"May your coming year be filled with magic & dreams & good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art (or write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can). And somewhere in the next year, I hope you surprise yourself." -Neil Gaiman

“I'm a painter, Jim, not a writer!”

I wonder if mid-winter depression is a blessing wrapped in a curse... a shaman's journey, if the seeker allows it. Walk through Chapel Perilous, and there's wisdom to be learned. I have to wonder if that's where I am right now. Then again, I may just be a self-deluded twat. It's hard to tell.

I haven't been updating my blog (http://portiastlukeillustrations.blogspot.com/ ) for some time. To be frank, I wonder how the artists who are also prolific writers manage to create their (often amazing) art and write at the same time.

I sealed myself off from the world. I set my instant messaging to invisible. The people who need me can leave a message... I'm never really that far from the screen anyway. You know the computer's in the studio. I'll see it eventually. I'm probably at the art desk 6 feet away with my nose too close to the paper, inking something.

Enough other folks have told me that having a Blog is important that I really can't ignore them anymore. However, writing about the art itself feels a little too much like “Art Therapy.” “What was I thinking? How was I feeling about this piece?” Do I write from “inside the looking glass,” or as the outside observer? How much information is too much information, anyway? I've been told that having a Blog is important for an artist, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to communicate about that work, or that process... or how.

Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet

"Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet," 

by Portia St Luke, 

Pen and Ink on tinted paper highlighted with white, 

December, 2011.

These figures are inspired by the traditional Yuletide figures of Holland, Sinterklaas, or "Saint Klaus," and Zwarte Piet, or "Black Pete," the chimney sweep that has become a cherished part of the holidays in Holland. Many progressive Americans have inferred the legend of Zwarte Piet has racist overtones. When asked, however, the majority of Dutch people seemed to find this notion absurd. By the same logic, would the American Santa with his elves be "sizeist"? Stop complaining, children. The Austrian version of the Christmas Saint doesn't arrive with a cherished icon nearly as friendly. If you're too naughty, maybe next year I'll draw the Krampus...

Thanksgiving

Above: Photograph by Christopher Holt

‎"We return thanks to our Mother, the Earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness, and Who directs all things for the good of thier children."

-- Iroquois Prayer, adapted Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Success

above: Lesson #28 from "Surviving the World."

Happiness and Success 
(...with thanks to Jaana Nyström at G+!)

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal.
15. Be honest.
16. Be a self-starter.
17. Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.
     21-B. (Portia's correlary) If you choose to do something that would go against what you raised to know as "the rules," know first which rule you're breaking, know why you're breaking it, and know how while causing the least unwanted harm.  (Remember, some of humanity's greatest discoveries were made by bloody-minded people who were willing to question Mom!)

"Masked Angel."

above: "Masked Angel" by Portia St. Luke

Just finished, here's a new pen-and-ink on tinted paper, called, "Masked Angel. "

It felt good to get back to good old pen-and-ink, but the piece took me a helluva lot longer than I ever would have anticipated. (Does anybody still wonder why I'm terrible at updating my blog?)

I do love this style, though. Pen and ink on tinted paper, highlighted in white was a common method found in the sketchbooks of the Renaissance masters. About a year ago I did a similar piece called "Holly King, Oak King," that used this technique. The result looks cool and re-prints beautifully. It's still a favorite piece.

(above: "Holly King, Oak King" by Portia St. Luke, November 2010)

The design for the "Masked Angel" came from the friend who purchased the original piece. However, with permission, I am selling prints. Posters are available from Zazzle by clicking here.

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...