Looking at a Work of Art

“What we want is more that eyesight, it is insight.”  -Bruce Herman If you get a chance to listen to this podcast with artist Bruce Herman, you’ll find yourself looking at paintings in a different light, reading poems with more care, watching films for more than spectacle. Seeing works of art as gifts from creators who [...]

Unity and Mystery in the art of Bruce Herman

_____ In the video above Bruce Herman introduces himself and his unique approach to creating art. Trained in the classical, figurative tradition, Herman has been painting for over forty years, venturing into what is called “abstract” art to explore psychology and spirituality, but also melding figurative imagery with abstraction to create a visually stunning and [...]

Fogo Island Writer Residency

Dear Reader, It has been a while since you have heard from me but I’ve been pretty busy getting my first novel A Blessed Snarl edited and off to press. It should be coming out, hopefully, in February or March of 2012. But if you want a sneak peek at what it’s about you can [...]

“Heart Like Feathers”: Robert Deeble’s New Album

__________ Seattle-based musician Robert Deeble’s new album “Heart Like Feathers” is coming soon and here is a taste of the musical feast to come: a video recording of the song “Eucharist.” The album is worth the price just for this song, in my opinion. Bare-bones music, whispering vocals, and confessional lyrics make this one of [...]

What Short Stories Are You Reading?

I first heard that Sarah Selecky and fellow short story writers Matthew J. Trafford and Jessica Westhead had named 2011 The Year Of The Short Story through Chad Pelley over at  On The Line Magazine, where Pelley is pledging to read 10 new short story collections this year, including Julie Booker’s Up, Up, Up that has received great praise already from The [...]

“Veni Emmanuel” by Robert Deeble

Robert Deeble is the man behind indie folk rock albums such as This Bar Has No One Left, Thirteen Stories, Earthside Down, and Days Like These and this Advent he’s released a cover of the ancient hymn “Veni Emmanuel.” This particular track comes from Deeble’s studio as a gift to his listeners: a free download. And this [...]

Makoto Fujimura’s new illuminations

Here is some exciting news near the onset of Advent, that dark season of waiting before the coming light. Internationally acclaimed artist Makoto Fujimura, founder of the International Arts Movement in New York, recently released a short video about his new project, which is composing abstract expressionist illuminations for a special edition of the King James Bible, [...]

Interview with Michael Winter about “The Death of Donna Whalen”

Here’s another item of interest for those intrigued by Michael Winter’s new work of documentary fiction, The Death of Donna Whalen (2010). It’s an interview on CBC’s The Next Chapter  in which Shelagh Rogers puts Winter on the stand for questioning. FYI, Winter is one of the most interesting people to hear talk about writing! Enjoy. [...]

Michael Winter’s “The Death of Donna Whalen”

 Perhaps this short video is too funny to begin any sort of discussion on Michael Winter’s dark new “novel” The Death of Donna Whalen, but there is something serious in this playful clip about “cutting” a manuscript that pertains to the massive editorial undertaking behind this slim work of documentary fiction. Winter may not take a [...]

Matthew Hornell and The Diamond Minds

It’s not in just any city that you can go downtown to a harbour side park on your lunch break and catch a free concert. And it’s not just any free concert that will leave you thinking, That’s it! That’s the sound I’ve been looking for! These guys have got it! The city: St. John’s, Newfoundland. The [...]