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Scottish Street GothBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Young teenagers waiting for a Deathstars show in Glasgow, Scotland (June 2010). The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Glimpse at GlitterBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com By Christine Stoddard. Drag queens flaunt it. Fairies sprinkle it. Little girls adore it. You couldn't have survived the '90s club scene without it. It's called glitter and it's got a history just like anything else. But unlike the length of its flash beneath the sun, glitter's history lasts longer than a nanosecond. So let's ruffle a few boa feathers, chip a stiletto, and explore something that most unglamorous folks don't consider a worthy essay topic.
If you think that glitter originated with Tinkerbell, you are mistaken. Glitter has helped humanity shimmer for centuries---like, since The Flintstones. Fred and Wilma smeared mica flakes into their cave paintings for that extra special something. It wasn't just cavemen, either. Even the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans admired the way glitter stole the show. It's likely that members of these civilizations not only used mica in their paintings but their makeup, too. If you're a child of the Spice Girls generation, you probably remember how “glitterific” Lip Smackers, Limited Too, and Claire's made their cosmetics right around the millennium. It looks like Cleopatra & Co. inspired the idea! Fast-forward to a more modern era. In 1934, a machinist from New Jersey, named Henry Ruschmann, came up with a way of grinding up plastics that caught the light. His company, Meadowbrook Inventions, is still the world's leading glitter manufacturer and supplier. Meadowbrook's website says the following of glitter: “Glitter's applications are limitless....In plastics, glitter is molded into a myriad of products and displays. The cosmetic industry relies on glitter as a colorant for nail polish, gel based formulations, and powders. The toy industry uses glitter flocked into fabrics, molded into plastics and suspended in solutions. Glitter enhances the world's finest greeting cards, and is used by screen printers worldwide to add a touch of sparkle to fabrics and paper. [It] is also used by the world's leading bass boat manufacturers to create the unique finish demanded by boating enthusiasts. Let's not forget the millions of Christmas balls and holiday decorations that are adorned with...glitter. Parade float designers, theatrical set designers and Mardi Gras creators all use glitter to catch the eye. Loved by children and adults the world over, ...glitter is packaged for use by school supply distributors and craft companies across the globe.” Thus, thanks to Meadowbrook, glitter as we know it has been around since the Great Depression. Yet true glitter madness wouldn't spellbind humanity until decades later. Glitter ruled the '70s, '80s, early '90s, and the turn of the millennium, especially in the music, toy, and cosmetic industries. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Colonial SplendorBy QB Camera Eye QuailBellMagazine.com Once upon a time, a little fledgling wandered around the historic district of Old Town Alexandria in Virginia. Clicking away with her cell phone camera, these are some of the sights she captured: The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Peter Rabbit Beginsby Josephine Stone QuailBellMagazine.com Today in history: 1893, English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a "picture letter" to Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess. (The Associated Press)
Helen Beatrix Potter, in addition to being a conservationist and scientist, was a famous author and illustrator of children's books. Potter's stories most commonly depicted animals living againt a British backdrop in the late 1800s. Potter was educated under a series of different governesses until she was eighteen, and it can be assumed that the five-year-old Moore, of whom the first Peter Rabbit story was ever sent while he was sick in bed, was the son of one of the women who had a hand in Potter's education. According to the Frederick Warne & Co.'s The World of Beatrix Potter, the letter began: "My dear Noel, I don't know what to write you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits..." To learn more about Beatrix Potter and her contribution to the children's literature genre, as well as the invention of the story book, click here for the full Quail Bell story. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1By David Fuchs QuailBellMagazine.com Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is watchable. For most films, this can be considered enough. I can turn my brain off and go watch some action film, and it's watchable. I don't expect anything from it.
For the next-to-last film adaptation of one of the greatest fantasy series in recent years, watchable doesn't cut it. Or, at least, it shouldn't. It's hard to figure out where to start with this film, but I guess I'll begin with the fact that my good family friends have, for some reason, never read the Harry Potter books. Their only knowledge comes from the films, which they have seen recently. And guess what, readers? They had no clue what was going on. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Ultimate Illustrationsby Sandra Scholes QuailBellMagazine.com With Anthony Pallumbo's text at the side of the detailed illustrations he gives a bit of valuable information and history behind the pieces of artwork that span almost thirty years of Boris and Julie's in the illustration business. As a relative he knows the deeper meaning behind the art they have strived to make as they have become the most popular fantasy artists out there. The book's contents consist of a short introduction and five categories of illustrations: women, men, beasts, product design and lastly composition.
As far as fantasy art is concerned, Boris and Julie have been at the forefront of fantasy illustration since the '70s. In this book, the sketches span more than fifteen years in the craft with a hundred pieces previously unpublished by the couple. Their individualistic sketches show fairy wings behind athletically posed women. Unlike many people's idea of an artist's work being experimental or purely for pleasure for fans at conventions, there are also those that were originally commissioned for companies yet never used. This happens to many artists during their careers, even the famous ones. The first sketch the reader is met with is “Hands,” one of the more recent ones that would not look out of place on the cover of a rock band's DVD. For its entire foreboding attitude, it does bear jewelled horns (as most of their designs do) that add a touch of femininity to them. Some of the best illustrations in this book also serve as detailed studies of the human form. Boris and Julie partly share their distinct style filled with imagery of flowers, slight backgrounds and mossy rocks left sketched and unfinished. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
P'burgh's 'Creative Urbanist'By Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com I first met Connor Sites-Bowen at The Cyberpunk Apocalypse Writers' Project one evening in January. The event was the cooperative's monthly Cool-Off, a sort of show-and-tell for artists, writers, and community artists in Pittsburgh. Connor and I immediately started chatting. Soon, I found him to be an engaging and curious fellow. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and an Americorps food bank worker, Connor fell in love with Pittsburgh early on in his college career and wants nothing more but to nurture and explore the city. His recent project--a form of combined urban and environmental art--highlights his unique gift for seeing potential in a post-industrial city.
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A Slice of Paradise in the Heart of RVA By Josephine Stone QuailBellMagazine.com In a city boasting plenty of parks--over 100 when counting public pools--there is one Richmond park that truly combines the concrete jungle with its residents' love for art. Paradise Park, or what I've always known to be called Geometry Park, is nestled between brick alleyways in the heart of the Fan near the 1700 block of Grove Avenue. Towering over the painted cement structures are old homes--Paradise like a colorful knife cutting through the quiet still of the neighborhood. My first visit to Paradise Park was sometime last winter and I can easily remember the awe I felt at the existence of such a unique spot, built with no real purpose but to be. The large shapes that almost look haphazardly stacked provide places to hide and climb (or attempt to!), but when it comes to parks in the general sense--Paradise stands alone. Lack of trees, lack of children play things...but no lack of creativity and incomparable qualities. With a recent (within the last couple of years) paint job, Paradise adds a small splash of color to a hidden corner of Virginia's river city. For more information on Richmond's many parks, visit Richmond Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities website. |
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