Wednesday, February 20, 2013

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday - Gem Carvings & Links

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a place I went once, probably in middle school, on a field trip, and haven't been to since. This year, I took my kids up there to see Pompeii, and we got an annual membership, because it's a great place! Lots of hands on activities for the kids, interesting exhibits, etc. Well, we went up for our second trip on Monday to see the new Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit. An exhibit that stood out to me, despite being in one tiny little room, were these great little gem carvings by Vasily Konovalenko. Apparently, this is the only place outside of Moscow any of his artwork is on display. The gem carvings are all of Russian folk life.




Aren't they cute? Every piece is carved out of some sort of gem. I love their faces, and all the wonderful details. 

Now for some links!

Accepting Submissions:

Foliate Oak Literary Magazine is taking submissions for short (preferably flash) fiction, short creative non-fiction, poetry, graphics, photos and artwork. Submission window closes April 24. Non-paying market.

Arc Digital Quarterly is accepting submissions of short fiction over 5000 words, having to do with the future. Does not have to be sci-fi. They also accept essays, features and poetry. Paying market.

Ciara Knight is looking for contributions to baskets for conferences (for instance, your book). She is also trying to put together a steampunk anthology.

Contests:

The Missouri Review is holding their 6th Annual Audio Contest. $1000 first prize. Deadline March 15. Choose your own submission fee.

RWA is offering their Daphne du Maurier Award, closing to entries March 15. Novel-length fiction. They have a contest for both unpublished and published authors.

What the Dickens? Magazine is having a giveaway for those who purchase Issue 7 before March 8th. Huge prizes!

Workshops:

WANA International is holding WANACon February 22 and 23rd. An online conference that includes authors, editors and other writing experts. 8:00 AM to 11:59 PM. $125 for both days, or $75 for one day. $35 for agent pitches.

Grants:

The Furthermore program is issuing grants for nonfiction for 501(c)(3) organizations. March 1 deadline.

Blog Hops: 

Check out No Ordinary Blog Hop for an ongoing blog hop.

Kyra Lennon and Clare Dugmore are hosting The Bloghop of Joy on March 1. Post your list of joy, the things that cheer you up.

Of Interest:

Cracked.com put out a piece on 5 Hilarious Reasons Publishers Rejected Classic Best-Sellers (there is quite possibly naughty language in this one - you've been warned...it's Cracked).

Editor Tim Radford put together 25 Commandments for Journalists.

What do you think of the gem carvings? Seen anything like them? Any links of interest? Anything you'd like to add?

May you find your Muse.

16 comments:

Al Diaz said...

You are right, those carvings are extraordinary. I would like to try something like that someday.

So much good information. Thanks!

mshatch said...

very cool carvings. I always wanted to learn to carve, too. There's just not enough time for everything!

shelly said...

Very EXTRAORDINARY carvings!

Thank you for the links.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Carrie-Anne said...

Those are really incredible carvings. The New York State Museum in Albany has a section on gemstones and minerals, but none of them are made into actual artwork.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Gem as in really small? Impressive.

Unknown said...

The carving details are incredible. Thanks for sharing.

Andrew Leon said...

Sounds like a cool place. Those are pretty impressive.

Unknown said...

I love Russian folklore. It's almost as complex as the Romanian one. The myths, legends and stories they have are amazing.

Incredible carvings! It's so nice to see that other cultures can cross their own boarders and become worldide known, famous and respected

Chuck said...

Those carvings are a little creepy looking...what kind of gems are they?? I have never heard or seen anything like them.

Unknown said...

I can't decide if those carvings are cute or creepy :P They remind me a little of the old Rankin and Bass stop motion cartoons.

Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom

Tonja Drecker said...

Those are neat. How big are they? Amazing what some people are capable of creating. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Cool carvings. At first I thought they were puppets or made out of wood.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Al, they were phenomenal in person. And full of so much character. The man has wonderful skill. I hope you'll share if you ever do it!

Marcy, oh how I agree! There are so many things I'd love to do.

Shelly, they really are! Also, I'm eating chocolate right now, and love your new pic!

Carrie-Anne, oddly enough, the museum had a gem/mineral section, but these were in a tiny room off on its own. The gems and minerals are quite interesting on their own. I'd love to happen across some valuable gems while digging!

Alex, hmmm, no, I don't think so. Some seemed sizable. I think minerals and gems would be a more apt description.

Jan, I'm glad you liked them!

Andrew, it's a really neat museum. I'm glad I finally took the kids up there to check it out. I missed a lot of cool exhibits over the years because I was wary. New things and all that jazz.

Adriana, it is indeed wonderful to see! I hope he gets more exhibits elsewhere, but I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to see these.

Chuck, I took a photo of one of the lists of minerals/gems used, and it included: gold, silver, jasper, rose agate, charoite, Beloretsk quartz, tiger eye, sapphire, diamond, ruby, jasper, nephrite, sandstone, obsidian, etc. I wouldn't want to work with sandstone! No idea on the rest of it.

Jamie, I'd say a little of both! I'm not familiar with those stop motion cartoons.

T., I'd say they were 6-9" tall.

Medeia, I can see where they look like they might be puppets or made of wood, for sure!

Anonymous said...

Those gem carvings are awesome!

Unknown said...

those carvings are so atypical of what one would expect from gem carvings. Lovely. Thanks for sharing all the links -- off to browse!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Susanne, I wish I could do something like these!

Dami, they are, though I didn't think of it like that!