Chuck Groenink's Illustrations

Magical and oh-so-charming...these illustrations by Chuck Groenink are adorable.

"Night of the yokai," for Fiep magazine, 2010

"Nobrow, the double, 2011"

"Jungle book inspired illustration for Boekie boekie magazine," 2014

Be sure to check out his site, as well as his Etsy shop (such cute things for sale!).

Bookmarks List/Bedside Table

Currently reading/enjoying:

-This beautiful poem, "Reading Whitman Postpartum," by Lesley Jenike in Waxwing
-This piece, "The Space Between the Lines" about artistic "unlearning" by Tessa Hulls
-This conversation with poet Kathy Fagan in the Kenyon Review blog
-I'm not reading them, but I am enjoying this write-up on the amazing shadow puppets of Lotte Reiniger in Open Culture. Here's Hansel and Gretel, which is equally stunning and horrifying...

A very happy Labor Day weekend, friends! What will you be thumbing through?

Recent Earworm: "Blood," The Middle East

This isn't a new song, and I've often heard it on soundtracks (and on Spotify, where I listen to most music online). But each time I hear it, I'm reminded of how lovely and poignant it is.

Few Key Differences

from "Nue singularite," by Valerie Boutot-Nobrega

Few Key Differences

In the place without stars they have a saying
A dark sky to keep us warm

In the place without stars they do have one star

This is the sun

In the place without stars the symbol of human life
is a lantern

All along the streets neighbors admire one another’s
porch lights and street lamps

In the place without stars lovers take a blanket out
to the field early in their courtship and there they sleep

In the place without stars they use a sunscope
to look at the darkness inside the light

Mythology is linked to weather
and those who study it are seen as charmingly antiquarian

In the place without stars there is also no moon

In the place without stars there are remarkably
few insomniacs

In the place without stars it is still worth looking up

[Image above by Valerie Boutot-Nobrega]

Autumnal Beauty via David Grossmann...

"Through the Aspen Grove," by David Grossmann

"Cathedral Grove," by David Grossmann

Aren't these paintings by David Grossmann beautiful? Now that it's officially September, fall is within reach. Even though it's 90 degrees in Ohio right now, I can't wait for actual fall and that change in the light that happens...