Friday, March 4, 2016

I Love the Art of Beryl Cook!


Girls in a Taxi

Dear Gentle Readers,
   While checking by Facebook Author Page for activity, I came across a post from my friend and fellow art enthusiast, Elizabeth Monroe, and at first, I was a little taken by surprise.  Was there a photographer following my female family members and me around town?  Do I have the dreaded...(gasp)...paparazzi? After all, we are a family of full-sized women. Our family reunions look like a Miss Piggy look-alike contest. We are great cooks and we like to have our friends and family over for big meals and big laughs.
After I decided this wasn't really us, I found these prints to be delightful and lighthearted.  And fun.  I hope you will enjoy these "Ruebens with a sense of humor," Botticellis with a big-bunned sense of humor, Bouchers On Carbos, Montaubans Wearing Clothes, I could go on and on...and on. 
Hugs,
Carol  


                                                                                        The Art Studio

Directly from Wikipedia:
                                                                                          "Beryl Cook,(10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was an English artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings of people enjoying themselves in pubs, girls shopping or out on a hen night, drag shows or a family picnicking by the seaside or abroad – tangoing in Buenos Aires or gambling in Las Vegas. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age. She went to Kendrick Grammar School located in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Cook was a shy and private person, often depicting the flamboyant and extrovert characters she would like to be. She had an almost photographic memory.
Cook started painting when living in Southern Rhodesia with her husband and young son, and     continued to paint on returning to England during the 60’s, but only began to sell her work in the mid 70’s
She found new material for her work while travelling. Early local scenes expanded those depicting Buenos Aires, New York, Cuba, Paris and Barcelona.


                          The Park
Cook admired the work of the English visionary artist Stanley Spencer, his influence evident in her compositions and bold bulky figures, as well as several of her pictures depicting a similarly religious aspect; e.g. Noah, The Virgin and Jonah & The Whale. Another influence was Edward Burra, who painted sleazy cafes, nightclubs, gay bars, sailors and prostitutes, although, unlike Burra, she did not paint the sinister aspects of scenes. She was described by Victoria Wood as "Rubens with jokes". Beryl Cook's work can be seen in context with the British tradition of social realist painters and could be described as a twentieth century Hogarth or Gilray, although she had a more sympathetic view of the human race. She was, like them above all a social observer. In 1979 a film was made about Beryl Cook for LWT's South Bank Show. The TV company Tiger Aspect made two half-hour award winning animated films of Beryl Cook's irrepressible women who meet at Plymouth'sDolphin Pub. Entitled 'Bosom Pals' had an all star cast of voices with Dawn FrenchRosemary LeachAlison Steadman andTimothy Spall. They were screened on BBC1 in February 2004.
                                                                                                                          The Red Umbrella
Beryl Cook was made an O.B.E. in 1995. In 2005 Channel 4 News presented a short film of Beryl and her work, she was also the featured artist in The Culture Show in 2006. Beryl Cook's paintings have been acquired by Glasgow Museum of Modern Art, Bristol City Art Gallery, Plymouth Art Gallery and Durham Museum. The Baltic, Gateshead had a major Beryl Cook Exhibition in 2007, and a full retrospect exhibition was put on by Plymouth University after her death in November and December 2008. In 2010 several of Beryl Cook's paintings were loaned to Tate Britain for their exhibition 'Rude Britannia – British Comic Art', Bristol City Art Gallery and Museum held a retrospective exhibition in 2011.

                    Cha Cha Cha              
Publications : 'The Works' ( John Murray 1978   ) 'Private View' ( John Murray 1980 ) 'Seven Years and a Day' ( Collins 1980 ) 'One Man Show' ( John Murray 1981 ) 'Bertie and the Big Red Ball' ( John Murray 1982 ) 'My Granny was a frightful bore' ( Chrysalis Books 1983 ) 'Beryl Cook's New York' ( John Murray 1985 ) 'Beryl Cook's London ( John Murray 1988 ) 'Bouncers' ( Gollancz 1992 )'Happy Days' ( Gollancz 1995 ) 'Cruising' (Gollancz 2000 ) 'Beryl Cook: ' The Bumper Edition ' ( Gollancz 2000 )'The World of Beryl Cook' by Jess Wilder & Jerome Sans ( Prestel 2007 ) revised by Jess Wilder in 2008 ( Prestel ) 'Rude Britannia- British Comic Art, Catalogue Tate Britain 2010. www.berylcook.co



None of these photos or background articles are mine; nothing is my own work except for the first paragraph.  All information is from:
www.wikipedia.com
www.berylcook.com
www.amazon.com
www.cheap-r.com
www.berylcookprints.com

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Interview with Author Mitch Goth



 Mitch Goth
Yellow Springs, Ohio


Good morning, Mitch, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors. Can you tell us a little about what you've written?
Seventeen novels and novellas.





Oh, Gentle Readers, Mitch must be shy this morning! His new book, To Catch a Killer, is the latest in a string of edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller series and singles; The Brigio Series, The Protectorate Chronicles, The Antioch Adventures, Shattered Glass, and Timid New World to name a few.



Buy link for To Catch a Killer:
http://www.amazon.com/Catch-Killer-Book-Monello-Grazer-ebook/dp/B00NEVIQDAhttp://www.amazon.com/Catch-Killer-Book-Monello-Grazer-ebook/dp/B00NEVIQDA

What is your favorite genre to write? 
Thriller/Suspense

Favorite food. 
Pasta anything

Tea or coffee?
Coffee

Pizza or ice cream? 
Pizza

Wine or beer? 
Beer

Where would you like to visit? 
Europe

Favorite musical artist.  Do you listen to music when you write?
Tech N9ne, and I used to, but now I find silence helps my creative process.


What makes you laugh? 
Most everything, even if it isn't funny.

Favorite work of art or sculpture. 
The Red Vineyard

How old were you when you started writing? 
I was five when I first wrote a piece of creative fiction, fourteen when I wrote my first novel-length manuscript.

Describe your perfect evening. 
Writing, followed by some good food, a good book, and a comfortable bed.

Where do you get your inspiration? 
The world around me, and the other writers in it.

What do you do when you get a writer's block? 
I have yet to get writer's block. My problems mostly stem from having too many ideas and struggling to pick one to dedicate time to.

Who is your favorite author? 
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Best book you ever read. 
The Great Gatsby

Last book you read. 
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel


What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer? 
At this point in my life, I would probably be in med school.


Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?
I don't think I could choose just one. I am the kind of person who believes everyone I meet is impactful and important because, in some way, they have led me to where I am now.

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why? 
My future self, so maybe they could give me inspiration and pointers about where to go in my life.


What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer? Never lose track about why you started writing in the first place. There have been plenty of times where I saw low, or no, sales for a while and wondered what I was even doing. I got rejection letter after rejection letter from publishers and agents, and I thought maybe I would have better chances being a doctor or a jeweler, something normal like that. Then I remembered I was writing for years before sales and query letters even became a thing in my life. That’s not why I started, that’s not why I kept at it. I keep at it because it’s my passion. I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.


Do you have any links for us to follow you?
       Blog: http://mitchgoth.blogspot.com/
       Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mitch-Goth/e/B00C0GMK28


Thanks for being with us this morning, Mitch. We at Vision and Verse wish you continued success in all your writing endeavors.



Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The Magic of Eyvind Earle



Eyvind Earle.  Not a household name.  And yet, when you see his work, you'll realize you do know this artist.  He worked with Walt Disney to develop that stylized artwork we associate with Disney. 

Once again, I found this artist while perusing on the internet while I was supposed to be doing something else.  But it drew me back, again and again. It reminded me of the Disney movies of my youth; Snow White, Bambi, and Cinderella.



This is from his Artist Page:


Eyvind Earle's Biography 


Born in New York in 1916, Eyvind Earle began his prolific career at the age of ten when his father, Ferdinand Earle, gave him a challenging choice: read 50 pages of a book or paint a picture every day. Earle choose both. From the time of his first one-man showing in France when he was 14, Earle's fame had grown steadily. At the age of 21, Earle bicycled across country from Hollywood to New York, paying his way by painting 42 watercolors. In 1937, he opened at the Charles Morgan Galleries, his first of many one-man shows in New York.Two years later at his third consecutive showing at the gallery, the response to his work was so positive that the exhibition sold out and the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased one of his paintings for their permanent collection.



His earliest work was strictly realistic, but after having studied the work of masters such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rockwell, Kent, and Georgia O'Keefe, Eyvind Earle by the age of 21, came into his own unique style characterized by a simplicity, directness and surety of handling.



In 1951 Earle joined Walt Disney studios as an assistant background painter. Earle intrigued Disney in 1953 when he
created the look of Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, an animated short that won an Academy Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award. Disney kept the artist busy for the rest of decade, painting the settings for such stories as Peter Pan, For Whom the Bulls Toll, Working for Peanuts, Pigs is Pigs, Paul Bunyan, and Lady and the Tramp.


Earle was responsible for the styling, background and colors for the highly acclaimed movie Sleeping Beauty and gave the movie its magical, medieval look. He also painted the dioramas for Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.



Earle's work was also seen on television. One of his
animated creations was an 18-minute version of the story of the Nativity that he did in 1963 for Tennessee Ernie Ford's Special The Story of Christmas. A Daily Variety reviewer said Earle's sequence should be preserved and played back for years on end. The show was digitally re-mastered in 1997.


Earle's career has encompassed many different fields. In addition to book illustrating, the artist had also designed a number of covers for magazine publications and had produced and created several animated commercials and specials for television.




In 1998, at its Annie Awards show in Glendale, the International Animated Film Society gave Earle its Windsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement. In the 1940s, Earle adapted his creative landscapes to Christmas cards, painting more than 800 designs that have sold more than 300 million copies through American Artist Group.


After about 15 years creating animated art, Earle returned to painting full time in 1966 and kept working until the end of his life. In addition to his watercolors, oils, sculptures, drawings and scratchboards, in 1974 he began making limited edition serigraphs.

Eyvind Earle had a totally original perception 
of landscape. He successfully synthesizes seemingly incongruent aspects into a singularly distinctive style: a style, which is at once mysterious, primitive, disciplined, moody and nostalgic. He captures the grandeur of simplicity of the American countryside, and represents these glimpses of the American scene with a direct lyric ardor.

His landscapes are remarkable for their suggestion of distances, landmasses and weather moods. For 70 years, Earle wrote in 1996, I've painted paintings, and I'm constantly and everlastingly overwhelmed at the stupendous infinity of Nature. Wherever I turn and look, there I see creation. Art is creating...Art is the search for truth.

Eyvind Earle passed away on July 20, 2000 at the age of 84. During his lifetime he created many paintings, sculptures, scratchboards, watercolors and drawings that have not been publicly seen or exhibited.

Eyvind Earle Publishing LLC, under the specific instruction of the late Eyvind Earle, will continue the legacy of the artist, promoting and introducing new serigraphs and books through galleries worldwide. These posthumous limited edition serigraphs will be printed from the oil paintings created by Eyvind Earle that are in the collection of Joan Earle and others.

I clam nothing here, except my desire to share the work of this magic man, Eyvind Earle, with you. All information was found online.



Sources:

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Staying Alive by Alison Jean Ash

Nerdy scientist Egbert January has been Octavia Buck’s “Uncle Egg” for twenty-two years. The adorable baby that just happens to have four tentacles in addition to the more usual arms and legs has grown up to be a beautiful young woman who looks like a cross between an octopus and a Hindu goddess—a goddess with some remarkable sexual skills. Eg has a few skills of his own, and he hates to watch Tavi wasting hers on a guy who doesn’t treat her right. (He can’t stop watching, though, through his secret observation window.) Add Catherine Buck, Tavi’s unconscious mother, whose latent telekinetic skills are awakened by Tavi’s visits, and Luke, a vengeful ex-boyfriend whose plan to annoy Tavi goes spectacularly haywire, for a bizarre, steamy and ultimately romantic tale.

Buy Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Weird-Romance-Book-ebook/dp/B01BIEOG10/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454964540&sr=1-1&keywords=Alison+Jean+Ash


Book Review from Amazon.com:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique and Quirky Love StoryFebruary 22, 2016

Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Staying Alive (Weird Romance Book 2) (Kindle Edition)
In Weird Romance, Book 2, Alison Jean Ash takes us inside a tank world where we meet a very special girl- part human, part octopus, with some Hindu goddess and disco queen mixed in for fun. "Tavi," short for Octavia, embarks on a mission to revive her mother, who is very ill and in stasis. In the process she discovers feelings for a man she has known her whole life and some special skills in the art of way-out love making. Not a children's story.