This week, I have stairs on my mind. A specific stairwell is on my mind in particular, but I won’t bore you with those details today. Instead, I’ve collected three sets of stairs for you, to prompt your own step-minded thoughts.
Oskar Schlemmer, Bauhaus Stairway, 1932. Oil on canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York.
Tamara Thomsen, Stairway, 2008. Watercolor on paper. www.tamarathomsen.com
M. C. Escher, House of Stairs, 1951. Lithograph.
In case you missed it, we’re in the middle of publishing the three winning stories from Worth Your Salt: A Fiction Contest. Friday’s story, “And the World Fell Asleep” by Eric Martell, was a dystopian farewell. This coming Friday’s story, “Surrogate” by Aleksander Sievert, is of a slightly different nature — one which I will only hint at today. While you wait, how about you write some words inspired by the three hints below?
Simon Stålenhag, Bruksmaskiner, Brobysund, 2011. Digital painting using Wacom tablet and pen. www.simonstalenhag.se
Albert Robida, Le Sortie de l’opéra en l’an 2000 (Leaving the Opera In the Year 2000), circa 1882. Lithograph, hand-colored. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
Paul Guinan, Untitled, circa 2010. Digital illustration. www.bigredhair.com/boilerplate
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P.S. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 19th for Worth Your Salt: A Reading, presented by Red Sofa Books and Hazel & Wren!
Come for an evening of diverse readings (including our Worth Your Salt contest winners!), music and great beer to celebrate the launch of Jeff Smieding’s ebook serial, And In Their Passing, A Darkness: The Salt Machine.
I hold umbrellas in high regard. I’m a sucker for the cut of a solitary figure walking down a deserted alley in the rain. I’m a fan of the jaunty reflections they cast on rainy streets (or their shadows on sunny beach days). Even deformed, bent, and battered umbrellas, discarded on a curb with their innards on display, I find delightfully expressive.
This is all to say: bring on the April showers. I’ve got my umbrella ready.
James Gillray, A Meeting of Umbrellas, 1782. (Originally published on Jan 25, 1782 by W. Humphrey, 227 Strand, London.)
Toshi Yoshida, Umbrella, 1940. Woodblock.
Alex Katz, Blue Umbrella, 1979. Lithograph. www.alexkatz.com
Oh, alright, I couldn’t resist.
