Our Art NYC author, Marshall Sponder, has interviewed one of America’s most famous artists, Fred Stonehouse.

Fred Stonehouse is a Mid-West artist who specializes in esoteric art full of symbology and alchemical overtones.

Here’s a sample Q and A :

Marshall : Is there any tie in between common symbols in your paintings (ie: skulls, bees, birds) and events in your life? Can you elaborate on the “Americana” symbolism in your work, (ie:what does the black devil with blue eyes mean)?

Fred : The symbols in my work are drawn from a multiplicity of sources, but they can be summed up as coming from the alchemical categories of: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

I was always interested in the hagiography that accompanied images of saints. I was never quite sure what the symbols represented, but I knew they were there for a reason. For me, they suggested secret and mysterious powers and were akin to magic and voodoo. It wasn’t important that I understood the specific meaning but that they represented an unknown mystery. The black devil was done as a way to add something new to the traditional representation of the fiery red character. I imagine that character as “burnt to a crisp” or perhaps as blackened, Cajun style. Besides, black is so graphic and makes for a powerful and haunting image. […]

Read the whole interview here.

This post is simply to draw your attention to our new Hall of Fame at the top of the sidebar. These are the celebrities who have replied to us so far, together with links to their posts. Modest as it is now — just one week after we launched — it will grow in coming months by leaps and bounds.

Among the giants of their trade now populating the list, sharp-eyed folk may have noticed my own name. There are historical reasons why I have included myself, far distant from a monstrous egotism. I’ll let you know when I’ve thought of some.

Ah, yes, as editor I was the first profile on the site, so for completion should be there.

This list will lengthen with household names to complement its current inhabitants. We have feelers out to some very interesting people, not the usual fluffy celeb types, but folk of real worth who have contributed to the self-knowledge of their contemporaries.

I do hope you’ll lend us your patronage in the time to come.

John Evans,
Editor

Anyone who says “… and possibly our last” will be banned from this blog.

I’ve never thought of myself as a celebrity. That’s because I never have been. My only excuse for writing this is that the site has to start with someone, so it may as well be the editor.

I am though on the “C” List at Blogebrity. If you take the C as standing for Celebrity, then I’m in. Well, keep it under your hat.

Basically, this is the format we’ll be using for invited celebrity contributions in this spot. I’m asking a river of celebrities to write a post on a subject close to their work or interests. They may be stars of screen or stage, politicians, authors, divas or divos (is there such a word?), common or garden blog network owners like myself (O, the tedium!).

The posts will be publicized around the press and media, so should attract interest from outside the blogosphere and internet set.

So, what’s my claim to fame? I’m an author of a few out-of-print books and a journalist on many topics of contemporary interest.

My forthcoming book is The Nirvaneans, to be published by Humdrumming next year. I’ve also edited and contributed to Naked Tales: Short Stories By Writers Who Blog, another Humdrumming book scheduled for May 21, 2007.

I’m the owner of Syntagma Media Weblog Network, a collection of 28 blogs and rising, of which Celebrity at Work is but one.

I do hope you’ll thread our feed into your reader. You may be surprised at who we’ve got lined up for the future.

Well, that’s my 15 minutes of fame over. You know, being a celebrity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.