#brian branston

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Brian Branston - Beyond Belief - Walker - 1974

[adarkrainbow]

Dubois' bibliography: Fairy books (1)

I talked a LOT before of Pierre Dubois, his famous "Fairy/Elf/Lutin Encyclopedias", his collections of fairytales, and so forth and so on. And yes we have to agree that he has a very free, inventive, poetic style when it comes to retelling the various myths and legends surrounding the fair folk and other supernatural beings. As such, while his books are very entertaining and very beautiful, they are not to be used as a serious research material and can be quite misleading between Dubois' personal inventions, crafted genealogies and fictional history of "Elfland"...

BUT the wonderful and very pleasant thing with Dubois is that at the end of each of his Encylopedias he leaves us with a complete bibliography of all the books he used when writing them. I have rarely stumbled upon such complete bibliographies about the "fair folk", "good neighbor", petit peuple" and so forth, and while it goes a bit beyond what this blog is about (fairy tales proper), I still thought of sharing some of it here because my Dubois posts were all here.

Now, I can't share the entirety of the bibliography because it would be too big. However what I will share is all the books Dubois placed in his bibliography... in English. Indeed, Dubois reads the English and as such a good chunk of his bibliography is English-speaking (there are also some Spanish, Italian and German books in his lists). As such, if you are an English speaker you can easily go check these texts. (Note, this comes from his bibliography of his "Encyclopedia of Fairies", so that we stay within the "fairy tale" theme of this blog)

Tolkien's On Fairy-Stories

Beatrice Phillports, Mermaids

Richard Carrington, Mermaids and Mastodons

Gwen Benwell and Arthur Waugh, Sea Enchantress

The Lost Gods of England, Brian Branston

Wilfrid Bonser, A bibliography of folklore

Masaharu Anesaki, Japanese Mythology (also known as the History of Japanese Religion)

F. J. Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads

Moncure Daniel Conway, Demonology and Devil Lore

T. C. Croker, Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland

N. Belfield Dennys, The Folklore of China [The book has the very unfortunate subtitles "and its affinities with that the Aryan and Semitic races", but it was written in the 19th century so...)

David Crockett Graham, Songs and Stories of the Ch'uan Miao

Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology

P. Kennedy, Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts

John Rhys, Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx

Sir George Webb Dasent's translation of Popular Tales from the Norse

The Norse Myths (as rewriten by Crossley)

Delaporte Press' Great Swedish Fairy Tales, illustrated by John Bauer

Inger and Edgar Parn d'Aulaire, D'Aulaire's Trolls (also known as D'Aulaire's Book of Trolls)

The Florence Ekstrand edition of Theodore Kittelsen's Norvegian Trolls and Other Tales

G. Fox, The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region

Edward L. Gardner, Fairies

M. Geoffrey Hodson, The Kingdom of the Gods

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Coming of the Fairies

Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults

Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Age

[oonathefaewitch]

Hey so I'm a self-taught witch who practices independently and I was hoping to learn a little bit from others as well. Do you have any books/resources/people you recommend looking into?

Hi there!

I'm a self-taught witch as well and I'm still at the beginning of my journey, at the moment I'm yet to finish the big blue book Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft of which I'm also sharing the lessons (you can find tose posts in my archive here) so for now I can only really recommend that one, but I'm marking down all the recommendend supplementary redings at the end of every lesson if you wanna check them out!

I'm also reading a very interesting and complete book about tarot called Holistic Tarot which i really recommend, it's a bit expensive maybe but it's totally worth it

Other than that I can write down here the list of recommended reading at the end of the blue book (with extra books other than the ones already listed at the end of every lesson), I can't recommend those personally (even if I did buy some of them but I still have to read them) but I think they're worth a shot if you'd like to know more, I'll add the other two I mentioned above in the list, in any case if you find other books online read carefully all the reviews cause many books are not serious about this topic

Also I'm not sure but I think these books below are all from white people and mainly about white cultures (and most of them are very old), so If you (or anyone else) have some recommendations about other cultures' book about witchcraft or ancient traditions I'd be glad to know more about that too!

As for people and other resources, I follow some witches on Twitter that shares interesting stuff, it would be too long to link all of their profiles so I can give you directly the list of people I follow here

I hope you'll find this helpful~

Color Healng by Mary Anderson

Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece by Edward E. Jr Barthell

Crystal Gazing by Theodore Besterman

I-Ching: The Book of Changes by J. Blofeld

Primitive Song by C. M. Bowra

Gerald Gardner: Witch by J. L. Bracelin

The Lost Gods of England by Brian Branston

Development of Religion and Thought is Ancient Egypt by J. H. Breasted

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft / Amazing Secrets of the Psychic World / Color Magick / Gypsy Dream Dictionary / A Pocket Guide to the Supernatural / Practical Candleburning Rituals / Scottish Witchcraft & Magick / The Tree: Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft / Wicca For Life / The Witch Book: Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, WIcca and Neopaganism / Witchcraft From the Inside by Raymond Buckland

The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries by Zsuzsanna Budapest

Amulets and Talismans by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge

Egyptian Language by Oxford University Press

How to Read the Aura, Practice Psychometry, Telepathy and Clairvoyance by W.E. Butler

Ancient Ways by Dan and Pauline Campanelli

Handbook of Unusual and Unorthodox Healing by J. V. Carney

Handbook of Bach Flower Remedies by Philip M. Chancellor

Color Therapy by Linda Clark

Precious Stones: Their Occult Power and Hidden Significance by W. B. Crow

Lid Off the Cauldron / The Witches Speak Athol by Patricia Crowther

Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper

Earth Power / Living Wicca / Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham

Practical Guide to Astral Projection by Melita Dennings and Osborne Phillips

The Silent Path by Michael Eastcott

Patterns of Comparative Religion / Rites and Symbols of Initiation - Birth and Rebirth by Mircea Eliade

The Dream Game by Ann Faraday

What Witches Do / Eight Sabbats For Witches / The Witches' Way by Janet and Stewart Farrar

Magical Rites From the Crystal Well by Ed Fitch

The Golden Bought by Sir James G. Frazer

The Wisdom of Pagan Philosophers by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy

Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud

Witchcraft Today / The Meaning of Witchcraft / High Magic's Aid / A Goddess Arrives by Gerald Gardner

Complete Herbal by Gerard

Stalking the Healthful Herbs by Euell Gibbons

Witchcraft, the Sixth Sense, and Us by Justine Glass

Seasonal Occult Rituals by William Gray

The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosemay Ellen Guiley

Ancient Art and Ritual Kessinger by Jane E. Harrison

Palmistry, the Whole View by Judith Hipskind

Myth and Ritual by S. H. Hooke

Witch: A Magickal Journey by Fiona Horne

The Runes and Other Magical Alphabets by Michael Howard

Witchcraft by Penethorne Hughes

Memories Dreams and Reflections by Carl G. Jung

Aradia, Gospel of the Witches of Italy by Charles Godfrey Laland

Witches: Investigating an Ancient Religion / Gogmagog - the Buried Gods by T. C. Lethbridge

Healing For Everyone by E. Loomis and J. Paulson

Numerology by Vincent Lopez

Commond and Uncommond Uses of Herbs of Healthful Living by Richard Lucas

The Herb Book by John Lust

Pagan Parenting by Kristin Madden

Witta: An Irish Pagan Tradition by Edain McCoy

The Principles and Practice of Radiesthesia by Abbè Mermet

The Hearbalist by J. E. Meyer

The Craft by Dorothy Morrison

Green Witchcraft series by Ann Aoumiel Moura

Sexual Occultism by John Mumford

The Family Wicca Book by Ashleen O'Gaea

Reclaim the Power of the Witch by Monte Plaisance

Potter's New Cyclopedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations by R. C. Potter

How to Make and Use Talismans / The Art of True Healing by Israel Regardie

The Seventh Sense by Kenneth Roberts

High Magic's Aid by Scire

The Book of Charms and Alisman by Sepharial

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion L. Starkey

Medical Palmistry by Marten Steinbach

Is This Your Day? by George S. Thommen

Magic and Healing by C. J. S. Thompson

Where Witchcraft Lives / An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present / Witchcraft For Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente

The Rites of Passage by Arnold Van Gennep

Herbal Manual by H. Ward

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen

The I-Ching by R. Wilhelm

The Christians As the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft by Denise Zimmermann and Katherine A. Gleason

[cloudberry-sims]

Hiii I was so intrigued by your last ask, I just had to reach out! What would you say are your top five myth/fairytale/occult books (like 5 in total is fine :) ) I love mythology but I’m struggling to find books to read! Thanks hope you’re having a good day!! ❤️

Hi! Sorry for the wait! 

Not sure how much this will help since my collection is still very small. I don't actively hunt down the books  for my collection. I usually find them casual in bookstores or in second hand stores. 

Most of my books are centered around Norse mythology and occult/folklore since I'm from Sweden , but I want to buy books about other mythologies. I am eyeing this book " Myths & Legends" by Philip Wilkinson. Once C-Virus ends I will see if my local library has it so I can decided if I like and I’m curious about another book he wrote about symbolism too. 

Here is a list of what I currently own: 

(Swedish only) Monster & Vidunder: Lexikon över världens väsen by Kristoffer Gustaffson.  

Gods and Heros from Viking Mythology by  Brian Branston.

Vaesen : Spirits and monsters of Scandinavian folklore AND Norse gods by Johan Egerkrans.    

The Occult Book: A Chronological Journey, from Alchemy to Wicca  by John Micheal Greer. 

As for fairy tales I own a few versions of Brothers Grim , as well a book (the third part) of a collection about One and A thousand nights. The book tells about Scheherazade stories from night 353 to 480. 

I’m gonna be honest but I haven’t finished reading them all yet , but the beauty of these books are that you can read one chapter at a time and not feel rushed finishing the whole book.

If I could only recommend 1 book  I suggestion on Egerkrans Norse Gods. It gives you information of each god , one or more story involving the god or beings that either the gods fought or helped them in tasks + the artwork is beautiful! His book about Scandinavian supernatural creatures are a gem too.

[c86]

Taken from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology by Brian Branston, 1978 Artwork by Giovanni Caselli

[noyaderp]

first of all, welcome to all of our new followers! we are so excited to continue to share our site with you and rev up the excitement! now, we have our biggest document to share with you -- our canon list.

here at noyade, you will see that we host a large, fairly open canon list. we want to give you all as much inspo as you need, but also leave it open-ended for your own creativity. there are a few easter eggs in this document, however, regarding canon deaths and allegiances that have been predetermined in order to align with the overall site plot. also, while we do want to leave things open, we highly recommend looking at the harry potter wiki for information about a canon. it’s highly possible we forgot some names or mucked up -- please send an ask our way so we can fix it before the grand opening!

be on the lookout for reserves very, very soon! and don’t hesitate to send any questions our way.

ABBOTT

pureblood

ABERCROMBIE

open blood status

ACKERLEY

open blood status

AGRIPPA

open blood status

AVERY

pureblood

BADDOCK

open blood status

BAGMAN

open blood status

LUDOVIC --- BAGMAN

OTTO --- BAGMAN

BAGNOLD

open blood status

MILLICENT --- BAGNOLD

BARBARY

open blood status

BELBY

open blood status

BINNS

open blood status

CUTHBERT --- BINNS

BISHOP

open blood status

BLACK

pureblood

BELLATRIX --- BLACK

ANDROMEDA --- BLACK

NARCISSA --- BLACK

BLACK

pureblood

SIRIUS --- BLACK

REGULUS ARCTURUS BLACK

sirius is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

BLETCHLEY

open blood status

BLUDD

blood status

the blood family are vampires.

BOARDMAN

open blood status

BOBBIN

open blood status

BODE

open blood status

BONES

open blood status

AMELIA --- BONES

EDGAR --- BONES

--- --- BONES

edgar is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

BOOT

open blood status

BORAGE

open blood status

BORGIN

open blood status

BRAITHWAITE

open blood status

BRANSTONE

open blood status

BROADMOOR

open blood status

BROCKLEHURST

open blood status

BROWN

open blood status

BULSTRODE

pureblood

BURBAGE

open blood status

BURKE

open blood status

CADWALLADER

open blood status

CAMPBELL

open blood status

CARMICHAEL

open blood status

CARROW

pureblood

AMYCUS --- CARROW

ALECTO -- CARROW

CATCHLOVE

open blood status

CATTERMOLE

open blood status

CHAMBERS

open blood status

CHANG

open blood status

COOTE

open blood status

CORNER

open blood status

CRABBE

open blood status

CRESSWELL

open blood status

CROUCH

pureblood

BARTEMIUS CASPAR CROUCH JR.

CUFFE

open blood status

DAVIES

open blood status

DAWLISH

open blood status

DEARBORN

open blood status

CARADOC --- DEARBORN

caradoc is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

DELACOUR

open blood status

DERWENT

open blood status

DEVERILL

open blood status

DIGGLE

open blood status

DEDALUS --- DIGGLE

dedalus is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

DIGGORY

open blood status

AMOS --- DIGGORY

DIPPET

open blood status

DOBBS

open blood status

DOGE

open blood status

ELPHIAS --- DOGE

elphias is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

DOLOHOV

open blood status

ANTONIN --- DOLOHOV

DUMBLEDORE

halfblood

ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE

ABERFORTH --- DUMBLEDORE

ARIANA --- DUMBLEDORE

albus is the creator of the order of the phoenix. aberforth is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

DURSLEY

muggle

VERNON --- DURSLEY

D’EATH

open blood status

LORCAN --- D’EATH

the d’eath family are vampires.

EDGECOMBE

open blood status

ELDRITCH

open blood status

ENTWHISTLE

open blood status

EVANS

muggleborn

PETUNIA --- EVANS

LILY JOANNA EVANS

lily is estranged from her husband, james potter. her son, harry, was murdered by voldemort.

FAWCETT

open blood status

FAWLEY

pureblood

FENWICK

open blood status

BENJY --- FENWICK

benjy is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

FIGG

open blood status

ARABELLA --- FIGG

arabella is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix. she is also a squib.

FINNIGAN

open blood status

FLETCHER

open blood status

MUNDUNGUS --- FLETCHER

mundungus is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

FLINT

pureblood

FLITWICK

open blood status

FILIUS --- FLITWICK

FORTESCUE

open blood status

FLOREAN --- FORTESCUE

FROBISHER

open blood status

FUDGE

open blood status

CORNELIUS --- FUDGE

GAMP

open blood status

GRAVES

open blood status

GREENGRASS

pureblood

GREGOROVITCH

open blood status

GUDGEON

open blood status

DAVEY --- GUDGEON

HAGRID

halfblood / tainted

RUBEUS --- HAGRID

rubeus is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

HARKISS

open blood status

HOOCH

open blood status

ROLANDA --- HOOCH

HOOKUM

open blood status

DAISY --- HOOKUM

HOOPER

open blood status

HOPKIRK

open blood status

HORNBY

open blood status

JENKINS

open blood status

JOHNSON

open blood status

JONES

open blood status

HESTIA --- JONES

GWENOG --- JONES

it is up to the player to determine the relation -- if any -- between hestia and gwenog.

JORDAN

open blood status

JORKINS

open blood status

BERTHA --- JORKINS

ALBERT --- JORKINS

JUGSON

open blood status

KARKAROFF

open blood status

KETTLEBURN

open blood status

SILVANUS --- KETTLEBURN

KIRKE

open blood status

KOVACS

open blood status

KRUM

open blood status

LAPIN

open blood status

LESTRANGE

pureblood

RODOLPHUS --- LESTRANGE

RABASTAN --- LESTRANGE

LEVSKI

open blood status

LI

open blood status

LOCKHART

open blood status

GILDEROY --- LOCKHART

LONGBOTTOM

pureblood

FRANK --- LONGBOTTOM, NPC

ALICE --- LONGBOTTOM (nee open surname)

frank is a npc and resides in st. mungo’s after being tortured by death eaters when voldemort came to murder the longbottom son, neville. alice survived.

LOVEGOOD

open blood status

XENOPHILIUS --- LOVEGOOD

LUPIN

halfblood

REMUS JOHN LUPIN

LYNCH

open blood status

MACDONALD

open blood status

MARY --- MACDONALD

MACMILLAN

pureblood

MACNAIR

open blood status

MADLEY

open blood status

MALFOY

pureblood

LUCIUS --- MALFOY

MARAT

open blood status

MARSH

open blood status

MAXIME

open blood status

OLYMPE --- MAXIME

MCCORMACK

open blood status

MCGONAGALL

halfblood

MINERVA --- MCGONAGALL

ROBERT --- MCGONAGALL

MALCOLM --- MCGONAGALL

MCKINNON

halfblood

MARLENE  MCKINNON marlene + her family were murdered by death eaters.

MCLAGGEN

open blood status

MEADOWES

pureblood

DORCAS --- MEADOWES

MONTAGUE

open blood status

MONTGOMERY

open blood status

MONTOYA

open blood status

MOODY

open blood status

ALASTOR --- MOODY

MOON

open blood status

MORGAN

open blood status

MOSTAFA

open blood status

NOTT

pureblood

ODDPICK

open blood status

OGDEN

open blood status

OLLIVANDER

halfblood

GARRICK --- OLLIVANDER

PARKINSON

pureblood

PATIL

open blood status

PEAKES

open blood status

PEASEGOOD

open blood status

PEPPER

open blood status

OCTAVIUS --- PEPPER

PETTIGREW

open blood status

PETER --- PETTIGREW

peter is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

PICQUERY

open blood status

SERAFINA --- PICQUERY

serafina is american.

PINCE

open blood status

IRMA --- PINCE

PODMORE

open blood status

STURGIS --- PODMORE

sturgis is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

POMFREY

open blood status

POPPY --- POMFREY

POLIAKOFF

open blood status

POTTER

pureblood

JAMES --- POTTER

james is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix. his son, harry, was murdered by voldemort as a result of the prophecy.

PRANG

open blood status

PREWETT

pureblood

MOLLY --- PREWETT

FABIAN --- PREWETT

GIDEON --- PREWETT

gideon was murdered by voldemort while watching the potter’s son, harry. fabian is a current or former member of the order of the phoenix.

PUCEY

open blood status

PYE

open blood status

QUIGLEY

open blood status

QUIRRELL

open blood status

QUIRINUS --- QUIRRELL

RIDDLE

halfblood

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

ROBINS

open blood status

ROOKWOOD

open blood status

ROSIER

pureblood

ROWLE

pureblood

RUNCORN

open blood status

SATO

open blood status

SCAMANDER

open blood status

SCRIMGEOUR

open blood status

SELWYN

pureblood

SHACKLEBOLT

pureblood

KINGSLEY --- SHACKLEBOLT

SHAFIQ

pureblood

SHUNPIKE

open blood status

SINISTRA

open blood status

AURORA --- SINISTRA

SKEETER

open blood status

RITA --- SKEETER

SLOPER

open blood status

SLUGHORN

pureblood

HORACE --- SLUGHORN

SMETHWYCK

open blood status

SMITH

open blood status

SNAPE

halfblood

SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE

SPINNET

open blood status

SPROUT

open blood status

POMONA --- SPROUT

THICKNESSE

open blood status

THOMAS

open blood status

THRUSTON

open blood status

TIMMS

open blood status

TONKS

muggleborn

EDWARD --- TONKS

TOOTS

open blood status

TOTH

open blood status

TOWLER

open blood status

TRAVERS

pureblood

TRELAWNEY

open blood status

SYBILL --- TRELAWNEY

sybill is a seer and presented a prophecy that led to the deaths of harry potter and neville longbottom. she is currently captured by voldemort.

TREMLETT

muggleborn

TROY

open blood status

TWYCROSS

open blood status

UMBRIDGE

open blood status

DOLORES --- UMBRIDGE

URQUHART

open blood status

VAISEY

open blood status

VANE

open blood status

VANCE

open blood status

EMMELINE --- VANCE

VECTOR

open blood status

WAGTAIL

open blood status

WATANABE

open blood status

WARBECK

open blood status

CELESTINA --- WARBECK

WARRINGTON

open blood status

WEASLEY

pureblood

ARTHUR --- WEASLEY

BILIUS --- WEASLEY

WHITBY

open blood status

WILKES

open blood status

WINTRINGHAM

open blood status

WOOD

open blood status

YAXLEY

open blood status

YEN

open blood status

ZABINI

open blood status

ZELLER

open blood status

ZONKO

open blood status

[pdf-tower]

Branston, Brian - Gods of the North (1955)

PDF

[odinstempleone]

The “Giantess” Night, a detail from an illustration of Night and Day by Giovanni Caselli in Brian Branston’s Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology.

Night and Day, in their “chariots” follow each other around Earth thought of as a Goddess and as a daughter of Odin and Night. 

[laura-j-c]

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome

Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Power Source (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 2 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Tapped (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 13 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome – Connected (2017), tracing paper, graphite, Photoshop, 1 minute 17 seconds

 Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome (2017) consists of three, minute long animations. Featuring what I describe as fantastical succulent interruptions my drawings interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project is an expansion of my previous project from last semester. By inventing Succulent Morphology these works playfully explore Gen Y’s apparent need to escape everyday reality through an obsession of preternatural worlds.

Following on from my previous project, I continue to explore succulent imagery on photographs of my domestic environment that examines my active obsession for escaping into fantastical literature.

These works are designed using Photoshop to digitally manipulate multiple hand-drawn images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers are animated using Adobe Premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation then loops back to the start and repeats. An important point from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments when dark places can consume one’s life. The animated drawings achieve this by having the succulents’ bright colours on a dull black and white background but then erode to rotten colours and vanish completely.

Why succulents. They are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. As a subject, I use them as a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundanity of suburbia world. They are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors. In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016). This relates to my animations because plants from these mythologies don’t look unnatural, they are familiar and ordinary but have magic rooted in them. This is also achieved through the animation. Watching the succulents grow and decay has a mesmerising and almost magical feel about them that makes them have an otherworldly atmosphere.

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation. I respond to this through art. I have always wanted to escape back into my childhood, back into the fantasy and as far away from reality as possible.

My work, Aliments of Peter Pan Syndrome, is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. Because I am exploring morphology, the study of the plant’s exterior – the appearance, I am doing what Gessert is doing which is focusing on how the plant looks. We are both also exploring an invented morphology, he created his own by cross breeding his plants and I’ve created my own through my succulents.

The idea for this project was inspired by Tomm Moore, a filmmaker and animator, after watching many his films, particularly Song of the Sea (2014). The beautiful artistic style and animation form encouraged me to pursue the idea of animating the succulents from my previous work. Initially I had planned to have a very flush, digital finish to my animation style, like some of the styles Moore uses. However, after my previous critic it was suggested that this approach wasn’t appropriate for my subject. The time it would have taken to animate in that style would’ve taken far too long and wouldn’t be done in time. Since I had decided to use hand drawn images I had to look at artists who utilised a similar method such as William Kentridge.

My initial plan for presenting was just to project the animations using projectors onto a wall. After looking Diana Thater practice I realised this approach was as dull and boring as my domestic environment. I was intrigued how she used screens and projections in ways I hadn’t even considered, angling them and projecting them onto the wall and ceiling, clustering screens together in an arrangement. After looking at her work I had wanted to wall mount a series of monitors in a cluster formation, like the growth and clustering of succulents, and have the animations play on loop. But after being introduce to these black plinths which were so good I decided to arrange them on the plinths instead, still following the clustered idea.

This project is a continuation of my exploration into escaping reality through fantasy. I have achieved this in my work by creating three, minute animations featuring fantastical interrupting succulents in my domestic suburbia interior. I have aimed to fix the issues identified in my previous project and expand it.

REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

[loveminimag]

The Mini has come highly rated in a list of the 250 Things That Make Britain Great

The list, which is published in the May issue of Best of British, was commissioned to mark the magazine’s 250th issue.

Compiled from suggestions by the magazine’s readers, contributors and staff, the list also recognised Aston Martin, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce along with Black Cabs and the Routemaster Bus. Famous Mini drivers Paddy Hopkirk and Mr Bean also made the list, alongside Sir Stirling Moss and the late John Surtees. Asked why the Mini was rated so highly, Hopkirk, who won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini Cooper S, said: “The original Mini was a classless car, a cheap family saloon that was also bought by Bentley owners and the likes of Twiggy, Princess Margaret and Peter Sellers. Although there’s a difference under the bonnet between the original car and BMW’s MINI, it still has bags of personality and a romantic image.” Other people, places and things on the list that make Britain great include the Queen, Sir David Attenborough, the NHS, driving on the left, caravanning, and fish and chips. Best of British is the UK’s top nostalgia monthly. It is available from WH Smith and other newsagents. Further information can be found at http://ift.tt/1v7BVax       The 250 Things That Make Britain Great are: 1. Volunteers 2. The Queen 3. Sir David Attenborough 4. Houses of Parliament 5. Sir Winston Churchill 6. The NHS 7. The English Language 8. Marmite 9. Village Fetes 10. Our sense of humour 11. Fish and Chips 12. The Great British Breakfast 13. Macmillan Cancer Support 14. The Royal National Lifeboat Institute 15. Pubs 16. The BBC 17. Red phone boxes 18. Real ale 19. The Beatles 20. Giving up your seat 21. National Museums 22. Brilliant architecture 23. Stunning scenery 24. Cornwall 25. The Mini 26. London Underground 27. Town and city parks 28. Springtime 29. Dad’s Army 30. William Shakespeare 31. Tornado 32. The Brompton 33. Isambard Kingdom Brunel 34. Blackpool trams 35. Our rich musical heritage 36. Ealing Studios 37. Pickles the Dog 38. Tunnock’s wafers and tea cakes 39. The Great Little Trains of Wales 40. The Routemaster Bus 41. Sunday roasts 42. Our friendliness, generosity and kindness to others 43. The Lord Mayor’s Show 44. Bulldogs 45. Cricket 46. Charles Dickens 47. Seeing off the Nazis 48. The Royal & Ancient 49. Bobby Moore 50. Doctor Who 51. A good old cup of tea 52. A murmuration of starlings 53. Cockney Rhyming slang 54. King Edward potatoes 55. Corner shops 56. Our patience 57. The South Wales accent 58. Laura Trott 59. Greasy spoons 60. Llandudno, especially Haulfre Gardens 61. Only Fools and Horses 62. Country cottages 63. Diana Dors 64. Our resilience when times are hard 65. Stephen Hawking 66. The seaside 67. Emmeline Pankhurst 68. The Proms 69. Sir Isaac Newton 70. The Brontë Sisters 71. Aston Martin 72. Alan Turing 73. Our openness and generosity of spirit when newcomers make an effort to fit in 74. The Scouts and Girl Guides 75. Beatrix Potter 76. Melton Mowbray Pork Pies 77. National parks 78. The RSPB 79. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 80. Buckingham Palace 81. Morris Dancing 82. British Cheeses 83. The Victoria & Albert Museum 84. Flying Scotsman 85. Coronation Street 86. Steam Rallies 87. Stonehenge 88. The WI 89. Strawberries and Cream 90. The Lake District 91. Beer gardens 92. Big Ben 93. Wimbledon 94. Dame Judi Dench 95. Armed Forces 96. Cornish pasties 97. James Bond 98. The Spitfire 99. Stephen Fry 100. Black cabs 101. The Rolling Stones 102. Dame Maggie Smith 103. Red post boxes 104. Harry Potter 105. Scrumpy Cider 106. Match of the Day 107. Beefeaters 108. Joanna Lumley 109. Sue Ryder 110. Mary Berry 111. Unpredictable weather 112. Jessica Ennis-Hill 113. Morecambe and Wise 114. The Two Ronnies 115. Dame Helen Mirren 116. Tom Baker 117. David Jason 118. Worcestershire Sauce 119. Carry On films 120. Jaguar cars 121. Tony Hancock 122. Michael Palin 123. Chelsea Pensioners 124. Football 125. Rugby 126. Comic Relief 127. Great Ormond Street Hospital 128. Charles Darwin 129. Sir Joseph Bazelgette 130. Monty Python 131. Compulsory Education 132. Sherlock Holmes 133. HP Sauce 134. Mr Bean 135. The Jurassic Coast 136. Record collecting 137. Dry Stone walls 138. Hot Cross buns 139. British Film Institute 140. Rolls-Royce 141. The Grand National 142. Bradley Wiggins 143. Lords cricket ground 144. The Red Arrows 145. Ballroom dancing 146. Andy Murray 147. Seb Coe 148. Midsummer afternoons 149. John Surtees 150. Cumberland sausages 151. Mr Benn 152. Blackadder 153. Haggis, neeps and tatties 154. The Telegraph crossword 155. Roald Dahl 156. James Herriot 157. Driving on the left 158. Churches 159. The Boat Race 160. Bertie Bassett 161. Heritage railways 162. Arboretums 163. Countdown 164. Our coastline 165. The Union Flag 166. Caravanning 167. Queuing 168. Branston pickle 169. The Bisto kids 170. The National Trust 171. The Sky at Night 172. Magna Carta 173. Our seats of learning 174. Our gardens 175. Bangers and Mash 176. Alexander Fleming 177. Stan Laurel 178. Alfred Hitchcock 179. Charlie Chaplin 180. Cream Teas – Devonshire or Cornish 181. Fudge 182. The London Marathon 183. Arctic Roll 184. The Loch Ness Monster 185. The World Wide Web 186. Treacle Sponge and Custard 187. Pork Scratchings 188. Help For Heroes 189. Thomas Telford 190. John Logie Baird 191. Laurence Olivier 192. Mowing the lawn 193. The Queen’s Christmas Message 194. TV dramas 195. Wind-up radios 196. Hovercraft 197. Peter Kay 198. Twiglets 199. Salt and Vinegar crisps 200. Jumble sales 201. Billy Connolly 202. Sir Michael Parkinson 203. The Science Museum 204. Sir Steve Redgrave 205. Cancer Research 206. Nelson’s Column 207. The Presumption of Innocence 208. Band Aid/Live Aid 209. Riding for the Disabled Association 210. Chas & Dave 211. The Pennine Way 212. National Railway Museum 213. Sir Michael Caine 214. Tartan and Tweed 215. Alan Bennett 216. Julia Donaldson 217. Paddy Hopkirk 218. Enid Blyton 219. Age UK 220. Barry Cryer 221. The Natural History Museum 222. English Heritage 223. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home 224. Wallace and Gromit 225. Quality Street 226. Sir Stirling Moss 227. John Lewis/Waitrose 228. Bernard Cribbins 229. Brian Blessed 230. June Whitfield 231. Jorvik Viking Centre 232. Sir Bruce Forsyth 233. Walnut Whip 234. Sir Tony Robinson 235. Art Deco lidos 236. Saucy Seaside postcards 237. Dame Patricia Routledge 238. Ironbridge Gorge 239. Roundabouts 240. The BT Tower 241. Morse Code 242. Guide Dogs for the Blind 243. Steak and Kidney Pudding 244. Bletchley Park 245. Chocolate Orange 246. Bobbies on the beat 247. The Goon Show 248. The Shipping Forecast 249. David Coleman 250. Best of British Magazine via Blogger http://ift.tt/2s6X6Mb

[laura-j-c]

PROJECT PROPOSAL

This project is a continuation of my previous project that investigated my obsession for fantastical literature through escapism and the suburban landscape. The suburban landscape is still a foundational feature in this project because it is my environment, my dull, boring, mundane environment from which I try to escape. Mythology is also prominent content in my work, to me myths and legends are origins of the fantastical. My work is also metaphorical because I’m using fantasy as a metaphor to escape and the botanical objects I plan to use are physical metaphors for fantasy in my project.

I am developing three 30 second animations featuring fantastical succulent interruptions that interrupt the dull mundane of my domestic suburbia interior. This project will be an expansion of my previous project from last semester. For that project, I printed a series of black and white photos and then painted succulents interrupting the normal interior with gauche.

To continue my exploration concepts related to escapism via and the notion of escaping one’s reality and through an obsessive need for fantastical literature. I will concoct an experimental work featuring many elements of my previous works, these are black and white photos of my interior and the interrupting succulents which are fleshy, waxy, hardy, alien but still familiar. This is different from my previous work because instead of showing small snapshots of what I see I’m going to show how fantasy has filled my mind and heart and it’s still growing and overtaking everything. An important from my previous project was I was lacking a critical edge to my work, I aim to address that by having the succulents shrivel up and decay, and have it as a metaphor for moments in my life where I have been in dark places and didn’t think I’d ever claw out of there.

I will hand draw the growth stages of the succulents, then use photoshop to digitally draw multiple layers of images over black and white photos of my interior. The layers will then be animated using adobe premiere so the succulents slowly grow out and overtake the space in the photo. After they have grown the succulents will then shrivel up and decay so the image returns to the original black and white interior. The animation will then loop back to the start and repeat. I have also considered printing off the photos of my interior or stages of the animation as photographs with a white border and painting over them, as I did with my previous project, but I have not decided yet.

The reason I chose succulents is because they are a unique species of plant that look so strange but normal at the same time. To me, they are a small doorway into the fantastical through the mundane world. I’m also fond of them because they are very resilient and hard to kill, they can grow just about anywhere. It’s like my fantasy obsessiveness, no matter how much people tell me fairies, trolls and werewolves aren’t real it won’t kill my love or search for the fantastical. So, for this project I have invented succulent morphology, the study of the succulents’ exteriors.

In choosing a botanical form to be the shape of my fantastical interruptions because plants have a rich foundation for fantasy in which they have magical properties. This is seen in many fairy tales such as The Three Snake-Leaves by Brothers Grimm in which the leaves can return the dead to life (Race Point Publishing, 2013). In Norse mythology Yggdrasill is a magnificent tree that connects all nine realms together (Branston, 1978). Even the seeds contain the source for magic, in the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone he tricks his kidnapped bride into eating pomegranate seeds so even when she leaves the Underworld she will always return to him for a short span of the year (Larsen, 2016).

My work deals with my need for the fantastical and escaping from the dull and ordinary, of which I do through literature, film and pop culture such as Death Note, City of Bones, The Hunt, Dinotopia, Nora and so on. In constantly seeking out the preternatural, innocent, spiritual and harmonious way in everyday life. This project is a like a metaphor for my desire of fantasy. Over many years fantasy has taken root in my mind, growing and filling out all the space. There are moments in my life where events and circumstances have stifled that growth and withered it down to nothing but it always flourishes back to life, after lying dormant it sprouts and evolves, swelling into something just as big and beautiful as before.

As a Millennial, we are infamous for being very tech. savvy, rejection of traditional rites of passage into adulthood, and dependence on the internet. Author Sally Bibb accurately describes the aspects of Generation Y in her book Generation Y for Rookies (2014) which illustrates the qualities, personality traits, work ethics and circumstances that have shaped how Millennials have become the way they are; including disregard for hierarchy or authority, rejection of competitive conflict solving, perforation to collaboration, exposure to internet and technology, difficultly job finding (because of unwillingness to work the hours or finding a skill-appropriate position), creative and initiative, and more politically disengaged (Bibb, 2014). I agree with many of these claims but feel some are more subjective than others.

For example, I feel the disregard that is described by Bibbs, towards those in greater authority, it is seen and I know of many individuals in my generation that do lack in that respect. Bibb also mentions in her book the experiences that influenced my generation acts of global terrorism, marriages that result in higher rates of divorce and difficulty in saving money for houses and cars (Bibb, 2014). These events have left many Millennials with a longing to stay a child and never grow up or to escape from reality all together, the Peter Pan Generation.

My work is not unlike George Gessert’s practice as it is the study of botanical exteriors (morphology), the appearance of a plant, Snowy Donkey (2004) is an iris he crossbred and grew until it bloomed. If Gessert did not like the appearance of the flower, he would recycle it and start a new hybrid breed. However, our practices fall into distinctly different categories, he is bio artist specialising in plant hybridization and my practice falls into the interdisciplinary drawing. Vidya Gastaldon’s artwork Mini Christ in God Mother (2007) also has some similarities with my work. She has created her own fantasy world of abstract hippie and psychedelic aesthetics. Another artist who identifies with my work is Jake Fried, Night Vision (2015). He makes animations by continuously drawing over his drawings, scanning in-between each one, and turning them into minute long animations. Although his work is not explicitly fantasy, there are strong images that suggest fantasy and sci-fi. An artist I share many similarities with is Chris Ware. A common thread between his work and mine is the suburban landscape. In some of his comics’ conversations his characters really suffer from the dullness and repetitive routines of everyday life and longing for something new and exciting.

Until last week, I hadn’t given much consideration as to how I wanted to install my animations. I had planned to just project them onto the wall. But being introduced to Diana Thater’s practice has caused me to scrap that plan and consider different ways of installing my work.

  REFERENCE LIST

Bibb, Sally. 2014. Generation Y for Rookies. LID Publishing. ISBN:9780462099804

Race Point Publishing. 2013. “The Three Snake-Leaves” in The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Page, 60-62. New York, USA.

Branston, Brian. 1978. “Yggdrasill, the World Ash” in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Page, 31-36. New South Wales, Australia.

Larsen, Kristine. 2016. “The Lessons of Nature in Mythology” in Mythlore. Vol. 34, no. 2, 2016, p. 191+. Expanded Academic ASAP, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=EAIM&sw=w&u=griffith&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453915650&it=r&asid=4b72e4eea1cfef3007bbe6af0aa15518.

Gessert, George. Snowy Donkey. (2004). Iris seeds, soil, fertiliser, flower pot, water. Dimensions variable.

Gastaldon, Vidya. Mini Christ in God Mother. (2007). Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, coloured pencil and graphite on paper. 31 × 36 cm.

Fried, Jake. Night Vision. (2015). Ink and white-out. Duration: 1 minute.