Walter Blackwood, 1881

Walter Blackwood, 1881

Walter Blackwood lived a relatively unassuming life just outside of London. Born to an accountant and a seamstress, he managed to secure himself a well-off bride and purchased a ramshackle estate from a doddering lord whose children were forcing him to move into the city for their convenience.

Once settled in to the grounds, Walter and his wife set to work fixing innumerable cracks, leaks, crumbling walls and mouse-infested cupboards. Three years passed before the main house could be considered truly livable, but the pair seemed to revel in the renovation, even waiting to procreate until the house and grounds were perfect.

They went on to have seven children, all of whom became lawyers.

Miss Adella Alabaster, 1840

Miss Adella Alabaster, 1840

Though she began her performing life with a traveling troupe, Adella was a savvy businesswoman and quickly got her own agent and began securing headlining shows at such impressive venues as Picadilly Hall in London. She was not a freak in the literal sense, but with her excessive flexibility and charming stage demeanour, Adella became a bona fide star on stages across Europe.

Seamus & Samuel, 1846

Seamus & Samuel, Siamese Twins

One of the top draws at Barnum's American Museum during the peak of its popularity, Seamus & Samuel were billed as conjoined twins found by a brave explorer during his trek into the darkest heart of Siam and brought back to New York, where they picked up English at an impressive rate and soon learned to live a fully civilized life.

In actuality, the twins were born in Chicago, but the secret of their origin was not revealed until many years later, when Samuel wrote a tell-all book about his life.

Gideon Madill, 1862

Gideon Madill, 1862

Gideon considered himself a nihilist philosopher and was therefore quite out of fashion amongst his contemporaries. While John Stewart Mill spoke of securing the greatest happiness for the largest number of people, Gideon stuck to his anomie, writing excessively long papers about the futility of life and his conviction that the world around him was entirely meaningless.

Later scholars came to believe that this gloomy view of life was directly related to the death of his childhood sweetheart at the age of eighteen, only a few months before their wedding was to happen. Nevertheless, as a philosopher he made some interesting forays into the subject of life's futility and wrote elegantly about his crushing malaise.

Buford Blewett, 1870

Buford Blewett, 1870

Coming from humble beginnings as a farmer's son, Buford pulled himself handily up by his bootstraps and became one of the best-known politicians of his day. Well-read and charming, he was known for his blustery speeches, which never failed to whip crowds into frenzies of passionate support. His political bent was evident from his first days at Oxford, where he studied law and made a name for himself as a tough debate opponent.

Buford was on his way to becoming Prime Minister of England when scandal struck - his wife Caroline accused him of adultery. The issue might have fallen out of public notice without a sound had letters between Buford and his alleged mistress not been found and subsequently printed in the papers, leading to a trial that rocked London, as their beloved Buford Blewett was unable to deny that the letters were real and was forced to step down from public office, allow his wife the divorce she was seeking, and retreat into the country, where he reportedly lived with his mistress until his death in 1900.

Perry Longsbury, 1886

Perry Longsbury, 1886

Perry was born to a life of wealth and privilege, but, like many youth of his time, rejected his father's estate at the age of 17 and set off to experience a life of danger and adventure. This photo shows him on the borders of his family estate in his traveling clothes, ready to set off into the great wide world and find his own way without the aids of money and social status.

Unfortunately for Perry, his adventures did not last long. He was the victim of highway robbery not long after landing in France and wound up working as the stable boy at a tavern in Lille called Le Macareux, too proud to return and bear his father's scorn. During his time at the tavern, Perry fell in love with the barmaid and the pair wound up marrying and living out the rest of their days on a small farm just outside the town limits.

More V-day Nonsense

OK, here goes with the rest of the Valentines Day silliness!


I think this guy might be my favourite - anglerfishes represent!





Also, CLICK HERE to download your very own set of the valentines - creep out your friends, family or spouse!!

More non-festive art to follow this weekend (I've been painting up a storm these days, so there's actually quite the backlog).

Break for Hearts!

Since it's V-day 'round these parts, I figured that there might be a need for some non-saccharine valentines to celebrate this silly day. Here's the first:



Also, this is being submitted to Illustration Friday as soon as I get home (the word of the week is celebrate, I thought this might fit).

The next three V-day dudes will be coming up in a moment.