ABSTRACT – THE MUCUS ART WEBSITE http://www.mucusart.co.uk/subsinfo.htm Home to the art and poetry magazine, The Ugly Tree,
which comes out about three times per annum, and soon to play host to supernatural short story publication Ballista. The web page also showcases the artwork of Paul Neads, who focuses on Neolithic standing stones to create an eerie primal link with the magical pagan past. There is a tranquil peaceful timeless quality to his work, which he regularly takes to galleries and exhibitions. Looking at Paul’s work is near to the experience of visiting the druid circles at Avebury or Stonehenge, as it is possible to achieve without actually going there. . There is a deathly timeless beauty and tranquillity to his standing stones, which seem to almost have a life beyond their depiction. Details of such public events are available on the website. The Mucus Art site provides an interesting history of standing stones and Neolithic art of the kind Paul admires so much. He refers to his project as one of ‘Megalithic Musings’. Interestingly, the stone Paul Neads paints are not made up. He seems to visit the sites around Britain to take the time to study these still life models directly, which adds to the photographic realism of the images that leave the viewer aware that they will still be here long after we have gone. The Ugly Tree produces fine poetry by authors known and unknown alike. Carol Batton is in the current issue (Number #11, February 2006). She is well known in Manchester for her ultra short one-line poems, that make haiku seem like a novel. The site provides extracts from the many reviews in praise of The Ugly Tree, links to the performance and slam poetry scenes in Manchester, Despite its ugly violent names Mucus/Ugly and hopefully Ballista to come, have a creative beauty about them that comes of the fine poetry presented in their pages. Mucus is fond of strange titles, i.e. Karma Veranda, (by Glennon & Irving) and Meatball Panda Thrills, (by Irving),