A reader just shared this sensuous image of fairies. For some reason there is a transposed version and I am told this one has the correct orientation.
John Philip Wagner – Fairy Sandcastles (Date Unknown)
John Philip Wagner was born in Philadelphia in 1943, got his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at the Philadelphia College of Art and his Masters at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He also studied with David Hare and Dennis Leon. As a child, he plastered the walls of his elementary school with paintings of Egyptian pyramids and Roman ships and later studied the theater arts, painting, sculpture and printmaking. He resides in the American Southwest, having lived in New Mexico and then southern Colorado, adding Native American and Southwestern Art to his repertoire. While in Santa Fe, he created the first version of the puppet theater known as “Wagner Marionettes”. Since then, he spent much time entertaining children with his little players on string. In 2005, he was charged with sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl, claiming that he touched her buttocks. Found on his computer were nude photos of the girl the artist says were used for reference. The mother denies giving her consent for these photographs. There is no information about a hearing or trial but, presumably, he agreed to a plea bargain as he was required to register as a sex offender. He no longer has his own website and sells his beautiful art through CafePress. Categories of interest include Fairy Art and Angel Art.
Is this the same John P. Wagner. Art of natural living?
My profuse apologies for not mentioning this. I did see some mention of something he published. From the cover, it is clear that this is his work. I would also like to mention here about a peculiar form of censorship used by major book sellers. I have noticed numerous times that when I type in an exact title, I get a number of items that are inferior matches before getting the one I am looking for. In most cases, I can only find a book if I type in the author/artist along with the title. If you do not have specific enough information, you will not find it. It is part of a campaign to “protect” those who would encounter these titles of a “sexual” nature accidentally. Incidentally, an excellent book on the driving forces behind this censorship is America’s War on Sex by Marty Klein. I know his work is a bit polemic but it is well researched. -Ron
TO TKBIK:
I just wanted to say, “Thank you for telling us about that beautiful book”.
Did you look at the CafePress stuff? Some of it is stunning. You should try to contact him and see if he’ll allow you to use some larger scans of the fairy stuff in particular. Those images are so small there. I’d also like to see a larger version of the Edgar Allan Poe portrait.