…is the name of today’s story at Fictive Dream.
Throughout the month of February 2023 I will be showing you illustrations I did for Flash Fiction February 2023 at Fictive Dream, an online magazine devoted to the short story.
Here’s the image editor Laura Black chose for this story, The Red Gate, by Gay Degani.
And here is the artwork with the banner. Take a look at this image. And then…
Read the story at Fictive Dream.
Claudia McGill and Her Art World 
This story made me cry. And your gate is so beautiful and alive. (K)
Thank you. I also thought the story was very moving. I have read several books or stories in the recent past in which a person’s thoughts at the moment of death turned toward the idea of crossing through a barrier. I am very taken by this idea.
It’s definitely a transformation of some kind, although I’m not sure what. But a gate is more appealing to me than a tunnel.
I recently read a book in which it was depicted as walking across a meadow toward a forest, with loved one(s) coming to guide you. The forest was not presented as threatening but as a welcome destination (the book was set in a rural area with a lot of forests). Somehow this spoke to me. I do certainly agree a gate is better than a tunnel. I don’t like being underground or closed in and I think I would be frightened by this.
I like walking into a forest as well.
The story was very sad and used the painted gate motif very effectively. I, therefore, really like the way the gate is so foregrounded in your painting and the way the composition is also divided into two halves, suggestive of the two people.
Thank you. I don’t much like the color red, in of itself, but I do love it with pink like this, and with green it is complemented (if that is a word). I also like the blue, it makes me feel that there is a sky that spreads out into infinity. Which to me is a theme of this story as well.
Thank you to memadtwo and Laura for their comments. I agree that it’s a very sad story but powerful too as is the illustration with its vibrant palette. Laura makes a good point about the two halves being suggestive of both characters, I hadn’t seen that. I love the shade of red and somehow, the blacks dots on the left are most appropriate. Thank you, Claudia for another marvellous artwork.
Thank you. This image is red, green, and blue, a triad of colors I really like together. As regards the red, I don’t like the color that much on its own, but I do like to use it with pink as you see here, as I think it softens it, makes it less harsh, and some how makes the red, redder. Once again the black lines give contrast and some punch to the other colors, plus, they are sharp and hard, rather than soft edges like the other shapes. There is a lot going on in this story as far as sadness and joy mixed and I think the structure of the piece fits that.