M L Clark
@mlclark.bsky.social
Writer (SFWA), translator, humanist, general odd duck • 🇨🇦n in 🇨🇴 • avoids pronouns, they/them if key 🌈🌌
It's been a tough few weeks, but I see now why people lean into holidays. Having a kid in my care means we'll have Xmas this year, & she's super excited as we budget out gifts for low-income people in her circles. Her excitement at being able to share care in turn is my one bright note on hard days.
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
It's been a tough few weeks, but I see now why people lean into holidays. Having a kid in my care means we'll have Xmas this year, & she's super excited as we budget out gifts for low-income people in her circles. Her excitement at being able to share care in turn is my one bright note on hard days.
#ArtBreak
Victorians get a misguided rap. They were as dramatic as any other generation.
Queen has a song about one of these, painted during Richard Dadd's institutionalization after murdering his father.
Real prudishness is allowing ourselves to believe any culture is anything less than complex.
Victorians get a misguided rap. They were as dramatic as any other generation.
Queen has a song about one of these, painted during Richard Dadd's institutionalization after murdering his father.
Real prudishness is allowing ourselves to believe any culture is anything less than complex.
November 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
#ArtBreak
Victorians get a misguided rap. They were as dramatic as any other generation.
Queen has a song about one of these, painted during Richard Dadd's institutionalization after murdering his father.
Real prudishness is allowing ourselves to believe any culture is anything less than complex.
Victorians get a misguided rap. They were as dramatic as any other generation.
Queen has a song about one of these, painted during Richard Dadd's institutionalization after murdering his father.
Real prudishness is allowing ourselves to believe any culture is anything less than complex.
I feel hopelessly behind, and today is another such day with Too Much to Do, but here's a #PoetryBreak first.
The world is so awful.
The lies we tell ourselves about ourselves, about our kindness and courage and pursuit of real justice, so often heartbreakingly wrong.
But sometimes...
#Poetry
The world is so awful.
The lies we tell ourselves about ourselves, about our kindness and courage and pursuit of real justice, so often heartbreakingly wrong.
But sometimes...
#Poetry
October 29, 2025 at 11:33 AM
I feel hopelessly behind, and today is another such day with Too Much to Do, but here's a #PoetryBreak first.
The world is so awful.
The lies we tell ourselves about ourselves, about our kindness and courage and pursuit of real justice, so often heartbreakingly wrong.
But sometimes...
#Poetry
The world is so awful.
The lies we tell ourselves about ourselves, about our kindness and courage and pursuit of real justice, so often heartbreakingly wrong.
But sometimes...
#Poetry
Long overdue for an #ArtBreak.
These are by the Belgian artist Eddy Stevens (eddy.stevens65 on Instagram). He has a long-running series that blends classic symbolic portraiture (e.g. objects beside royalty) with surrealist animal and object fusions, invoking the many complex sides of our lives.
These are by the Belgian artist Eddy Stevens (eddy.stevens65 on Instagram). He has a long-running series that blends classic symbolic portraiture (e.g. objects beside royalty) with surrealist animal and object fusions, invoking the many complex sides of our lives.
October 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Long overdue for an #ArtBreak.
These are by the Belgian artist Eddy Stevens (eddy.stevens65 on Instagram). He has a long-running series that blends classic symbolic portraiture (e.g. objects beside royalty) with surrealist animal and object fusions, invoking the many complex sides of our lives.
These are by the Belgian artist Eddy Stevens (eddy.stevens65 on Instagram). He has a long-running series that blends classic symbolic portraiture (e.g. objects beside royalty) with surrealist animal and object fusions, invoking the many complex sides of our lives.
#ArtBreak
I saw this the other day and instantly recognized it as Toronto. Many of Lauren Mercer-Smail's paintings capture back-alley views that instantly invoke my childhood. It's not nostalgia so much as remembering other ways I used to move through the world. What art has that effect for you?
I saw this the other day and instantly recognized it as Toronto. Many of Lauren Mercer-Smail's paintings capture back-alley views that instantly invoke my childhood. It's not nostalgia so much as remembering other ways I used to move through the world. What art has that effect for you?
October 23, 2025 at 9:45 AM
#ArtBreak
I saw this the other day and instantly recognized it as Toronto. Many of Lauren Mercer-Smail's paintings capture back-alley views that instantly invoke my childhood. It's not nostalgia so much as remembering other ways I used to move through the world. What art has that effect for you?
I saw this the other day and instantly recognized it as Toronto. Many of Lauren Mercer-Smail's paintings capture back-alley views that instantly invoke my childhood. It's not nostalgia so much as remembering other ways I used to move through the world. What art has that effect for you?
I didn't quite get the "rest" I needed these last five days - lots of sadness, lots of crisis management outside my working life - but I'm out before dawn and got to say hi to the horses, so that's something.
Will catch up when I get back.
And try to remember what I'm fighting for through it all. 🤞🏻
Will catch up when I get back.
And try to remember what I'm fighting for through it all. 🤞🏻
October 14, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I didn't quite get the "rest" I needed these last five days - lots of sadness, lots of crisis management outside my working life - but I'm out before dawn and got to say hi to the horses, so that's something.
Will catch up when I get back.
And try to remember what I'm fighting for through it all. 🤞🏻
Will catch up when I get back.
And try to remember what I'm fighting for through it all. 🤞🏻
#ArtBreak before a writing day.
Richard Sargent illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Fortune, & Photoplay, among others.
His distinction came from his ability to capture the persistence of quirks even in life at its most idyllic: the "American dream" never without its eccentricities.
Richard Sargent illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Fortune, & Photoplay, among others.
His distinction came from his ability to capture the persistence of quirks even in life at its most idyllic: the "American dream" never without its eccentricities.
October 12, 2025 at 5:41 PM
#ArtBreak before a writing day.
Richard Sargent illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Fortune, & Photoplay, among others.
His distinction came from his ability to capture the persistence of quirks even in life at its most idyllic: the "American dream" never without its eccentricities.
Richard Sargent illustrated covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Fortune, & Photoplay, among others.
His distinction came from his ability to capture the persistence of quirks even in life at its most idyllic: the "American dream" never without its eccentricities.
Guys! Guys! New* writers' prayer just dropped! 😅
(*Well, "new" when it emerged in the 1940 epigraph for Robert Service's "Collected Poems" 😉)
(*Well, "new" when it emerged in the 1940 epigraph for Robert Service's "Collected Poems" 😉)
October 11, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Guys! Guys! New* writers' prayer just dropped! 😅
(*Well, "new" when it emerged in the 1940 epigraph for Robert Service's "Collected Poems" 😉)
(*Well, "new" when it emerged in the 1940 epigraph for Robert Service's "Collected Poems" 😉)
Been a long while since an #ArtBreak, eh?
But Andrea Kowch's creations have a mood to them that certainly encapsulate how I feel these days. May the ferocious busy-ness of these Neo-Gothic scenes reach you with all the command of inner wildness they also portray.
Go forth and be ungovernable.
But Andrea Kowch's creations have a mood to them that certainly encapsulate how I feel these days. May the ferocious busy-ness of these Neo-Gothic scenes reach you with all the command of inner wildness they also portray.
Go forth and be ungovernable.
October 2, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Been a long while since an #ArtBreak, eh?
But Andrea Kowch's creations have a mood to them that certainly encapsulate how I feel these days. May the ferocious busy-ness of these Neo-Gothic scenes reach you with all the command of inner wildness they also portray.
Go forth and be ungovernable.
But Andrea Kowch's creations have a mood to them that certainly encapsulate how I feel these days. May the ferocious busy-ness of these Neo-Gothic scenes reach you with all the command of inner wildness they also portray.
Go forth and be ungovernable.
September 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
#PoetryBreak before bed.
A simple one, but the kind you tuck away and recite to yourself whenever you need a reminder that the world hasn't necessarily become more cruel - only, regained a level of honesty around the cruelty it always had.
Let us ache and struggle for better all the same. 🕯️
A simple one, but the kind you tuck away and recite to yourself whenever you need a reminder that the world hasn't necessarily become more cruel - only, regained a level of honesty around the cruelty it always had.
Let us ache and struggle for better all the same. 🕯️
September 17, 2025 at 3:43 AM
#PoetryBreak before bed.
A simple one, but the kind you tuck away and recite to yourself whenever you need a reminder that the world hasn't necessarily become more cruel - only, regained a level of honesty around the cruelty it always had.
Let us ache and struggle for better all the same. 🕯️
A simple one, but the kind you tuck away and recite to yourself whenever you need a reminder that the world hasn't necessarily become more cruel - only, regained a level of honesty around the cruelty it always had.
Let us ache and struggle for better all the same. 🕯️
Say hello to my little friend.
This itty bitty member of the gecko committee got lost in my apartment today, and she's been happily chilling in a little sheltered set-up by my desk for a few hours now. We'll see if she wanders away tonight.
Thanks for the emotional support today at least, buddy!
This itty bitty member of the gecko committee got lost in my apartment today, and she's been happily chilling in a little sheltered set-up by my desk for a few hours now. We'll see if she wanders away tonight.
Thanks for the emotional support today at least, buddy!
September 16, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Say hello to my little friend.
This itty bitty member of the gecko committee got lost in my apartment today, and she's been happily chilling in a little sheltered set-up by my desk for a few hours now. We'll see if she wanders away tonight.
Thanks for the emotional support today at least, buddy!
This itty bitty member of the gecko committee got lost in my apartment today, and she's been happily chilling in a little sheltered set-up by my desk for a few hours now. We'll see if she wanders away tonight.
Thanks for the emotional support today at least, buddy!
#ArtBreak, anyone?
Joanna Karpowicz's most famous work is perhaps her series of Anubis wandering the world.
It would be a gimmick if not for the artist's primary commitment to capturing everyday scenes, *then* adding an element that highlights the deep history that walks with us through it all.
Joanna Karpowicz's most famous work is perhaps her series of Anubis wandering the world.
It would be a gimmick if not for the artist's primary commitment to capturing everyday scenes, *then* adding an element that highlights the deep history that walks with us through it all.
September 11, 2025 at 11:49 AM
#ArtBreak, anyone?
Joanna Karpowicz's most famous work is perhaps her series of Anubis wandering the world.
It would be a gimmick if not for the artist's primary commitment to capturing everyday scenes, *then* adding an element that highlights the deep history that walks with us through it all.
Joanna Karpowicz's most famous work is perhaps her series of Anubis wandering the world.
It would be a gimmick if not for the artist's primary commitment to capturing everyday scenes, *then* adding an element that highlights the deep history that walks with us through it all.
Like clockwork here in Medellín, right after Feria de las flores it's four months of Navidad. 😂
"Desde septiembre se siente que viene diciembre"
¡Bienvenidos a la temporada navideña! 🥳
"Desde septiembre se siente que viene diciembre"
¡Bienvenidos a la temporada navideña! 🥳
September 5, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Like clockwork here in Medellín, right after Feria de las flores it's four months of Navidad. 😂
"Desde septiembre se siente que viene diciembre"
¡Bienvenidos a la temporada navideña! 🥳
"Desde septiembre se siente que viene diciembre"
¡Bienvenidos a la temporada navideña! 🥳
#ArtBreak before a long working weekend.
This is Quint Buchholz, whose pointillist surrealism is often used for illustrations because of his delicate focus on juxtaposing elements not usually seen together.
Our world has such wonder in it, too.
(quintbuchholz on Insta; www.quintbuchholz.de/en)
This is Quint Buchholz, whose pointillist surrealism is often used for illustrations because of his delicate focus on juxtaposing elements not usually seen together.
Our world has such wonder in it, too.
(quintbuchholz on Insta; www.quintbuchholz.de/en)
August 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
#ArtBreak before a long working weekend.
This is Quint Buchholz, whose pointillist surrealism is often used for illustrations because of his delicate focus on juxtaposing elements not usually seen together.
Our world has such wonder in it, too.
(quintbuchholz on Insta; www.quintbuchholz.de/en)
This is Quint Buchholz, whose pointillist surrealism is often used for illustrations because of his delicate focus on juxtaposing elements not usually seen together.
Our world has such wonder in it, too.
(quintbuchholz on Insta; www.quintbuchholz.de/en)
Today's #ArtBreak is Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh--though you can be forgiven for thinking that her bright, highly stylized, steeped-in-symbolism works are paintings.
She casts herself as the subject to depict histories of trauma and the complexity of hope around food aid and social uplift.
She casts herself as the subject to depict histories of trauma and the complexity of hope around food aid and social uplift.
August 24, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Today's #ArtBreak is Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh--though you can be forgiven for thinking that her bright, highly stylized, steeped-in-symbolism works are paintings.
She casts herself as the subject to depict histories of trauma and the complexity of hope around food aid and social uplift.
She casts herself as the subject to depict histories of trauma and the complexity of hope around food aid and social uplift.
I see elements of JMW Turner in the work of Dorset-artist Jason Anderson, the subject of today's #ArtBreak. His work ranges from less to more abstract shoreside landscapes, and he uses a heavy palette knife to produce a pixellated effect, but... it's there in the burst of colour in the haze, no?
August 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
I see elements of JMW Turner in the work of Dorset-artist Jason Anderson, the subject of today's #ArtBreak. His work ranges from less to more abstract shoreside landscapes, and he uses a heavy palette knife to produce a pixellated effect, but... it's there in the burst of colour in the haze, no?
Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.
August 20, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.
Had a rough day and still trying to get my head right after it.
Then a painting by Seth Armstrong stopped me in my tracks (well, my doomscroll).
So for today's #ArtBreak, please enjoy these stunningly detailed, immersively vibrant LA scenes.
I'm a sucker for art that reminds us of our scale. 💛
Then a painting by Seth Armstrong stopped me in my tracks (well, my doomscroll).
So for today's #ArtBreak, please enjoy these stunningly detailed, immersively vibrant LA scenes.
I'm a sucker for art that reminds us of our scale. 💛
August 20, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Had a rough day and still trying to get my head right after it.
Then a painting by Seth Armstrong stopped me in my tracks (well, my doomscroll).
So for today's #ArtBreak, please enjoy these stunningly detailed, immersively vibrant LA scenes.
I'm a sucker for art that reminds us of our scale. 💛
Then a painting by Seth Armstrong stopped me in my tracks (well, my doomscroll).
So for today's #ArtBreak, please enjoy these stunningly detailed, immersively vibrant LA scenes.
I'm a sucker for art that reminds us of our scale. 💛
I have had the great privilege of working with editors Trevor and Emily at @analogsf.bsky.social for years. My latest novelette, "Not in My Valley", is in the Sept/Oct Analog. I adore reading the full ToC of issues I'm in, and I look forward to spending time with brilliant authors on the page. #SFF
August 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I have had the great privilege of working with editors Trevor and Emily at @analogsf.bsky.social for years. My latest novelette, "Not in My Valley", is in the Sept/Oct Analog. I adore reading the full ToC of issues I'm in, and I look forward to spending time with brilliant authors on the page. #SFF
#ArtBreak? #HeckYes!
These are by Choy Moo Kheong, an artist who uses a "laying on" technique, as opposed to brush strokes, which creates a stunning effect with colour when seen in exhibition halls with warm light.
Online, I just love the deceptive simplicity and scale of these vivid tonal scenes.
These are by Choy Moo Kheong, an artist who uses a "laying on" technique, as opposed to brush strokes, which creates a stunning effect with colour when seen in exhibition halls with warm light.
Online, I just love the deceptive simplicity and scale of these vivid tonal scenes.
August 2, 2025 at 10:46 PM
#NatureBreak before bed.
Say hello to my little #BugFriend: Cyclocephala lunulata!
Apparently more useful than harmful to local agriculture in its larval phase, though we still have so much to learn about so many critters on this 'ere globe.
It's nice to make new friends some days. :) #Nature
Say hello to my little #BugFriend: Cyclocephala lunulata!
Apparently more useful than harmful to local agriculture in its larval phase, though we still have so much to learn about so many critters on this 'ere globe.
It's nice to make new friends some days. :) #Nature
August 1, 2025 at 3:37 AM
#NatureBreak before bed.
Say hello to my little #BugFriend: Cyclocephala lunulata!
Apparently more useful than harmful to local agriculture in its larval phase, though we still have so much to learn about so many critters on this 'ere globe.
It's nice to make new friends some days. :) #Nature
Say hello to my little #BugFriend: Cyclocephala lunulata!
Apparently more useful than harmful to local agriculture in its larval phase, though we still have so much to learn about so many critters on this 'ere globe.
It's nice to make new friends some days. :) #Nature