227 Photos

I went down to the river walk today because I was in the mood to take some new photos. 227 later, I headed home. Yeah, that's right, I took 227 photos today. Of course, once I get that pared down, I'll have a great number fewer. Among those 227, many are multiple shots of the same thing at slightly different angles and distances to make sure that I get just the right photo. In particular, I took a ton of photos of the fountain that shoots water up in the air, because I want to be able to sort through just the right "moment."

It's just like writing, where you might write out a whole character biography or extended scene, but use only a fraction of it. But, you write it out anyway, because you need the extra so you can decide which part of it is just right.

(P.S. This photo was #7 out of 15+ of the lamp posts on the bridge)

Editor Ali?

A few days ago I noticed that one of the craft blogs I read a lot is in need of a new editor. Today, I saw the notice was still up and decided that maybe I should be that new editor. It's one of the more intimidating writing things I've done, trumping even submitting work to magazines, because they don't just have to like me for one story, they have to like me ad infinitum.

If I get the job, it'll be a great experience for my writing because I'll have a regular writing commitment - 5 posts a week, no excuses.

I don't know how long it will be before I get a response. Not too long, I hope. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

...

Magical Paintings

On Friday night, Shawn stopped by the bar to hang out with her friend Bonnie. I chatted with the two of them for a while, and we got to talking about Shawn's thesis, which led to my thesis, which led to talking about magical realism. You see, Bonnie is a magical realist painter. Bonnie has a website.

We talked about magical realism for a bit, in terms of magical realism being the place where the realistic and the surrealistic meet and blur together. She talked about exploring the things that are suggested on the edge of realism. I asked about her process and she said that she starts by taking photos, then paints from them, modifying things a bit as she goes.

You start from a place of reality, then add suggestion of unreality. It's as good a definition as I've heard.

Fantastic Art

I've been talking a lot about legends, fairy tales, and magical realism. While I've been focused on writing, I thought it'd be worthwhile to mention art as well. I've seen some wonderful artists in the course of my reading, especially thanks to Realms of Fantasy. Here are some worth mentioning:


Michael Whelan
http://www.michaelwhelan.com/catalog/home.php

Paul Kidby
http://www.paulkidby.com/

Janny Wurtz
http://www.paravia.com/JannyWurts/website/index3.html

John Jude Palencar
http://www.johnjudepalencar.com/

Donato Giancola
http://www.donatoart.com/gallery.html

Wayne Barlowe
http://www.waynebarlowe.com/


While it is by no means an extensive list, these are some of my favorites.