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Fire Fire!

Continuing with Golden Walker....

caution readers of the book! plot spoilers ahead...

The Visit

Misha in prison, so angry he is "lost"- changed to fire and can't remember how to change back.  Only the old nurse dares to go near the door.
A painting about two different states of mind...

Heart of Fire

Misha escapes, and becomes a raging fire outside the city.  Because he loves her and some part of him recognizes her, Nadia is able to escape the city and walk into the heart of the fire.
This painting is about trust, the ecstasy of being totally surrounded by love, and in the middle of a great big scary passion, finding that you are actually completely safe..

CAUTION: CAT PICTURE AHEAD

I would have made more paintings, but Hazel won't get off the art table.

new work

Summer is over and so is my holiday from this blog.  I took a holiday because it has been a writing summer, finishing up another section of Golden Walker and I simply had nothing left to say on the blog, after writing all day, there were no more words....  Oh well.  That is what summer is for, and now I have the fun of coming back with new enthusiasm...

So Melissa and I are still writing the end and we also have got some altruistic volunteers to read the thing and see if it possibly makes any sense to anyone.  (I already have a request for a map.)

Still doing the illustrations.  Here are some new ones.  (Catuion readers!  Plot spoilers ahead!)

Aya the Only

This painting is about the frenzy of loss.  Aya the Only, the mother of the seven brothers, knows they are gone.  She tears up her room and rips her feather bed, and reaches up into a mysterious and ghostly breeze that now is never absent from the house.

Salix Vs. Misha

This painting is about a clash of anger.  Each brother is trying to overpower the other.

Yeah, I'm not even going to get into the plot as to why.
I think it would just make you scratch your head and feel tired.

Til next time...

Sling Some Ink

Big Star Bar
7:30
Tuesday May 8

I will be reading a story about babysitting at Big Star Bar in the Heights this week!  Do stop by if you are free. It's through the Slinging Ink writing program from Diverseworks.  Here is the link for some more info about the program:

http://diverseworks.org/2012/slinging-ink-big-star-bar-spring-2012/

and  map to Big Star Bar (it's at 1005 West 19th Street, that's kind of west of Durham)

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

new work: rainbows and ramones

Death of Sasha
If you have been following this blog for awhile, you might remember Sasha as the swishy one in fancy clothes (the entry is "Looking for Sasha").  This is his death... Sasha's gift is his all-seeing vision.  He has rainbow colored eyes that can see anything he wishes no matter how far away, and also some clairvoyance.  He was blind for a while which broke his heart.  In death, he can see again.

(detail of Sasha)

Dee Dee
This is a picture from the childhood (or teenager-hood, which to me is still childhood) of the seven children.  Misha, whose gift is turning into fire, used to sneak out to clubs and go dancing. He tried to keep his identity secret by calling himself Dee Dee (I got that from Dee Dee Ramone because I think Misha would have liked the Ramones, if they existed in Fehran...) but his disguise is rather pointless because the habit of turning into fire sort of gives him away.

The blonde girl in the foreground is Noel, Misha's first love.

In the Schoolroom
Another one from the kids' childhood.  Misha, Leila, Ariel, and Salix question their teacher about the faraway city of Iirvska.

detail from In the Schoolroom.
I got Misha's outfit and hair off Ben Wishaw in the movie "I'm not There" because Melissa and I thought he was cool.  Hopefully I will not get sued or anything.

*note of self-praise from Brooke: check out the (relative) lucidity of these pix!  I am learning to photograph art!  yay.

primrose meditation

(I passed these flowers on the walk to Fiesta the other day.  I used to pick them all the time as a child, with my grandma)

your petals are sensitive,
like the pink-veined delicate ears of a cat.
you're teacups of pollen, you are tiny cups of light.
you have spangled yourselves all over the vacant lot,
on my side of the chain-length fence, and the other.
could you care for separations?
you children of light, you cannot even see them
you tiny lights, you are as many
as sparkles on the sea.
does nature ever see things like a chain-length fence?
could I draw a line upon the surface of the sea?

More new work- Seven Brothers

Care for Life
Nadia is a shaman.  Here she holds Leila's spirit (in the form of a little bird) in her hand, watching over it until it is safe to release it back into Leila's body.

Her Father Walks Away
Nadia has a recurring dream about her father, the King of Iirvska.  Over and over, her father walks away from her into Fehran, pausing only to look at her coldly over his shoulder.

(detail) Sometimes I am adding a detail because the faces are hard to see.

Your Words are Killing Me
(the death of Oran)
This is watercolor and tracing paper.  Sorry for the blurriness! better pictures done by a professional coming soon!

(detail)  Some thoughts about this painting... each of the brothers has a magic talent, and Oran is the great listener- he can hear anything he wishes, even sounds miles away.  He is literally killed by words.  His brother Salix speaks the spell that kills him, but the worst words are the ones Salix uses to explain himself and manipulate his brother.  He tries to get power over him, which one of my favorite writers Brene Brown defines in this way:
"I will define who you are and then I'll make you believe that's your own definition."
But Oran will not agree.  He knows who he is.
This painting is about how words spoken by someone who absolutely refuses to see you can harm the spirit and make you disappear.