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Epic Mythology

Blacksmith saddles and shoes the horse
As ironsmith hammers with precision and force
Baker doughs and kneads the bread
And the farmer’s wife sees the animals fed

Children sit in the schoolroom and learn
As the clockmaker watches the fingers turn
The doctor tends to those not well
And market stalls heave with things to sell

The carpenter smooths and cuts the wood
As the bookkeeper keeps things looking good
The dressmaker knits and sews with ease
And the town crier bellows as he reads

Throughout the land of Everplain
Similar village folk do the same
Some unaware of the desperate plight
By the gods’ domain on the Mount of Light

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Beginning Year Ten

Just noticed this achievement in my dashboard. Nine years ago today I registered with WordPress and launched myself into the scary world of Blogging. I keep saying this – but I love it!

Tomorrow, I begin Year Ten. Today, I celebrate completing Nine Years. I must have been very young when I started!

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Characters

What makes a good character?

Someone mysterious? Boring? Risqué? Over-the-top? Untouchable? Surreal? Perfect? Ludicrous? Rude? Quiet? Professional? Heart-felt? Needy? Brash? Sexy? Offensive? Kind? Alien? Square? Thoughtless? Thoughtful? Dreamy? Inept? Quirky? Confident? Artistic? Argumentative? Stubborn? Creative? Constructive? Forward-thinking? Magical? Business-minded? Helpful? Shut-off? Energetic? Charismatic? Disabled? Old-fashioned? Forward-thinking? Imaginative? Colourful? Radiant? Beautiful? Ugly? Robotic? Moronic? Warm? Cold? Holier-than-thou? Devilish? Inappropriate? Risk-taker? Stick-in-the-mud? Comical? Interesting?

A mixture of all? Just one? Maybe a couple?

There are a lot of ‘interesting’ characters that call by this blog that could easily fit into the list above. Myself included… Tom Merriman’s a character, don’t forget. OK. Maybe ‘interesting’ was the wrong choice of word.

My characters are all adaptable. They try to fit into a number of different scenarios. Some they take to like a duck to water, and others they’re like a fish out of it.

But they are still characters. Surreal creations that exist in Universes far, far away. Surreal lives with surreal existences that desperately need for their surreal stories to be told.

But are they good characters?


I don’t know. They’re all a work in progress.

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Reimagined Classics: Thomasina with the Earring

With beanie hat in tow (with a pair of old tights tied on top) Thomasina (my Inner Woman) reappeared this week demanding another portrait be made. You can’t refuse such a request. Really, you can’t. I have tried.

Ripping the Mona Thomasina out of the frame, Thomasina said “We’ll use this again. And for the next three.” Which was her way of telling me she wanted another three portraits doing. “For this run!” she adds. See? Refusal is not an option.

This rip off version of a classic is based upon Girl with a Pearl Earring, an oil painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, dated around 1665. There is a movie of the same name, starring Colin Firth (as Vermeer, not the girl!), which wasn’t the inspiration for this picture, as I haven’t seen that movie. The painting wasn’t named as such when it was first done, but this is the name it currently holds.

As with last week’s painting, this week’s is slightly similar yet totally different once again to the original to which upon it is based. Thomasina is looking the wrong way for starters. She’s also wearing that hat and tights combo, and her earring most definitely isn’t pearl. It’s a clip-on one. And this painting isn’t done in oils.

Just so you’re forewarned… there is a nightmare of a painting coming up. I almost replaced this one with that one, just to get it out of the way… but I think best left until the very last minute is the wisest option. Honestly, it’s the stuff of nightmares. Once seen, it can never be unseen. But Thomasina likes it.

And what Thomasina likes… well. Wait and see.

I shall apologise now.

There will, however, be another ‘respectable’ painting along next week.