Spot Art - The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia

Access Medallions, Tokens, Keys, and Tickets
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

A complex system of entry gates was created at departure points in the Bazaar and arrival points on the platforms to limit access to the air platforms. If a being is to pass through these gates, they need to possess the appropriate object, be it a key, ticket, medallion, or token. These objects are little more than a secret handshake or passphrase, for they do not open any door or unlock any bolt. Merely displaying them shows you are among the privileged few that have access to the air shops.

-Ethra VanDalia

Street Food - Skewered poockele with hawcberry, Big Groow-lee’s kabob sampler, and raw netnete with grilled hooul’c slice 
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

The most desired food options can often be found in the most congested areas of the Bazaar. Many of the races of Kiervis have elaborate and ritualized cooking and consumption practices. Even so, much of the food consumed in the Bazaar is done while completing other tasks. This need for quick meals has given rise to a diverse and thriving community of street chefs. Nearly every race residing in the Bazaar can find a vendor selling traditional dishes that are ready to eat. Complicated meals have been reinvented to allow ease of consumption while moving and working, and new delicacies have been created specifically for those living in the Bazaar

-Ethra VanDalia

Lucky Mouth 
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

The Bazaar is continually in a state of construction, deterioration, and repair. Many tens of thousands of feet, paws, and hoofs upon the street stones quickly create ruts. An often touched surface will soon show the wear of the multitude of hands, claws, and tentacles upon it. The Lucky Mouth is a piece of sculpture that originally sat next to the southern gate of Hollow Alley when it was the outer wall of the Bazaar. If one were to touch it when entering the Bazaar, it was believed they would be granted good fortune. After centuries of providing luck, Lucky Mouth was removed to prevent it from being wholly destroyed. After its removal, the wall behind where the sculpture originally sat became the replacement luckstone. This practice continued until the next outer wall of the Bazaar was constructed. A hole three cubits in diameter remains to this day in the wall of Hollow Alley.

-Ethra VanDalia

Prototype Cranial Housing 
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

This housing unit contained the brain and spinal column of a spotted drant. It was the first successful attempt to place a brain in a mobile chassis. The drant died after damaging its dome falling down a flight of stairs. Domes were given additional layers after this accident and eventually were replaced with metal.

-Ethra VanDalia

Grasping Branch 
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

This branch of Dillill coral that has grown around a Hol’stidet snail shell is deemed to be a priceless object by thirteen of them kingdoms residing in the seas of Kiervis. Dillill coral has a prolonged growth rate, and the Hol’stidet snail, which is extinct, was thought to bring good luck and a bountiful tide. The combination of the two was considered a boon to whoever possessed it and would bring still waters and plentiful schools to the owner. Many destructive wars were fought to gain ownership of it. During the ninth global undersea conflict, I removed the Grasping Branch from the vaults of the Hoppi’taa Kingdom. In its place, I left crushed and broken fragments of coral. With the treasure believed destroyed, the war ended, and peace once again returned to the waters of this planet.

-Ethra VanDalia

Offerings 
8 x 10 - Pencil and acrylic paint on paper
Original - Currently not available
© 2020 Christopher Burdett

Over time the offerings left for the dead take on a life of their own. Since space is limited, new offerings are placed atop those left before. The offerings, numbering in the thousands at any one bench, eventually form low walls. The walls shield the benches from the activity of the Bazaar and give protection to those that sit upon them.

-Ethra VanDalia

For more samples of my work head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com