Chronographia

@chronographia.bsky.social

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To prevent fading, store in a cool, dry place. Avoid exposure to sunlight. Home of Crows Before Bros! (she/they) https://strangehours.com

An overhead photo of a small gold mylar balloon in the shape of a star abandoned in a parking lot. Faint marks of yellow paint lines are worn away over a seam in the pavement, echoing the yellow of the star. The photographer’s black shoes peek out at the bottom of the image.
A photo of a femme person in light furry gear in black, purple, green and white with a full head mask. They are vamping for the camera in front of a traveling artisan shop on the main DLLCC exhibition floor. The shop decor is spooky and gothic, in contrast to the furry’s bubbly and cartoon-esque appearance.
An angled photo of a studio set up for marbling. A 13x17” tray has an arcing marbled design in blacks, pinks and silver.
An angled close-up photo of folding hand fans that have been marbled in a variety of jewel tones.
A set of six silk & bamboo folding fans, stretched open and laid out on newsprint paper. They are plain and undecorated.
A photo of a small-ish garter snake curled up in a garden bed amongst straw & mulch and a flowering thyme bush.
A video of a small garter snake zooming around a circular garden path filled with wood chips and lined with wine bottles.
A photo of a small chart depicting geological timescale with footnotes for evolutionary milestones.
An overhead photo of assorted square food storage tins and reused take out containers sitting on a half-sheet baking pan. Inside the containers are homemade sugar encrusted Polish doughnuts, paczki.
A photo of a handknit deep v-neck sweater hanging from a black wooden hanger against a dark wooden surface. The yarn is a grey-and-black marl, giving a salt-and-pepper appearance. The sweater blouses at the wrist ribbing and the cropped waist ribbing, but is otherwise a straightforward shape.Two cones of yarn sit on a wooden shelf in front of the sweater, one black and one purple-grey, along with a small pile of grey yarn ends.
A low-depth of field photo of two stalks of tiny star-shaped pink flowers blooming from a jade plant. Heavily blurred in the background is a white, snowy residential street. Snow has built up on the ledges of the window casement.
A photo of a packet of foil star stickers in various colors hanging from a hook in an office supply store.
A photo of pixel art being done in a graphics program. A cropped version of The Unicorn In Captivity has been rendered in a limited color palette, as the basis for a needlecraft charted pattern.
A photo of assorted animal skulls, center sliced nautilus shell, hand-forged nails, and a cassette tape on a round silver platter, which itself is sitting on a dark wooden surface. Just below the platter are two halves of a fox jaw. Hiding in the shadows above the platter is a black ceramic bowl filled with antique keys.
An angled photo of a cluster of black origami boxes sitting on a black gridded cutting mat. The boxes have been wrapped with string and sealed with silver wax seals. A round sticker with banner text that reads “I was cursed” is tucked into the strings.
A moody and dark photo of a small copper sculpture which has been treated to develop verdigris in places. In it, a Baba Yaga house has been shingled with denture teeth, and perches atop a tusked elephant which is wearing a turtle shell. Sculpted by Lily in Flux.
An angled photo of a shadowy wooden surface, on which some dried roses and small hourglasses sit. They frame a large black and white circular vinyl sticker of Strange Hours Atelier’s Crows Before Bros design. A text overlay in a flourishing banner reads: Strange Hours Atelier || Made By Hand In Pgh, PA. A superscript above the banner reads: Printmaking, Corvids A Specialty.
The dinosaur to dino nugget meme, which depicts the process of theropod dinosaurs surviving as chickens, chickens becoming foodstuff, and the forming of that foodstuff back into dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. The meme’s text offers the philosophy “And yet a trace of the true self exists in the false self.”
A photo taken while driving through Forbes Ave. in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Midsize buildings both old and new flank the street and its series of stoplights in strong perspective, while the white limestone of the 1920s revival gothic Cathedral of Learning rears into the sky at the end of the street. It is brightly with late afternoon sun from the left, but the sky behind it is full of ominously dark stormclouds.
A screencap from photoshop, depicting a horizontal oval with the word “Crimes.” in Arts & Crafts era orange lettering. A graphic of a dancing cat playing the banjo is to the right of the text.
A Remedios Varo painting called The Creation of Birds. In a soft, shadowy green room, a woman with an owl’s face and feathers sits at a desk with arcane implements attached to an alchemical device next to the desk. Birds are transformed from drawins on the paper into live creatures which then fly out of a pair of arched windows.
A screencapture from a vector design program of the Strange Hours logotype set in a justified block using an early printing press font. The block sits within the center circle of a classic watch face with Roman numerals and the hour and minute hands removed. Arching over the top center is text for strangehours.com, while the username @chronographia arches under the bottom center. Along the exterior sides of the watch face are delicate radial lines, echoing the subdivisions of the watch face. The design is executed in a series of soft warm greys upon a darker grey circle.
A screencap from a vector program of a logotype for Strange Hours Atelier set in the vernacular design of a romantasy book cover, using a flourishing and vaguely-Victorian-but-not-actually font, with decorative cornerpieces in a matching flouishing, vaguely-faux-Victorian style. The username and website of the artist are placed to suggest an author’s name & publisher. The design uses varying tones of soft warm greys both as ground, embellishments, and main text.
An angled photo of a late 19th/early 20th century hearse carriage strapped to a flat trailer at a gas station. The darkened wooden exterior is decorated with carved drapery and pillars, with large glass windows dimly displaying real drapery and the original wicker casket
A video of baby skunks exploring an overgrown garden with a stone retaining wall, a tall wire enclosure filled with compost & debris, and, on the lower half, a clover-filled lawn. As they waddle down the steps in the retaining wall, it is revealed that there are four of them. Each goes in a different direction off-camera.
A photo of a pale woman sitting in a car seat flashing the peace signal. She is wearing sunglasses and a big floppy straw hat with a black bandana peeking out from under it showing small white swords and daggers as the pattern. Being in the safety of her vehicle, she is not wearing a protective kn95 mask for once. Her expression is one of slight confusion at having dodged a medical bullet, but she’ll take it.
A black & white illustration of a unicorn based on the body of a dikdik. It faces the viewer with its haunches splayed out to the right. Tall stylized vegetation surrounds it and occasionally breaks the outlined frame of the illustration. The ground is suggested to be pebbly underfoot. Outside of the frame in the lower right margin is written “Junicorn 1/30”
An overhead photo of a partially illustrated sheet of kraft brown sketchbook paper. Red and white ink pick out two medieval-style unicorns rearing up back-to-back and arching their heads around to cross horns. They are encircled in a decorative border, which is then enclosed in a decorative square. Based on an illumination in the Bodliean Library.
Selfie of a pale-skinned woman going through chemotherapy and making a peace sign to the camera. She wears a black buttondown shirt, a black bandana printed with esoteric imagery by Feral Matter, and a black KN95 mask. Although she has eyelashes and eyebrows, most of her hair is missing. An IV stand can be seen in the right corner of the photo. White text on black bars repeats the text of the post.
A cinematic screen capture from Blade Runner (1982), with a close up of a replicant eagle owl’s head. Its ear tufts are folded back and it regards the middle distance keenly. The soft, noir-ish lighting catches the reflection of the back of the owl’s right eye, suggesting something is uncanny about the “animal.”
A selfie of a white woman with long dark hair punctuated by a white streak just to the side of the widow’s peak. She is wearing a black knit cap, a jacket, and a silk scarf. She is also wearing a kn95 mask under a decorative cloth mask, because chemo but make it aesthetic.
An overhead photo of a heap of a dozen fresh bagels in different flavors (marble, plain, sesame seed, poppy seed) inside of a brown paper bag.
An overhead photo of a stapled-together dossier lying across a laptop keyboard. Set in large capital letters in the center of the page, the document is titled “THE INTERNET AN INTRODUCTION” Large blocks of shadow bleed through from the reverse side of the cover sheet, suggesting many screen shots have been printed out in this introduction.
A sculpture in the Art Institute of Chicago of a bizarre bat-winged pelican-like creature perched atop a domed rectangular structure that one might find on a balustrade. It is coated in a verdigris green glaze and has protruding yellow eyes. The overall effect is unsettling and cursed. It is unclear if this creature could be classified as “a Pokemon.”
A low depth of field photo of budding quince branches against white drapery. Late afternoon light slants in from the right. Many branches show signs of small leaves emerging, but the focus is on a cluster of flower buds at the top of a branch, just about to burst open.
A screen capture of a black and white wine label being designed in a vector graphics program. There are three centered blocks of text set in an early 20th century font with fancy capital letters. The letters get increasingly smaller and more spaced out with each block of text. Borrowing a joke from the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, the text reads “The Dowager Lady Ursula’s Homemade Gooseberry Wine.” Then “The Dowager Lady Ursula’s Homeberry Goosewade Mine.” And finally, “the dowager lady ursula’s heymode geese berry woodle.” Small woodcut illustrations of conjoined rings with a waving banner weaving through them separate each of the blocks of text. Decorative ribbons creep in on the top left and lower right corners, bearing the text “No. 79” and “Month ??, Year - contains sulfites & shellfish”.
An overhead photo of a sheep’s skull with large curling horns and a partially broken nose bone sitting on a dark wooden background.
A photo of a brown kraft sketchbook page, with two illustrations of medieval-style wyverns with flexed wings and curling tails, rendered in soft white and crisp black ink.
An overhead photo of a “brown kraft” toned sketchbook page laid on a dark wooden surface next to a white gel pen. The drawing depicts two unicorns within a circle that is framed by nested squares. Each border decoration is drawn in white and red ink in the style of a medieval manuscript. The unicorns are posed rampant, back to back, with their heads arcing around to cross horns. The unicorn on the right has been fleshed out in white ink, while the unicorn on the left remains a pencil sketch. The negative space within the circle is filled with curling white vines.
An overhead photo of a “kraft brown” toned paper sketchbook page taped to a dark wooden surface, with a dip pen, white gel pen, and chunky white marker arranged next to it, and a bottle of red fountain pen ink sitting below. The drawing on the paper shows both light graphite and white ink of a stylized illuminated bestiary. A circle rests within several square decorative borders, and tow unicorns are depicted rearing up in parallel, back to back, and arcing their heads around to cross horns. Curling vines in white take up the negative space within the circle.
A photo of a yellow pedestrian stanchion with two text-based stickers on it. The top one is a metallic rectangle with the words “you are beautiful” on it. The sticker below looks like it was made with a label maker and reads “PEPPER SPRAY A COP.”
A screencap of two black on white designs in a horizontal business card format, featuring bold text reminiscent of lettering on bank currency. The upper design reads “MASSIVE FAN OF HYPERBOLE” over three line breaks in a simple ruled frame. A decorative border runs along the top over the chunky text of “MASSIVE,” echoing the shapes of draped curtains and tassels. Manicules (old-fashioned pointing hands) on both sides of the text help fill in the space on the short center line. The lower design horizontally mirrors the upper one, with the text “MODERATELY FOND OF UNDERSTATEMENT.” Manicules once again fill out the negative space of the shorten center line. A decorative border of spheres and arches underscores the chunky text of “UNDERSTATEMENT” within a double-ruled frame. The font size is scaled down for both “MODERATELY” and “UNDERSTATEMENT” giving it less visual weight than its massive counterpart, and reinforcing the meaning of the text.
A photo of a laptop screen with black and white designs being laid out in a vector program. Two horizontal business-card sized designs feature bold text reminiscent of lettering on bank currency. With black text on a white background, the top declares “MASSIVE FAN OF HYPERBOLE” over three line breaks, in a simple ruled frame. Manicules (old-fashioned pointing hands) on both sides of the text help fill the space in the short center line. The second design uses white text on a black background, formatted similarly to the first, but with the words “MODERATELY FOND OF UNDERSTATEMENT” having less visual weight in the frame. A column of font choices lurks mostly out of frame on the left, with various Es cropped.
An angled photo of a “brown craft paper” sketchbook page of pencil outlines. Within an ornately framed square and interior circle, two stylized unicorns rear up, back to back, with their heads arching around to cross horns. Their tails are entwined in a way that echoes the curving vines that fill in the negative space around the unicorns. After “Wild Goats, Horns Interlocked” from The Ashmole Bestiary, 1511.
A photo of a page from a “craft brown” paper sketchbook. Pencil lines, ranging from light to heavy, pick out a mathematical square with several nested layers of ornate borders, and a circle inscribed within the outermost frame. Inside the circle are mirrored curving vines, with blank spaces left for beasts drawn in parallel.
A close up photo of a to-go order ticket from sandwich-based restaurant Panera, made out to “JEHNIFER 59” from 10/19/2017. (The sandwich was a Bacon Turkey Bravo with lemonade and a side of chips.)
A screencap from Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). The post-apocalyptic protagonist Furiosa is sitting in the cab of a large vehicle, driving across a yellow desert and looking in the rearview mirror with a weary but determined expression. The audio caption reads “[MEN YELLING INDISTINCTLY].”
An overhead photo of a US $20 bill laid vertically on an oblong silver platter. The face of Andrew Jackson has been rubber stamped over in black ink with Harriet Tubman’s portrait.
An angled photo of two bottles of dip pen ink on a dark wooden surface and backlit. The bottle on the right is a slightly fancy glass cube filled with black ink, and the label is a transparent sticker that proclaims it to be Stuart Semple’s BLINK, where the BL is chunky white text and the INK is white outlines of the same chunky text allowing the liquid to visibly slosh around behind the “ink.” The bottle on the left is a more typical cylindrical ink bottle with a black eyedropper lid, and is filled with opaque white ink. The label looks designed for the hobbyists, analog draftsmen, and airbrush enthusiasts and states the ink to be “Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White” with additional smaller text on recommended use.
A matching pair of short swords with curving basket grips and wire-wrapped handles, lying crossed on a black sheet of cloth. They are lightly tarnished from a previous generation or two, but still look impressive.
A promotional photo from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) showing the three brides of Dracula, bedecked in white flowing togas and jewels, with extravagant headpieces and hair styling, streaked with blood, fangs bared and a desperate, predatory look in their eyes.
A photo of the Strange Hours Atelier booth set up in a lofty convention center. The left side is filled with a display of fanciful wool hats in many colors, while the back wall shows the shop sign and tshirt designs against a black drape. An illuminated vending machine and small whimsies sit on a red-draped table to the middle right, while a dark red rug ties the whole booth together.
A screencap from a mobile device of the Bluesky account @isthegoatgone.bsky.social. The account title asks “has the gavlebocken burned down yet?” At the time of the screenshot the account has 89 followers, is following 1, and has made 0 posts, with the caveat that the Gavlebocken isn’t up yet.
A short video of two grey tiger-striped barn cats approaching the camera for pets across a gravelly surface. They are very friendly and purrs can be heard as a hand moves from one to the other for scritches.
A close up photo of small loaves of ciabatta bread standing upright in a ceramic bowl on a marble checkerboard countertop. They are slightly rustic looking and lightly dusted with flour, more long than they are wide.
A short video of a cluster of large circular holographic stickers on a dark wooden surface, while a hand holds a single sticker up to the light to show how the rainbow effect moves across it. The design on the sticker is a black circle with the side silhouette of a unicorn’s head cut out of it to show the holographic layer underneath. The unicorn’s skeleton is printed in white ink, which, due to lower contrast, is more visible when light is refracting through the holo layer. Small text on the sticker reads “© Strange Hours Atelier”
A photo of a hand holding a black 3D printed D20 dice with the phrases of a magic eight ball inscribed on each face instead of numbers. The side facing the camera reads “Very Doubtful.”
A close-up photo of a hand grasping a large fig on the tree. The fig’s genetics have glitched and produced three conjoined figs off of one fruiting, with the ruptured bases exposing some of the pink innards. The result looks unsettlingly anatomical.