THE DRAWING LESSON

Magical light creates stunning visions in Alexander Wainwright’s landscapes. His most recent painting—The Hay Wagon, winner of the Turner Prize is a marvelous moonlit scene. An old fashioned wagon, bathed in an unearthly glow, dominates the scene. Yet at the pinnacle of his career he is about to lose his muse.

Not everyone appreciates his work. Rinaldo, a conceptual artist, mocks his bourgeoise love of beauty believing that Alexander’s success is proof that the universe is chaotic and absurd. Determined to undermine, humiliate and ultimately destroy his rival, he defaces Alex’s painting.

Alexander brushes off the attack, but soon he has a frightening vision of misshapen human-like creatures. These trolls start appearing in his art work and he is beset with questions. Who are these ugly beings? Has he lost both his light and his art. 

           The Trolls

The creatures lead Alex to journey from London to Venice, and from Toronto to New York as he seeks to understand their meaning. He meets many people each with a story to tell. Meanwhile, Rinaldo waits in New York City, intent on settling the score in The Drawing Lesson. READ ON…

THE FATE OF PRYDE

Alexander Wainwright, Britain’s finest landscape painter, enchants us with visions of the beyond—that which lies beyond the everyday world. He is, in fact, a true creative genius. Jonathan Pryde, wealthy patron of the arts,

     Jonathan Pryde

offers him a commission to create stained glass windows at his residence in Vence, in the south of France. Alex hesitates. He is a painter not a glass cutter. Jonathan flatters and entices him with promises of creative freedom and fame. Against his better judgment, Alex is lured into Pryde’s world.

He agrees to visit the residence in Vence where the stained glass is to be constructed. His patron’s home is a luxurious mediaeval castle. To his surprise, many elderly but forgotten writers and philosophers live there but insist that they are free to leave at any time. But, they never do. Visions of the beyond have ravaged their minds and they are under Pryde’s care. His patron’s great intelligence and aesthetic sensibilities impress Alex so much that he believes he has found a kindred spirit. Yet, underneath, he senses Jonathan is far more than he seems. As he wrestles with this question, his sense of possible betrayal deepens. A bunker at the foot of the garden protects Pryde’s secrets. Struggling with his own creative visions, Alex is faced with the question—How can the very best and very worst of humankind thrive in one man’s breast. READ ON…

NIGHT CROSSING

Against the tall windows, now blackened in the night, a golden egg rose up, shimmering with beautiful gems—diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, which sparkled like the purest sunlight. Turning slowly, this marvelous object throbbed with life as if it contained all the energy in the world. His lips parted and he spoke three words—the cosmic egg.

Awe struck, he stood motionless. The cosmic egg was the seed, heralding new creation. Everything necessary was at hand and contained within that egg. For eons, it had tantalized humankind with secret mystery of creation, life and death and the promise of immortality.

Every so often, Alex experienced a vision. Sometimes he wondered if he hadn’t really slipped into a dream-like state where anything could be imagined. It usually happened without any warning and certainly, it could never be commanded. Over the years, he had grown to cherish those dreamy, extraordinarily beautiful fantasies…

He took another deep breath and smiled. But what is it telling me? Why had it appeared now? He hoped it promised that his period of stultified creativity was at an end. He swore to keep the image close to his heart as a guide. READ ON…

The Drawing Lesson, The Fate of Pryde and Night Crossing are the three novels in The Trilogy of Remembrance and are available anywhere online, including right here on Amazon. Just click the coin for the check out.

      Purchase here

Stories from The Wondrous Apothecary

Mary E. Martin ● December 12, 2019 ●

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  BOOKS AND CONVERSATION,  THE WONDROUS APOTHECARY, is the gift to give and get.                       The Mandala is your guide to a novel which grows straight out of THE TRILOGY OF REMEMBRANCE. Follow the links below for some appetizers [little short stories from that novel] to […]

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The Wondrous Apothecary at the Hospital

Mary E. Martin ● November 10, 2019 ●

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You must excuse me! I’ve not properly introduced myself. Who could be speaking to you from the upper realms of the written page of THE WONDROUS APOTHECARY? I am also the storyteller. I’m sure you are curious, because I am about to  introduce you to that renowned artist, Alexander Wainwright and a burglar-conceptual artist named […]

The Wondrous Apothecary and the Old Bailey

Mary E. Martin ● November 8, 2019 ●

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BOOKS AND CONVERSATION RINALDO IN HOSPITAL The Wondrous Apothecary is now published,  just in time for the holiday, gift giving season. This story follows from the novel The Trilogy of Remembrance. Have you met the artists, Alexander Wainwright and Rinaldo yet? They are in The Drawing Lesson, The Fate of Pryde and Night Crossing AND […]

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Creativity for the Multi-Tasker

Mary E. Martin ● February 4, 2019 ●

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  Ever heard of  slow-motion multi-tasking resulting in creativity? I was intrigued with that idea as presented in a TED talk by Tim Harford. Harford’s essential idea? Highly creative people move among their creative projects to let one influence the other. Because, if you blur the boundaries between your projects, you’ll make it easier to relate one […]

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ART and the Meaning of Life

Mary E. Martin ● January 7, 2019 ●

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Let’s talk about art, creativity and— the meaning of life.  Where does that spark of inspiration come from. How does that explosive blast of energy create something new in this world?  But why do we focus only on the artist and pay so little attention to the other party—the viewer. This time, let’s talk about the viewer. […]

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