The Challenge of Literature Blog Hop: mythic fiction, fantasy stories...

I enjoy the challenge of a Blog Hop - as evidenced by the frequency of Hop related posts lately. I am a full time working artist, in one studio or another every day. I alternate between the ceramics studio and the mixed media/ jewelry space, but as my jewelry contains ceramic components, and my ceramic shrines contain collages and found objects - you see the flow, the continuity there. These Hops give me a chance to experiment, to play, free from the deadlines of a show, hanging an exhibit, doing production work. And because I have the opportunity to share my results, my offerings, with the community, it assuages any guilt I have in not "being at work". So without further ado: 

The Challenge if Literature Blog Hop, hosted by Erin of Tesori Trovati. (She hosted the Music Hop a little while back as well...)

I chose to pay homage to one of my favorite genres, and one of my favorite authors. Charles de Lint is a Canadian author, known for his mythic and fantasy fiction, or 'urban fantasy' . His work is filled with folklore, faerie, music, urban settings, and  contemporary themes. To quote Terri Windling: ...the importance of myths in our modern society, the need for tales rich in archetypal images to give coherence to fragmented modern lives..." (xv, DU). De Lint's stories are such moderm myths. 

I picked up "Dreams Underfoot" (The first deLint I ever read) a collection of de Lint's short stories set in the town of Newford. I love all his work, but there is so much to choose from - so I went back to my beginning. These are loosely interconnected tales as he weaves a web of characters; artists, musicians, writers, dryads, conjure men...

This piece "Whispered Tales" was inspired by the story "The Conjure Man". The story revolves around the loss of the community's Tree of Tales - a rare Quercus robur/oak. (Common in Europe, but Newford is in Canada). " She was a Tree of Tales...She held stories, all the stories that the wind brought to her that were of any worth, and with each story she grew." (DU, 229) The traditional ways are growing weak with the influx of technology and people are becoming estranged; as symbolized by the loss of the Tree of Tales.  There are many new tales but "a Tree of Tales is an act of magic, of faith. It's existence becomes an affirmation of the power that the human spirit can have over its own destiny. The stories are just stories - they entertain, they make one laugh or cry - but if they have any worth, they carry within them a deeper resonance that remains long after the final page is turned, or the storyteller has come to the end of her tale..." (230, DU) The Conjure Man, a wise old soul, inspired Wendy, a young poet to start a new seedling, nurturing it with tales and poems until it can be planted. 

My piece: Cedar stained with acrylic paint, nickel silver, copper wire, tree branch with bud, grommets, micro fasteners, silk, leaf/face charm, gems, hand forged links. 

My intent: Woven elements as the tales are woven; the branch, cedar and text to evoke the Tree of Tales. 

It only seemed fitting to select a tale about tales for the Challenge of Literature Hop, where we are looking to the words on a page for our creative inspiration. de Lint's stories do resonate long after the pages are turned. He creates a real world, filled with the things I wish I could find in my real world...Perhaps you will pick up a book, or tell a tale. ( Quotes taken from Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint. 1993) 

Here are the list of fellow storytellers: