It's that time of year....

....calendar time! Time to relaunch old calendars with a new year on them, time to design new ones. So far I have launched 5 brand new, never-seen-the-light-of-day-before, calendars. Three are devoted to Edgar Allan Poe - actually to illustrations of Poe stories by Harry Clarke. As well as being one of the top 3 Irish stained glass makers of all time (don't ask me who the other two are), Clarke was a superb book illustrator whose work embellishes two editions of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. I have two wall calendars on CafePress one a large size and the other, what CafePress describe as "Oversize". last, not least, there is one on Zazzle.com which has the same artwork but is just a different size and format. If Poe's gothic horror stories are not your cup of tea perhaps I can interest you in a Pre-Raphaelite Beauties calendar. This features paintings from a selection of artists who painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style - including Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Millais and Waterhouse. The Pre-Raphaelites are enjoying a resurgence of interest as a result of the opening of a new exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London, the first major event of its kind in almost 30 years and I have decided to mark the occasion with some calendars devoted to the works of some individual artists who painted in that style. The first of these is devoted to the work of Gabriel Dante Rossetti and includes an interesting cross-section of his paintings spanning several decades.

Reincarnation or rediscovery?

Posting again after a 4-year absence is daunting to say the least but the necessity of creating some links to a couple of new shops on CafePress is sufficient to twist my arm.

The first shop is based around some Victorian paintings, mostly Pre-Raphaelite but with one or two other favourites thrown for good measure. Interestingly my first sale from this venture was a King size duvet cover with a print of the Village Wedding by Luke Fildes. Oh, how CafePress has moved on from when it was just tee-shirts and a few ceramic products! The duvet was a marketplace sale and was priced at $175.

The second is something completely different - Poe Corner which contains some items based on Edgar Allan Poe, his writings and some art which has been inspired by his stories.