You'll envy our turkey legs!
Catch us at the Maryland Renaissance Festival this Sunday. It's the largest one on the entire East Coast--and you can bet we'll be big shutterbugs whilst feasting and making all kinds of merriment.
Your Morning Commute, ImmortalizedBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com  Someday, something as mundane as commuting to work--waiting in traffic james, taking the bus, riding the Metro--will be seen as social history.  You are the specimen and the study is a matter of cultural anthropology.  When you swipe your Metro card, you are making history. This Ol' Sewing MachineBy The Picture Pharmacist QuailBellMagazine.com  Dear fledglings, Has sewing ever given you tetanus? Probably not, unless you 1) sew with a rusty, antique machine, 2) said bloody hell to getting your shot. But if you are one of those rare few whose crafty pursuits have made you ill, maybe you want to commemorate the event. Put something in your scrapbook. Show the grandchildren. Of course, when you had the dreaded 't,' you never photographed your sweating, convulsing body (well, maybe your weird cousin Phil did.) That doesn't mean it's too late to illustrate those fond memories. Simply download this image of a cute ol' sewing machine, pop it into Photoshop, and play around with your toolbox. You might even make a .gif! Or...not. Either way, until next time... Yours truly, The Picture Pharmacist 
Take home a piece of QB.Dear fledglings, We know that our Etsy shop has been severely lacking love for the past several months. It was never what it should've been in the first place. Alright? We admit it. An empty store is not much of a store. So, we've decided to change that. We have our pride. We want an awesome shop. We want it to have inventory at all times. You shouldn't find our store empty anytime soon. In fact, in the past 48 hours alone, we've brought our inventory up to 20 items. By the end of the week, we fully intend to have 100 different goodies! So please check out our shop and support Quail Bell Press & Productions, the quirky collective responsible for Quail Bell Magazine. You'll be supporting various collective endeavors, from Quail Bell Express to Comicality Magazine to our documentary, "The Persistence of Poe" to our fall fashion show, "Once Upon a Time II: Forgotten Folklore." Just read the item description to see what particular project your purchase will support. Thanks so much for your time and interest! Feathery hugs, The QB Crew La MinervaBy QB Camera Eye QuailBellMagazine.com  A fountain and monument, La Minerva not only pays tribute to the Roman goddess Minerva, but she also represents her home city--Guadalajara, Mexico. Vegan in Sportsman's ParadiseSurrealist Animal Artist, Amy GuidryBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Born in Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1976, Amy Guidry has always been a Southern girl, but, more importantly, she has always been an artist. Before she learned how to write, she drew obsessively--going through a whole package of paper in less than a fortnight. By the time Amy became a student at Loyola University in New Orleans, the choice to major in Visual Arts was an obvious one. The university awarded Amy the Loyola University Art scholarship, an honor bestowed upon a single student per graduating class. Amy has built her career upon her talent as a surrealist whose work evidences vegan themes. Her paintings have been exhibited across the United States, in galleries and museums, in venues like the Women's research Center at Brandeis University, the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Several of her works also belong to private and public collections and have even ben featured on MTV's "The Real World, Season 20: Hollywood." That's not to mention the publications--like American Artist Magazine and Studio Visit--that have also recognized Amy's paintings. Wally Workman Gallery in Austin and The Oak Street Gallery in Hammond, Louisiana represent Amy's fantastical paintings. I recently exchanged emails with Amy to find out more about her upbringing and thoughts on art:  Courtesy of Amy Guidry Why have you chosen paint as your medium? Have you tried your hand at digital illustration before? What do you think of digital art? I've always loved to draw and have done a lot of black and white work with different media. I eventually moved to painting because it allowed me to maintain the same precision and control but with color. I'm going to date myself here, but I had done some digital illustration using PC Paintbrush back in the day. It was just for fun, and I liked the challenge of drawing with a mouse but it just doesn't allow for the same look and feel of a painting. Clearly the digital world is light-years ahead now and I do think there are some great digital artists out there, but it's just not my preferred medium. If you had to paint the same subject over and over for the rest of your life (but in different ways, however you wished), what would you choose? Animals have always been a popular subject for me, that's probably as specific as I can get as I can't say there is any one species I prefer over another. I love them all. I've drawn animals since I was a kid and have always had an interest in helping animals at a very young age. How has being born and raised in the South influenced your work--or does answering that question require too much speculation? I can't say that my work is a direct result of my location, but there are some issues I've tackled with my work that may be of particular interest to some because I live in Louisiana. The state nickname is "Sportsman's Paradise" which, not that everyone here is necessarily a carnivore, but it is a popular state for hunting. As a vegan artist, I use my work to take on issues such as animal welfare and environmental destruction which is something that takes place across the globe. The fact that I've mostly lived in the South all my life is really a footnote to a larger issue. How's it possible to be a full-time artist in the age of the Internet? People have Flickr, Tumblr, and Pinterest, and for many, that's enough. Actually I think the internet has been a big plus to the art world. Because of sites such as Flickr or Pinterest, many people that have never given much thought to art or have not had much by way of an arts education, are being exposed to artists from all over the world. I believe the more people can see art and become familiar with various styles, media, movements, then the more appreciation they have for art and the more likely they are to collect. Other art forms--music or writing, for example--are more readily available and discussed among the general public and have received more general acceptance [because of the Internet]. Visual art has always maintained this mystery in which people find it intimidating and assume you have to either be an artist or an art historian to understand it. Clearly that is not true. Just as I am a far cry from being a musician, yet I love music. The Internet is really helping to improve this and make art a part of our dialogue and raising awareness of the role and importance of art and art institutions. Your work has traveled everywhere, but have you? What are some of your top towns and cities, either domestically or abroad? What about them speaks to you as an artist or is just plain fun? I can't always travel with my work and sometimes I've even had two or more openings going on at the same time in different places, so that poses a problem as well. When I can travel, I love to take the opportunity to visit new places and revisit those that are my favorites (as of now). I recently went to Chicago and loved it. The architecture alone is enough of a reason to visit. I am in Austin every so often because I am represented by Wally Workman Gallery, and always enjoy my stay there. It's a fun city, there is a lot going on with art and music, of course, but also the natural landscape there is just stunning and inspiring to any artist. I have to include New York City, which as an artist, I love that there are so many great museums and galleries in such a small space, but it is also a fun place to visit and reminds me of New Orleans in some ways. I've been to the Monteverde rainforest in Costa Rica which was for fun, not business, but it's incredibly beautiful and inspirational. Last but not least, I have to include my current residence: Lafayette, Louisiana. I moved here 14 years ago and it's just a great city. It's a college town with a lot of history and culture, and a supportive art community.    AmyGuidry.com There's A Whole Box of CigarsThe most gripping fear of first love is its finality. One day it, like a sunset or storm, shall end. There are exceptions, of course—tales of young lovers who shrink and hunch until they become each other's old lovers. Soul mates from age 17. But typically first love does not last. An eternity becomes yesterday. A friend of mine once told me, “Don't think about it ending.” She and her first love enchanted each other their sophomore year of high school. He was the type of rebellious teenage heartthrob who excited a Christian girl like her. Someone reserved yet secretly eager to puff on a cigar in nothing but a pair of Hanes Her Way. The relationship came to a close at the end of their junior year when it hit my friend that, while she had plans for college, her beau did not. Even if he had wanted to attend a four-year school, he lacked the grades, test scores, and money to do so. All of a sudden, my friend realized how different their priorities and philosophies were.  She was the owl and he the pussycat. They both wanted the moon, but they could not touch it together. They didn't even want to travel to the moon the same way. The possibility of them never exploring the depths of a crater together had never occurred before occurred to her. By the time my friend told me her story, she was pursuing someone else. A few years had passed since her Danny and Sandy days. The loyalty she had once harbored for her first love had faded. He was a memory, not an idol or a human being. Just a memory. First love is an apple waiting to fall from the tree—and trees do not grow on the moon. Maybe a flock of doves will swoop down and pluck the apple before it falls, bringing it closer and closer to the stars on a perfect, balmy evening. But, more than likely, that apple will fall and hit an unlucky worm on the head. It's a sad thought, yes. Yet you needn't dwell on it. Comfort yourself with the moment you have now: the full box of cigars, staring each other down in your Fruit of the Looms, maybe with “Grease” playing in the background. Don't think about it ending. Call for all 501c3 lovers! Do you run an arts, historical, or otherwise cultural non-profit? Volunteer at one? Donate to one? Tell us the name of your favorite Quail Bellish non-profit and you might just see it given some extra special love here on The Real. Yabba dabba water do?By The Science Squad QuailBellMagazine.com  Next time you wish your water bottle contained a more exciting beverage, just remember that it's the same water that dinos drank. It's all because of this nifty thing called the water cycle you learned about in grade school. The water cycle is so gosh darn efficient that only 0.001% of the total water on earth is in the atmosphere at any given time. Wondering how much of the earth's fresh water is up there? Only 0.04%, so feel free to chug away during the summertime or anytime. You're not wasting anything. The Jetsons will drink the same water the Flintstones once did. But how does the water cycle work? By magic? No, there's no alchemy going on here. It's all science. Water in the atmosphere returns to earth as precipitation, like rain or snow, eventually going through infiltration, the process by which water enters the soil Then the water says sayonara to the soil and returns to the atmosphere via evaporation, hovering in the sky again as condensation in the form of clouds and water droplets. Phew! Quite a few 'ation' words there. How are you going to remember them all? With the water rap! It's the water cycle, yo! Give me a P for precipitation! Give me an I for infiltration! Give me an E for evaporation! Give me a C for condensation! Precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, condensation! Again, brother! Precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, condensation! Oh, yeah! Yabba dabba do! | The Real
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