03 Sunday Jun 2018
Posted in In the Bible
Tags
Art, artist, Bible, Christ, christianity, faithfulness, God, Jesus, love, Painting, religion, Sunday Scripture, trust
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The LORD will keep you from all harm — He will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
~ Psalm 121:7-8
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29 Tuesday May 2018
Posted in Art & Artists, Mystery & Horror
Tags
Art, Art of Horror, artist, entertainment, film, horror, illustration, monster, movie posters, poster, poster art, sci-fi, science fiction
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but we all know that it’s the cover art which initially draws our attention to a book in the first place.
Movies are no different. A lot of time, effort, talent and money goes into designing a movie poster, because it’s that first impression which often translates into big bucks or big flops.
I’ve sung the praises of movie posters before. First in the post “The Art of Horror“, and then again in “Hammer’s Glamour: The Art of Hammer Films“. Illustrated movie posters have sadly fallen out of fashion in Hollywood. But that’s all the more reason to keep highlighting a few classic examples here!
My love of cheesy, eccentric, down-right bad B-movies is no secret. Currently on my “to-watch” list are gems like “The Two-Headed Transplant”, “Drive-In Massacre”, and “Track of the Moon Beast”. (This is a real list, btw, I’m not just making it up for effect.)
A few things in particular come to mind when I think of the 1950-60’s era: 1) Classic family life and glamourous everyday fashions, and 2) crazy, campy, colourful science fiction films. Films about brains that won’t die, aliens and space ships, women from Mars, and babes in gold bikinis. So today, we’re going to be focusing on film posters of the psychedelic sci-fi persuasion. Now, not all of these are from the ’50-60’s era, but every poster has something in common: Each is a work of art; a vibrant illustration of the fantastical, soaked to the core with rich imagination and a mastery of colour and composition.
One of my favourites from today’s selections is, to me, the embodiment of kooky 1950’s science fiction: “The Brain Eaters” (1958). Continue reading
21 Monday May 2018
Posted in From My Perspective, Practical Applications
A few nights ago while I was playing around on Pinterest, I was assaulted by the following pop-up message:
“Pinterest works much better on modern browsers. Internet Explorer is getting pretty old. You may want to consider switching to something newer.”
Wow, Pinterest, you have a lotta nerve smack-talking Internet Explorer when the whole reason I was using Pinterest in IE instead of Chrome was to check and see if a bug I recently reported to Pinterest was affecting other browsers.
Yeah, ANOTHER Pinterest bug, one that’s making it impossible to pin from the web. You know what they say about people in glass houses…
Bristled at their smarmy, condescending nag, I immediately took a screen grab of the message and tweeted out:
Call me old-fashioned, call me out of touch, but I’m telling you, what I said is true. I DO still need Internet Explorer for some of the things I do, and IE DOES do a number of things that other browsers simply don’t (and they SHOULD).
So I started thinking: I wish there was a way to design your own custom web browser, where you could incorporate any functions and features from any existing browsers. You know, take the best that each has to offer and make one good browser.
Currently, no browser is perfect. Or even close to it, in my opinion, which is why I’m forced to run THREE browsers simultaneously.
06 Sunday May 2018
Posted in In the Bible
Tags
Art, Bible, christianity, God, Jesus, Painting, Sunday Scripture
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
16 Monday Apr 2018
Posted in Film, Literature & Commentary, Mystery & Horror
Tags
analysis, Frankenstein, human nature, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, monster, serial killers, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer, The Shining, Twilight
Gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions; his face was concealed by long locks of hair, but one cast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy. There was never a vision so horrible in his face, of such loathsome yet appalling hideousness.
~ Frankenstein, 1818
I have a confession to make.
In high school, I read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. But until recently, I had never read “Frankenstein”.
I know. How is it possible that the girl who loves all things horror and devotes the entire month of October to writing blog posts about her favourite movie monsters — Frankenstein included — has never read what must be considered the literal mother of the horror genre?
In 2018, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s classic horror novel “Frankenstein”, or “The Modern Prometheus”, celebrates its 200th anniversary. And last fall, I decided it was time that I finally read the novel which is credited with legitimizing horror in literature.
Published in January 1818, “Frankenstein” was, if you’ll pardon the pun, an entirely different breed of monster. Not only was this the kind of tale that had never been mainstream before, it was also written by a woman.
At age 19 in 1816, Mary legally wed famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and after his death in 1822, she devoted herself to publishing and sharing her husband’s works. But it was Mary herself and her dark, Gothic tale of science fiction horror which would be immortalized in history forever.
Mary published Frankenstein anonymously, and many believed her husband to be the author. She penned a number of novels in her relatively short and tragic 53 years, but it was her definitive man-playing-God tale — the result of a rainy afternoon ghost story session with friends (1816) during which it was suggested that all try their hand at writing a horror narrative of their own — that she is remembered for.
Now, there are a lot of friendly preferential debates out there, including some which will be familiar to my regular readers: Pepsi or Coke? Addams Family or Munsters? Sam or Dean? But even more common is the age-old question — book or movie? Continue reading
01 Sunday Apr 2018
Posted in In the Bible
Tags
Art, Bible, christianity, crucifixion, Easter, Easter Sunday, God, Jesus, Painting, Resurrection, Sunday Scripture, The Word
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
~ Psalms 119:10-12 Continue reading
21 Wednesday Mar 2018
Posted in Film, Literature & Commentary, From My Perspective
Tags
collecting, collection, collector, memorabilia, Scooby Doo, Syfy, Syfy Wire
Every once in a while, I get to do something really fun. Last month, I was featured in Syfy Wire’s Collectors Showcase. Or I should say, my Scooby Doo collection was!
I’ve loved the Syfy channel since back when it was still SciFi, and I’ve followed Syfy Wire on Twitter for many years. So when they put out a call to collectors for a chance to be featured on their website, how could I resist? I mean, I have a closet full of Scooby Doos!
Happily, I was selected to have my collection immortalized and shared online with other geek, nerd and toy enthusiasts, and here is the result!
Syfy Wire Collectors Showcase: A Massive Trove of Scooby Doo Treasures
Please do click through to the Syfy Wire site to have a look, but I’ve also gone ahead and included the entire interview (with photos!) here on my own blog. I decided to do screen grabs of the article to give you a break from reading grey text on a black background. Continue reading
04 Sunday Mar 2018
Posted in In the Bible
All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.
~ Acts 10:43
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
~ Mark 11:25 Continue reading
01 Thursday Mar 2018
Posted in Painting Portfolio
There’s no better feeling for an artist than placing another commission piece in the “done” pile. And happily, that’s what I’ve just done.
More wildlife to feature today, this time in the guise of the Pacific Tree Frog.
As with most tree frogs, the Pacific Tree variety is very petite and cute. Measuring in at a whopping 3/4 to 2 inches long, they are one of the smallest amphibians on the North American West Coast.
Apart from its tiny stature, this tree frog has two distinctive features: a dark eye stripe (or as I like to call it, a bandit mask), and sticky rounded toe pads which help the frog grip and climb. Their toes have less webbing between them than some other frogs, which makes their toes look extra long. Continue reading
04 Sunday Feb 2018
Posted in In the Bible
Tags
Art, Bible, Christ, christianity, God, hope, Jesus, Painting, Sunday Scripture, worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Continue reading
