What hath the elm tree to do with literature? The American elm was mostly destroyed by Dutch elm disease, first recorded in the US in 1930. Lone, isolated American elms still exist, but only one alley of American elms remains, found in Central Park, New York City. These beautiful, curvy survivors line Literary Walk, alternatingContinue reading “Trees Please 1: Ode to Elms”
Category Archives: Pen and Ink Illustration
Para-Holidays: Valentine Cards from Backhanded Greetings
When You Don’t Care to Send the Very Best. Or, What I really meant to say was… Hey, I know Valentine’s Day should be sweet-n-romantic, but how ’bout a little honesty, too? Just in time for the Holiday of Love (oh, please), creative sister muse Morra Morron created some lovely Valentine’s for Backhanded Greetings. Enjoy!Continue reading “Para-Holidays: Valentine Cards from Backhanded Greetings”
Picture Frames and Ephemera: A Valentine from Hankry and Hankrietta Grunt
Raking Goodwill for books and other stuff I don’t need, I harvested a vintage frame for another painting, and in that frame, this lovely floral print, ©1926 Manz-Chicago in the lower left. The color print company Manz Corporation opened in 1866, originally as J. Manz Engraving Company. (Information courtesy of Wikipedia.) Another beautiful bit ofContinue reading “Picture Frames and Ephemera: A Valentine from Hankry and Hankrietta Grunt”
New Year New Creatures: A Nod to Anthropomorphism
*Warning: Potty Humor! Oh no! * Anthropomorphism appears throughout literature even more than good writing, before the well-known Aesop’s Fables to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, from Anubis to the Easter bunny, like one of my favorites, The Country Bunny and the Little Golden Shoes. Anthropomorphism, giving non-human creatures and entities human characteristics, creates endless possibilitiesContinue reading “New Year New Creatures: A Nod to Anthropomorphism”
Corsets: A Step Back in Time with Hankrietta Grunt
Cruising through Fashions of a Decade: The 1920’s, I crossed this reproduction of an advertisement for corsets. Now, in small part, corsets have made a comeback… Hankrietta thought them becoming, so tried one herself… …and came up with a mix of 1920’s and 2020’s fashion… …however, in the end, decided to doff the corset andContinue reading “Corsets: A Step Back in Time with Hankrietta Grunt”
“It’s the Most Horrible Time of the Year”…if you’re a pine or a spruce or a fir.
Humorous comment and original illustration and poem regarding the slaughter of live trees over the Christmas holiday, featuring The Eve of the Undead Christmas Trees!
Beasts in the Books
Trotting along on my little hooves… oh, sorry there! Clackety-clack, slow it down from a trot to a walk to a tie-up at the blog post. While researching Russian literature as part of a book I’m writing and will shamelessly promote when ready, I came across a curious passage from Alexander Pushkin’s 1837 version ofContinue reading “Beasts in the Books”
Horror and the Holidays
I thought I was done with any horror themes for a while, then remembered a blast from the past–watching horror movies during the holidays, particularly Dracula and Mary Reilly. An antidote to the requisite cheerfulness and overabundance of sweets? Perhaps, but upon reading the introduction in the Biblioasis version of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1952 shortContinue reading “Horror and the Holidays”
Turkey Reprieve
Pen and ink characters Hankry and Hankrietta Grunt celebrate Thanksgiving with their friend Renfield and a surprise turkey substitute.
Syncopated Logic: Life in the Twenties
featuring Hankry Grunt & wife Hello, and welcome back to Wander in a Box. Today I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Hankry Grunt and his wife Hankrietta, stuck in the Twenties yet living in the Twenties nonetheless. Mr. Grunt’s behavior may offend, but have patience and grace, as he is no more or lessContinue reading “Syncopated Logic: Life in the Twenties”
Wander in a Box 