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warren ellis in Galway
Last night at the National University of Galway the Literary and Debating Society and the Comic Book Society showcased a public interview with legendary British comic book writer Warren Ellis. When I arrived for the event I met Galway cartoonist/caricaturist Allan Cavanagh and writer/editor Stan Carey, and we all sat together. This turned out to be a dogsend because we discovered the Lit and Deb Soc were going to have an hour of their usual debates before the event. Thus, the three of us were subjected to two discussions: “That the House Welcomes the Queen of England to Ireland with Open Arms” and “That the House Endorses Gender Quotas in…
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zap!
I thought this image might catch your attention. I snapped it in Dublin last weekend. This is the window of MAC cosmetics in the large department store Brown Thomas on Grafton Street. Last weekend MAC launched its limited edition Wonder Woman line of cosmetics. To celebrate they had colourful window displays (see below) and body-painted a fit young man to look like a walking piece of comic book art. It was interesting that this event was going on the same weekend as P-Con, with just the length of Exchequer Street between them. Yet, they might as well have been on different worlds (Earth and Themyscira I suppose). When I inquired…
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old horror
Today I was selecting photographs to post to my Flickr stream from those I took at the Church of Saint Bartholomew in Sóller, Mallorca. One of them was the above photograph of the eponymous saint himself, Saint Bartholomew. As I was examining the photograph I realised there was another face hanging from the Saint’s waist. It was a WTF? moment. I hadn’t even seen it when I’d taken the original photograph. Thankfully, a small bit of Internet research cleared it up. Bartholomew is reported as being martyred in three different ways, all of them bloody. The most popular variety is being skinned alive. Hence, pictures and sculptures of the saint…
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gallery cats
Mallorcans love cats and dogs. They are well-treated and indulged, and are everywhere on the island, usually not far from their doting owners. I snapped this mother and daughter duo in a Gallery in the incredibly picturesque village of Sóller. I caught the rickety train, with its old-fashioned wooden carriages, into the mountains to explore the town for a couple of hours. The train trundled upwards past almond trees shedding their blossoms, trees dripping with lemons and oranges, and ancient olive groves. Sóller’s buildings are relatively unaltered, with terracotta roofs, wrought iron balconies and sturdy, polished wooden doors. Many of its winding, narrow streets – loomed over by serrated mountains…
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mallorcan tree
I’m only a couple of days on Mallorca and I’ve already had blazing sun and blue skies, an afternoon of torrential rain and a nocturnal lightning storm. It’s mercurial and eventual staying on a Mediterranean island in February. I love it. The vegetation is amazing to my eyes – a variety of palm trees (tall, stubby, gnarled) with huge architectural fronds, a wide range of cacti, as well as pink, purple and violet flowers in bloom. And always the constant drumbeat of the waves pounding against the rocks. Most of the pubs, cafes and souvenir shops are closed. Santa Ponsa has a slightly forlorn feeling at times, but I don’t…
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artistic inspiration
My mind is currently full of research and ideas for my next graphic novel project, which I’m writing at the moment. Whenever I do a period piece I soak up as many images from the era as possible. Most of the 1920s was a truly inspiring time – change was in the air, and the young people in particular embraced it. It absolutely was the beginning of what could be termed modern life. I’ve been looking at a lot of the artwork from the 20s, including magazine covers, and I’m entranced. The above image is the February 1921 cover of French Vogue, drawn by Helen Dryden. I love the sense…
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minnie triumphant
It’s been a while since I inflicted a picture of Minnie the pooch upon you. I snapped this the other morning, as she stared resolutely away from the camera. She hates the shiny metal box that causes me to pause and point it at objects during her walks, so she shows her disdain towards it at every opportunity. That’s her racoon toy, which is rather adorable. She loves it because it’s very long, so she can grab it in the middle, scamper around the table and whip it about viciously so both ends slap against carpet, chairs, your legs… It has a squeaker in the head and in the end…
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Water in Black Static 21
My flash short story, ‘Water’, is appearing in Black Static 21. Thanks to editor Andy Cox for taking the story. A shout-out is also needed for non-fiction editor Peter Tennant, who has devoted the Black Static‘s Case Notes blog to the subject of women in horror for the month of February. At the moment you can read Nina Allen’s piece on ‘My hero: Joyce Carol Oates‘. I’d also like to highlight Melissa Helwig’s blog, Little Miss Zombie. Melissa is interviewing women who write horror throughout the month of February. If you think there aren’t that many women working in horror this will serve as a regular reminder that isn’t the…
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web morning
This morning saw a beautiful combination of sunlight hitting wet trees and shrubs that were coated with a patina of frost. A mist curled up from the iced grass toward blue skies. Everywhere there were spider webs, jewelled with beads of water. One long chain formed a barrier across the path – I spotted it at the last moment and ducked underneath. Photographing cobwebs can be tricky, but I managed to snap a few of them. This was one of my favourite shots. Oh! The artless cunning of nature.
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bright days
This picture is from over a week ago, when I had a fantastic run of photographs on a freezing, sunny day. Since then the weather has been officially what we term ‘filthy’: wet and a constant twilight thanks to the permanent canopy of grey clouds. And recently there have been gusting winds, just to keep me awake at night too. So, the above picture is a reminder to Nature. A bit more sun, please. I know you can do it. Cheers!
