It’s Always Caturday at this bookshop

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Otis & Clementine’s Books & Coffee is a bookshop and cafe that always has a few visiting foster kittens in stock, all of whom are up for adoption. The book shop, just outside of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, has multiple kittens wandering freely around the store and happily jumping on customers’ laps. All of the cats are from the South Paw Conservation Nova Scotia rescue group, which gives the bookshop young kittens in need of care so the animals have a comfy place to live while they search for their forever home. Over the last two years, the shop’s proprietor, Ellen Helmke, has placed dozens of lovable kittens, include a group of cat refugees from Caribbean hurricanes.

 

 

 

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New Light

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

“Lux Nova” translates from Latin as “new light” but it also refers specifically to the otherworldly light that is generated by stained glass windows. Recently, Roskilde Cathedral in Denmark commissioned SIIKU art studio to create the Lux Nova installation at the 900 year-old UNESCO World Heritage site. The work dramatically projected light from the grand windows of the church onto an aluminum circle in the public square, inviting passersby to experience the “divine” light. I haven’t been to Roskilde in decades, but I have fond memories of the ancient cathedral with its dozens of royal tombs and sarcophagi.

 

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Not The New Yorker

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

As an unapologetic fan of Wes Anderson films, I have been looking forward to the release of his upcoming movie The French Dispatch. Although we still have to wait until July 24, 2020 to see it, the trailer and a fun illustrated poster by Spanish artist Javi Aznarez are now out. The film, which tells the story of a fictional magazine, is very loosely based on The New Yorker.

 

The French Dispatch is about a magazine that began as a series of  travel columns in a Sunday supplement to an American newspaper that evolved into a popular publication, based in a fictional French city called Ennui-sur-Blasé. The stories in the film revolve around the editor-in-chief of the magazine and his quirky journalists.

 

 

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Illustrious Illustrations

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

For book geeks like me, this huge online library of thousands of old book illustrations  is a time-sucking rabbit hole. But if you are game, it offers a treasure trove of searchable images by name, artist, source, date, and which book it was in. There are a variety of collections to browse through, and each are tagged with multiple keywords so you can also get lost in there in that manner. Be prepared to squander your precious time.

 

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Chronicles of New York

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Dramatically set atop a set of stacked blue shipping containers, the French street artist JR just completed his latest large-scale wheat paste work, Chronicles of New York at Domino Park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The installation is a compilation of over 1,000 New Yorkers the artist has photographed, and is produced in conjunction with the Brooklyn Museum’s current exhibition JR: Chronicles. 

photos by Marc Azoulay

 

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Smiley’s People

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The Honourable Schoolboy illustration Matt Taylor

I’m a huge fan of John le Carré and have read everything that he’s written. No matter how one may feel about his politics, he’s the undisputed master of the espionage novel. Artist Matt Taylor  has illustrated a quite number of le Carré covers for Penguin Random over years and has recently created some new covers for Penguin re-issues. Here are some of my favorites.

Call For the Dead illustration Matt Taylor

The Looking Glass War illustration Matt Taylor

A Murder of Quality illustration Matt Taylor

The Night Manager illustration Matt Taylor

The Secret Pilgrim illustration Matt Taylor

Smiley’s People illustration Matt Taylor

 

 

 

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It’s a long way to Rome

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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A slight change of Emphasis

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Five Oceans in a Teaspoon

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Five Oceans in a Teaspoon is a collaboration between artist/writer Warren Lehrer and poet/investigative journalist Dennis J Bernstein (Paper Crown Press, 2019) that reunites the oral and pictorial traditions of storytelling with the printed page.

 

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Welcome to Nepal

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

As part of  Visit Nepal’s new 2020 tourism campaign, the organization commissioned 108 large yeti statues designed by Ang Tsherin Sherpa to be painted by various artists and placed around the world to build interest in visiting the nation.  It may be a clever idea but many folks in Nepal have doubts about the concept and the vision of the mythical beast.

From the BBC:

“In folk tales, the yeti has been described as a big monkey-like creature,” Ram Kumar Pandey (author of several books about the yeti) tells the BBC. “However, the recent logo depicts it as a sumo wrestler. This does not at all match with the mythical character that has been described in many folk tales…”

“I did not make yeti’s sketch by reading any book,” (yeti statue designer Ang Tsherin Sherpa) explains. “On the basis of stories that I heard in my childhood, and having Lord Buddha at the back of my mind, I made the design.”

There was, however, at least one more practical reason behind his choice: Sherpa says he did not make it furry as depicted in yeti-related literature in order “to make it easier to paint”.

 

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