Showcase: Gustav Klimt

Posted on by Cosmina

“All art is erotic.”

Gustav Klimt

• 14th of July 1862 – 6th of February 1918

• symbolist painter 

• influences: Japanese, Chinese, Ancient Egyptian and Mycenaean.

• influenced: Egon Schiele.

Gustav Klimt was born in Vienna, in 1862, the first born son of the Klimt couple. His father, Ernst Klimt, worked as an engraver and goldsmith, from whom he learned how to manipulate the famed metal.

Early in his artistic career, he was a successful painter of architectural decorations in a conventional manner, but for the rest of his life and even after, he was always the subject of a controversy.

Continue reading Showcase: Gustav Klimt

The 10 Best Superhero Movies of All-Time

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

This is arguably the best time to put together such a list: the technology is there, allowing for special effects to help us suspend disbelief, the actors who have been cast to play the parts are as brilliant as they come, and studios are investing more and more money into big budget adaptations of comic books.

I have no doubt that we’ll see more and more superhero movies, some of them quite brilliant and easy to recommend.

That being said, here are the ten best superhero movies of all time.

Continue reading The 10 Best Superhero Movies of All-Time

What Really Sells a Book?

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

Some might say the trickiest part is actually selling the book. Or writing it? Opinions differ. But what really sells a book? What marketing tool? What recipe to follow? Is there a recipe?

Well, let’s analyze one of my favorite novels, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, and hope that I’ll be able to offer some insight as to how people decide to buy a book. Continue reading What Really Sells a Book?

Showcase and Interview: Gina Iacob

Posted on by Cristian Mihai
Gina Iacob is a twenty five year old self-taught Romanian artist, who likes to experiment with different techniques and styles. She’s also interesting, interested, inspiring, inspired, and quite funny. Don’t believe me? Check this interview out.

Continue reading Showcase and Interview: Gina Iacob

Six Tips on Writing from John Steinbeck

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

In 1940, John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In 1962 he was also awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The same year he wrote a letter to actor and fellow writer Robert Wallsten, in which he offered six tips on writing. Continue reading Six Tips on Writing from John Steinbeck

TMM: alter ego

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

alter ego: 

a second self or different version of oneself, such as
a :a trusted friend
b :the opposite side of a personality –  Clark Kent and his alter ego Superman
c: a fictional character that is the author’s alter ego

Literature is the lie that tells the truth. Or so they say. That’s why sometimes writers choose to use alter egos. Ernest Hemingway wrote the so-called Nick Adams stories, John Updike had Rabbit Angstrom and Henry Bech, Bukowski had Henry Chinaski.

But why? Continue reading TMM: alter ego

Art and Obsession

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

obsession
“OK, I got Velazquez portrait of the Pope Innocent X. Quite an ambivalent study of absolute power. And here comes Francis Bacon. Despite never having seen this painting in person, Bacon became so obsessed with it that he compulsively repainted it over and over again, each version more horrific than the previous. […] It’s not until an artist finds his obsession that he can create his most inspired work.” – Anamorph

Continue reading Art and Obsession

Struggling With Writer’s Block? Here’s How to Overcome it

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

Ah, the (in)famous writer’s block, also known as creative bankruptcy.

It’s by far the most hated aspect of being a writer.

Sometimes it’s so severe that it makes you doubt your abilities, maybe even doubt whether being a writer is worth it.

What am I going to write about?

I could almost hear a lot of writers thinking that it would be better to fake their own deaths rather than try to find a satisfactory answer to this question.

Maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic. Just a bit.

So, yeah, how do you overcome writer’s block?

Continue reading Struggling With Writer’s Block? Here’s How to Overcome it

Book Review: The Autumn of the Patriarch by G.G. Marquez

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

For those who enjoy Magical Realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the biggest names out there. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, he is undoubtedly one of the best stylists of this century. His prose is beautiful, his stories weave a mesmerizing and intricate web of situations and characters, and his settings are spectacular.

The Autumn of the Patriarch, the author’s favorite novel, is the story of lonely dictator, a grotesque character surrounded by enemies. He’s forced to political maneuvers and assassination to ensure his control over the state, and at one point, the population starts to view him as being immortal.

Continue reading Book Review: The Autumn of the Patriarch by G.G. Marquez

Famous Writers and Their Addictions

Posted on by Cristian Mihai

“Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman’s name out of a satire, then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized, anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to be a writer -and if so, why?” – Bennett Cerf

Some of the world’s most famous writers have been addicts, abusing almost anything, from coffee and alcohol to sex and drugs. They often wrote about their addictions, about the way the human conditions is degraded by them.

Here’s a short list of famous writers and their vices: Continue reading Famous Writers and Their Addictions