Monday, December 26, 2011

Alphabeast #11 Kiyohime


Kiyohime is a spurned woman whose rage turned her into a serpent as she pursued the priest who tried to escape from her. He tried to hide under a bell, but she found him...

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Alphabeast #10 Jorogumo



A ghost or goblin of Japanese folklore. According to some stories, a Jorōgumo is a spider that can change its appearance into that of a seductive woman. The name can be translated as "binding lady" or "whore spider". It also names an actual spider species, black with yellow stripes, that spins a web with a golden tint.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Alphabeast #9 Inkanyamba


The Inkanyamba is a legendary serpent said to be living in a waterfall lake area in the northern forests near Pietermaritzburg most commonly in the base of Howick Falls, South Africa. The Zulu tribes of the area believe it to be a large serpent with a horse like head. Most active in the summer months, it is believed that the Inkanyamba's anger causes the seasonal storms.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Alphabeast #8 Hesperides



In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Alphabeast #7 Ganas



Servants of Shiva in Hindu folklore.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Alphabeast # 6 Futakuchi-onna



A futakuchi-onna is a type of yōkai or Japanese monster. They are characterized by their two mouths – a normal one located on her face and second one on the back of the head beneath the hair. There, the woman's skull splits apart, forming lips, teeth and a tongue, creating an entirely functional second mouth.

The soon-to-be futakuchi-onna is usually a wife of a miser and rarely eats. To counteract this, a second mouth mysteriously appears on the back of the woman's head. The second mouth often mumbles spiteful and threatening things to the woman and demands food. If it is not fed, it can screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain. Eventually, the woman's hair begins to move like a pair of serpents, allowing the mouth to help itself to the woman's meals.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Alphabeast # 5 Enfield



The enfield is a creature sometimes used in heraldry, having the head of a fox, forelegs like an eagle's talons, the chest of a greyhound, the body of a lion, the hindquarters and tail of a wolf.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Alphabeasts #4 Drakaina Delphyne


In Greek mythology, a drakaina is a female dragon, sometimes with human-like features. Delphyne is the drakaina who was appointed by her mother, Gaea, to guard the oracle of Delphi.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Alphabeast #3 Chudail



A chudail is a female ghost out of Hindu folklore. The spirit is said to be of a low-caste woman who died either in childbirth or during her menstruating.

Legend says that they hold young men captive until they are elderly, or else make love to them until they become so weak that they die to join the spirit.

She appears either as a hideous creature with long sagging breasts and unkempt hair, or as a beautiful young woman who can charm any man.

I chose to show her as both.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Alphabeasts # 2 Bluecap



A bluecap or blue cap is a mythical fairy or ghost in English folklore. They inhabit mines and appear as small blue flames. If miners treat them with respect, the bluecaps lead them to rich deposits of minerals. Bluecaps can also forewarn miners of cave-ins.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

AlphaBeasts! #1: Ammit


In ancient Egyptian religion, Ammit (also spelled Ammut and Ahemait, meaning Devourer or Soul Eater) was a female demon with a body that was part lion, hippopotamus and crocodile>— the three largest "man-eating" animals known to ancient Egyptians.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The only two items in the mail: the light bill and a solicitation for a credit card.
Seems a little too appropriate to be a coincidence.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Did you ever see a movie trailer that made you want to see the film...
even less?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Tax Day looms overhead like a...
tax day.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Non-stop flights from Japan.
Almost wish I'd taken stock on that.

Friday, January 14, 2011

34 years after it was made,
"Oh, God" still resonates with me.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My neighbors finally took their lights down.
I guess they had an Epiphany.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

OK, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is to have completed my challenge.
I don't have to blog daily anymore. So the first thing I do? Blog about it.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Imani

I think crises of faith
should be color coded.

Kuumba

Have a new idea for a series of images based on my favorite characters from literature.
Studies for these drawings will begin today.