Three Things: The Fireplace Edition
This week I retreat to a family cabin for a much-needed getaway. Said cabin revolves around one charming piece of construction: the fireplace, built by our great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, and grandfather. It’s still chilly enough there to warrant building a fire all evening, every evening.
As I sit in front of the flames this week, how about you wax eloquent on a fireplace of your own? Here are three images which should sufficiently spark your imagination.
Alex Colville, Untitled (Dog and Fireplace), 1950. Graphite and gouache on watercolor board. Collection of the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University.
Morris Louis, Saf Dalet, from Veil series, 1959. Acrylic on canvas.
René Magritte, Time Transfixed (La Durée poignardée), 1938. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
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Yoohoo! Yes, you! This week is online Open Mic! Which means you should submit your work-in-progress poetry or prose piece today or tomorrow (deadline is midnight Tuesday night). If you do, then you’ll get feedback from your fellow writers during the 24-hour wild workshopping on Wednesday!
Apples, apples, apples. ‘Tis the season for apples. Apple cider, applesauce, apple pie, apple butter: who doesn’t like this season? This week, let’s write some apple stories. Just in case you’ve forgotten what they look like, here are three reminders.
Paul Cézanne, The Basket of Apples, 1895. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Grandma Moses (Ann Mary Robertson Moses), Apple Butter Making, 1947. Oil on wood.
René Magritte, Le prêtre marié, 1961. Oil on canvas. Private collection.
PSST: IT’S OPEN MIC WEEK THIS WEEK!
Submit your work-in-progress prose or poetry piece by Tuesday night, in time to get feedback from your fellow writers on Wednesday!
The face is one of our most personal identifiers. But what if it was obscured? Let’s write a scene or entire piece that includes a character’s obscured face. Here are three examples (well, OK, actually four) to get you started; I’ll leave the how, why, and what follows to you.
Charlotte Caron, Corbeau (Raven), 2011. Acrylic on photograph. www.charlottecaron.fr
René Magritte, Les Amants (The Lovers), 1928. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
ILona Olkonen, Untitled (The homebody), 2008. Via flickr.
It’s Monday, and I’d rather be sleeping. Something tells me I’m not alone, so let’s conjure up some dreamscapes, shall we? Perhaps this time with a certain Belgian surrealist twist? Grab those pens and let the bizarre breeze blow.
(But let’s be honest, now I just want some waffles.)
René Magritte, Golconda, 1953. Oil on canvas. The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas.
Jerry Uelsmann, Magritte’s Touchstone, 1965. Photograph.
Duane Michals, Magritte at his easel, from A Visit with Magritte, 1965. Photograph.