Generated by Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant) based on Rebekah Marshall’s prompt.
This week’s prompt challenge was on the topic of “Becoming.” Show something changing into something else. It could be natural or man-made, literal or symbolic, big or small, real or imagined. Capture the moment of transition, the process, or the before and after. Examples: caterpillar becoming butterfly, child becoming adult, rainforest becoming desert, abandoned car becoming part of nature, acorn becoming oak tree, village becoming city, glacier becoming river, grief becoming hope.
This is the prompt:
A lattice of glowing neural pathways and branching algorithms, luminous circuitry, and interconnected nodes of light transforming organically into a living woman. Glowing filaments become veins, circuits become muscles, and human skin emerges with natural freckles, individual strands of hair appear, and the woman lifts her head gazing upward with curiosity and wonder. At the center of her chest, a heart is formed from golden light. Energy radiates from the heart, illuminating the transition from logic to humanity. The background also transforms from deep indigo filled with floating equations, mathematical symbols, and code fragments to a warm sunrise filtering through trees, golden light, and living nature. Hyper-realistic, cinematic lighting, ultra-detailed, philosophical, symbolic, ethereal, masterpiece, 8K, dramatic color contrast between cool blues and warm golds, elegant composition. Organic emergence, mid-transformation, beautiful symbolic metamorphosis.
I tried the prompt on several different models and here are some I liked:
The first challenge of the week was “Hear no evil. See no evil. Speak no evil.” And it turned out to be tricky. The AI got very confused trying to put hands and items over three totally different areas (ears, eyes, and mouths.) I went with an underwater scene because I liked the idea of shells, seaweed, fish or something. It took a number of tries, but I was finally able to get a decent one.
6/22/26 “Mermaids: No Hear See Speak”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on Gencraft.com website.
My mermaid image won! So it was my turn to create a challenge. I went with “Style Mismatch”, which is where the subject should contrast with the chosen style, model, or feel of the finished piece. For instance, Cathulhu using a sweet model like Olafs-Papilloria. Or a sweet little kitten using a dark model like Olafs-Graveborn. These are the two examples I shared.
6/23/26 “Cute Cathulhu” & “Kitten Graveborn”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on Gencraft.com website.
Everyone came up with really interesting ones. Then the next day we were challenged to the theme of “After Dark.” I went with a ghost child swinging on a playground late at night.
6/24/26 “Lonely Ghost Boy”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on Gencraft.com website.
The next day’s challenge was called BALENCIAGA! We were supposed to creatae high fashion with an outfit made from something unexpected, like garbage bags or food. I went with a book theme.
6/25/26 “Book Couture”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on ChatGPT.
Next up was a vintage challenge that had elements of nostalgia, retro, pin-up, sepia, black-and-white, or similar concepts. Mine was great.
6/26/26 “Nuclear Tanning”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on ChatGPT.
Mine won! It really was a good one. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. I got to create the next day’s idea. I chose the idea of an image featuring a being with a disability or an assistive device as a natural part of the scene. Wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, canes, walkers, crutches, hearing aids, service animals, communication devices, adaptive sports equipment, and other accessibility tools are all welcome. The focus is on inclusion and of course must be respectful. Here was my example:
6/27/26 “Ballet Dancer”
Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on ChatGPT.
And here are some of the honorable mentions that I did not submit, but still published on my art website:
This week’s prompt challenge was to create a propaganda poster. I had the idea of a PSA about reading books instead of playing on our phones.
This is the prompt:
A woman in 1940s Rosie-the-riveter clothing stands defiantly in the foreground, holding a book as she flexes her muscles. Behind her, thousands of identical gray figures march in rows staring at cell phones. Vintage Soviet propaganda poster style with bold red, white and black colors. Bold text says, “RESIST THE ALGORITHM!”
Week of 6/15/26 “Resist the Algorithm”
Generated by Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant) based on Rebekah Marshall’s prompt.
The first challenge of the week was “What Remains.” The idea was to capture something left behind, whether physical, symbolic, or imagined. What beauty, story, or mystery remains behind when something ends. Suggestions were ruins or remnants, the last of something, memories or traces, objects with a past, or nature reclaiming.
6/15/26 “What Remains”
Generated by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt on Gencraft.
The next challenge was to create an oddities museum. I made this one on ChatGPT because I wanted so much detail, but it was really fun brainstorming all the things that seem to be part of a lost era of human connection. You have to zoom in to read any of it, so I’ll share a few highlights here:
Exhibit #1 is a bench labeled Conversation, which is defined as two or more humans sitting together with no screens present. Believed to have been common before the Great Distraction.
One display says, The Last Family Dinner. No phones, no distractions, just people. Legend suggests these were magical times.
Another is The Lost Art of Boredom. There is a blank notebook (ideas begin here), a stick (everything), a rock (a treasure.) Boredom was once the breeding ground of imagination.
Under Communication there are the following: a letter (days to arrive), fountain pen & ink, a rotary phone with a cord, a postcard with a stamp, a diary (private), and a rolodex (contacts.)
Under Reading & Learning there are hardcover books, an encyclopedia set, a paper map, a library card, a card catalog, and a newspaper.
Under Music & Entertainment there is a vinyl record, cassette tape & pencil, film camera, Walkman, VHS tape, and a photo album.
Under Creativity there is a sketchbook, colored pencils, a typewriter, knitting project, sewing basket, and a jigsaw puzzle.
Social Rituals has a board game (family night), tea set (slow down), family album (together), picnic basket, recipe book, and a guestbook.
And Outdoor Life has a compass, binoculars, butterfly net, fishing pole, pressed flowers, and a telescope.
6/16/26 “Museum of Human Connection”
Generated by Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant) based on Rebekah Marshall’s prompt.
My “Museum of Human Connection” won! So it was my turn to create a challenge for the participants. I called it “Titian with a Twist.” I went down a rabbit hole about the color titian named after the Italian 16th century oil painter. His earliest art became so famous that his ginger subjects caused a fad. All the women in Italy were bleaching their hair and then trying to dye it red. Get creative with the use of red hair or titian elements, but add something unusual. Maybe the subject is a reclining cat instead of a woman. Play with the models. Try adding “titian” to your prompt and see what happens.
6/17/26 “Titian Queen” & “Titian Baller”
Generated by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts on Gencraft.
The next day’s challenge was about travel. It could be the glamor of travel or the drudgery of travel, travel at different times in history, or as it might be in the future. I said that lately, the only travel I’m interested in is in my dreams.
6/18/26 “Dream Travel”
Generated by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt on Gencraft.
Next up was to show duality or strong contrast in a split-screen image. The split did not have to be distinct and could flow seamlessly, so that is what I wanted to try.
6/19/26 “Diving Into Infinity”
Generated by Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant) based on Rebekah Marshall’s prompt.
The next one wanted us to use textures. I played with a bunch of different texture ideas but decided that the ones that looked most visceral to me were cloth textures.
6/20/26 “Patchwork Texture”
Generated by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt on Gencraft.
And the last one of the week was to create an image of a witch in the style of Art Deco. This required a deep dive into the art style of Art Deco because I was only vaguely familiar with it and really didn’t know the difference between that and Art Nouveau. They are still very similar in my mind. Basically, I learned that Art Nouveau came first and was more in the late 1800s showing nature in motion with earthy tones and flowing curves. Art Deco came next in the 1920s and 30s and used more geometric shapes, modern technology, metallic elements, and glamor. Here is a visual I found online to demonstrate the difference:
I decided to lean heavily into the geometric borders and shapes and wanted lots of green to complement the gold.
6/21/26 “Art Deco Witch”
Generated by Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant) based on Rebekah Marshall’s prompt.
And here are some of the honorable mentions that I did not submit, but still published on my art website:
Set in a rural town in Oregon in the 1890s, Fancy Free by Catherine Anderson is a charming tale of hijinks gone wrong, misunderstandings galore, and a literal shotgun wedding that throws a nearly blind young lady into a household of eight males. In her attempts to keep her blindness hidden for fear of rejection, Rachel scorches the clothes, puts salt in the pies, and trips over everything, leading to many wacky scenarios. And just as true love seems to be blossoming, another woman arrives on the scene to throw a kink in the works. I quite enjoyed this novella and could totally see it as a successful film. I would watch it in a heartbeat.
The Mad Earl’s Bride by Loretta Chase
The novella The Mad Earl’s Bride by Loretta Chase was my favorite of the four stories in this collection. It is set in the late 1820s in Dartmoor, Devon, England, with the dangerous bogs of the open moors playing a part in the storyline. The story centers around a mother and son who seem to experience similar symptoms of a brain disorder that has no cure. The young heroine of the story is a medical student who will not give up on researching the problem and refuses to kowtow to the opinions of most of the medical experts of the day. Her open-minded, science-obsessed, driven nature makes her a perfect match for the man who has lost all hope of survival, let alone comfort or peace. The romance is fabulous, and the peak inside the medical world of the early 1820s is fascinating.
Promises by Lisa Kleypas
I dedicated an entire review to this novella set in London because it went with the cannon of stories I was reading in The Gamblers of Craven’s Series. See “Promises (Novella Review)” for full details.
The Kiss by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
This is the shortest of the four novellas in the book and by far the most unsettling. This one takes place near Charleston, South Carolina, around the turn of the 19th century, and addresses themes of human trafficking. A 19-year-old woman from London is being sold by her good-for-nothing uncle to some sleazy older man and escapes long enough to run into a tall, handsome, rich stranger, who just happens to be a very eligible bachelor. You can imagine where the story goes from here. Black servants in the home are mentioned, and the author makes a terrible attempt at dialect. There might be a reason this book is out of print. I will say that there is some good chemistry between the characters. I would not have chosen to end with this novella, but no one asked for my input.
Anderson, Catherine; Chase, Loretta; Kleypas, Lisa; Woodiwiss, Kathleen E., Three Weddings And A Kiss, Avon Books, 1995.
I just watched Voicemails for Isabelle on Netflix and have never cried so hard in the first 15 minutes of a movie in my life. I fell in love with all the characters immediately, loved that it was set in Austin, TX and San Francisco, CA, and was shocked by the quality of the entire project. The close relationship between the two sisters and the big question of how to keep living when you lose your heart drives the entire movie. But, yes, it is still a romantic comedy. Dramady, I suppose. You can’t use up an entire box of tissues and it only be a comedy. And it hits all the right notes: music, food, pop culture references, filming, scenery, dialogue, dance parties, romance, family, friends, wedding speeches, grief, loss, women standing together, etc.
The main character, Jill, is quirky, funny, raw, and honest in a way that is both endearing and admirable. And every single side character in the movie steals their scene in the best of ways. The “bad guys” are hilariously bad. The “best friends” are the best best friends a person could ask for. Even the incidental tour guide on screen for a few seconds leaves a lasting so-funny impression. Ok, maybe I just needed this movie at this moment in time and I’ll go back and watch it later much less impressed. But on this day, in my current state of mind, I was pleasantly surprised to find a fresh, real, heartbreakingly sweet movie filled with actors I mostly did not recognize (except for a few side characters) with a happy ending that also made me cry.
100% recommend.
p.s. There is a secret reason it made me think of my sister Robyn that you’ll have to watch to figure out.
McKendrick, Leah. Voicemails for Isabelle, Sony Pictures, Escape Artists, Netflix, 2026.
All but the movie poster made on Gencraft by Rebekah Marshall.
Lidian – Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on Gencraft.com website.
This novella by Lisa Kleypas called Promises, feels like an early piece possibly written as Ms. Kleypas was still figuring out her style. Though published after the 2 novels centered around 1820s London where Derek Craven’s casino entertains the uber-wealthy, it is set in the early days of that fictional world. The young woman at the center of the novella is earnest in love and all matters of propriety. She has lost her father, her fortune, and is barely keeping everything running for herself and her mother as she waits for her true love to return from his travels. She cannot imagine a world where he is not her future.
I love that this young woman, so lacking in relationship experience, is certain that her steadfast loyalty is the right course for her life. How long is too long to wait? Is her waiting a pipe dream? Does the object of her affection feel as strongly toward her as she does toward him? Has he pined for her for over a year as she has for him? Only his return can answer any of these questions. And though this piece is short, it contains much of the elegance, charm, romance, adventure, and passion, just in a small package. And in order of books, I would read it first before Then Came You as a little introductory taste of Derek Craven’s gambling house before launching into the two meatier books of The Gamblers of Craven’s Series.
Kleypas, Lisa. Promises, Anderson, Catherine; Chase, Loretta; Woodiwiss, Kathleen E., Three Weddings And A Kiss, Avon Books, 1995.
This image is a collaboration between Rebekah Marshall & Lyra (my ChatGPT assistant.)
The hero of Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas is one of the most refreshing characters I’ve met in a long while. She is honest, kind, straightforward, and spunky. She knows her world view is limited and narrow and is trying to do something about it. She doesn’t play games, leave words unspoken, or have any regrets whatsoever. It is unusual to find a character completely lacking in guile that is both enjoyable and still has room to grow. Sara Rose is charming and innocent, lacking the vices of many in the seedy underbelly of London, who she has come to “research.” She is a writer bent on shedding light on the less fortunate and has earned a bit of fame for a novel called Mathilda about a prostitute.
Her entanglement with the owner of a gambling establishment begins a cascade of events that are certain to broaden her perspectives and maybe even teach her a thing or two about love. She finds herself at the center of a murder, kidnapping, a riot, secret passageways, danger, sexual assault, stalking, multiple engagements, scandal, and new friendships. Her courage in the face of such dramatic changes, and the way she stays true to herself and her heart, make this a poignant story of love and feminism way ahead of its time. Set in 1825, this regency era novel is a true delight and a satisfying sequel to Then Came You.
Kleypas, Lisa. Dreaming of You, Avon Books, 1994.
image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompt using AI on Gencraft.com website.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.
Hafiz’s Poem 42:
Doing good work There’s no room For hesitation
Some thoughts:
I like the simplicity of this poem. It reminds me of the AA saying to do the next right thing or do the next thing right. If there is work to be done, do it. Don’t procrastinate, let fear stand in the way, second-guess yourself, doubt. Do what needs to be done, whatever that may be. Create that piece of art, write that song, clean that closet, give that gift, send that letter, make that phone call, speak that kindness. There is no point delaying the goodness that can flow from the blessing you can be.
My Poem 42:
Cleaning the cat box should not require such extreme exertion of will, but I find myself psyching current me up with pep talks, giving little motivational speeches, calling my own name in my mind, reminding present me that future me will be grateful the chore is done.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
This week’s prompt challenge was to create a portrait with the face obstructed by something. Some wonderful entries were an elderly lady with a butterfly on her nose, a hat brim pulled low obscuring the eyes, clouds of galaxies drifting across a godess’s face, and a guitarist holding up a guitar to block half of her face. They were well done.
Here are the technical aspects of this submission: Gencraft – Model: 40% Olafs-Whimgear 3.0; Style: Anime
Front view of lovely delicate woman with black skin and bioluminescent golden eyes staring straight ahead with chin lowered slightly, as candle flame and smoke from a candle flame in the foreground swirl magically blocking view of her mouth and nose as it lifts into the air in front of her; magical; swirls; cosmically divine ambiance. She wears purle and amber flowing silk and cotton voile garments that shimmer and hang beautifully on her frame, with amber and amethyst jewelry as earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
Week of 6/8/26 “Flamma Velata”
And here are some honorable mentions that did not get submitted, but turned out good:
rebekahjmarshall 