A Note from the Editor: When you breathe in the ash & feel the pain in your heart, you can no longer deny it

Dear beautiful and bizarre friends,

The release of my 28th issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine is a little over a week away now, so if you haven’t yet pre-ordered your copy or renewed your print subscription, please do before midnight 15 February so you don’t miss out on this inspiring issue! Plus, of course, 20 lucky print subscribers will win a gorgeous print of “Hello Kitten” by our March issue cover artist Matthew Grabelsky.

Australia burns

Excerpt from Issue 28 Letter from the Editor: As I sit and write this personal message to you in early January, we are facing our fifth month of horrific and terrifying bushfires in Australia, the effects of anthropogenic climate change made real. Over 1 billion animals killed, over 10 million hectares of forests burnt, 28 lives lost and many, many, more who have lost their homes or been displaced after having to evacuate towns in the face of fire fronts so massive as to warrant a national emergency. In Australia, we are seeing the first Western climate change refugees and many species of animals now face extinction. As you can imagine, we are all suffering from a deep sadness.

I think Julia Roberts’ narration as Mother Nature in the powerful and chilling YouTube video Nature Speaks, produced by Conservation International, says it far better than I can express:

“I don’t really need people, but people need me. Your future depends on me: when I thrive you thrive, when I falter, you falter, or worse. I have been here for eons. I have fed species greater than you and starved species greater than you. How you choose to live each day, whether you choose to regard or disregard me, doesn’t really matter to me one way or the other. Your actions will determine your fate, not mine – I am nature. I will go on. I am prepared to evolve, are you?”

Nature Speaks, produced by Conservation International

Global climate emergency

I don’t mention this to add to the sadness, but to help wake us up and to stir us into action. We need to reflect on how we got here, and demand change! We have a responsibility to every living creature on this planet, as well as to the future generations of the human species, to take real action to tackle the global climate crisis now! 2020 is the start of a new decade, one in which we as a species will have the power to heal or destroy our precious blue planet. Let us choose correctly!

To understand the staggering scale and depth of this crisis, please take a moment to read Brigid Delaney’s brave article “Fire raining on beaches, red skies and a billion animals killed: the new Australian summer” published on The Guardian website, excerpt:

“Climate change has stopped being something to argue about. When you breathe in the ash and feel the pain in your heart, you can no longer deny it…. It’s the first summer of this new decade. Welcome. It’s the summer of ash washed up on the beaches, like a long, deranged message unfurled from its bottle. It’s the summer of a billion animals killed by flames and starvation, it’s collapsed biospheres, charred forests, epic dust storms, hailstones and racing clouds carrying fire.”

Brigid Delaney

As the fires continue to ravage my beautiful country, and the forest, animal and human losses continue to build – there is a way that you can help! Please consider giving a donation to one of these excellent organisations: WIRES Wildlife Rescue, RSPCA, Australian Red Cross, NSW Rural Fire Service.

Count our blessings

That being said, the new year always brings into sharp focus not just our challenges, but also our blessings. I personally feel so privileged and deeply grateful to do what I do through Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize! To make so many dreams come true on so many levels each day – it truly is a precious honour. So, thank you – because it is through your support our dear readers and subscribers, that I am able to give so many representational artists globally the visibility and validation their practices deserve.

Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize

Exciting! The 2020 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize entries are now open! Once again I will have the pleasure of seeing lots of amazing work entered; it is always such a huge thrill to see the diversity, uniqueness and talent of representational artists from all corners of the world! Entries are open until midnight 17 July – so don’t miss your opportunity to join the esteemed alumni of the international Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize. I am deeply grateful to this year’s major sponsors, INPRNT, iCanvas, ZBrush, and Yasha Young Projects, who have allowed us to provide the overall winner of this year’s Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize with a cash prize of USD$10,000 + lots of other amazing prizes. The prize pool currently stands at over USD$35,000 – so don’t miss your chance to share in the amazing cash and product prizes. There are also Beautiful Bizarre Magazine editorials to win, and, of course, your chance to participate in our prestigious annual curated exhibition, along with 80+ of the world’s best contemporary artists at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco later this year. For more information about the 2020 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize, including the four Award Categories (the INPRNT Traditional Art Award, iCanvas Photography Award, ZBrush Digital Art Award, and Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award), the jury panel, a full list of prizes and more please visit www.beautifulbizarreartprize.art.

In closing, I would once again like to sincerely thank our new and existing print subscribers. As an independent magazine we would not exist without you! So thank you for your support, it means the world to us.

Much love xo

Danijela Krha Purssey, Editor in Chief
Connect with me on Instagram @danijelakrhapurssey