A Study in Reds

 By Glen L. Bledsoe

In this illustration we see famous detective Stanislock Lenin (far left and Dr. Hanson, his assistant and biographer, (center) receiving a report from agent Svyatopolk Jones on the latest machinations of Stanislock's evil twin brother Vladimir Lenin. (Yes, another evil Vlad!) The epic struggle between the two brothers will come to a head when they struggle on the edge of a swimming pool in downtown Los Angeles where they both will plunge into the deep end and disappear until the next book.

The Madonna of Indianapolis

By Glen L. Bledsoe

The Madonna has been depicted in a number of ways over the centuries. Initially she was painted using a technique called egg tempera, which is pigment ground into egg yoke, thinned with water and applied with short strokes. About the time of Jan Van Eyck a new technique blossomed that incorporated a layer of egg tempera painted beneath successive layers of oil glazes. This lent flesh tones a vibrant, life-like quality never seen before. Early Renaissance painters used green underpaintings which when pinkish flesh tone glazes were applied over the top created cool shadows when modeling lights and darks in human figures. A painting in the collection of the Portland Art Museum entitled "The Green Madonna" provides mute testimony to the care needed when cleaning old paintings.

While paintings are by their very nature meant to exist as long as possible they do age, and the aging adds value. Not only historic but the aging produces even more beautiful colors as the glazes grow more transparent allowing light to pass through and bounce back from the white of the gesso or lead white base paint. Also layers in old paintings react with one another and create a much-desirable, fine cracked effect called "craquelure."

Rare among the aging effects of oil paintings, however, is the aging of the Madonna herself. The accompanying reproduction of a painting entitled "The Madonna of Indianapolis" (provenance unknown) serves as probably the finest example of this phenomenon. The painting currently is in the hands of a private collector, but the image can be found in many gift shops that offer postcards when traveling to such vacation spots as Tampa, Florida; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

 

The Bather

 By Glen L. Bledsoe 

This illustration depicts the legend of the moment before Dooth, the leader of the Funnelbeaker peoples, first gazes upon Mar-Thol (who is about to disrobe to bath in the Nile) and becomes besotted with her beauty. They marry only later to be cursed with immortality with the memories of each other's face erased by Arka-Arkitutti, the Witch-Queen of the Sea Peoples. For eternity they criss-cross the planet searching for one another with aching hearts.

Somebody needs to write an opera around this.

The Bather

This illustration depicts the legend of the moment before Dooth, the leader of the Funnelbeaker peoples, first gazes upon Mar-Thol (who is about to disrobe to bath in the Nile) and becomes besotted with her beauty. They marry only later to be cursed with immortality with their memories of each other's appearance erased by Arka-Arkitutti, the Witch-Queen of the Sea Peoples. For eternity they criss-cross the planet searching for one another with aching hearts.

Somebody needs to write an opera about this.

The Curse

 

By Glen L. Bledsoe

The story of how a group of Funnelbeaker tribespeople from the area which today is the Netherlands were driven south by a megadrought 1400 years BC must wait for another day. How Dooth their leader joined forces with Egypt to defeat the Sea Peoples must also be delayed as well as the history of the establishment of the brief but powerful Egypto-Dutch Empire.

Today the tale you will learn is how Arka-Arkitutti, Witch-Queen of the Sea Peoples cursed Dooth when her ships were sunken, and her army made slaves. How she blessed and cursed Dooth as she was about to die.

As Arka-Arkitutti stood bound to the stake she said, "Dooth, you are a mighty warrior and leader of your people. You have defeated me in spite of all my magics and charms. You and the Egyptian Pharaoh will build a mighty but short-lived empire. You and your wife Mar-Thol will live forever as is your reward. Your punishment: you will be separated, perpetually seeking one another across the world and across time. Dooth, while your heart continues to burn with love, you will be unable to remember your wife's face as she will be unable to remember yours. You may cross paths a thousand thousand times looking for each other and not recognize each other's features."

And so across time Dooth, now known as Father Duvall, searches without hope for his wife. He knows not to waste his immortality. He performs good deeds wherever and whenever he is.

One Night in Paris

By Martin Sercombe

It was a typical Parisian evening, the streets bustling with people going about their business. 

But as the night progressed, the sky grew darker and the rain began to pour down in sheets.

 The Seine, which runs through the heart of the city, began to rise alarmingly.

 

Panic set in as people realized the seriousness of the situation.

 

Bicycles were quickly commandeered as people tried to flee the rising waters.

 

But not everyone was so eager to leave.

Some chose to celebrate the rain, performing comic rituals in the streets.

 

Two fashionable old ladies sat in a bar, deep in conversation and oblivious to the chaos outside.

 

 

Meanwhile, a young girl was out in the rain, rescuing a stray cat from the rising flood waters. She held the shivering animal close to her chest, trying to protect it from the elements.

Homeless men sought shelter from the storm in the doorway of Notre Dame Cathedral.

 

They huddled under blankets, trying to stay dry and warm. 

 

 A busker sang a lonely song, ignored by the panicked passersby.

His voice echoed through the streets, a haunting reminder of the fear that gripped the city.

 

 Two young boys, separated from their parents in the confusion and chaos, stood, frozen, uncertain what to do next.

 

A mime artist walked slowly down a rain-washed street, mourning the sorry state of a world driven to madness by climate change. 

 

As the night went on, the rain continued to pour down, the Seine continued to rise,

and the floodwaters spread across the city.

It was a night that no one would ever forget.

 

The Magical Shepherdess

By Glen L. Bledsoe 

A Shepherdess by the name of Miss Gowz

Tended Sheep the size of large cows

She sold wool to the spinners in town

So they might knit socks, scarves and gowns

Retold Children's Rhyme from the Egypto-Dutch Empire

Father Duvall

 

By Glen L. Bledsoe 

FATHER DUVALL, an itinerant priest, draws crowds to listen to him preach wherever he goes, whichever chapel, church, synagogue, temple, mosque, community center, manor or home invites him. He, in the company of his traveling companion Brother Neb (who in spite of being blind greets everyone he meets by name whether he has met them before or not), travel from village to village, town to town, crossing county and country borders, continents from century to century. 

Father Duvall speaks. Father Duvall takes confession. Father Duvall witnesses. Father Duvall listens and advises. Father Duvall chastens. Father Duvall investigates. Father Duvall aids those who need him in meaningful and life-changing ways. He sometimes is known by other names, other appearances, but his work is always the same.