Leonora Carrington; Surrealist, visionary, alchemist, and magician has passed away at 94. Carrington was an original member of the Surrealist circle who's stunning paintings helped to define the strange landscapes explored by those early pioneers of "verestic surrealism" like one time husband Max Ernst and friend Salvador Dali.

After a storied life in Europe she left for Mexico following WWII. There she continued an incredible and prolific career. Her legacy extends beyond her own works into the lives and work of those artists who sought her mentorship such as Jodorowski and Marjorie Cameron.

Check the link below for a beautiful and very informative memorial at Coilhouse.net

http://coilhouse.net/2011/05/leonora-carrington-%E2%80%93-6-april-1917-25-may-2011/

From the Coilhouse.net memorial.

Leonora Carrington’s art and writings were influenced and inspired directly by her work as a magician – as a walker between worlds: an alchemist and visionary. Her world was suffused with the esoteric, and she ruled at its center, inscribing her arcane symbols onto canvas, paper, the walls of her home. Helen Byatt, in her introduction to The Hearing Trumpet describes her workspace: “One visitor to her studio called it ‘the most dream-saturated place I know,’ whilst another described her study, with its apocalyptic disorder of boxes and jars overflowing with aromatics and spices, the dusty books, pictures of fantastic animals with human eyes, and the strange dolls with birds’ heads hanging from the ceiling, as the den of a ‘sixteenth century magician.’”

On a personal note, I first encountered Carrington in the pages of "Surrealism and the Occult "by Choucha. I have recommended the book here before but I must restate it is one of the best occult books I have ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/Surrealism-Occult-Shamanism-Artistic-Movement/dp/B000MU2QIC