Good morning! I’m feeling chipper because tonight I get to dress up like Lady Elizabeth Saville, leader of an archaeology dig in The Valley of the Kings, 1894! It’s a murder mystery birthday party for a friend, and I am kind of beside myself with delight that I get to play dress up with conspirators. And I get to see Magill in suspenders! Hot damn!

But I won’t let my excitement get in the way of Character Spark Saturday! Today’s character sparks are brought to you by Johanna Ost, a Swedish artist who paints like a fairytale. Please do check out the link to her website, because for each of the gorgeous paintings that I post here, there are twenty more waiting to be seen!

This painting actually inspired a story I wrote a few years ago, The Carnivale of Abandoned Tales (Shimmer, issue 10), so you can see that I’ve been depending on Miss Ost for character sparks for some time now.

I think this lady is a Gentlewoman Highwaywoman. Sovay, sovay, in fine array with her horse and her hound and her wink so fey, she’ll steal your gold and ride away, then lounge on her chaise at the end of the day!

It’s tough being the world’s littlest dragon hunter, but the job gets done in the end. Though that dragon looks like he’s spoiling for another go…