The Infinite Corpse: A Chain Comic

I stumbled across a clever artist project this weekend that I want to share with you. The Infinite Corpse: A Chain Comic by 451 Artists is based loosely on an early 20th century game called the Exquisite Corpse played by French Surrealists in which images or words are added by players to create a story or picture. Look it up; you might want to try it out at your next party. The Infinite Corpse picks up a storyline, with a few changes, where an earlier version called The Narrative Corpse left off.

In The Infinite Corpse, artists were asked to continue a story by drawing the next three panels of a comic strip. Each artist had to play off what was previously done. The result is a story with twists and turns in a variety of artistic styles to keep you wanting more. The collaborators say there is no beginning and no end so you can drop into the story anywhere.

Here are a few samples in random order.

Sean Mac

Keny Widjaja

Claudia Piras

Andy Warner

Fun, right?! It's addictive so, be careful.

Shopping at Galibardy

It's monday and I don't want to go to work so, at some point, I'll start shopping online. It's just inevitable. If you're not sure where to shop then make your first stop Galibardy.com: Get in touch with your dark side with Galibardy's eternal love for the macabre. Galibardy is based in London and claims to be "London's purveyors of cult tough luxe Memento Mori jewelry." Oh, those Brits.

These are a few of my favorites.

Enamel Anatomical Jawless Human Skull Ring

Alchemy Black Dropper Stud Earrings

Black Spider Web Necklace

Dinosaur Skull Quetzalcoatlus Ring

Black Beaded Crystal Statement Choker

Silver Demon Tattoo Mask Earrings

Sugar Skull Rose Flower Silver Ring

Let the spending begin!

Delightful Umbrellas

I hear the sound of rain outside my window and I love it. It's melting the snow and cleaning everything up. That has inspired me to start looking for a new umbrella. April is right around the corner.

If you're looking for elegance, you can't go wrong with a simple black umbrella that has a distinctive knob at the end of the cane. Archer Adams is a London shop that has several to choose from with prices that will make you cough daintily into your handkerchief. One of these would be a perfect gift for someone special.

A lot less expensive but still rather distinguished is this black umbrella at Amazon. You still get the skull knob.

Black Skull Umbrella

Now, if you want to be noticed you might purchase one of these.

Laughing Skull Umbrella

Sourpuss Skull Umbrella

Anatomical Skull Umbrella

Unlucky Umbrella

Uglydoll Ice Bat Umbrella

If you're felling rather Gorey-esque, you might consider this umbrella. It's a favorite of mine

Gothic Umbrella

Now, go jump in a puddle.

Seven Deadly Sins

The seven deadly sins are not particularly scary, but they are deliciously evil. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride just roll of your tongue. I'm going to try to hit them all in one day. Is there a seven deadly sins celebration day? There should be. Shall we say July, 7th?

In the meantime, we'll prepare for our new holiday by looking at what some artists have done.

Jewelry designer Stephen Webster created a stunning collection of rings and pendants. Here are a few examples, but you can see the entire collection at Beautifullife.

Lust

Wrath

Pride

Envy

Kacper Hamilton created a delicate collection of glassware. DeZeen Magazine has a lovely feature.

Greed

Sloth

Gluttony

Now that we're inspired, let's go shopping. Here are my Etsy finds.

Chopshopstore

loveandvictory

IvanandLucy

Start planning your Seven Deadly Sins party now.

March 25: Tolkien Reading Day

Since 2003, the Tolkien Society has celebrated Tolkien Reading Day on March 25th (significant as the date of the fall of Sauron, just so you know.) Way before the Dementors, there were the Nazûgl, the  Ringwraiths, the Black Riders.

From The Fellowship of The Ring, Frodo first encounters the Nazgûl:

Round the corner came a black horse, no hobbit-pony but a full-size horse; and on it sat a large man, who seemed to crouch in the saddle, wrapped in a great black cloak and hood, so that only his boots in the high stirrups showed below; his face was shadowed and invisible.

When it reached the tree and was level with Frodo the horse stopped. The riding figure sat quite still with its head bowed, as if listening. From inside the hood came a noise as of someone sniffing to catch an elusive scent; the head turned from side to side of the road.

A sudden unreasoning fear of discovery laid hold of Frodo, and he thought of his ring...

The hoofs drew nearer. They had no time to find any hiding place better than the general darkness under the trees; Sam and Pippin crouched behind a large tree-bole, while Frodo crept back a few yards towards the lane. It showed grey and pale, a line of fading light through the wood. Above it the stars were thick in the dim sky, but there was no moon. 

The sound of hoofs stopped. As Frodo watched he saw something dark pass across the lighter space between two trees, and then halt. It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow. The black shadow stood close to the point where they had left the path, and it swayed from side to side. Frodo thought he heard the sound of snuffling. The shadow bent to the ground, and then began to crawl towards him.

Spooky Ex Libris

My little collection of spooky books are growing enough for me to think about housing them in a spooky little library. I need to keep them away from my book-biting cat. But since I don't know where I'll put another bookcase, I'll amuse myself with putting some spooky bookplates in them.

I found these on Etsy, of course. Which would you pick?

Cavaleras Couple by AsspocketProductions

Raven Perched On Skull by AsspocketProductions

Spooky Spiders by ahueofduckeggblue

Plague Doctor by AsspocketProductions

3 Skeletons by AsspocketProductions

Anatomical Heart by terbearco

Sugar Skulls by AsspocketProduction

Skull and Book by AsspocketProductions

Black Raven by Exlibrisstudio

Anatomical Skulls by AsspocketProductions

Nautical Octopus by nancynikkodesign

Black Insects by XnPurple

All of Them, Witches by BedlamSupplyCo

Two Ravens by Exlibrisstudio

Cat Bookplate by steelgoddess