Monthly Archives: May 2012

Woodland Tales

I spent Saturday in the Green Hill Country, near Wood Hall. Day dawned drab and dull, with high clouds and mists abounding. But skies soon brightened, and I hiked the hills and pitched my palette at forest’s edge. At teatime, I heard voices, and was joined on the ridge by a halfling and one of the Big Folk. They tarried, and the doughty doyen perched on the trunk of a felled oak tree and blew smoke rings across the wooded valley below us. After an hour, the companions continued on their way, fading off into the folds of the hazy afternoon hills while I my pigments plied.

Mystical Realms Newsletter for May, 2012

Greetings!

And welcome to my newsletter for May, 2012! Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested in keeping up with me! To receive these newsletters regularly, please drop me an email or subscribe online from my website (http://www.JefMurray.com ) or at:

http://groups.google.com/group/Mystical_Realms .

Notices of events and items of interest are at the bottom of this email.

Pitchers ===============

I have posted three new painting images on my website. These include “Glenstorm’s Doughty Son”, “Amon Sûl”, and “Marshwiggle”. These are located in two different places; the first and last are in the “Once upon a time” gallery (in the “Paintings inspired by C.S. Lewis” section), and the middle one is within the Tolkien gallery (“The Third Age – The Lord of the Rings” section). However, you can see all three by going to http://www.JefMurray.com and clicking on the “Newest Works” icon (the dragon!) at the top of the page.

As always, these and all of the images in my online galleries and on my Facebook page (see https://www.facebook.com/JefMurrayStudios ) are available as signed and numbered limited-edition Giclee prints. See my webpage for details.

And, do let me know how these new works strike you!

Ponderings ==============

For this month’s reflections, allow me to direct you to two fun interviews that were published this week. The first, on featured websites, was included on Middle-earth News, and the second begins a new series on Tolkien artists by Rifflo, of the Middle-earth Network:

http://middleearthnews.com/2012/04/28/featured-website-mystical-realms/

http://rifflos8.mymiddleearth.com/2012/05/03/presenting-jeff-murray-with-contest/

Prospects ===================

• The Middle-earth Network ( http://middleearthnetwork.com ) has announced a new publishing imprint that will join Grail Quest Books (http://grailquestbooks.com/ ) as a vehicle for new media in a variety of fantasy-related genres (see https://www.facebook.com/OlorisPublishing and http://mymiddleearth.com/groups/oloris-publishing/ ). I am honoured to announce that their inaugural publication will by my own book, entitled “Seer: A Wizard’s Journal”. Look for details about this illustrated work over the next couple of weeks!

• I have returned safely from the Bram Stoker Centenary Conference at the University of Hull and in Whitby, England. The trip was marvelous, and at the request of attendees, I’ve made available signed and numbered prints of the two logo images that were used there. You can find these in my “Books and Publications” gallery at http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~jmurra2/jefmurraystudios/books_gallery.html .

• The Return of the Ring 2012 (see http://www.returnofthering.org/ ) will be a huge Tolkien-themed conference and gathering at Loughborough University on
16-20th August, 2012. Although at this time it appears I will not be able to attend in person, I am hoping to be able to have some of my work included either in publications in support of the event, or at the art show. Stay tuned for more
details!