Remember the Russellscape!
is a series of images contributed by all you Friends of Russell (& Holmes), that literally comes together, creating a moving panorama of the duo’s travels. It’s the modern version of the Victorian card game called the myriorama.
(See how the path ties it together? and the sides match, with variation? This deck of 24 cards makes for 1,686,553,615,927,922,354,187,720 variations. Or so they claim, I haven’t counted them myself.)
We’re doing a new Fun Stuff section of the web site with art, crossword puzzles, and a new Russellscape—or, as we’ll call it once it’s unveiled, a
Maryorama.
(Clever word play, huh?)
And to encourage you, there are prizes!
GRAND PRIZE: a complete set of Russell & Holmes paperbacks,
including Mary Russell’s War & other stories
FIRST RUNNER-UP: Four full-sized broadsheets for framing
(“A Venomous Death,” “Birth of a Green Man,”
Pirate King movie poster, and “Dreaming Haiku.”)
FIVE RUNNERS-UP: a collection of 8½ x 11” art from
“The Illustrated Russell & Holmes” (including the four above)
Here’s how simple it is (Hey, even I managed to do one!):
Step One & Two: watch the Russellscape video and print out the instructions and frame (VERY IMPORTANT!) here.
Step Three: Be artsy. Think of a scene (the Marriage? Meeting the Emperor of Japan? Coffee in a Bedouin tent? Clarissa and Billy in a hansom?) and do your thing, be it oil, pastels, digital, needlework, collage, etc. For ideas, reminders, and various excerpts, the book page is here.
Step Four: scan and send it to me.
Oh, and Step Five: win a prize! I’ll announce the winners on October 15. My video magicians will wave their electronic wands and transform the Russellscape into the Maryorama, a thing of community beauty.
And pass the word, to any of your friends-and-relations with an interest in Russell and art. The more panels, the better!
Thinking about what I would love to illustrate for the Russellscape/Maryorama, I remembered one of my favorite scenes in Locked Rooms, where Russell confronts the 30-ish (though already white-haired, I think) Dashiell Hammett, after he climbs back up the Pacific cliffside with the (perhaps spoiler) piece of brake rod. I love the character you fashioned for Hammett and the wry & subtle way he interacts with both Holmes & Russell. Perusing stuff about Hammett inspired me to purchase a copy of his daughter Jo’s book Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers. What a guy he sounds like – I am definitely looking forward! So, there’s a historical Bouchercon-ish thought for LRK!
And I look forward to your illustration! Yes, Hammett was a real character–probably one of those who in person would have been unbearable, but great to know he walked the earth.