The Hammond Sketch

“The hero is a boy magician,” I said. “The object of the quest is a musical instrument that grew from a unicorn horn. And there’s a dragon.”

I recited the legend of the Great Horn of the Unicorn and went on to describe the image I had in mind. I knew exactly what I wanted for the book cover. The difficulty lay in putting the image into another mind—one attached to an artist’s hand.

The target of this latest attempt was the mind of Cris Hammond, who now pulled a graphite point across rough grain paper. As a kind gesture, he agreed to make a sketch I could show to potential illustrators.

Sketchpad on knee, Cris began to draw. He guided the pencil, held between thumb and two fingers, in smooth broad curves and quick strokes. The wrist remained fixed, the elbow supple. The artist directed the work from the shoulder. I listened to the scratching of pencil on paper and resisted the urge to peek.

Twenty minutes later, Cris held up the pad. “What do you think?”

“That’s it. That’s the image in my head!”

The Hammond Sketch

The Hammond Sketch

This sketch by Cris Hammond is being further developed by another artist to become the cover illustration for

Petit Lot
et le Grand Cor de la licorne

November 2017
Peregrine Publishing

Cris also gave me the name of an artist he thought capable of realizing the illustration. In October, we’ll see the finished drawing by David Jones.

Friday, we’ll have a sneak preview of the Prologue (French). Meanwhile, you can read la légende du Grand Cor de la licorne (French).


San Francisco Bay area artist and writer Cris Hammond earned fame as a nationally syndicated cartoonist with “Speed Walker, Private Eye” in the 1980s. After one career in special effects design at Industrial Light and Magic and another as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, he navigated the rivers and canals in southern France aboard a barge with his wife, Linda, mooring for a few years at the Port de l’Arsenal in Paris. There he painted landscapes of the French countryside and wrote a memoir of the journey, From Here to Paris. Cris is also the author of Short Pours: The Stan Chronicles, a short fiction collection set on the U.S. west coast.

Returned to the homeland last year, Cris and Linda are planning their next adventure from Sausalito, California.

Continue ReadingThe Hammond Sketch

Millet’s Paris

Between the Second French Revolution (1830) and the Third (1848), was the reign of Louis-Philippe. France would later have one more emperor, but Louis-Philippe was its last king.

During the First French Revolution, the ruling National Convention abolished the monarchy. Beginning in 1792, a series of parliamentary regimes called the First Republic followed. It was a period of wars and civil unrest that began with the Terror and gave way to the First Empire in 1804.

After the fall of Napoléon I in 1815, the monarchy was restored. Under Louis XVIII then Charles X, though the King of France was limited by a constitution, he still enjoyed divine right and the nation conceded to the absolute sovereign.

This period, called the Restoration, ended with the Trois Glorieuses, the Second Revolution named after the “Three Glorious” days in July, 1830, in which it took place. The last king was then installed. No divine right, no absolute sovereign, not even properly King of France, Louis-Philippe was titled “King of the French.”

Occupied with matters of state and his own head, Louis-Philippe, like the Restoration kings before him, paid little attention to the state of the capital. This was Victor Hugo’s Paris: impoverished, polluted, overpopulated, and disease-ridden. The growing working class, fuel for a nascent industrial economy, crowded the city center. Population density rose to 100,000 per square kilometer (compared to today’s 20,000/km2), a propitious environment for the spread of cholera. Above this cityscape, increased iron and coal production clouded the air with black soot.

In winter 1837, Jean-François Millet left his Normandy homeland. In a letter to Alfred Sensier, the peasant-painter later wrote (translation mine):

“I left with a heavy heart, and everything I saw on the road and in Paris only afflicted me more. Seeing the wide, straight roads, the trees in lines, the flat plains, the pastures so rich in verdure and livestock, that they seemed to me rather theater decor than real nature…! And Paris, black, muddy, smoky, where I arrived one evening, was for me the most painful as well as the most discouraging.”

Les Halles by Léon Augustin Lhermite

Les Halles by Léon Augustin Lhermite (1895)

Continue ReadingMillet’s Paris

Vict’ry Paperback Release Sale

The Way to Vict’ry - Haiku Illustrated on Amazon

RELEASE SALE

Get the paperback edition of
The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile
at up to half off the cover price

This offer won’t last long — Get it now!

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The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated

The Way to Vict’ry

Three haiku about success, happiness,
and daring to do the most impossible things

“The most extraordinary book
of three haiku ever published!”

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
by Cristina Basile

Now available in paperback

Paperback
Available on Amazon

Ebook
Available on Amazon

 

Continue ReadingVict’ry Paperback Release Sale

Haiku Illustrated — Proof Copy

The proof copy of The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile has arrived! It looks great, but the printed proof reveals a couple problems that can be fixed.

Perfection is possible on rare occasions. This is one.

The corrections are easily made, and the proofing process will require only a couple more days delay. I look forward to the release announcement around the middle of the week.

Keep a peregrine’s eye out for that, because I expect to launch with a special reduced price for the first few days.

Title haiku and facing illustration

Title haiku and facing illustration from the proof copy

 

The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated

The Way to Vict’ry

“The most extraordinary book
of three haiku ever published!”

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
by Cristina Basile

In ebook and paperback editions

Continue ReadingHaiku Illustrated — Proof Copy

Bruce Nellsmith, Artist & Mentor

Bruce Nellsmith

Bruce Nellsmith

Now that the statute of limitations has run out on aiding and abetting escape from an institution of higher education, I can make it generally known that Bruce Nellsmith was my mentor and art professor at Newberry College.

For three semesters, Bruce and I drank Chock full o’Nuts from the all-day pot and discussed philosophy, the nature of art, and the artist’s challenges. Mixed aromas of burnt coffee, turpentine, and linseed oil filled the studio, and Lou Reed jangled lyrics over guitar rhythms, while I pushed thick paint across canvas and plotted evasion.

In those days, Bruce painted over-sized pieces, which only galleries could accommodate. The artist justified the choice, “This isn’t the kind of thing somebody’s going to hang on a wall over the sofa anyway.”

Indeed, critics raved about the abstract images in earth tones until, looking closer, they understood the subject matter. Then they were outraged by the socio-political themes and wanton violence.

Blue Church in the Bend - Bruce Nellsmith

Blue Church in the Bend

18” x 20”
acrylic on panel

Bruce’s art has evolved since then. These days he spends a few weeks in France every year, touring the country and drawing inspiration from meandering streets and shady avenues, crowded markets and bridges over languid rivers. He winds up the tour in Paris, where he and I got to catch up last month over drinks at a terrace café in the Marais.

Quillan Clock Tower - Bruce Nellsmith

Quillan Clock Tower

12” x 8”
hand pulled monotype

I asked him what happened to the enormous canvases and grim topics.

His reply: “Eventually, I decided to paint what appeals to me, what moves me, and let go of the political statements.”

Bruce told me about his current exhibit, “A French Connection,” at Ellis-Nicholson Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, which showcases work from his tours in France. It’s more colorful, less controversial, and it fits conveniently on a wall above the sofa.

The images here are from that show.

 

Women at Market II - Bruce Nellsmith

Women at Market II

60” x 48”
acrylic on canvas

Winery on the Mediterranean - Bruce Nellsmith

Winery on the Mediterranean

22” x 22”
oil on canvas

Fabric Market - Bruce Nellsmith

Fabric Market

24” x 30”
acrylic on canvas

The Paris Wedding - Bruce Nellsmith

The Paris Wedding

24” x 30”
acrylic on canvas

 


Bruce Nellsmith is Professor of Visual Arts at Newberry College, South Carolina. He splits time between teaching in Newberry and working at a studio on the beach in Edisto, where he lives with his wife, Kathy.

See more of Bruce’s work at www.brucenellsmith.com. Visit Bruce’s current show at Ellis-Nicholson Gallery and, in February 2018, at City Art Gallery, Columbia, SC.
 


An art degree stuffed inside his shirt, Stephen Wendell escaped from Newberry College over 25 years ago. Now a writer, he enjoys working with more talented artists to make beautiful books. His latest collaborative endeavor, The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile, is available this month in ebook and paperback editions.

Continue ReadingBruce Nellsmith, Artist & Mentor

Vict’ry Illustrated for Pre-order

To be released Friday, July 14, the Kindle edition of The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile is now available for pre-order at a reduced price.

Place your order now to get this beautifully illustrated ebook for only 99 cents. The book will be delivered automatically to your Kindle device on Friday.

The price goes up to regular retail, $1.99, on the day of release.

 

The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated

The Way to Vict’ry

“The most extraordinary book
of three haiku ever published!”

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
by Cristina Basile

In ebook and paperback editions

Ebook
Available on Amazon

 Paperback coming soon!
Continue ReadingVict’ry Illustrated for Pre-order

Leap from a high branch

The Kindle edition of The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile is scheduled for release Friday, July 14. The paperback edition will come out toward the end of the month. Below is a preview from the ebook, the third haiku with its illustration.

Leap from a high branch - ebook preview

The Way to Vict’ry: Haiku Illustrated by Cristina Basile

“The most extraordinary book of three haiku ever published!”

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
by Cristina Basile

ebook and paperback editions

 

Subscribers to A Peregrine’s Path get the electronic edition (PDF, EPUB, and Mobipocket) of this book free on release.

 

A Peregrine’s Path
News of Stephen’s upcoming releases, previews of his books, and exclusive offers from
Peregrine Publishing

Continue ReadingLeap from a high branch

Haiku Illustrated

Coming this summer!
 

The Way to Vict’ry Illustrated by Cristina Basile

“The most extraordinary book of three haiku ever published”

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
by Cristina Basile

ebook and paperback editions

 

Subscribers to A Peregrine’s Path get the electronic edition (PDF, EPUB, and Mobipocket) of this book free on release.

 

A Peregrine’s Path
News of Stephen’s upcoming releases, previews of his books, and exclusive offers from
Peregrine Publishing

Continue ReadingHaiku Illustrated

Rez de Jardin, Bibliotèque François Mitterrand

Bibliotèque François MitterrandI met Tom at a café I call the field office. Tom teaches history of religion to high school sophomores in Arizona. He comes to Paris every year to do research at the Bibliotèque François Mitterrand.

Tom said, “I work six floors under ground on the garden level.”

I said, “I gotta see that,” and we made plans to meet the next day.

 

Tom wasn't kidding. The Rez de Jardin is the research floor at the BnF. This photo was taken from the entrance level overlooking the garden, which is rather more like a forest.

Rez de JardinJardin at the Bibliotèque François Mitterrand

Below, the garden is surrounded by room after room of books and work spaces. Labeled by letters K through Y, the rooms are classed by subject: philosophy, history, science and technology, economics, politics, art and literature, and the rare book reserve.

Rare booksTom gave me a tour. We got as far as the rare book reserve…

The rare books are kept in room Y. To get to room Y, there’s a door in the back of room T. The door leads to a narrow elevator that goes up two floors into a low-ceiling space, filled with chest-high book cases, quiet, and dimly lit. A friendly, young man took our accreditation cards and let us browse. I was hoping he’d give us white cotton gloves.

Genesis  Gutenberg BibleThese are facsimiles of Caxton’s 1485 edition of Le Morte d’Arthur and a Gutenberg Bible.

Caxton's edition of Malory  1485

 

 No gloves required.

Continue ReadingRez de Jardin, Bibliotèque François Mitterrand