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Beautification   -   Stefan Kürten, 2017.

German, b.1963-

Acrylic and Ink on paper . 42 x 29,7 cm.  

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when i die i hope i come back as a beautiful microscopic granule of sand

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Mary Anning tribute. 1823 flashback

200 years ago, Mary Anning made one of her most important discoveries. She was even accused of being a scammer for it at first. This is an edited version (original here) without the narration, to serve as a prologue for a larger project I’m currently working on (teaser here) and give it some historical context.

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You're drunkenly stumbling home one night and from the duckboards through the booze haze you see the most scrumptious ass teasingly glide away deeper into the dark swamp. You follow, legs getting heavier and orientation more difficult by each step.

How many times that scenario has played out in Ditovo is not easy to calculate but it's likely not zero. The more sober locals will tell you that the slamreta, also known as "harlot of the lake", is not a malicious creature, it wants nothing to do with you in fact. This animal uses inflatable sacs on its hind legs to float on the water's surface perfectly still as it looks for fish or other small things to eat. It hunts using its sharp vision and plunges its long neck to reach prey. It's long tail is curled up to act as a stabilizing anchor. At sign of danger the slamreta can deflate the hind leg sacs to dive and swim away. It spends most of its time in water and will build a nest in-between reeds or other shore vegetation.

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"possibly a mermaid"

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Medieval dragonlike creature PNGs.

(1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.)

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Shapeshifter

- “I think I saw our neighbor last night… the one nobody really knows, because always sleeps throughout the entire day” -

One of my personal favorite paintings I’ve completed this year, everything just worked exactly the way I wanted which is rare 

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Joust ⚔

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Subduing an Opponent

The Thun-Hohenstein Album, long-known as the Thun'sche Skizzenbuch

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Assorted Helmets

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The true god of fear and hunger

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uh oh necromancy gone wrong

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As if "swallowed by the earth" is a way to describe someone who's gone missing without a trace, particularly in the woods, but in Ditovo it may be more than just a saying. At least if you believe the many legends and folktales about giant plumsaina, or as they're more commonly known "earth belly". The plant does exist but usually it is only big enough to catch small vertebrates, which it does when prey step onto its camouflaged trap door and fall into the pit of the plant filled with digestive liquid and downward pointing spikes preventing escape. The roots of the plant are for storing nutrients and other substances, as well as firmly anchoring the plant in the ground when prey is thrashing about inside it. In order to reproduce the earth belly sprouts a red flower above the surface, a red flag that may perhaps save the life of one who recognizes it.

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St George's monitor lizard

It sports large scales on its neck resembling small horns, a threat display with its bright orange tongue, and vestigial wing-like skin extension that its juvenile form used for gliding. It also spits a venomous concoction onto the wounds of its prey, causing a painful burning sensation

The strange varanid and its record in oral traditions later perished in the ensuing conflicts of history. Thus the original source of the fire breathing legend is forever gone, engulfed in flames.