"The Flight of the Odalisque"

(An illustrated story I wrote, about a painter and his -- odalisque -- model;  here is an excerpt from the notebook, lying open on my worktable):

I think there might be room for a different kind of published words-and-images combination. This is the kind of book I sent to the Art House Co-op's "Fiction Project."  Texts overwhelm images, critics have said; even the labels on the museum walls, the ones that tell you about the date the work was completed, or sometimes add the circumstances under which it was created, pull viewers away. But I think a balance can be maintained -- if we are careful!