City of Legends

According to various sources, including myself, my web hosting company (web.com), my publisher, my friend Dan McTaggart, the remaining judges for the TVC2008 who have not yet gotten their votes in to me (harrumph), Barnes & Noble, my parents, my sibs, the media, my sons, one of my ex wives and two or three inspirationally-gifted friends, the next three days of my life should unfold with some of the following milestones.

Tomorrow we will announce the winner of the TVC2008. Mass hysteria will abound as we announce the TVC2009.

peacat.com will vanish, by midnight tonight. If no one with greater claim to the name asks for it before the registration runs out next year, it will go back on the open market.

I will give three two-hour readings at Barnes & Noble in Morgantown, WV, Sunday (10-12, 1-3, 4-6) with the assistance of the amazing Dan McTaggart, who co-authored Psalms of the Monster River Cult with me. I don’t think they could handle the intensity of the Long Beach reads, so I am trying to strike a balance.

Michael Phelps will win two more Olympic Gold Medals.

I will add ten more pieces to williamfdevault.com. Someone will blast me for the lovely nudity that is interspersed with the other artwork on the site. I will feel bad that I am being criticized, but will soldier on.

I will hear from someone out of an unexpected quarter.

I will write something inexplicably charming.

I will announce sometime today…oops, already did, that some of the Fields of Arbol pieces appearing on Amomancer will find their way onto williamfdevault.com.

Some doucebag will leave a stupid (definition: willfully ignorant), presumptive and irrelevant comment on one of my blogs.

I will drive over 500 miles in the next three days. I will still be alive Monday morning.

I will have dinner with my family on Saturday, and visit with my Grandmother, who is 96…bearing down on 97 next month.

I will discover a fantastic new muse.

The refit of williamfdevault.com is time and life-force consuming.  I have had over 30 artists, photographers and models assent to be part of the refit, of which a handful I have managed to, at least partially, implement.  Here is my appreciation to those:

florina becichi for Evangelist and The Grande.  This artist, fashion designer and photographer has a great eye for stylish depictions of archetypes of women.  There’s a few more of her works to implement, but I am very happy with the contributions of this Romanian designer and photographer.

Janne Karhu for Radiant Tigers.  This Finnish photographer has an eye for composition and a willingness to experiment that produces interesting results.

Cody Gibson for The Unicorns, Soubrette and Pellinore, watching from across the room.  British photographer and photo manipulator who seems to have an eye for classic compositions that possess a timeless quality.  It is fun paging through her portfolio.

Karen (InertiaK) for Bragi to Freya, on his deathbed.  I saw her image of Freya, the Norse Goddess of Beauty, and could not refuse.  Timeless, brilliant and eye-catching, one understands why the husband of Idun might have a thought or two of this goddess.

LiZa Lorraine for Cithara Song, strummed lightly as the sun leaps the horizon and   .  This Brazilian photographer and model caught my eye with a self-portrait that captured "Cithara Song…" and it’s emotional complexity.  Intelligent and a joy to speak with, she has the ability to capture subtlety with her lens.

Zhang Jingna for More Than Gods Can Comprehend.  This Singapore-based fantasy artist and photographer presents images that are ethereally irresistible and stunning. 

Mariya Andriychuk for the arms of the dragon.  This Ukrainian photographer protests that she is not a model and only uses her own image out of necessity.  Lucky us.  She has a feel for the female form and the dichotomy between the emotional and the physical that gives a presence to her works.

Johanna for Pink Jade:  a summoned fire and penance.  You might think at first glance that the reason I chose to depict a Pink Jade poem with this Swedish photographer and model’s work was because of the pink hair she sometimes sports.  Think again and look at her features and lighting, depicting a young woman in full bloom and irresistible.

Nicole West for Strange…but beautiful.  I was so fortunate to encounter this strange and charming sculptress and her works, which are fantastic fantasies of faeries, mermaids and goddesses.  You will be seeing more of her on my site.

Christine Banderas for Damascus, Movement 3.  Intensely sensual and extraordinarily photogenic, this Brazilian model and photographer as first blush looks like a younger edition of Angelina Jolie, but look closer…  I found her intensity and self-aware sexuality ideal for this poem, and plan to use her more in the future.

Katarina Sokolova for in the memory of lovers and the well of life is love without fear.  An award-winning professional graphics artist from the Ukraine, Katarina has the power to communicate an energy of timeless beauty and romanticism in her work.  A pleasure to work with.

Patrix for eyes of stained glass and fire.  This self-described "wise-ass" Romanian photographer brings a playful subjectivity to her work and a fondness for experimenting with colour enhancement.

Katrina Pallon for theocricide at Mach 10e6.  From the Phillipines comes this stunning graphics artist and photographer, whose work captivated me at first glance.

Annette Pehrsson for brisant revelations.  This Swedish photographer and model depicts a down-to-earth but slightly-off-center romantic reality, capturing the essence of the heart, so readily.  Open and honest, fun to work with.

Sonia for dram.  A sly energy and sexuality is a part of this Romanian photographer’s work, I found her the logical and visceral choice to broadcast the energy of this poem.

Kalea for love is an howling beast.  This Hawaiian-born photographer uses her own face like a canvas, to present and depict emotions and thoughts and abstractions.  Little wonder I used 4 shots of hers to communicate the emotional rawness of this poem.

There are still a few stock and personal shots on the site, which will probably all be phased out in time…but for now I am concentrating on the dozens of artists and photographers I have yet to include.  Sigh.  Many of these photographers and artists, as well as several others, can also be viewed at Amomancer, for their contributions to the Fields of Arbol works I have been adding over the last few weeks.

First, a quick catch-up bit: TVC2008, the winner will still be announced on August 16. I will still be doing a six hour reading and book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Morgantown, WV, on August 17th. Dan McTaggart is scheduled to be there for part of the day. The new CD, Evangelist, is out, we’re just slow with the distribution channels, give us a day or two. williamfdevault.com is coming along slowly, but beautifully. I am feeling better…knowing is always better than the dread of ignorance.

Now to the show.

I have been having a lot of fun, and it has been great therapy for me, catching sparks from some of the art and photographs on deviantart.com (it’s not what you think, zhlub). A special part of that has been the revival of my Fields of Arbol, over on the Amomancer blog and the willingness, even the palpable excitement of some photographers, artists and models to have their works displayed alongside the poems presented and inspired by them.

Some have portfolios so extensive and expressive that I am considering adding a section to the new site that will feature galleries of just specific creatives, (hear that, Cody? Mariya? Kalea? Johanna?). We shall see if I am still alive after the 17th, shall we?

Thanks to my lovely children for the mad sanity they inject into my life, thank you to LiZa for the kindness and Annette, Elena and Karla for the emotional support.

Let’s go make some changes to the world

With my iTunes blasting me, a kitten attempting valiantly to see just how aggressively she can claw me before I yelp, and three (at least) windows open under FireFox (this site, the Amomancer blog and deviantart.com) I am ready. I’ve programmed in a series of tunes that tend to increase my energy level, warned the cats that tactical nukes are not a proven means of taking me out of the occasion, so they should just go hide, and am cruising for pictures for the continued enhancement of williamfdevault.com, acknowledging that I might, from time to time, stumble over something that gens a new Fields of Arbol piece. I have a large can of Monster energy drink beside me…ahhh.caffeine and Bette Midler (hey, her live rendition of Fire Down Below kicks ass).

Okay, Kiss just shuffled up, doing God Gave Rock and Roll to You. From Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, remember?

I am going over Katya’s portfolio. She’s the Russian artist who did the piece I based Mademoiselle Juliette upon. Lovely, evocative image. She has a demi-nude to Erato, the Greek Muse of lyric and romantic poetry, but it doesn’t resonate for me…so I drop "Erato" into the internal search engine. Hmmm…a lot of naked ladies, many of whom seem to like other naked ladies. Erato must live in San Francisco.

Hold it, here’s a nice piece that seems to be a digital work built off a photograph, by the Romanian artist Florina Becichi. It is wonderful. I will favourite it and perhaps come back to it. It doesn’t fire off a poem immediately, but it has potential, matched with certain existing works, for the site. I slide through her portfolio as David Bowie launches into his live version of Width of a Circle from David Live. Florina has a lot of fashion sketches and some interesting model shots…there’s a photo of a blindfolded, long-legged angel entitled Fortuna IX. I need to take a closer look at this, also see if there are others in the series…there is something…evocative about the picture…

It seems to be a series about a warrior character that Florina created, included designing the costumes for the shoot. The last one hearkens me to my poem of falling and fallen angels…perhaps I should look to putting that in the new mix at williamfdevault.com?

Hold it, just got a "new deviation" notice. Have to check and see…aha!

Anni Suvi just posted a brilliant, bright shot that she calls Diamonds are my best friends, but I have to re-annoint as Red, I said. I am posting this new blossom to the Fields of Arbol on the Amomancer blog.

And with that…I am off for a bit.

What a day.  Got to spend a lot of time talking to my Dad on the occasion of his 85th birthday.  Had a nice dinner with my boys.  Wrote a lot.  A lot.

Oh, and added three more works, with works by some tremendously talented individuals, at williamfdevault.com.

Special kudos and thanks to those, and to the cooperative artists, models and photograpers who have contributed to the Fields of Arbol on amomancer.blogspot.com.  Spontaneous works inspired by paintings, photographs and sketches by tremendously talented individuals from around the world, representing 5 continents and everything from classic romanticism to the macabre to blatant eroticism.

I am having a blast.  Special thanks to Cody, Annette, Elena, Karla, LiZa (twice), Jenny, Taylor, Arphiel, Katya, Lisa, Celia, Rina, Christina, Katarina, Anni, Mosh, WinterWolf and Kalea.  An extra special thanks to the remarkable Kalea for her assist in nailing love is an howling beast at the new site.

I’ll be making some more upgrades to the new site, as well as expanding the Fields of Arbol AND filling you in on the Evangelist CD.  I’m tired and emotionally sated.

Gnight.

What do C.S. Lewis, a Brazilian photographer and model, a Ukraine graphics artist and a fear of speaking have in common? Me!

A long time ago, in the original City of Legends, there was a section named The Fields of Arbol. Anyone? Anyone?

Well, in C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra Trilogy, the fields of Arbol were the space between planets, the sun’s name in "Old Solar" being "Arbol" (and, in an aside note, the phrase in Old Solar for gold was "Arbol Hru", meaning literally "Sun’s blood").

I digress.

In that section I placed a great many recent and inspired works that I couldn’t figure out what else to do with. Now let’s shoot forward a decade or more.

Today I started a project where, on the Amomancer blog, I am dropping fresh poems, inspired by my browsing of art sites associated with people who may have agreed to help with the williamfdevault.com website revision. Still with me?

So, with the name from C.S. Lewis, pieces inspired by the works of such as Brazilian model and photographer Christina Banderas and graphics goddess Katarina Sokolova, a lovely piece inspired by a beautiful photo representing laliophobia (the fear of speaking) and the results of near-brushes with everything from blindness to body-painted fetish models, I began posting the works (almost all with links, a few with pictures) and say, come wander in the Fields of Arbol with me.

You may actually enjoy yourselves.