CARMINE MAGAZINE

Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his Plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself. The chance discovery of an abandoned dirigible leads Jasper through unchartered waters to an island on which lives a terrifying creature that may be the cure for the Plague. The journey back to civilization is filled with horrors but in a shocking climax, Jasper discovers that the greatest horror of all lies within man himself.

I stumbled upon this animated short film (The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello) for the first time nearly two years ago via Coilhouse. When I first watched it I knew that I would one day put together a section on Carmine Magazine called “Animation Celebration” and I would kick it off with this film. It’s gorgeous, tragic and thought provoking.

Official Website
Jasper Morello on IMDB
Buy it on DVD

© Kurt Halsey

A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music… and then people crowd about the poet and say to him: “Sing for us soon again;” that is as much as to say, “May new sufferings torment your soul.”
– Søren Kierkegaard

When I was eighteen years old I was a poet and an artist. This wasn’t my profession, I was driven to write and create by the same force that drove me to draw air into my lungs. I haven’t written a poem in about four years now, but when I was writing I churned out close to 250 poems in just a few years. Writing was my therapy, my way of quietly communicating the ideas I wanted to shout out loud. Much of it was typically angst filled, but that made the medium no less powerful to me and the way I grew though them no less effective.

Though I enjoyed the finished product of many of my poems, the process was quite painful for me. Each poem was born out of dark periods in my life, struggles, conflicts and soul searching. The reason I haven’t written in years is because I am finally happy with my life, no longer tormented with the angst and depression that defined my younger days. When I first came across this quote from Kierkegaard at eighteen I was astounded. He was able to put into words the exact feelings I had towards writing, towards creating in general.

After a year or so I forgot the Kierkegaard quote, lost on a scrap of paper in an old apartment most likely. That is until this afternoon. I visited the newly redesigned Kurt Halsey website and came across a blog post from Kurt that brought the quote rushing back into my memory. In his post (simply titled “A home for ghosts.“) Kurt talks about the differences between creating in art school which allowed him to make mistakes without thinking twice about the way that messing up a piece would effect other people, he simply used these mistakes to grow as an artist. Then in shared studio spaces with other artists, some of whom were good friends and others were quite full of themselves. Now he creates in his own home where he struggles to separate his work, his commitments, his creative mojo and the space that he needs for relaxation and escape.

It seems that many of the artists I know or have come across in recent months have been struggling with the demons their creative gifts bring along. When you depend on your creativity to pay your bills it can make those inner demons shout even louder. Every brush stroke, every line, every word you put on the paper can seem terribly hideous in your eyes. Then your paint mixing skills take an unwelcome vacation when you’re trying to finish a piece on a quickly approaching deadline. Sometimes being an artist can be really lonely. There are days when you would like nothing more than to never see a piece of your own work ever again.

Then you take a break. You leave the studio, go for a walk, grab a cup of coffee and sit down to people watch for a few hours in an area you don’t frequent very often. You breathe, you think and you wait. Eventually your creativity comes swaggering back into your life. It might take a few hours, a few days, months or perhaps even years, but it does come back. If you’re an artist at any career level you know that deep down inside you. You know that at some point you’ll begin to hear that nagging, tiny voice inside you call to you and demand your attention.

When it comes back it’s never the same, we progress, we change and we grow. Our creativity is no different. You might find after a break that you can no longer do some of the things that used to be second nature to you, things that you now have to work at and sometimes you find new talents have been added to your bag of tricks.

When things get rough take a break, even just for an hour or two. Try a different medium, if you normally use oil paints switch to watercolor or chacoal for a couple of days. Whenever I get creatively restless or blocked I switch between colored pencils, black ink pens, watercolors, acrylics and writing. It’s a constant battle to keep my wits about me when creating, I’m always learning new things and for the most part my work is always progressing. Keep at it, don’t give up and don’t let the waves of doubt you may have discourage you. You may never reach your creative goals, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth pursuing.

2009 has been quite the intense year for me thus far. I moved, I am still in the middle of starting another business and I put Carmine Magazine on the backburner. I can’t promise you that I’ve reclaimed this magazine from the backburner, but I do want to still keep it as current as possible.

We’re going to be going through a number of big changes on the site here in the coming months. I have interviews that have been in the posting queue for months and I apologize for that. I haven’t forgotten about you! Life just got in the way for a while. We’ve kicked off these changes with a new layout (pictured above) which is more graphic intesive and fits the focus of Carmine much more than past layouts. I’ve rearranged the sidebar and changed the way we display our ads.

In the coming months look forward to the About and Advertise pages to be rewritten. The future will bring less artist interviews and more actual content. You can also look forward to a page with information on our writers, more artist promotions, more art news, more articles, a few more tutorials, a new semi-regular feature I’ve been dying to put together for months, and hopefully lots of material to keep your inspired and informed.

Interested in writing an article for us? Have a tutorial you’ve been dying to write or share with the world? Feel like pimping out your collection of artwork or webstore? Drop us a line: carminemag@gmail.com We will take a look at your ideas and give you a real chance to get your work out there to our readers.

Want to pimp your art website in the form of a small ad on Carmine Magazine? Check out our advertising page and drop us a line.

Feel like pimping out Carmine Magazine on your blog? We have a banner created by Red Nails; Wrong City:

Be sure to link it back to http://www.carminemag.com !

I look forward to spending more time with this site and with you, our readers.

Jami Lee Rosa

In December of 2008 I interviewed an artist named Melody Pilotte twice. The first time I interviewed her about her artwork a collection of watercolors and sketches that are joyful, a little mystical and awesome all around. The second time I interviewed her we talked about her work with the incredibly important charity organization RAINN the Rape Abuse Incest National Network here in the United States.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is the nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE and the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline at rainn.org, and publicizes the hotline’s free, confidential services; educates the public about sexual assault; and leads national efforts to prevent sexual assault, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

This morning I received an email from Melody requesting donations to RAINN in Tori Amos’ name:

This month, we celebrate Tori’s 46th birthday and acknowledge all she has done to support RAINN over the past 16 years.
To honor Tori’s birthday, please consider making a $46 gift to RAINN in her name.

Your donation will enable 13 victims of sexual assault to receive the support that they need and deserve – in Tori’s honor.

Please grant Tori her birthday wish and help more victims to take their first step toward recovery today.

Donate today at donate.rainn.org

Please, if you have a chance this month, or at anytime, make a donation to this incredibly important charity organization. Even if you cannot spare the asked for $46 donation, please make as much of a donation as you can.

Some statistics from RAINN’s website:

1 in 5 women -and 1 in 33 men- will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

College age women are4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

In 2007, there were 248,300 victims of sexual assault.

Every 2 minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

60% of sexual assaultes are not reported to the police.

Reporting has increased by 1/3 since 1993.

Approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailants.

Only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.

With statistics like these you will know someone in your lifetime that has been or will be a victim of sexual assault. Oraganizations like RAINN are helping to decrease that likelyhood and they can use every bit of help that you can give.

For other ways to support RAINN please check out these links:
Donate
Volunteer
Get Information
Search for a Local Crisis Center
National Sexual Assault Online Hotline
Check out their Official Website
(more…)

It’s been far too long since we have celebrated our favorite pieces and artists on Etsy. With my 24th birthday coming up shortly I’ve been perusing the site rather often in search of gifts for myself. If you’re in the mood to partake in some retail therapy, have been meaning to fill that empty space on your bedroom wall or just feel like swooning over some artwork I highly recommend checking out our Etsy favorites.

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