Broken Strings

by Meriah Crawford | Oct 14, 2019

Palacio Real, Madrid January, 1635   “Las Meninas, your Majesty,” Diego Velázquez said, as he watched King Philip IV sample a spoonful of caldo gallego with his prominent Habsburg lips. The soup was too hot, and the king of Spain was in a foul mood. Tread...

The Winter Canvas: A Daniel Block Story

by Meriah Crawford | Aug 16, 2016

Magdeburg November 28, 1636   Daniel von Block sat dangerously close to his fireplace as he read again the devastating letter in his hand. He couldn’t believe it . . . your unethical behavior during the mural competition has brought into question your...

Painted Into a Corner, Episode Three

by Meriah Crawford | Oct 1, 2015

PART THREE   Magdeburg, November 12, 1636   Daniel von Block sat in his studio, drinking hot black coffee and watching embers glow in the stove that heated the room. He was cold, but more than that, he was frustrated. Now that phase two of the competition...

Painted Into a Corner, Episode Two

by Meriah Crawford | Aug 3, 2015

PART TWO   Magdeburg, October 1, 1636 Lady Beth heard the pounding in her head and thought she was dreaming. Or was it a nightmare? Unfortunately, it persisted, and finally she awoke enough to realize that it was not her headache-addled mind, nor was it the touch...

Painted Into a Corner, Episode One

by Meriah Crawford | Jun 7, 2015

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. —Pablo Picasso   PART ONE   Magdeburg, September 1636   Sophia crashed through the door of...

The Multi-Colored King

by Meriah Crawford | Oct 14, 2013

Magdeburg, June 1636 Rebecca Abrabanel greeted Dr. James Nichols at her front door.“James, please come in,” she said, standing aside to let him in.In a room on the floor above them, her children, Sepharad and Baruch, were playing with a new friend:...

The Persistence of Dreams

by Meriah Crawford | Feb 5, 2013

Grantville, May 1636Daniel Block stretched his aching back, then tilted his canvas to capture more of the fading light of the evening. The reddish hue changed the colors on his palette, giving Fraulein Barnes’s pale arms and shoulders an orange tint that he...