarraiges were common because of the compression of the fetus (believe it or not, they still wore corsets during pregnancy....isn't it a wonder that we as a species continued into the 20th century at all?).

Scarlet's inability to dress herself was due in large part to the corset,
which laced in the back and had to be pulled tight.
Corsets were not only a health hazard, they robbed women
of their independence.



Edwardian-era Corset, c. 1900 (Photo Credit)



And because the lungs were similarly compressed, fainting was common. It was considered exquisitely feminine to be so pale and frail, to faint at distressing news. A tightly laced corset, darlings, does that to a girl. Those staight-backed,  fainting couches were not simply part of fussy Victoriana. They served a purpose: first, it promoted good posture already reinforced by the corset. (Whalebone stays prevent slouching.) Moreoever, a girl needed somehwere to be lie until she recovered herself.

We think our era has unrealistic expectations of women. Indeed it does, in many ways. But, we don't have anything over the Victorian era's chief caging device. Want to keep a good girl down? Make her wear one of these and call it fashionable. No, make it a social requirement. Why, every good girl wears one. (In truth, mostly all of the bad ones, too). It thins and smooths, giving you an elegant contour. How can you not want to wear yours, darling?

In other exciting news, I've been a busy, busy girl. There's been a great deal of studio work, and new creations will be posted in my art shop soon. In the meantime, I've created a few treasuries of beautiful items. Two of these treasuries appear just below. Enjoy!

New 'Beautiful Blue' Treasury and Full Moon Art Jewelry

See the treasury, in its natural beauty, here.

Full Moon Choker!



The full moon choker on!

 Next time, kids, a much more substantial post. For now, sleepy time. I have a literature class to teach at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Zzzzzzz.....

You, too, can have ears for earrings!

New art jewelry: painted, polymer clay ears
with translucent beads

What they look like when worn.
Ah, strange, surreal, exciting!
Yes, sometimes it's necessary to humor me.

And the little darlings from the back. Cupped like ears are.

And because they keep swinging to and fro,
I found it necessary to hold them for the pic.
Smile for the camera, kiddies!

Alex Kuno's Tiny Miscreants

Alex Kuno
The Savagery of the Red Cat (Or: The End of Summer)
Featured on the Minnesota Artists website.

 
I'm totally smitten by the work of Alex Kuno, whose paintings I recently found on Etsy. See his shop here. According to his profile on the Minnesota Artists website, his work is similar to Beatrix Potter, Egon Schiele, Otto Dix, Edward Gorey, and Maurice Sendak. I can see that he is the best distillation of all five combined. But I would also say there is some Pieter Breughel, the Elder and Hieronymous Bosch in there as well. (Would Kuno consider doing his own version of the "Seven Deadly Sins", I wonder? Perhaps he already has, and I have not yet found it.) I would also add that there appears to be at least an influential dash of some other Northern Renaissance painters, like Jan Van Eyck, flavoring his work. Dig this Kuno painting detail, for example. Also, check out the gorgeous, watery lustre of the character's eyes here. Now that, kids, is virtuosity.

You can check out Kuno's blog, "Miscreants of Tiny Town" and see more of his works in progress here: http://alexkuno.blogspot.com/

Savannah Schroll Guz
"You Get a Gold Star!" (Art Pin)

In other art-related news, three of the aforementioned art pins (the ones I began yesterday) are complete and in the shop. To the right is "You Get a Gold Star!". But you can see all three in my shop, by clicking here.

Something new for the Literaryoutlaw shop--Art Pins!



"Broccoli Man" and "Silver Lining"



"You get a gold star!"





Last night, Michael and I played with polymer clay, and by 9:45, I had our shapes baking in the oven. Each of the seven shapes--that's all that fit in the glass pie pan designated for the task--got an initial coating of gold or pewter acrylic this morning, and I started developing "personalities" on three of the seven this afternoon. They're pictured here....they'll be continued later tonight.....I hope to have them listed in my art shop by the end of the week!

New Treasuries at Etsy and Upcoming Reviews



"Plague Doctor's Mask"
by TomBanfield

I've made some new treasuries on Etsy. One celebrates masks, since it's time for Mardi Gras celebrations. The second treasury celebrates Icarus and his many artistic incarnations currently available for sale.


Icarus in Iron
by Photoamo



Last night, Michael and I attended an opening for sculptor Peter Calaboyias, whose retrospective at Shadyside's Gallerie Chiz I'll be reviewing for City Paper. More to come on this shortly.....I'll also be heading to the Warhol Museum next week to review The Word of God: Sandow Birk's American Qur'an . I'm excited to see this, since Birk's work brings together graffiti tagging techniques and Islamic calligraphy to amazing aesthetic effect.

The flu, Australian Criminals and Morgan le Fay....

I've been down with the flu that past two days, and I'm still not quite right yet. But slowly, my chest has stopped burning, and that counts for something.

Recently, on the Etsy blog, a posting by Etsy member chaps676 brought forth some forgotten photos from the Sydney Police Museum. (You can read all of chaps676's blog posting here.) The photos feature men and women who'd had some run-in with the Sydney police force and were photographed and, very likely, fingerprinted.

The photo that I found to be the most arresting was that of Fay Watson, apparently snapped on March 26, 1928. There she is in her low-waisted, voile flapper dress, bobbed hair, long-strand knotted pearls, big fabric flower pin, and those heels--dare I say red?...could they be red? We'll never know, I guess, since the photo is in black and white--whose thin straps wrap around the ankles with more fuss than a Roman sandle. But it's her face that is most arresting (pun not intended). She's a woman with a story, sort of like Marlene Dietrich. But it's funny that, in none of the pictures, does she look directly at the camera. She consistently casts her eyes skyward in a gesture plucked directly from silent films or perhaps a publicity still...."Look to the sky, darlings!" I am assuming that the reason Ms. Watson is sitting for the portrait is because she's been had up for prostitution. Or perhaps she's been publicly drunk, but I suspect the former is the reason.

I think her name, "Fay", is so perfect for her particular look. I, too, once had an Aunt Fay, who was apparently both beautiful and wild, and after she ran at my uncle with a knife, was no longer welcome in the family. Or so the story goes. She was gone before I was born. Another woman had taken her place. Also, the word "fey" means behaving in a wild and unnatural way due to supernatural forces...or according to Scottish tradition, it can also mean the supernatural ability to make prophecies (Think of the sorceress Morgan Le Fay, Arthur's half sister). The French expression, la fée, also means fairy, the loose expression for anything supernatural. Morgan le Fay is a fascinating figure, who is perhaps unfairly vilified by later medieval literature.

So here is an image of a Australian woman who might not be entirely human, but maybe a little fey. Doesn't it look that way?