Words of the Month - The Quick and the Dead

         Traditionally Hallowe’en may be a time when the quick and the dead may come into contact, but nowadays that phrase sounds like a reference to the folklore that zombies are slow!    What does it really mean?  Quick comes from Old English, where it meant “living, alive.”  The meaning of speed (compare with the notion of life in our current usage of lively) was in use by about 1300, and has now completely superseded the original meaning.  Other than encountering the archaic meaning in archaic English, such as the King James translation of the Bible, there are only a few places we still see remnants of this old definition.

cut to the quick - to injure someone deeply (usually figuratively - and old-fashioned)

quick - the tender part under your fingernails, especially if you chew your nails down to the quick.

quicksand - sand that can move and swallow objects as if it were alive

quicksilver - metallic mercury, which is fluid at room temperature.  Archaic in scientific use, but still encountered in its metaphorical sense to describe things that are shifting, changeable, and hard to predict.

        The word dead also goes back to Old English, but has keep its meaning ever since.  However, it does occur in a few words and phrases that might surprise you.

dead-center - Why is the exact middle of something dead?  This comes from lathes and other rotating machinery in which the center point is unmoving and still, as if dead.

deadbolt - a kind of lock that uses a solid bolt, rather than one with a spring.  You can see again the sense that movement is “living” while anything that doesn’t move by itself is “dead.”  (1808)

deadlock - although it was used in 1808 as a synonym of deadbolt, the sense of “complete standstill, stalemate” came first, from about 1779.

deadpan - a method of delivering humor without expression, the dead here is once again the sense of “stillness or lack of vivacity,” while the pan is slang for “face.”  It comes from the USA in the early 20th century.

deadline - although the definition “time limit” dates to 1920 in newspaper jargon, it may have been influenced by an earlier quite literal usage from about 1865: a line inside the perimeter of a Confederate prison, at which any prisoner who touched the line was to be shot dead.

undead - this originally meant “not dead,” as its elements would imply.  Not until the very end of the nineteenth century did it come to be applied to vampires and such that are not exactly dead, but not exactly alive either.

        And just for a bonus, two words from the Old French/Latin root for “dead”…

mortgage - literally “dead pledge,” because the contract “dies” when the debt is paid in full, or when the payments can no longer be made.

amortize - literally “to make dead,” again because of the idea of reaching a permanent end to a contract or ownership.

        All these words certainly remind us, just as Hallowe’en itself might do, that “in the midst of life we are in death.”

[Pictures: Adam tills the earth, woodcut by Hans Holbein, 16th century (Image from Wikimedia Commons);

Der Kandelgiesser, woodcut by Jost Amman, 1568 (Image from Yale University Library).]

Spooky Night

         Here’s a wonderfully atmospheric wood block print suitable for Hallowe’en season.   Technically there’s nothing about this scene that puts it on October 31, and indeed the full leafiness on the trees would imply that it’s actually earlier in the year.  However, the scene still evokes the spooky season perfectly.  There are low buildings against the background, but this house is isolated.  A streak of pale light across the white flowers and lawn implies a full moon, but the sky is streaked with rushing clouds.  The wind tosses the grass and trees with vigorous movement across the scene.  The lights glow in the dark house, and the shadow of a mysterious figure is silhouetted in the doorway.  This is a scene set for eerie, mysterious tales.

        Made in 1926 by Howard Cook (USA, 1901-1980), this woodcut takes full advantage of the characteristics of the medium.  He leaves plenty of black against which his carved lines provide texture and drama, and he allows the faint woodgrain to add to the movement.  It’s quite simple, without a lot of detail, but still masterfully composed and carved.

        I’ve featured work by Cook a few times before, and you can check out these previous posts:

Block Printmaker Cook

Howard Cook’s NYC

Latham and Cook

        Meanwhile, there’s still one week until Hallowe’en.  Time to carve your jack-o-lantern!

[Picture: Wind in the Elms, woodcut by Howard Cook, 1926 (Image from Smithsonian American Art Museum).]

Autumn Magic

         The autumn color has really started to pop around here in the past week, and it never fails to delight me.  Why should humans be so entranced by this natural change?  Why do we find these reds and yellows so endlessly magical?  There can be no logical explanation, so it’s clear evidence of our human capacity to enjoy beauty simply for its resonance with the soul!

        In keeping with my being too busy for long analysis, here’s a gorgeous color linoleum block print by Angie Coleman.  The photo is basically full size on my computer screen, and I love that you can really see the thickness and texture of the layered ink.  It looks quite simple, but that’s deceptive: it has at least nine colors, and their skillful arrangement evokes the dappled mix of autumn leaves.

        Happy Fall!

[Picture: Aspen Ridge, linocut by Angie Coleman (Image from The New Leaf Gallery).]

Working

         I’m afraid I’ve been too busy to write blog posts, so here’s an amazing wood block print of people working even harder than I am.  Or at least some of them are, although a few of them seem to be standing around aimlessly!  This is by Leopoldo Méndez (Mexico, 1902-1969).  I love the way the top edge of the wall forms a series of panels so that we can see almost cubist views of different perspectives on the work.  It could even be a sort of graphic novel series.  The long, tall format is also unusual.

        So here’s the work I’m up to in the next couple of months, having already kicked off my autumn art season with a show a week ago:

• This weekend, Oct. 19-20 - Roslindale Open Studios.  Always one of my biggest shows!  I’ll be at The Substation, and you can find details about where to find me and the 100+ other artists at ROS.  (Info here.)

• Wednesdays through Oct. 30 - teaching block printmaking through Needham Community Education.

• Nov. 8 - teaching a block printmaking workshop with Wellesley Council on Aging (I think the November flier isn't out yet, but it will be here.)

• Nov. 9 - Needham Open Studios Fall Pop-Up.  First Parish Hall in Needham, 10:00-4:30.  A sampling of Needham Open Studios artists in one location for your convenience and delight.  (Info here.)

• Nov. 22-24 - Philcon Sci Fi/Fantasy Convention.  I’ll be doing my usual con thing: an exhibit in the art show, participating on panels about writing, giving a reading, and even having a book signing!  (Info here.)

• Dec. 7 - Arts Wayland Holiday Sale.  Wayland High School Commons (Info here.)

• Dec. 8 - Newton Holiday Craft Fair.  Newton South High School (Info here.)

• Dec. 14 - Strong Women-Strange Worlds Year-End Holiday Extravaganza.  Free, on-line, available to anyone in the world via Zoom.  Bookish fun for all!  (Details aren’t posted yet, but watch this space.)

        So with all that, I’ve been busy busy busy with matting, framing, designing new blocks to carve, and prepping for classes, finalizing my new book to be shipped out for Kickstarter, plus the usual round of submissions (but not much writing for the past few weeks), and of course all the work for all the other Activities in my life…  So there may not be a lot of spare bandwidth to dedicate to this poor blog for a bit.  But I hope to continue to share the occasional wonderful block prints to keep you satisfied -- and stay tuned for some more cool news before too long!

[Picture: The Workers, wood block print by Leopoldo Méndez, 1932 (Image from The Loeb Museum at Vassar);

Little views of my rubber block prints A Tree Made of Night, Autumn Fairy (Oaky Nutkin), and Penguin of Peace, by AEGNydam.]

Views of Space

         It’s been only recently in the span of history that humans have actually known what things look like in space - but we’ve been trying to imagine since the dawn of humanity.  Here is a little collection in which artists have depicted space in various interesting ways.

        In 1936 Clara MacGowan (USA, 1895-1983) made this relief block print of “Spacial Orbits.”  This one gives me a “music of the spheres” feeling, with its swooping, twirling planets and stars dancing together.  The carving is very simple, with bold shapes and lines, which gives it a look of

child-like joy.

        The second illustration, by W.B. MacDougall in 1896, is probably not a relief print, but it could easily be, with its white lines on black background.  This one illustrates Night, and while it shows the night sky as seen from Earth in a fairly straightforward way, the waving, gliding figures below the stars offer a sense of magic and mystery.  Since I can’t read the whole poem that this illustrates, I don’t know whether these glowing figures are people, or personified stars, or what, but I like the way they, too, like MacGowan’s orbits, seem to circle through the heavens in a celestial dance.

        I give you this third view of space because it was intended to be scientific, and yet ends up seeming strange and magical.  The assumption that the clouds of Earth’s sky would extend through the entirety of space is something that we now know to be false, but was not an unreasonable assumption in 1898, when this wood engraving was made to illustrate a geography textbook.  To me now, looking at Earth floating among all those puffy clouds makes it seem like some sort of magical miniature, as if you could almost reach out and pick it up.  I do like the sense of light and airiness the engraver has captured.

        Finally, here’s a piece by Werner Drewes (Germany/USA, 1899-1985) that’s gone in another direction, quite abstract.  Entitled “Looking Into Space,” it’s so abstract that I don’t know exactly where the viewer is supposed to be, or exactly what this view is.  However, I like to imagine it as the view if you opened the door and looked out on an alien planet, with a bare landscape, and strange huge moons in the sky.  What do you think?

        By the way, for more (non-fantasy) block prints of celestial phenomena, check out these past posts:

Observing the Moon

From the Stars

New Horizons

[Pictures: Spacial Orbits, relief print by Clara MacGowan, 1936 (Image from Art Institute Chicago);

The night that changes not, illustration by W.B. MacDougall from Songs of Love and Death by Margaret Armour, 1896 (Image from British Library Flickr);

The Earth in Space, wood engraving from Chambers’s Alternative Geography Readers, 1898 (Image from British Library Flickr);

Looking Into Space, wood block print by Werner Drewes, 1934 (Image from Drewes Fine Art).]

Words of the Month - Plain Sailing (Part I)

         Nowadays sailing may seem like a niche hobby for the yacht-owning wealthy few, but for centuries it was integral to the lives and economies of general society throughout the English-speaking world.  So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that a huge number of everyday English phrases have their origins in sailing terminology and slang.  Indeed, I collected so many that I’m going to give you only half today.  Today’s words and phrases are ones that derive from parts of a ship, rigging, and other nautical objects.

know or show the ropes - This one’s pretty obvious.  The ropes are a ship’s rigging, very complicated and vital to know.  The phrase was being used metaphorically on land by the late 19th century.

hand over fist - How you haul or climb a rope, but now also anything done quickly and steadily (from about 1803).

the bitter end - the part of a cable which is around the bitts.  The bitts are strong posts to which cables are fastened.  If a rope is extended to the bitter end, it’s as far as it can go.  The phrase began to be used metaphorically around 1835.

chock-a-block - a pulley (chock) and its framework (block), so close to another that they touch and prevent further movement.  The extension to any items crammed together is from around 1840.

cut of his jib - The jib is a large, triangular foresail of a ship, and sailors would judge the state of a ship by the state of the jibs.  By 1821 the cut of his jib was used figuratively to refer to the appearance of a person.  I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone use this in real life, although I’ve certainly encountered it while reading.  Maybe there are dialects in which it’s still current, but I’m guessing that this one, unlike most of today’s other phrases, is obsolete.

scuttlebutt - a cask of drinking water on the deck.  We can break that down to butt, meaning barrel + scuttle, meaning a hole cut in something (including the ship itself, if you want to sink it).  The meaning “gossip” comes from around 1900, from the habit of sailors gathering around the scuttlebutt to chat.

pooped - The poop deck of a ship is in the back (stern), and if big waves break over that rear deck, the ship is pooped.  Figuratively, therefore, to be pooped is to be overwhelmed and defeated.  It seems reasonable to me to assume this is the origin of the meaning “to be exhausted,” although apparently some people think the “tired” meaning is “perhaps imitative of the sound of heavy breathing.”  Which sounds more plausible to you?

even keel - The keel is the lowest and principal timber of a ship’s hull, and of course a ship on an even keel is sailing smoothly (since the mid-16th c.).  The metaphorical sense is from at least the mid-19th century.  This is also where we get the phrase to keel over, meaning “to capsize,” which was used figuratively of non-ships falling over only a few years later, by 1833.

pipe down - The bo’sun’s whistle was called a pipe, and by 1833 the bo’sun piped the sailors down when he blew the signal dismissing them from duty.  Hence, "to get quiet," from about 1900.

first rate - the highest class of warships in the British Navy in the 166os.

down the hatch - The hatch is the opening in a ship’s deck through which sailors and cargo pass into the hold.  This dates to the mid-13th century from an Old English word for a gate or grating.  The metaphorical use of drinking or eating something may be as recent as about 1930.

slush fund - Slush is the fat collected as waste in the galley (kitchen) of a ship.  This slush could be sold, and the money from it was either the cook’s bonus or, in some ships, spent or distributed at the discretion of the commanding officer, without need to account for it.  By 1874 slush fund had acquired the metaphorical meaning of a sum of money to be used for bribery or other illicit purposes.

room to swing a cat - No cats were harmed in the making of this expression, but many men were.  The cat in question was the cat-o’-nine-tails, a knotted, multi-thonged whip used as punishment in the British navy until 1881.  The phrase dates to 1771.

wide berth - Berth originally referred to sufficient space for maneuvering a ship (17th c.), so giving another ship a wide berth made sure there wouldn’t be a collision.  The word “berth” acquired the meaning of a specific space for ships to anchor or sailors to sleep, and then came ashore and was used of things other than ships by the end of the 18th century.  It may have been Sir Walter Scott in 1829 who popularized the phrase “give a wide berth.”

        I guess I got you these phrases a little late for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19, but who says we can’t celebrate all month?  Or perhaps you’re more the type to don your Bermuda shorts and docksiders.  Of course, most of these phrases originated with nothing so fun and glamorous as today’s stereotypes of either pirates or yacht-owners.  Sailing a ship was hard labor, and it took a huge crew to man a large naval or merchant ship - which is why so many people were employed in maritime jobs, and why so much maritime jargon entered mainstream vocabulary.

        I’ll be doing a whole ‘nother post on more phrases from nautical roots in the future, so stay tuned!

[Pictures: Frontispiece of General and Rare Memorials Pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation by John Dee, hand colored woodcut, 1577 (Image from Christie’s);

Dutch Clipper Ship, wood block print on postcard by anonymous artist, 1947 (Image from The Magic Postcard Store);

Ship Bonetta Salem Departing from Leghorn, woodcut by John Held, Jr., first half 20th c. (Image from Princeton University Art Museum).]

Windows

         I like windows and doors.  I like them visually, architecturally, metaphorically, and in stories.  Here’s a little selection of relief block prints showing windows.  In all of these cases we’re on the inside looking out, and in all these cases the views are not necessarily the focus of the image, but rather we’re exploring the way the windows frame their views.

        The first piece by Charles Smith has lots of very fine wood engraving detail.  The curtains have a detailed pattern and the wall of the building across the street is entirely filled by close cross-hatching.  We can see people going about their business on the sidewalk outside, and the charming flowers on the windowsill.  This is a very ordinary scene, made into something special by an artist who observed, and transformed it into a block of wood,

then ink and paper.

        The second piece, by Dave Morgan, shows much less of the view: just a glimpse of greenery beyond the lightweight curtain.  This captures such beautiful light, and such a beautiful sense of serenity.  It’s described as a reduction print, but I think some areas must have been inked separately so that the golden brown of the floor or the greens of the plants were not rolled across the entire block.  It’s very cleverly done.

        Our third window is much simpler, and includes still less of a view, because now the focus is the man standing with his back to us at the window looking out.  It’s by Benvenuto Disertori, and you can see a couple more by him in my prior post Block Printmaker Disertori - funnily enough, including another view of another window.  As for this man, we don’t know what he sees, or what his feelings about the view might be.  He’s almost cartoon-like in his simplicity.  I like how there are no outlines between the man and the shadowed wall.  I’ve paired this one with a block print of my own

that also includes a silhouetted figure gazing out a window, from which no scene is visible to the person viewing the art.  They’re even positioned the same way in the frame of the picture.  And no, I had not seen Disertori’s piece when I made mine, but after all, other artists, too, have come up with similar compositions.

        I’ll finish off the collection of windows with two more of my own rubber block prints.  This first one is the view from a window in a small village in Lancashire, England, from a sketch I made because I especially liked the chimney pots.  (You can see I had trouble with the inking of this one, so I should probably scan another of the edition that’s a little blacker, but I kept this one because I kind of liked the misty look.)  For this one the view is almost the focus, except that I did choose to include the framing of the window and curtains instead of simply making a block print of the view all by itself.  And finally I have another window in which the view is visible, but indistinct, and the focus is really the collection of fancy little glass bottles on the windowsill.  I said I like windows, and another thing I like is little glass bottles!

        Do you have a favorite view from your own windows where you live?  Or a view you saw once in another place that’s stuck in your imagination?  How often do you actually stop and look out a window when you’re going by?

[Pictures: Charleston Window, wood engraving by Charles W. Smith, 20th c (perhaps 1920s?) (Image from Newfields);

Springtime Window, color reduction woodcut by Dave Morgan, 2021 (Image from The New Leaf Gallery);

Man at a Window, woodcut by Benvenuto M. Disertori, before 1968 (Image from Davis Museum at Wellesley College);

Nightshade in the Sunlight, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 2007 (Image from AEGN, now sold out);

Window at Yealand Conyers, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 1998 (Image from NydamPrints);

Small Glass Bottles, rubber block reduction print by AEGNydam, 2017 (Image from NydamPrints).]

Unique Named Dragons

        Did you know that according to a 13th century monk, you had to watch out and repel the dragons that liked to be abroad in the eve of Midsummer?  We should be safe by now, so let's look at some dragons today.

         Modern fantasy generally considers dragons to be a species (or lots of related species), but during the early days of dragon folklore, it was more common that each dragon was its own individual monstrous thing.  I introduced a number of these one-of-a-kind dragons in my prior post O is for One-and-Only, where you can find Yamata no Orochi, Azi Sruvara, Tarasque, and a number of unique non-dragonoid monsters.  (Sometimes it’s pretty hard to tell whether something should be classed as a dragon or not.  What about the Velue and the Oillepheist, for example?)  Today I present you with a few more unique, named dragons to add to the list.

        France has been remarkably prone to unique monsters over the centuries.  Luckily it was also remarkably prone to saints.

        In Metz, France it was the Graoully, a dragon who took up residence along with a huge swarm of snakes in the Roman amphitheater.  (This was in the 3rd century when the Roman Empire was still a thing.)  They poisoned the whole area.  The Graoully was driven away by St Clement, or possibly drowned by him in the River Seille.

        In Rouen, France the Gargouille was a bat-winged, long-necked dragon who lived in a cave by the Seine and could breathe fire or spout water, and who flattened crops with the flapping of his wings.  Despite his size and ferocity, he was easily tamed by St Romanus and the sign of the cross.  Despite his new tameness, he was then burned, except for his unburnable head.  This was hung on the cathedral, where it inspired some medieval architect to invent the gargoyle.

        In Vaucluse, France it was the Coulobre.  Her name comes from Latin coluber, meaning simply “snake,” and today the colubridae are a family of snakes that are mostly harmless and non-venomous (except the boomslang).  But this one was different: huge, with spiny wings, and so ugly that even other dragons despised her.  She lived in a deep spring, where she gave birth to poisonous salamanders.  It was St Veranus who hunted her down and forced her to fly away into the wilderness in the Alps.  (I should note that the Coulobre might not actually be unique.  Another attacked Petrarch when he was staying in the area, and another was defeated in Dordogne by St Front.  It’s unclear whether these are all the same species, or different unique individuals with the same name.)

        In Poitiers, France the dragon to beware was the Grand’Goule, with a gaping mouth and a tail with a scorpion sting.  It lived in the tunnels that ran under the Gallo-Roman walls near the Sainte-Croix Abbey, and it devoured the occasional nun.  St Radégonde killed it with a weaponized prayer that shot the beast like a crossbow bolt.

        Moving lastly to Italy, the Tarantasio was a pestilential dragon that lived in Lake Gerundo, and particularly enjoyed eating children.  It had large horns and webbed feet, and was killed by someone, although there is a great deal of disagreement over who did the deed.  It is said to be the origin of the coat of arms of the Visconti family, even though that’s simply a large anthropophagus snake called the “biscione.”  Another image said to depict the Tarantasio is a carving on the facade of the Duomo in Milan, even though it’s hornless and looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a puppy.

        These stories all have a pretty similar plot, which also appears with any number of unnamed run-of-the-mill dragons all across Europe.  Another common element of the story is that after the offending monster is destroyed, some relic or effigy of the beast gets paraded around town on an annual basis, and/or displayed in the local church/castle/town hall.  Although this plot may not seem terribly interesting to us today, it’s important to consider how vital it is always to remember that oppression can be resisted, cruelty can be defeated, and virtue can triumph.

[Pictures: Procession of the Graoully, engraving(?) from Dembour et Gangel, 1840/1852 (Image from limédia galeries);

La Gargouille de Rouen, engraving by Guillaume Cabasson, 1885 (Image from New York Public Library);

St-Romain with the Gargouille, stained glass at the church of Saint-Romain in Wy-dit-Joli-Village, neo-Gothic (Image from Wikimedia Commons);

Saint-Véran and the Coulobre, sculpture - can’t find any info about artist or date (Image from The Wyrm’s Lair);

La Grand’Goule, wooden sculpture by Jean Gargot, 1677 (Image from Alienor.org);

Biscione, coat of arms of the House of Visconti on the Archbishop’s Palace, Milan, mid-14th c. (Image from Wikimedia Commons);

Tarantasio?, sculpture on facade of  Duomo di Milano, by Carlo Pellicani, early 19th c. (Image from Yes Milano).]

Magical Musical Monsters

         This little collection of musical creatures begins with a bird, which might not seem particularly magical.  There are certainly plenty of birds with exceptional songs throughout folklore, and some of them are even magical, but this bird doesn’t just sing birdsong like all those others.  No, it sports a human head and arms with which it plays an instrument.  Frankly, it seems like kind of a waste to force a bird to resort to human means to produce its music, but this creature makes music so heavenly that one can never tire of hearing it, so I guess it’s not complaining.  It’s called karyōbinga in Japanese (from kalavinca in Sanskrit), and it lives in the Buddhist paradise Gokuraku jōdo.  (I should apologize for implying by the title of this post that it’s a monster.  I just couldn’t resist the alliteration.)  This wood block print by Hokusai is masterful, with wonderful details on the wings and on the flowing robes that morph into tail plumes.

        We turn now to a creature that is just as musical but certainly very far from exemplifying celestial beauty.  There are several strange monsters in this wood block print from a book of emblems.  The emblem illustrated “The four passions of man,” although I confess I can’t quite figure out what four passions those might be, and which monster represents which.  So forget all that and just concentrate on the funny little guy in the lower right.  I think he’s actually adorable, a sort of animate bagpipe playing his own nose.  Particularly when you compare him with the other monsters, I think I’d definitely prefer whatever passion he’s representing!  Maybe it’s the passion for music.

        Finally I had to add one more fabulous creature with a musical nose, even though I can’t find any wood block prints of these.  The final two illustrations depict the siranis, a creature that can be found in The Wonders of Creation, by 13th century Iranian cosmographer Zakariya al-Qazwini.  According to him, the siranis has twelve holes along its snout, and when it breathes it makes beautiful music.  This music is so beautiful that animals gather around, and the siranis can then catch and eat whatever it wants.  On a fun etymological note, the name siranis actually derives from Greek seiren, the sea nymph who lures sailors with her song.  Obviously something went rather astray along the journey as this magical creature travelled from Greece to Iran!  These depictions of it are quite charming, and while the second one is by a more masterful hand that gives it a lithe grace, you really can’t beat the adorably goofy poodle hairdo on the first!

        Music is such a powerful force that it’s no surprise that mythical creatures from the sublime to the ridiculous produce it as part of their magic.  Obviously the best one to hear would be the first, but I can’t help feeling very curious indeed to hear the others.

[Pictures: Karyōbinga, color wood block print by Hokusai, ca. 1820-33 (Image from The Met);

Emblema. LXVI, wood block print from Emblematum Tyrocinia by Matthäus Holtzwart, 1581 (Image from Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum);

Siranis, illumination from The Wonders of Creation by Qazvini, early 15th century (Image from Smithsonian Freer Gallery);

Siranis, illumination from The Wonders of Creation by Qazwini,1280 (Image from Bavarian State Library).]