The Climb Continues? Sam Wolfe Connelly.

Thirteen Steps in the Underworld.

A recent Sam Wolfe Connelly piece for an upcoming Su-Yee Lin story, soon to be published on Tor. I look forward to reading it once it's up; this image has certainly sparked my interest.

I love the delicate sense of fear and hesitation shown by the positioning of the figure's hands. And as always, Connelly's sepia tones and shadowy contours. The lighting from below is particularly perfect.

The slight impression of claustrophobia speaks to my apparent inability to get any work done today... The climb that began last week continues, but slowly today, it seems.

What do you do when you feel unproductive? How do you drive away procrastination?

Getting off the damn internet would probably be a good start.

Growing through the Grey; Iain Clark.

Universe in a Forest.

Growth in Space.

At almost two weeks into the new year, I find myself musing on the nature of this month and the effect it often has on people. January prompts us to make a fresh start, make resolutions, and better ourselves. But it's also often quite a bleak time of year - a grey month to grow through before things can really begin to get better.

These paintings by UK artist Iain Clark encapsulate this feeling for me - skeletal trees striking out for the sky, and ghostly tendrils of growth in the gloom. I do think January can be a difficult and dark time of year. Maybe it's all a question of reconciling fear of the future with finding motivation.

Kurt Vonnegut motivates me.

Motivational posters to help me through an afternoon of writing the Slaughterhouse-Five section of my dissertation?

Courtesy of http://www.sloshspot.com