Painter of the mystical, otherworldly, sensual, and whimsical.

I'm a painter living and working in the beautiful finger-lakes region of Western New York State. I am also an avid gardener and nature lover, so the lush green rolling hills, gentle streams, and majestic lakes that surround my home in this world often appear in the fantasy worlds of my paintings.

Many of the pieces draw inspiration from folk tales, myths and legends. These "teaching tales" were what drew us together around our hearth-fires for centuries, and I believe those stories still carry power.

I enjoy looking at these ancient tales, through my eyes, and painting what I see, no matter if it's beautiful or disturbing. But what's more fun is when others can see those same paintings and find something within of value that speaks to their soul directly. I do not plan for this, but am honored when it happens, and, oh, yes, do love hearing about it every time that it happens. It reminds me that maybe we are not so different after all.

Glad to meet you, and please enjoy the paintings!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

First-hand Account: "I Went To Occupy Wall Street. This Is What I Saw"

Great bit of surprising first-hand perspective, with photos, from somebody who was at OWS, camera in hand.


The Journal of Joe The Peacock. Yay.: I Went To Occupy Wall Street. This Is What I Saw: So, with all the blah-de-blah and hoo-de-doo I've been posting about Occupy Wall St. (and the subsequent Occupy [insert city here] movement...

"Holly King Oak King" now available for order as cards, prints, and other schwag

Above: "Holly King Oak King" by Portia St. Luke

"On every world, wherever people are, in the deepest part of the winter, at the exact mid-point, everybody stops and turns and hugs. As if to say, "Well done. Well done, everyone! We're halfway out of the dark." Back on Earth we call this Christmas. Or the Winter Solstice..." 
Kazran Sardick, Dr. Who, "A Christmas Carol,"(11th Doctor, Matt Smith) 

Every year, I've been asked to come up with a cover for the December issue of one of the publications I've worked for. Now, I was raised very English and very Protestant, so I was pretty well indundated with the traditional yuletide images that follow. However, ancient Europe has a deep, rich history of traditions for celebrating the Solstice, or, as was so elegantly put in Dr. Who, that day when everybody joins together and says, "Well done. Well done, everyone! We're halfway out of the dark."

In so doing, I always challenge myself to look at things a little differently. I've done the Green Man (another Blackfox Winner), Charity, Mother and child (not specifically "the Madonna," but it's the closest I've come), and there's one on the drawing board fo Hades, Persephone and Demeter that's still fighting me. Friends and fans have pointed out the obvious: put together, this has evolved into a set.

I hear you, and I appreciate that kind of love. So, I'm uploading those pieces so that they'll be available as cards. Once they're uploaded, it's pretty easy to turn them into posters, high-end prints on canvas, or t-shirts and other schwag.

First piece, then, in the "Halfway out of the Dark" series: "Holly King, Oak King," available as both displayable art and collectible schwag from LaMagnifica.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

In appreciation to my friends in the SCA for showing the love!



LaMagnifica Signora is thrilled to announce that, for the third (really? Third?) year in a row, she has won the Society for Creative Anachronism's (SCA's) prestigious William Blackfox award for excellence in Artwork published in an SCA publication.  As a result, she finally got on the stick (yeah, OK... ) and took care of creating that Zazzle account so that friends who would like prints of this particular piece can have them without needing to track me down. (October. It still sucks.) 

You know what? It wasn't really that hard... and once I made a simple poster, I had a little fun and made some more things, too. So, we have that same image commemorating the growth and history of this big, crazy party we've all been showing up to for the last 45 years available on some fun schwag, too... (Hey, everybody loves fun schwag!)  Visit LaMagnifica on Zazzle for high-quality wrapped canvas prints, posters, greeting cards, t-shirts, hoodies and other schwag are available.

Text on the shirts reads:
Berkeley, California, May 1966
Diana the Listmaker did plant a seed in her back yard and tend it well.

The SCA is one of the largest "geek subculture" groups, so opinions on it vary wildly among other geek groups. However, I found them when I was 18, which gave me a lot of time to do work within that world. Having a piece published as the cover of the booklet for the Pennsic War means 10,000 to 14,000 people will see it, if only for a minute. Do that twice and it becomes multiplied by two. Having a shop every year in a locale that couldn't possibly be more public is free advertising the likes of which the Devil himself would envy.  Some of the Pennsic War merchants duplicate the Renaissance Faire Circuit, so much of the same wild, creative energy appears, and every year I'm grateful that I found these folks so many years ago.  Even if you never join your local SCA group, Pennsic is a party not to be missed.


Signora Portia de Sancto Lucianno
Order of the Broche (Barony of Thescorre)
Order of the Sycamore (AEthelmearc)

William Blackfox Award:
Commended, AS 43 (2008)
Winner, AS 44 (2009)
Winner, AS 45 (2010)
Winner, AS 46 (2011)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Introductions are for Pikers

Introductions, to me, feel like being at a party and being asked, "So, tell me about yourself. What's your gig?" Where do you start? Artist, lover, dreamer, starry-eyed idealist, "liberal hippie socialist scum not entitled to fly the American flag," feminist, crazy bitch, Goddess-worshiper, lunatic...

If you've found Google+ by now, you may have noticed that each friend has a brief one-or-two word descriptor/ identifier under their name: "University of..." "XYZ Corporation," "SCAdian, geek, and science-fiction writer." Even "mommy and wifey," (yes, in those words) showed up, bringing me a nostalgic smile for a bygone era when women were viewed as much more simple creatures than we actually are.

The personality comes through in the writings and the art. You'll see it, and, if you keep reading, I'm pretty sure you'll learn more about me. I'd like to learn more about you, too. I'm easy to find on Google+ or Facebook... "So, tell me about yourself. What's your gig?"