NATVRA Poster Print

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᛬ N A T V R A ᛬

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᛬ Locvs Inter Interiore et Exteriore Sapientia Iacet:

“Between Within and Without lies the Sanctuary of Wisdom”

* Original illustration by Benjamin A. Vierling

* Image featured in The Green Mysteries by Daniel A. Schulke, published by Three Hands Press

* 4 color screen print with split fountain by the technical wizards at Monolith Press.

* Second Printing. 2024. ‘Spring Dawn’ Edition of 100.

* 18 x 24 inches on French toned paper

* Signed and numbered

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The print is available online via Samaritan Press, for worldwide shipping.

A few copies are also available in store at Kitkitdizzi in Nevada City, California.

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“Having rejected all else, these people had come here decades before and fashioned their homes from only that which the land provided, eschewing all forms of ‘civilization.’ Here were men and women colored as the very mantle of the earth - as soil and leaves, as wood and stone. Their visages and movements were contiguous with the land, to such a degree that even in relative close proximity, only the keenly discerning would know that that they were looking at people, and not a meadow or a ravine.”

D. A. Schulke . The Green Mysteries

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Green Mysteries Art Sale

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Harvesting the Mandrake . Pen, ink, watercolor & gouache on toned paper. 12” x 15”. 2016

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A select number of original illustrations from The Green Mysteries are being offered through Three Hands Press. The roster includes the ‘Harvesting the Mandrake’ image, and a number of pen & ink illustrations including botanical renderings of Ferula assa-foetida, Phoenix dactylifera, Dryopteris filix-mas , and Lawsonia inermis.

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For a complete list of available originals, please visit the Three Hands Press website.

The Green Mysteries

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The Green Mysteries • Arcana Viridia
᛫ An Occult Herbarium ᛫
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Now shipping from Three Hands Press.

The Green Mysteries : Arcana Viridiea - An Occult Herbarium. 2023

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Authored by Daniel A. Schulke, The Green Mysteries is a comprehensive esoteric Herbal which provides an examination of a myriad of plants through folklore, chemistry, pharmacology, and ethnobotany. Available in Hardbound cloth and Softcover, printed entirely via offset lithography on custom paper stock, the book is 476 pages, and features over 300 original Vierling illustrations, including 12 full color plates. Typography and lay-out executed by Joseph Uccello. Special calligraphic text was created for the work by Gail Coppock.
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The hand-rendered artwork builds on the tradition of the great Herbals, which germinated in the Classical period and evolved through the late Middle Ages before blossoming in the Renaissance, as exemplified in different epochs by the works of Dioscorides, Leonard Fuchs, Rembert Dodoes, and John Gerard. Particular technical & aesthetic inspiration was provided by the german engravers of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as Barthel Beham, & Martin Schongauer. All images appearing in the book were created exclusively for the Green Mysteries, and whenever possible the individual plants were sketched and conceptualized from living specimens.
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The softcover edition of the Book is available broadly via online, & brick and mortar retailers.

Hand of the Philosophers

The Hand of the Philosophers. New letterpress Print produced in collaboration with Ouroboros Press.

Hand of the Philosophers. Two color letterpress print. 8.5 x 11 inches.

Two-color Letterpress Print featuring an original Vierling ink drawing, printed on 118# Savoy, Natural White, art paper. 8.5 x 11 inches - Limited to 250 hand numbered copies, artist signed. Printed in Nevada City, California at Full Circle Press. Print is available exclusively from Ouroboros Press.

‘The Hand of the Philospophers’ is inspired by the hermetic works of the enigmatic Johann Isaac Hollandus, who was attributed with authoring several alchemical texts in the 16th century including, Die Hand der Philosophen.

“The symbol of the Hand is manifold, pun in tended. In Latin, 'manus', the hand embodied the idea of 'handy-work' or 'manual labor'. In the context of alchemy this often denotes that the work is practical, indicating actual laboratory work. Yet the use of a hand as a hieroglyph spans many eras and cultures who have expressed them as gestures in sacred art as well as ceremonial dance or ritual. As a five-digit appendage the hand may also represent the five elements, the pentagram and the microcosm. In palmistry the cosmos is represented by the fingers and parts of the hand so that all aspects of one's life may be observed astrally, as though the lines on the palm were star maps of the individual's life. Mudras, signals and secret handshakes are veils for esoteric wisdom, forms which manifest permutations of the formless. Whether by applause or by the sound of one hand clapping, awareness of the creative powers our hands possess is key to bringing the symbolic into the experienced.”

William Kiesel, Publisher. Ouroboros Press.

Pentiment Soundtrack Album Cover

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A newly unvieled egg tempera & oil painting, ‘Portrait of Andreas Maler’, appears on the album cover soundtrack for the critically acclaimed video game, Pentiment.

Andreas Maler Pentiment Soundtrack Renaissance Portrait German Romanticism Medieval Art

Porträt von Andreas Maler. Egg Tempera & Oil on Panel. 28” x 36”. 2022

Pentiment is a 16th-century narrative adventure game produced by Studio Design Director, Josh Sawyer, and released by Obsidian Entertainment. Illuminated manuscripts, woodcut prints, and a rich historic panorama provide the aesthetic foundation for this immersive gaming experience.

To harmonize with the game’s unique style, the Pentiment team endeavored to produce a soundtrack reflecting the musical styles of 16th century Europe. The team worked with the early music ensemble, Alkemie, who use shawms, hurdy-gurdies, and myriad other period instruments to produce an authentically evocative sound. Alkemie composed original music for the game score, adapting historical pieces from the 14th to 16th centuries for pivotal moments throughout the narrative.

The soundtrack also features a track from Kristin Hayter, of Lingua Ignota, who composed and performed the song Ein Traum for the game’s epilogue. Kristin drew upon 19th century German Lieder traditions for the piano accompaniment and adapted a Heinrich Heine poem, Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland, for the lyrics.

Excecuted at near life-size, the album cover painting depicts the game’s protagonist, Andreas Maler, seated in a symbolically rich environment featuring thematic elements from the game. The portrait was painted in part from life, referencing a live model and physical props in the studio, using the renaissance-inspired egg tempera and oil, ‘Mische Technique’. Amongst the myriad of correlations to the game which appear in the painting are exactingly rendered facsimilies of the the mysterious notes, a landscape showing the monastery in the bavarian Alps, and an actual pentimento of the Mithraic tauroctonym, which exists under the architectural motif showing the winged bull of St. Luke.

The digital soundatrack is currently available on multiple streaming platforms including Spotify and iTunes. A digital copy of the album can be purchased on Pentiment’s Steam page. A double vinyl LP will be released later in 2023, featuring the Andreas Maler Poträt on the cover, a gatefold sleeve with liner notes, and a painting of Our Lady of the Labyrinth by Pentiment’s art director, Hannah Kennedy, on the back.

Special thanks to Josh Sawyer for producing this epic project.

Dream Unending

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Album cover painting for ‘Song of Salvation’, the sophmore release from dreamdoom virtuosos, Dream Unending. LP released on 20 Buck Spin Records. USA.

Song of Salvation. Polymer paints on panel. 16” x 16”. 2022

Dream Unending is the critically acclaimed atmospheric dream-doom, genre-expanding project of Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) and Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands).

The album features the guest talents of vocalist Phil Swanson and Leila Abdul-Rauf of Vastum on trumpet. Recorded by Arthur Rizk and Sean Pearson at Boxcar Studios. Mixed and Mastered by Arthur Rizk. Layout by Chimère Noire.

Vinyl LP in various editions available from 20 Buck Spin.

Memento Mori

Memento Mori. Original Vierling Painting. Egg tempera & oil on canvas. Modern Eden Gallery

Memento Mori. Egg Tempera & oil on canvas. 24 x 18 inches. 2008.

Memento Mori, an egg tempera & oil painting on canvas, is available along with other original works, at the Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, through the Autumn months.

Interested collectors, please contact the Gallery for additional information.

Modern Eden is located at 1100 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA. 94109 . Tel: (415) 956-3303

Sacrilege . Original painting at Modern Eden Gallery

Sacrilege, an original painting, will be on display for the Danse Macabre exhibition at the Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco.

Sacrilege Vierling Painting

Sacrilege. Polymer paints on panel. 16” x 16”. 2002

Modern Eden Gallery presents their October dark-art exhibition, Danse Macabre. An artistic genre of allegory in the Late Middle Ages, The Danse Macabre explores the personification of death, produced as memento mori to remind us of the fragility of life. This exhibition will run in conjunction with a solo exhibition by Mary Syring.

Danse Macabre opens Saturday, October 8 and remains on display through October 29. 2022.

The opening reception is October 8, 2022, 6-9 pm.

Modern Eden Gallery is located at 1100 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 956-3303 .

Sacrilege appears on the cover of the forthcoming album from Appalling, to be released in December on Personal Records in Mexico.

Illustrative Works on Display in the BLAB! Show

Two original illustrative works, Wrath of Wraths and Make Believe, will be on display in the 16th annual BLAB! Show, opening September 11, at the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California.

Wrath of Wraths. 16” x 16”. Graphite, ink, and polymer paints on panel. 2020

Wrath of Wraths. 16” x 16”. Graphite, ink, and polymer paints on panel. 2020

Make Believe. 14” x 14”. Graphite, ink, polymer paints on panel. 2019

Make Believe. 14” x 14”. Graphite, ink, polymer paints on panel. 2019

BLAB!, the long running annual exhibition, curated by founder and designer Monte Beauchamp, features an eclectic array of engaging paintings, sculpture, and illustration by contemporary artists the world over. This years show features works from Tim O’Brien, Chet Zar, Andy Kehoe, John Brophy, and many others. An online catalog is available for viewing at the Copro Gallery.

The exhibition open Saturday, September 11 , 2021, and runs through October 2, 2021.

Copro Gallery - Bergamot Station Arts Complex. 2525 Michigan Ave , Unit T5, Santa Monica , California. 90404

New painting in Vanguard exhibition

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A new painting, Still Life with Passiflora , executed in egg tempera & oil on panel, will be appearing this month in the Vanguard Invitational Group Exposition at the Outré Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.

Still Life with Passiflora. 11” x 14”. Egg tempera & oil on panel. 2021

Still Life with Passiflora. 11” x 14”. Egg tempera & oil on panel. 2021

In the painting tradition of the Memento Mori, ‘Still Life with Passiflora’ visually elaborates on the eternal theme of impermanence. The tendrils of allegory are followed from gestation, emergence, fruition, entropy, Passion, and ultimately moribund decomposition, before beginning anew. Spacial and metaphorical relationships between these cyclical stages are examined in detail throughout the image. 

The composition was painted predominantly from life in the studio using physical props as references. A number of flora and fauna, living and nonliving, make appearances therein, including the following: Passiflora caerulea, Prunus domestica, Gallus gallus domesticus, Calothorax lucifer, Cyanocitta stelleri, Rosalia funebris, Tetramorium caespitum, Pyrrharctia isabella, & Lymantria dispar.  

The exhibition, which features a roster of international artists, opens September 10, 2021 and runs through October 3, 2021. Outré Gallery. 319 Smith Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia.

Engel des Lichts

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Engel des Lichts . 12” x 15.5”. Graphite, watercolor & gouache on toned paper. 2021

Engel des Lichts . 12” x 15.5”. Graphite, watercolor & gouache on toned paper. 2021

A new original work, ‘Engel des Lichts’, will be appearing in a German exhibition opening this September, 'Sulamith Wülfing - The Forgotten Daughter of the Town.‘

Sulamith Wülfing, the 20th century visionary painter and illustrator from Wuppertal, would celebrate her 120th birthday this year. On the occasion of this event, the Nautilus-Studio, a gallery for visionary and surreal art, in the beautiful old ‘Luisenviertel', celebrates and honors her fantastic work with a special exhibition.

The show features original Wülfing works, as well as visual contributions from an array of German and international artists, including: Yvette Endrijautzki, Madeline von Foerster, Liba Waring Stambollion, Otto Rapp, Martina Hoffmann, Michael Hutter, Kaska Niemiro, Gromyko Semper, and many others.

The exhibition opens September 11, 2021, at the Güterhallen, in Soligen, Germany. For more information please visit the Nautilus Gallery website. An virtual tour of the exhibit can be viewed at the Sulamith Wülfing Ausstellung website.

‘Engel des Lichts’ is a homage to the evocative works of Sulamith Wülfing. Utilizing a composition framed within ornate gothic tracery, the angelic subject is here emphasized by the enchanted medieval aesthetic which permeates Wülfing’s many paintings. The delicate nuances of light and shadow are borne aloft on gossamer wings, carrying the viewer through the portal to a place of Sanctuary. The celestial emissary offers living luminosity as a beacon of solace and hope. ~ BAV

PAX Poster Repressing

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PAX is a fine art poster produced from an original Benjamin Vierling ink illustration. This is the second edition, printed at Monolith Press in 2021. The poster measures 18 x 24 inches, and is screen printed in two colors on Classic Crest 100 pound paper. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist. Both posters are available online via Samaritan Press, and also retail at Kitkitdizzi, in Nevada City, CA.

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Inspired by the complex patterns of birds in flight, the starburst of doves evokes both radiance and harmony. PAX. Peace under sovereignty, the attainment of equilibrium through concerted action. The ancient Romans bestowed the daughter of Jupiter with the name PAX, a springtime Goddess whose reign was renown for benevolent equanimity. Rejoice in the illumination of synergic avigation!

The image was originally created as an album cover for the German band, Fyrnask, for their Eldir Nótt release. The album art was nominated for the Best Art Vinyl 2013 prize in the United Kingdom, and selected amongst Redefine Magazine's best album covers of the year.

  • Original illustration by Benjamin A. Vierling

  • 2 color screen print with metallic gold by Monolith Press, California.

  • 18 x 24 inches

  • Printed on 100# Classic Crest Epic Black, and 100# Cougar Natural.

  • Edition of 100 on Black, Edition of 50 on White.

  • Signed and numbered

  • Available via Samaritan Press

Et in Aracadia Ego 5 color poster

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Vierling_Arcadia_Poster.jpg

  • Original Artwork featured on the cover of Fiddler’s Green 7, Gods of the Afternoon. 2020

  • 5 color screen poster printed by Broken Press, Seattle.

  • 16 x 20 inches on 100# Classic Crest Pewter paper.

  • Limited edition of 100, signed and numbered .

  • Poster is available to purchase from Samaritan Press

Even in Arcadia, there am I. So reads the memorial inscription on a crumbling tomb, inadvertently discovered by shepherds in a beguiling grove, amidst the idyllic rural landscape. An enigmatic pall descends, darkening the luster of the enchanted wood. Who erected this archaic monument, and whose corporal shell is interred within? The poets of ancient Rome pondered this query in brooding prose, rendered eloquent by Virgil in his Eclogues, wherein the pastoral utopia of the Great God Pan is tempered by cognizance of the ephemeral nature of all things.

Et in Arcadia Ego

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Magazine Cover illustration for Fiddler’s Green.

Et in Arcadia Ego illustration on the cover of Fiddler’s Green 7

Et in Arcadia Ego illustration on the cover of Fiddler’s Green 7

The seventh issue of Fiddler’s Green, also known as “Gods of the Afternoon,” published in February 2020. Edited by Clint Marsh, the magazine features copper titling, and 52 pages of art and magic, including reviews, a letters column, and a flexi-disc by Anton Barbeau.

The magazine may be purchased from Peculiar Parish.

By Moonlight & Spirit Flight

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Original Vierling ink illustration adorns the cover of the second edition of Michael Howard’s ‘By Moonlight & Spirit Flight’, published by Three Hands Press.

Vierling_Moonlight_Cover.jpg

By Moonlight and Spirit-Flight, originally published as a monograph in 2013, examines such elements as the ancestral horde, the flight of the Furious Host, and the entheogenic Witches' ‘Flying Ointment', each of which played a unique role in the 'flight' of the medieval witches.

This new edition of By Moonlight and Spirit Flight is 70 pages, featuring interior design by Joseph Uccello and original cover by Benjamin A. Vierling. It is available in three editions: Softcover, Limited Hardcover, and Deluxe Harcover.

All editions are available via Three Hands Press.