In certain respects, one might perceive this as a divergence from the expected path. However, the truth remains that the journey was destined to meander along enigmatic avenues, for I’ve forever been drawn to the allure of the slightly disordered, the concealed passages that materialize unexpectedly. It’s akin to what some might label as “going with the flow,” yet this flow carries the unmistakable essence of Zen Buddhism, a serendipitous course through the unknown.

I have learned though that the Buddhist are but one of the inheritors of a much more ancient ideology. Probably actually having roots going back to the hunter-gatherers, of ancient peoples transgressing across distances, territories, sometimes bordered by mountains, and streams, and liminal type spots.

But I digress.

At this point I’m making no sense. I know. But, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me either. Sometimes I step back (like, every other few days), step back and ask myself ‘what the farok are we up to’?

But what I’m doing now has always been right there… my guiding light, my dream, my… way. Whether this ‘way’ will be at all lucrative is completely up for grabs. Seriously, I just don’t know. But, I’m doing it anyways… this way.

I’m not exactly thriving financially at the moment, all hand to mouth type stuff. However, I’m at my best when I have less. I’m a raging moron when I have lots.

I prefer less. I function better with less. I am happier with less. Having more stifles me. Having more makes me feel hemmed in, less me, more unsure, easily distracted.

Sometimes you have to just strip everything else away, be with less so you can see more.

But anywho… everything I’m doing right now has something to do with magic. I mean magic in the Charles de Lint way.

I do believe in an everyday sort of magic – the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we’re alone.

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That’s the thing about magic; you’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.

I’m creating my own urban fantasy. My own version of what Charles de Lint did with his Newford books. He is a master storyteller, a weaver of myths, legends, fantasy and fairytale, but set within the busy streets of a city… somewhere between a Toronto and an Ottawa, with a decided hint in some places of New York City, and a downtown area with a heaping cup of Haight-Ashbury thrown in. Outer lying areas are in some spots very backwoods country, reminiscent of the Appalachians. I know that backcountry vibe intimiately, right in Grey County here in Ontario.

Don’t forget – no one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.

So my current creative endeavors have been very much inspired by that world that the Newford books illustrate.

I already started down this way back when I started writing those short fictions a while back – Tales Of The Village. I am now weaving those tales into my new world. The world my photo creations now capture is that other sort of magic, of the fae or the Manitou;

manitou, among Algonquian-speaking peoples of North America, the spiritual power inherent in the world generally. Manitous are also believed to be present in natural phenomena (animals, plants, geographic features, weather); they are personified as spirit-beings that interact with humans and each other and are led by the Great Manitou (Kitchi-Manitou).

Britannica

Yet, these are not books that merely speak of the fae or the Manitou, but rather, they beckon us to embrace the ethereal concepts they breathe into existence.

In the spaces where his words dance upon the page, I discover the very essence of what I seek to capture in my own creations. It’s not about seeing fairies with the naked eye; it’s about embracing the intangible, the palpable energy that lingers in certain places. It’s the feeling of a presence within the walls of aged buildings, the whispered secrets of ancient trees, and the enchantment that envelopes the landscape when viewed from lofty heights.

It has become clear to me that every locale possesses a duality, a dual nature that extends beyond the surface. There is the familiar world we perceive with our ordinary senses, and then there is the otherworldly magic that resides just beneath the surface, waiting to be discovered. It’s a realization that the world, in all its complexity, can reveal both its harsh and exquisitely beautiful facets, sometimes simultaneously. And in those moments of revelation, all it takes is a simple shift in perspective, a turning away from one aspect to unveil the other, waiting patiently to be embraced.

Where one part of my writing and my images is real, everyday, right before your eyes, the other is enchanted, mystical, even magical. In this weaving I create one world with AI, the other comes from me, myself and I, and what I spy with my little eye.

These tales associated with the images were inspired by the mystique of de Lint’s storytelling, they explore a world where secrets echo through ancient trees, and every stone holds a memory. Those short stories of Jodee, Natalie, and The Tales Of The Village I wrote in 2015, illuminate the magic that has its roots in these rustic narratives.

We find ourselves at the heart of a balance between the urban and the wild, where enchanted creatures and the whispers of ancient wisdom beckon us to be stewards of our surroundings. The urban world, filled with life, holds untold mysteries in its secret orchards and hidden riverbanks, just waiting to be uncovered.

Join me in this urban fantasy adventure, where the “Whispers of Enchantment” and the “Tales Of The Village” converge. Let these stories maybe even inspire you to embrace the enchantment that surrounds us, to celebrate the magic of the natural world, and to take up the mantle of guardianship for both the urban and the wild. For in this shared narrative, and shared desires, the lines between the mundane and the mystical blur, and the call to protect and cherish these urban wonders resounds louder than ever.