Abouts…

about
Solomon Shiv Landerman —“Sol”

{Restless soul bursting with stories to tell; Multi-Disciplinary Artist, accomplished Ink Illustrator, and Gouache, Acrylic, and Water color painter}

Here is a means of escape and another way to see the world. There is sublime Thunder beneath every harmless moment…

I write Ghost Stories.
Which I illustrate.
Hundreds of ‘em.

When our fore-bearers looked to keep warm or intrigued by the fire at night- telling Ghost-Stories was a timeless tradition both comforting and exciting. Here is a place where you will be romancing the haunted folklore- be it Irish, Greek, Old American tales, taking to the high seas of imagination, conjuring Mermaids, Nymphs, Faeries, Werewolves, and that most fantastical of other-worldly creatures- Black Cats. Enjoy the enchanting adventures…

Stepping into the Light…

Light is an important theme as well. Sometimes it is gentle and subtle and at other times it is a focus- perhaps at war with the Shadows. It is the ongoing struggle in all our lives. “How, O, how to step into your light?” It is what all the tales seem to ask us. So I seek to work with lighting- to mold it.

Are you looking for a place to dine out on your own eccentricities? Do you yearn to revisit the worlds that thrilled you before the grind of obligations took their cynical grip upon your outlook? It is my hope that you find a place free of modernity or mundanity, leave the nihilism or cynical tendencies. You know the kind I mean. When was the last time you enjoyed storytime eh?

You can find it here, whether it is storytellings you crave to read or haunting art you enjoy- there is a wealth of experiences just waiting for you! Storytelling runs in my veins- be it writing, visual, or both. From my decade in the City of Tomorrow {NYC} and the next decade in the City of Angels {LA} my extraordinary years there as an Actor and a Writer as well as my rich life as a Two-Year-old CRAYONIST growing up on a Northern California Farm taught me many a lesson about life to present a bevy of memorable and imaginative adventures to your heart and mind.

When did you experience a bit of fantasy or mythological cparties in the forest? You can go there anytime. Whether it is listening to a story or looking upon the wall where the image of an enchanting Nymph, a reclining mermaid, or a curious coffee-stained faerie waits to looking reassuringly back at you, reminding you that your feelings- your longings, hopes, and dreams are real.

Follow Your Bliss…

The encouragement from creative peers and colleagues beat a loud drum. If you really want to live your life- if you really want to know what you are made of- you need to lean in and go after the things you love. I had to accept the truth- I’m a Ghost-Storyteller. Ghost Stories are utterly Romantic in their haunting qualities. And to be Haunted is to be Connected. i want to tell stories and connect on a visual and emotional level. Whatever your purpose is- be a Soldier of Love.

I offer you a ghostly world which has mutated across an ocean of sketchbook paper, mounted paintings, sprawling commissions, and hundreds of haunting tales with accompanying illustrations {seriously- there is a piece of art with every story}. You will find prints and original artwork on this site. It is hanging on walls all over the country and parts of the world...

With their scope of intrigue, mystery, romance, awe, chills, and thrills- the Ghostly Tale provides you, the enchanted wanderer a perfect balance between lighting and mystery. The Art of Ghost Stories is many delightful things: they may be as a yarn in words or one in visual mediums or even one performed- be it voice-over on my Haunted Youtube channel or performed on my Facebook LIVE streams each Wednesday night…

In our break-neck-paced futuristic culture , I have found myself looking wistfully off into the horizon of old things, Haunted Things, Ancestral realms, and Ghost Stories. They are us- the Ghosts of the past. There are so many and they have feelings of all kinds. So in this time of the hyper rationale and narcissistic, give yourself up to a renewed Romanticism and spirituality to something lurking just below the surface of what we take for granted…

Let us find some Ghosts…

Visit the ORIGINAL ART, PRINTS, and Fun TREATS Available HERE

Or Enjoy the Illustrated Ghost Stories HERE

If you would like to experience the ongoing adventures of Sol’s project well- Scrawl your name and email in his ledger to receive the ‘INBOX OF CURIOSITIES’ wherein he shall send you pockets of other worldly magics and tales created by inks or paints or both as well as the goings-on and generally scrumptious news- and a chance to win wondrous beautiful things…

Would ye like to know more? Enjoy an Artist Statement from me below…

Hallo Dear Friend! Welcome to My World— ‘A Respite from Cynicism’.

        “The search for beauty being the real secret of life.” 
—Oscar Wilde, The Picture Of Dorian Gray. 

A Statement

There is neither rhyme nor reason as to why we remember what we remember. There is a lyrical power that the classic ghost story holds over us. And notice that they are not all literally about ghouls, and monsters.

What is a Ghost if not a Memory? And so the ghost story has come to be expressly defined to this Ghost-Storytelling Artist as: that which haunts your psyche long after the telling is finished.

'Ghost In The Gaslight' is a search for all things fleetingly beautiful; the kinds of moments orphaned and forgotten at the hands of our 21st-Century-breakneck-speed-of-life. I simply offer your world back to you through the lens from another time and forgive me- sometimes a peculiar syntax. I cannot abide by the usual blogger’s ‘chatty, breezy snarkiness’ wherein at times they seem apart from a situation whilst commenting on it. These are the disasters taht give way to snark, narcissism, and presentism. No Thankye.

                    I freely admit to living for the unapologetic ‘flourish’, envisioning a world in which Dickens, Thoreau, Milton, Wilde, Woolf, Poe or Irving kept a blog about enjoying the little things; yea, but with their passion intact rather than the usual disdain for old things that carries the day in the blogosphere.

I present to you, the fruits of my own 'search for beauty' in the form of Artwork and Writs, owing more to the Haunting and the Romantic. To share with you a little bit of beauty, as I see it- that is all I crave. 

Why Ghost Stories?

Because this year will seem slow whence compared with what we evolve to next year or even six months from now. We are moving at dizzying speeds in information,  technology, AI, and convenience.

Because the question keeps barreling back at us- in the digital Age-what is there left to hold onto? Only our memories.

Because our memories are the sanctuary of our lives. To enjoy a ghost story is to be delightfully haunted, aware of the ancestors, and ultimately it bring gratitude and humility…