Goin' Underground

Gardenscape by Nadine Palumbo Bouler

I was completely inspired by Wes Anderson's film version of Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. As I prepare for a flurry of new artistic activity, seeing this incredibly creative stop-action animation gave me some ideas about my course of action. I've long admired Roald Dahl's work, and certainly children's literature has informed many of my own images and writings. I also love the underground, with many of my paintings revealing two landscapes-- the public one above ground and the private one below. In fact, I set my fantasy novel Searching for Moongirl in a subterranean world. That's why I've always loved Edgar Allen Poe's work-- as his characters try to bury their crimes in basements, caves, the floor boards, until they are exposed for all to see. But like Mr. Fox, I'm not quite ready to give up my view of the sky. For my week up at Potic Cottage, I plan to dig in the ground and gaze at the stars, hoping to find a new landscape to paint.