A bit of lore for December 12: Old Shortest Day, hence in some parts of Norway called sjursmessdagen, 'the magpie's mass-day' (in others the 23rd); not even the magpie can tell the difference between day and night, but oversleeps; whoever wakes her will be woken by her every morning thereafter.

Nikichi [Akihiko Yoshida] (Japanese, b. 1954). #Nikichi #仁吉. #AkihikoYoshida #cat #cats #woodcarving #woodsculpture #sculpture #animalsculpture #art #japaneseartist

Oskar Jarén (Swedish, 1877-1954). Systerdottern Karin och tre uggleungar [Niece Karin and three owlets], 1925. Collection of Jönköpings läns Museum. #OwlishMonday #OskarJarén #owls #photography #blackandwhitephotography

Akira Kusaka.「君に渡したいもの」("Something I want to give to you"). Website: akirakusaka.com #AkiraKusaka #art #illustration #graphicdesign #moon #cat #doorway

Traci Brimhall. This Beautiful Confusion.

November 20 gardening advice: Set garlike and pease, saint Edmund to please. - a.d. XII Kalendas Decembres (Roman calendar)

Alix Aymé (French, 1894-1989). Peyzazh (Landscape). Panel, gold paint, varnish. #AlixAymé #AlixAngèleMargueriteAymé #Frenchpainter #womanartist #art #painting #landscape

Here is the dark tree Denuded now of leafage… But a million stars. — Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

Eric Ravilious (British, 1903-1942). Farm house and field. Watercolor. #EricRavilious #art #watercolor #watercolour #farm #essex #rural #landscape

Shinji Ando 安藤 真司 (Japanese, b. 1960). Feel the wind - Autumn. 2012. Etching, aquatint, drypoint. #ShinjiAndo #art #printmaking #autumn #wind

November 3, day of remembrance for Ida of Toggenburg. 🔹Joan Kiddell-Monroe (British, 1908-1972). Illustration from "Swiss-Alpine Folk-Tales," 1958. 🔹Ida is represented as a nun, with a deer whose antlers shine. #IdaofToggenburg #folktale #swissfolktale #nun #saint #deer #illustration

For All Hallows' Eve. 🔸 Wynn Bullock (American, 1902-1975). Unmarked Grave, 1969. Gelatin silver print. #WynnBullock #photographer #photography #blackandwhitephotography #AllHallows'Eve #Halloween #grave #cemetery

Fats Kaplin, Ghost Waltz. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmrx... #fatskaplin #ghostwaltz #music

What do Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Comcast, Meta, and HP have in common? They all once pledged to stop donations to anyone who tried to overturn the 2020 election. And now they're all donors to Trump's White House ballroom. https://popular.info/p/these-corporations-stopped-worrying

Usuard, La mer des hystoires [The sea of stories], tome 1. 1488-1489. c.bnf.fr/OD9 #incunabula #15thcenturyIllustratedbooks #lettrine #illuminatedletter #manuscrit #manuscript #enluminure #illumination

Oscar Droege (German, 1898-1983). Riverside, 1960. #OscarDroege #OscarDröge #PaulOscarDroege #art #woodcut #printmaking #landscape #river #tree #autumn

Taras Kuščynskyj (Czech, 1932-1983). Huddled, 1972. (website: www.taraskuscynskyj.cz) #TarasKuščynskyj #photography #blackandwhitephotography #czechphotographer

Mildred Anne Butler (Irish, 1858-1941). Shades of evening, 1904. Watercolor on paper. #mildredannebutler #art #irishartist #watercolor #birds #crows #corvids #evening

Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.

"Be still and the earth will speak to you." (Navajo proverb)

Théo Schmied (French, 1900-1985). Bois gravé/woodblock print, 1942. Illustration for Contes de Beau Caquet, Histoire de l’écureuil Croque-Noisette et de La Pie Beau-Caquet, written by Georgette Vaumale. #ThéoSchmied #woodblock #squirrel #printmaking #illustration #animalsinart

Aurel Bauh (Romanian, 1900-1964). Leaving the village, 1937-1946. #aurelbauh #photography #blackandwhitephotography #romanianphotographer #tree #dreamscape

Édouard Boubat (French, 1923-1999). Champs de Tournesols (Sunflower Fields), Ile de France, 1987. Gelatin silver print. #édouardboubat #photography #blackandwhitephotography #sunflowers

Acis autumnalis. Illustration from "Flore des serres et des jardin de l’Europe," v. 19, 1845. #acisautumnalis #leucojumautumnale #autumnsnowflake #flowers #whiteflowers #bulbs #gardening #illustration

Spiderwebs in the forest. #spiderwebs #frontinellapyramitela #bowlanddoilyspiders #sheetweaver

Virve Lilja (Finnish, b. 1968). Acrylic on canvas, 2015. Website: www.virvelilja.fi #virvelilja #art #painting #finnishartist

Torbjörn Zetterholm (Swedish, 1921-2007). Beach plants. Color lithograph. #torbjörnzetterholm #beach #shore #flowers #grasses #lithograph #printmaking

Photograph by Vladimir Sychev (Russian, b. 1945), Moscow, 1970. #vladimirsychev #photography #streetphotography #blackandwhitephotography #woman #cat

In the garden today. #kniphofia #cosmos #flowers #flowerphotography

Posting this for no reason other than it makes me smile. 🔹Takeo Takei (Japanese, 1894-1983). Detail from the magazine Kodomo no kuni (published 1922-1933). #TakeoTakei #Kodomonokuni #コドモノクニ #illustration

Vivien Leigh (as Titania) from A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Old Vic Theatre, 1937. Photograph by J.W. Debenham. Mander and Mitchenson Collection, University of Bristol. #photography #blackandwhitephotography #vivienleigh #actress #theater #titania #shakespeare #midsummernight'sdream

"A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can't defuse a bomb... But we are not helpless... We can sing the truth and name the liars." - Salman Rushdie

Otmar Schick (Czech, d. 1940). Leaving. 1934. #photography #otmarschick

Robert Doisneau (French, 1912-1994). Daisies - Annette Doisneau, Perrette Chaboureau in Summer 1945. #robertdoisneau #photography #humanistphotography #blackandwhitephotography #summer #daisies

In light of Trump’s worsening cruelty, vindictiveness, and ever more belligerent attacks on democracy, many of you ask: “What can I do now?” Here are a baker’s dozen of recommendations. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-you-can-do-f3d

Mary Newcomb (British, 1922-2008). Collared doves lifted by light. 1998. Oil on canvas. #marynewcomb #doves #art #britishartist #painting #oilpainting

Sarah Gillespie. Drawing of the Great Tiger Moth, commissioned by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum Exeter for WILD. Artist's website: www.sarahgillespie.co.uk #sarahgillespie #greattigermoth #moth #drawing

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." 🔹 Corrie Ten Boom (Dutch, 1892-1983)

July 6 is International Kissing Day. 💋 Reggie Speller (English, 1898-?). A kiss from the lamb of the year. 1939. #reggiespeller #internationalkissingday #kiss #lamb #girl #blackandwhitephotography

I am grieving the barbarism that is going to unfurl from all this. People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy. I see every day up close how different it is from the first time around. There are no guardrails. A disaster. I’m sorry we have to live through this.

“We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art - we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones.” Anaïs Nin

June 7 beach walk. #photography #photographersofbsky #blackandwhitephotography #beach #sand #patterns #salishsea

Early June jumble. #gardening #pnwgardening #flowerphotography #gardenphotography #bloomscrolling #thalictrum #lychnis #lilium #anthericum #silene #geranium

Helgi Arason (Icelander, 1893-1972). Ingimundur Björnsson and goat, at Kvísker, 1931. Collection of the National Museum of Iceland. #photography #vintagephotography #blackandwhitephotography #iceland #kvisker #helgiarason #goat #boy #nationalmuseumoficeland

The garden, today. #pnwgardening #gardening #flowers #gardenphotography #aquilegia #columbine #silene #catchfly #iris #hemerocallis #daylily #lunaria

A moment in the garden. #giliatricolor #lewisia #pnwgardening

This.

Jorōgumo (Edo period, 1603 to 1868). In Japanese folklore, a type of yōkai in the form of a demonic spider, that takes the form of a beautiful woman, seducing and consuming unwary men. #jorōgumo #yōkai #spider #spiderwoman #folklore #japanesefolklore #supernaturalbeings #絡新婦 #じょろうぐも

Maria Noblé (Shchukina). Queen of Hearts and Queen of Spades etchings, ca. 2010s. #printmaking #etching #queenofhearts #queenofspades #cat #marianoblé #playingcard