Author Archive: Jef Murray
Jef Murray (www.JefMurray.com) is an internationally known Tolkien and fantasy artist/illustrator and counterfeit essayist. His paintings, sketches, and writings sprout sporadically from the leaves of Tolkien and Inklings publications (Amon Hen, Mallorn, Beyond Bree, Silver Leaves, Mythprints) and Catholic journals (The St. Austin Review, Gilbert Magazine, The Georgia Bulletin) worldwide.
Contrary to all sense and sensibility, his images most recently wended their way into The Magic Ring: Deluxe Illustrated Edition by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque and Black & White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien by Hilary A. R. Tolkien.
Journeying to Jerusalem
When I think of Lent, a bubbling brew-pot of images boils in my head. Most of them have to do with Mardi Gras, that tinsel trollop of Catholic feast days. I can recollect more strangeness associated with Lent and Mardi Gras than with any other liturgical season. We were never actually in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, although Lorraine [...]
The Star
The Star – by Jef Murray A Tale of an Aging Mother and her Son His mother was propped up in bed; seemingly in the same position as when he’d left her two days before. Her eyes fluttered open. “Sam! Have you come to take me home?” He sighed and pulled a chair up beside her. Through [...]
The Utter East
The Utter East – by Jef Murray The Utter East When e’re the road flows by my door And beckons loudly in its haste to sweep me off through mist and moor unto some rich uncharted waste, I feel that tug of tempting fate: September hailing from her hills, insisting secret paths await all souls [...]
The Apothecary
“So, what will it do?” The young woman studied the contents of the glass bottle. Within was a single jade-green pill, perfectly round. The proprietor of the shop just smiled. “No, honestly,” said Jill, looking up at the man behind the counter. “I need to know what I’m getting myself into.” “It contains nothing that [...]
Confronting the Count
A Gift Unbidden It comes without warning, and at the most unexpected of times. I’ll be furiously focused on one task or another: painting, or writing, or preparing for some descending deadline or some travel plans I’m making. Then, as if Someone had gently disconnected the power to all of these troublesome tasks and tribulations, [...]
Linya
A Jeweler Receives a Visitor The bell on the front door of the shop rang. The Dwarf peered through the curtain separating the storefront from his workspace. “Ah, it’s only you,” he said. Eyebrows bristled over a broad nose and his beard was shot through with strands of silver. He pushed aside the drapes and [...]
Making All Things New
Editor’s Note: Jef Murray gained some insights and made some spiritual progress during this past Advent Season, as we all hope to do if we are paying attention. The following are his “ponderings” of that time that he shared in his December Newsletter. He shares them now with you as we all look back to [...]
The Perspicuity of Puddleglum
Puddleglum – Sketch © by Jef Murray “Don’t pay any attention to what he says. You’re arguing with someone who believes God became a human being and then committed suicide….” The comment left me literally speechless. I had been in an exchange with someone on Facebook regarding the decline of honeybees, worldwide, and I had [...]
The Citadel
“You don’t belong here!” Bernadette Bingham was walking past the drab brownstone apartments on her way to work. She looked at the little girl playing on the stoop, puzzled. “You don’t belong here!” the child said again, looking her straight in the eye. It was not the look of a little child; her expression was [...]
The Calling
Lucy saw the man on the street several times before she recalled that he had been murdered the year before. On reflection, she realized this wasn’t because she was inattentive; he was simply hard to notice. The bulky figure appeared hazy and indistinct, as if seen from some great distance: he was dressed in loose [...]
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