I'm working on a new collage: It's still in the opening phases, where I'm shuffling things around. I need to add some hand-drawn elements, or maybe I don't. The thought of trying to hand-draw what I want right now is daunting. I reckon it's too late in the day. I had to go to the library to print most of this stuff out, and I picked up what was supposed to be a humorous look at etiquette while I was waiting for the person who ran the computer lab to come back from their break. It was not funny. I put it back and got Emily Post. (I've been thinking a lot about this article, which is much funnier than aforementioned book.) The printing trip was my second trip to the library today. Earlier in the day, I went to pick up my holds. These holds included the wonderful Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art, by Susan L. Aberth. I had the great pleasure of meeting Susan at the 2017 Occult Humanities Conference, where she gave a talk about Leonora Carrington. Some fun quote highlights: "Harold Carrington had no patience with his daughter's interest in art, thinking painting was 'horrible and idiotic' and that 'you didn't do art - if you did, you were either poor or homosexual, which were more or less the same sort of crime'. Speechless at this one: "Friends, mostly other artists, often interrupted [Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington's] romantic idyll in the country and these visits were full of fun and pranks. Carrington remembers playing culinary practical jokes on guests, such as serving them up an omelette full of their own hair, cut while they slept during the previous night. This book is really wonderful, and it's the first book about Leonora's life and work written in English. She had a really fantastic mind, a genius, in my opinion. I love her collected short stories - I am so wild about them that I bought three copies, one for myself and two to give to friends. I hope that one day my imagination can reach these heights.
The Occult Humanities Conference stays changing my life. I went to the third annual conference in 2017 with my friend Sharon. "This asshole has an MFA," I hissed to her during one particularly wild presentation. "Why don't we have our MFAs?" And now Sharon is in England, working on her MFA, and I am in a less glamorous place, applying for my MFA. I was unable to attend last year's conference, but I did attend the Occult Humanities Conference Afterparty, hosted by none other than the gracious and charming Cliff the Sorcerer. (I have been screaming about Cliff the Sorcerer for months and I will not stop now.) The aftereffects of Sorcery Party are still making themselves known. I met a lot of fun people at Sorcery Party - here's some links if you have an interest in the metaphysical: Shannon Taggart is a friend of my advisor, Dr. Cath, who graciously +1'd me into Sorcery Party. She is a photographer who gave what I'm sure was a stellar talk on 'Myth, Magic, and Michael Jackson' that I was sad to miss. She has a lovely coffee-table book on Spiritualism called SÉANCE, collecting her photographs on Spiritualist practices in the United States, England, and Europe. (Fourth-generation Spiritualist Dan Aykroyd provides the foreword.) Shannon is lovely and funny and I am a huge fan. She told us so many great stories during Sorcery Party and I just sat next to her and refilled her bourbon when it got low. Chaweon Koo was super friendly and fun to talk to as well. She does a YouTube series called Witches & Wine that is full of interviews with many different types of occult people! Her journey as an atheist witch has been super interesting for me to follow along with. I've really enjoyed her stories about launching sigils on roller coasters and working glamour magic. Of course, I met so many people at Sorcery Party! These are just some of them. I look forward to (hopefully) any and all Sorcery Parties that may occur in the future. Last October was really the time for parties!
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AuthorArtist, essayist, divinity school dropout. Here for a good time, not for a long time. Archives
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