Odd-Fish Art: Two Views of Jo Hazelwood
March 25, 2010
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The Odd-Fish art show on April 17 is fast approaching, and the art has been piling up! Today I want to honor two different takes on our heroine Jo Hazelwood.
The portrait above is by Britnee Berman, who goes by the name Slimyfrogz on DeviantArt. It’s a knockout! I appreciate how Britnee’s packed it with symbolic heft—Jo’s mask, hood, and finger-to-the-lips indicating her secret life, the ingenious candlestick that is a fish vomiting out a building (I especially love that), the fish ring, the subtle fish barrette. The atmosphere of hushed secrecy is cunningly reinforced by the muted blues and grays. It’s beautiful. Thanks, Britnee!
Here’s another view of Jo, by collage artist Carol Mollica, whose work I’ve shared on the blog before:
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I like the goth look of Jo here—worthy of a Tim Burton character!—and how Carol runs the gold thread alongside the prophecy about being “the bride of the apocalypse” and Ian lurking in the margin. The Chinese (Japanese? Eldritch City?) coins are a nice touch as well. Carol’s got a totally unique collage style of arranging illustration, text, and emblems, and it’s a very welcome addition to the show! You can visit her blog “Artist In Progress” here.
A few more links: I wrote an essay for the Guide to Literary Agents about the Odd-Fish fan art show about collaborating with readers. And here I do an audio interview with Nancy Carpentier Brown of the American Chesterton Society. I’m fascinated by G.K. Chesterton’s work (especially The Man Who Was Thursday and The Club of Queer Trades, so how could I resist the invitation? (The interview itself is about 20 minutes in.)