Illustrations of Rima Staines

Stunning. Breathtaking. Sweet. Charming. I feel like I've stumbled upon a secret mystical treasure.

The illustrations of Rima Staines from The Hermitage are astounding.

Looking through her drawings you are impressed by the beautiful details of her exquisite work and awed that she lets you in to experience it.

I've included a photo of her at the top and one of a cd cover she did for the (a new-to-me) band Telling The Bees; of whom she says is: a band of four lovely Oxford based musicians who might describe their music as ...darkly crafted folk, classical, cinematic, prog, acoustic-chill, psychedelia! At the bottom is a photo of the magickal truck she lives in now.

She leads an interesting life. Rima currently lives in a "...beautifully converted, magic truck, all filled with puppets and clocks and feathers and stones and things. It's like sitting in a fairy tale." per Telling The Bees website.
Thank you, Rima Staines, for giving us this beauty to enjoy.

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Vania Zouraliov

Vania Zouraliov

I'm somewhat surprised I didn't already have her cataloged here at EBC so here's some illustrations of this visionary. Do we overuse that term, visionary? It's applicable here. Believe it.

Big Active has the best collection of Vania's work online.

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R. Crumb Update

R. Crumb Update

Robert is planning on coming to America this summer to attend a family reunion in the Midwest. While in the Midwest, he'll sign a couple of new editions we're now printing. He's been working diligently on the Genesis project and is now on page 167—rounding the bend and coming down the final stretch.

In September 2004, I posted about this same Genesis project and here we are 4 years later, Bob. Obvs you're not doing it for the jack but we're kinda getting anxious to see this new work.

Rumor is he's getting even better at his illustrations.

The Genesis project is nonfiction in a graphic novel format. It's based on a 'literal' interpretation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible or, in sound byte form, "The Passion of the Christ for the NPR Crowd."

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The Life Of Roderick Romero

Roderick Romero has a boyish face and a sideways grin. He wears his hair in reddish-brown braids that fall to his waist (it was last cut in 1990, when he took a Swiss army knife to it in the middle of a concert he was performing with his band, Sky Cries Mary.) His strong forearms are covered in tattoos of voodoo and Santeria symbols and illustrations from the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore's firefly poems. While he has been many thing -- rock star, yogi, premed student, aspiring tennis pro -- his current incarnation may be the most unlikely: His is a tree house designer, and his growing list of clients includes Sting, Donna Karan, Val Kilmer, and Julianne Moore.

This new career began in 1998, when a friend asked him to contribute an art piece to an outdoor exhibition she was curating in Bald Hills, Washington. "I told her I would build this big nest," Romero says, "and you could sleep in it." He had no idea he would tap into a national fascination with tree houses.

For the next nine months, Romero was firmly steeped in the world of his nest. Like a bird, ne gathered fallen twigs and reeds and vines from nearby trees and then had to figure out how to build something structurally sound, sustained at 30 feet off the ground. "It was coming straight out of the ether," he says. "I had no idea what I was doing. It was purely conceptual, but it had to be engineered well. It had to be safe." The result was a creation that looks sort of like a bearded bungalow perched among the branches of a giant leaf maple.

When his brother saw the nest, he requested one, so Romero built him the Eagle House, a pine and cedar trapezoid that straddles four trees in the Cascade Mountains. A few months later, Romero was visiting Sting and his wife, Trudy, at their home in Tuscany (Romero knows them through the yoga world). He told them about his first two tree houses, at which point Trudie asked, "Why don't you build us a tree house?" And so came tree house No.3.

For more information on the treehouses, Click Here.

[more...]

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From the INBOX

GreyLodge Podcasting Company is pleased to announce our new alliance with the incredible avant-garde resource UbuWeb.

2nd Amazonian Shamanism Conference in Peru in June. A gathering of scientists and healers. Link

The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of our Collective Psychosis by Paul Levy is now available for purchase online. Link

Ovi Magazine - 'Promises' is the theme of Ovi 14 and has all the usual cartoons, illustrations, poems, fiction and radio shows, along with a few extra Ovi peculiarities.

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream - www.altpr.org. In my opinion the absolute best snapshot into the daily news.

Tons of good links in the Gaia Media Newsletter.

* The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, believing in everything that is real. Their motto is, "If it's real, we believe in it."

* Adventurer and writer Kira Salak reports about her ayuahuasca experiences for National Geographic. Read her story and see a short video clip.

* Starhawk and Donna Read, the makers of the film Signs of the Times, about the life and work of Marija Gimbutas, have organized a series of Goddess Salons.

* The German group LightRiders are working hard on a 2 to 3 hour DVD project "The Spirit of Basel", featuring the Saturday night concert with "Akasha Project", "Stars Sounds Orchestra", and "Guru Guru", including short excerpts from the major spoken presentations. Have a first glimpse with their Teaser.

* The Vernal Equinox 2006 issue of The Entheogen Review contains "Reflections on Basel" by Jon Hanna and João Serro, but also an article entitled "Halperngate" by Jon Hanna.

* Surrealartforum is the largest Surreal, Fantastic, Psychedelic & Visionary Artist Links Gallery on the Internet. An incredible collection.

And more...

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{time wasters}

* Choose the bubble that appeals to you and see what it reveals about your inner self.



* Typographic Illustrations click on site and turn up the volume. messing around with ev'ry guy in town; putting me down for thinking of someone new...[via - sweet anne]



* Whichbook gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood.



* Time to pull out the Mondrian link from my archives in celebration of Piet Mondrian's birthday, March 7. Click on the picture. Susan Sez, "This is guaranteed fun time wasting material."



* Bush Parody site deserves another look.



{Faces Of The Fallen} - Casualties of War.



I feel a sin coming on.



Today's links taken from my 2003 archives, except when noted.

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» Good Friday morning to you. Looks like a snow day in the Northeast today. We're having an 'ice' day here in North Carolina. Gonna try and make some time to visit *you* today.



» Benicio del Toro - Exhale... His latest role in 21 Grams is giving him the critical attention he deserves. But why do we like him so much? He's not pretentious or arrogant, even if he has every right to be. He lets his talent speak for itself, and it speaks volumes. I just can't get enough of him. I first became interested in him when I saw The Usual Suspects, in 1996, and have been following his career closely since then.



{URLS Gone Wild!}

» I Work With Fools

» Julie Koehnen is participating in an online dating experiment with Yahoo Personals.

Damn, it looks scary out there, doesn't it? LiveCam



» Activists prepare mass Valentine rallies. "I think it's a really important issue for us; I don't think we should apologize for this," Tyler said. "Marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege."



{artsy-fartsy}

» ArtBitz - Very nice stock photos, illustrations, border, backgrounds.



» Wallpapers, prints, and photos - Created By Cheney. [a/f links via: the lovely fishbucket]



{quote of the day}

We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started... and know the place for the first time. ~T.S. Eliot



If we can put a man on the moon, why not all of them?

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Good Morning to you.



Ken Bowser Illustrations - Very talented guy with very funky and fun illustrations. I snagged a few.



The 12 Days Of Kitschmas - for the best in bad taste religious gifts. Which reminds me of a decorated yard I saw on local tv one year with an extravagant nativity scene. And above the manger display, in all his Las Vegas glory, was one lifesize Elvis Presley, keeping watch over the manger. The natives got very restless over that unique display and the homeowner was asked to take down the Hunka Hunka Burning Love. It was indeed one Blue Christmas without Elvis.



Most Popular Christmas Toys of the 1900's

1958 Hula Hoops, and the Frisbee.

1968 Fisher Price little people and the Spirograph.

1978 Star Wars toys and Battlestar Galactica.

1988 Ghostbusters car and Marshmallow man.

1998 Beanie Babies, Furby, Playmobile video system, and Lego Robot’s Revenge.



Stew Albert's Party Rules - One man's view of his Hep C treatment. I wish him well. My sister is going through that same treatment now.



Look on the bright side. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here looking through your stuff.

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Good morning to you...



Today is Rosh Hashanna. "Teach us to number our days so that we may obtain a heart of wisdom." Rosh Hashanah reminds us that our time in this world is limited, so let us do our best to make a difference in the world and in our communities in which we live.



{music} Bands Against Bush is an international movement which uses music and art and the support systems of these activities for protest and political involvement. We oppose the Bush administration and its domestic and foreign policies. Some celebrations are planned for Oct 11.



And Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello is planning to hit the road with fellow politically minded musicians Billy Bragg and Steve Earle on the Tell Us the Truth Tour this fall.



{fashion} The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand



{artsy} Clay illustrations by Amy Vangsgard. [via: sweet anne]



{political} Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi returned home on Friday after more than three months in detention but her doctor said she faces house arrest again at home while doctors tend to her there in recovery.



{quote} Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. ~Tom Robbins



saturday morning me//

bedhead/pass the visine/

drinking: dr enuf & java/2 fisted drinker/cheerios/

still smoking & toking/hubby quit smoking/

olive henley/jeans/yoga flats/

listening: my morning jacket-it still moves/

so how's about you, mon amis?/



Can I trade this blog for what's behind door #2?

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Good Sunday morning....



movies

I finally got to see Signs, with Mel Gibson last night and enjoyed it. Braveheart is certainly in my top 10 favorite movies list.



And I've seen 3 movies with Asia Argento in them recently. I first saw her in B. Monkey. Then, XXX, and the New Rose Hotel.



I wasn't aware that Director David Lynch had directed so many commercials. [via greencine]



.:__::__:.

art

Nice, dark illustrations.

[via anne]



Surreal and Dark Art from Illustrator Jason Beam.



etc

Avocado Lite-nobody does it better. Seriously. [via anne]



Garbage Pail Kids return. Including "Fartin' Martin," "Metallic Alec," and "Harry Potty." Weren't they originally out in the mid-80s?



Badfads Museum is a fun visit of bad fads from the past 100 years. Guess I better unload these leisure suits, hot pants and ditch this Farrah Fawcett do.



Quote For Today

Art is the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature through the veil of the soul. ~Edgar Allen Poe



Sag, You're it.

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