You may know that I am an artist as well as a writer of poetry, and that I have an art blog, Claudia McGill and Her Art World , in addition to this one. Recently I’ve completed a set of illustrations for a writing project, 28 days of flash fiction at Fictive Dream, an online magazine devoted to the short story.

The event is called Flash Fiction February and is going on right now, with a new flash fiction story each day. I’m showing you the artworks and presenting a short analysis of how I interpreted the story in paint, inks, and collage. I hope that once you look over what I’ve set out here, you will visit Fictive Dream and read the stories!

If you want to know more about the artwork side of the project, my art blog is currently featuring the artworks I did plus some posts outlining the ins and outs of my illustration process. 

25. No Remorse, by CG Thompson, February 25. This story is a suspenseful one with a main character who takes the situation into her own hands when things go bad at an ATM.  I included elements mentioned in the text – the red sign, the mugger, the dark night – in both paintings that I did.

For the first one (Image 51), I was influenced by a phrase in the story – “kaleidoscope of half thoughts”. It seemed to me to describe how a person in a stressful situation would view things – everything whirling around – while reality went on in a straight line.

For the second image (Image 52), I emphasized the elements of the car from inside looking out through the windshield: the steering wheel, the mugger in headlights, the yellow flower, and the red sign. Same elements, different look. Perhaps in that moment of clarity that leads to the conclusion of the incident?

Fictive Dream editor Laura Black’s comments:

Sweet revenge! I couldn’t help but to be on the protagonist’s side in No Remorse by CG Thompson. As you said, you created two artworks using the same elements but with different looks and both support the story very well. For me though, image #51 encapsulates the horror of this story. The emphasis on the headlights shining forcefully on the mugger brings the image to life. Also, I feel the details on the left with the turquoise reflect the inner chaos of the young woman. Fabulous.

26. Cuddle Inc., by Steve Carr, February 26. For this story of wanting to make connections, I used blue as the main color as it was present in different ways in the text – the TV set, the dark sky and stars, the symbolic color of water via the fish tank. I made two images for the story.

The first one (Image 8) reflected my feeling that this story presented one “reality” and then flipped it – the comforter in the end being the one needing to be comforted. I divided the picture into segments and reversed the columns, darks and pales, with a nod to the night sky and the orange fish in the aquarium.

The second image (Image 9) was done in the same colors but focused on the idea of the fish, with his change in status from favorite and comforting presence to dead and of no use, and in fact, another something to mourn over.

Laura Black’s comments:

The colour blue suits Cuddle Inc. by Steve Carr perfectly. It’s a sad story with lonely characters looking for human connection. I chose image # 8 because I like your idea of the reversal of roles – the comforter needing to be comforted. The dash of orange really lifts the artwork and, of course, is relevant to the story. Image #9 employs the same colours and would have worked equally well but I thought #8 with its ‘blocks’ would stand out more among the thumbnail views.

 

27. Ab Ovo, by Iris N. Schwartz, February 27. The author included this note with the story: Ab ovo: Latin: “from the beginning” (Collins English Dictionary); also, “the origin, the egg” (Wikipedia). It’s an affectionate story of a family, lots of mentions of laughter, but tinged with some sadness. Food, family meals, and eating food is the focus. The egg is the image that recurs throughout the story and ties it all together.

I used this idea to create two paintings with similar colors but different arrangements. I was clear from the beginning how I wanted to represent the story but I also wanted to try a couple of different compositions.

Both pictures include four “eggs”, one for each family member, and the background is made up of the colors of other foods mentioned:broccoli, yams, ketchup, orange juice, melon, and coffee.

I also put some biggish speckles to represent freckles, as mentioned in the text.

Image 59:

 

Image 60:

Laura Black’s comments:

What can I say about these two beautiful images? I loved the colours you used, I love the dominance of the eggs, and I love their energy. You presented me with a difficult choice but, in the end, I chose image #60. Two points influenced my choice. Firstly, the four eggs in #60 seem more anchored than their counterparts in #59. Strangely, this gives the eggs a certain movement whereas in image #59 the eggs have a floating quality. I like how the eggs engage with the family member at the breakfast table. Secondly, the banner is positioned above the eggs so that all of them are in full view.

 

28. Malachy, Niamh McCabe, February 28. This story concerned the death of a beloved family member from the perspective of the niece who had a special relationship with her uncle who is now about to leave her.

For the first image (Image 53), the girl is outside in the garden playing with the dog while the family waits. I used a green background to represent the garden and created a house full of people in black and white, mourning colors. I represented the uncle with a little bit of red, for his warm presence and set the narrator out in the yard, with the dog, surrounded by sunny colors, to represent the kind of relationship the uncle and narrator had had.

For the second image (Image 54), I focused on the uncle and narrator’s relationship – a
happy little memory of everyday things that is now enveloped in the solemnity of death and death rituals, separated forever now from daily reality by his death. I represented the two people by the green circles and put them in a small green garden – the memory of their relationship living on fresh and alive for the niece.

Laura Black’s comments:

Malachy by Niamh MacCabe is set in Ireland. You said you had a little difficulty in engaging with some of the references in this story and, that in order to create the artwork, you placed it in a context with which you were familiar. Then you said, ‘I guess any way into a story is a good way?’ I think this is absolutely right. Both of your options would have done justice to this story. I chose image #53 because it focuses on happier days with its beautiful green grass and blue sky. I very much like the contrast between the mourning taking place in the house and the undertones of happier days that are reflected in the garden.

And there you have it – the seventh four stories and their images. We are at the end of the stories for Flash Fiction February 2019. Thank you for reading!

Notes on the project:

My practice with each story was to read it very carefully, making notes and small sketches about elements that sparked a visual image. Fictive Dream editor Laura Black also gave me her input for each story. All the artwork is non-representational as outlined in the specifications Laura had for the project. The paintings are about 11.5″ x 7.25″ each and are primarily acrylics on watercolor paper, although there is some collage work as well. I usually made a couple of images per story and Laura chose which one would be displayed with the story.

 

You may know that I am an artist as well as a writer of poetry, and that I have an art blog, Claudia McGill and Her Art World , in addition to this one. Recently I’ve completed a set of illustrations for a writing project, 28 days of flash fiction at Fictive Dream, an online magazine devoted to the short story.

The event is called Flash Fiction February and is going on right now, with a new flash fiction story each day. I’m showing you the artworks and presenting a short analysis of how I interpreted the story in paint, inks, and collage. I hope that once you look over what I’ve set out here, you will visit Fictive Dream and read the stories!

If you want to know more about the artwork side of the project, my art blog is currently featuring the artworks I did plus some posts outlining the ins and outs of my illustration process. 

 

21. Pupazzo, by Salvatore Difalco, February 21. This story is about a man trapped by his inner turmoil and how it affects him even to how his own body moves. He has become one with his fears. There is great sadness and lack of hope.

In the first image (Image 18), I used the falling snow as described in the text, employing cold colors. I was thinking of the apartment building (from outside) and how the narrator is trapped in it with the persistent images of the accident, the transference of what he saw into his own body, and the resulting stiffness and immobility that he experiences. I used the  bent shapes to represent the jerky movements and angled postures always present – even at home there is no refuge.

In the second image (Image 19) I reversed the perspective and thought of the view of outdoors from inside the window, again using snow spatters and cold colors, representing the narrator trapped in his home. He is seeing the traumatic images outside that are keeping him in, and once again they are transferred into his own body and manifest themselves through it.

Fictive Dream editor Laura Black’s comments:

In Pupazzo by Salvatore Difalco the protagonist witnesses an accident and, apart from some spasmodic movements, is rendered immobile. He cannot leave his apartment, no more than he can leave the memories of the incident behind him. Of the two options you provided I chose image #18 because it keeps the reader within the apartment with the protagonist. The rectangles and squares, the cold colours and the encroaching ice all work together to give us a sense of being trapped.

 

22. On the Border of Twilight, Annie Q. Syed, February 22. This story juxtaposes the living and the dead the past and the future, against a backdrop of everyday life, the present. In both paintings I included the pink and periwinkle mentioned in the text against black, to represent the dead, and white, for the living. I made two images for this story.

The first image (Image 57) includes the couple in the story represented by pink, alive and moving into the future, under the periwinkle sky, with the past and the dead ranked on either side.

 

The second image (Image 58) includes a periwinkle and pink sky with a stark landscape in front of it, broken into pieces, the dead and the past underfoot, their day ended. Yet life is going on nonetheless for everyone in the story who is still alive – though they are living in and with the past, literally, even as they go forward.

 

Laura Black’s comments:

On the Border of Twilight by Annie Q Syed opens with a reference to a pink and white flower arrangement, a celebration of love, it would seem. Yet, the backdrop for this story is a war zone. The alternative artworks you created both reflect the conflicted emotions that the couple feels. That said, there is a sense of optimism in the story and, for me at least, this is reflected in image #57. The lovers may be surrounded by the dead, but the sky is open to them; they can move forward to some sort of future.

 

23. February 23, Baptism at Venice Beach, Jaime Balboa. This story features the saving of a girl surfer with a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situation. Is there a religious overtone here?  How reliable is the narrator’s mental state? Does the girl need saving and in what sense? The conch/oracle’s message is ambiguous. Friendly or murderous or something in between?

There was a sense of menace and an uncertainty as to what will be the outcome that I wanted to put into the art. I did two images that address two different parts of the story.

The first image (Image 28) is drawn from the daytime section of the story, when the girl is in the water in her turquoise surfing suit. I painted colors representing the girl, the surf, and the beach on top of a pink/red underlayer  which represented the conch and its message.

The second image (Image 29) is set earlier in the story and is drawn from the nighttime section when the narrator encounters the conch. I painted the night surf in dark colors on top of a black gesso layer that added more depth to the colors, even the brighter ones. I included a pink/red area to represent the conch and also a bit of turquoise spreading into the sea, to represent the girl who is the subject of the conch’s message.

Laura Black’s comments:

Baptism at Venice Beach by Jaime Balboa, which incidentally uses language in a most original way, is a dark and intriguing story. Its setting is the cold ocean on a dreary February night and image #29 encapsulates the setting perfectly. Even through the black of the image we get glimpses of colour, which represent important aspects of this piece. Image #28 with the focus on pink, red and light blue is very eye-catching. That said, I preferred the more sinister approach.

24. Altercation, by Matt Kendrick, February 24. This story was just packed with descriptions, imagery, and color, giving me plenty to work with in this story of a slice from a couple’s relationship.

I made two paintings. The first one (Image 42) relates to the fact that the story was very red to me. There were several different references including the wine, flowers, etc.…and red is traditionally the color of anger. I included the knife and the onions next to the sink in the kitchen, with the dripping faucet and its ripples, once again, to me, an expression of anger emanating out and expanding. Because I just didn’t think these people were finished with being angry.

In the second image (Image 43), I included two vague figures; I was taken by the description of there being ghosts of the people (in other moods and times) in the room. The man is defensive, the woman is accusing. I added the wine flowing around them, as it is mentioned at the end of the story as continuing to soak the tablecloth. And I also painted the crack in the ceiling, as mentioned in the text, the crack that doesn’t stay fixed. Like this relationship.

Laura Black’s comments:

Your take that Altercation by Matt Kendrick is about a relationship in which the cracks refuse to remain fixed is pretty accurate. We meet the couple during a temporary ceasefire and, with this in mind, I chose image #43. The sombre palette suits the mood, I feel. It’s testament to the story’s richness of imagery that you created two very different illustrations. You say image #42 engages with the anger that pervades the story, and you used the colour red. This illustration would certainly have supported the story but the more subdued approach seemed right for the story.

And there you have it- the sixth four stories and their images. Thank you for reading.

Notes on the project:

My practice with each story was to read it very carefully, making notes and small sketches about elements that sparked a visual image. Fictive Dream editor Laura Black also gave me her input for each story. All the artwork is non-representational as outlined in the specifications Laura had for the project. The paintings are about 11.5″ x 7.25″ each and are primarily acrylics on watercolor paper, although there is some collage work as well. I usually made a couple of images per story and Laura chose which one would be displayed with the story.