Purgatory/Paradise by ElRat, Inspired by the Throwing Muses album of the same name. Blog at ElRat Designs

Original art by ElRat, inspired by Throwing Muses "Purgatory/Paradise"

August 2, 2025

I love the Throwing Muses album Purgatory/Paradise so much...

I don't even know what to say about it. I sometimes think I could spend the rest of my life in it... and I likely would, had The Hersh not made so many amazing albums.

I love drawing, and I don't really know why, but Hersh music makes me draw deliberate pictures, more than anything else, and Purgatory/Paradise has made me draw more pictures than any other album...

sometimes pictures become t-shirts, but sometimes, they're just pictures.

So, here are some original ElRat Drawings, inspired by that wholly fucking amazing album!

Purgatory/Paradise art by ElRat

Open your mouth

You're blessed for the moment

Kisses all round

Sunray venus crushed underfoot and
Kisses all round

Leaving that is limbo

Hell i remember you...

~Kristin Hersh

Sunrays on Venus

by ElRat

Something to Grow into Panic

By ElRat

Blood or Coke

by ElRat

Clark's Nutcracker

By ElRat

"Clark's Nutcracker" has spawned a few pictures too.

I really love this song, I don't know what it is about it, but... I think

"Phantom Brain Headaches" feel quite real, and I'm always a little surprised that I never really hear anyone else talking about it...

Dripping Trees 1

by ElRat

Dripping Trees 2

by ElRat

The song "Dripping trees" has obviously had quite an effect on me. I think most likely because of the line "These Liquid Memories"...

I have Aphantasia & related SDAM (Seriously Deficient Autobiographical Memory), and my memories slip away from me really quickly.

I'm fairly sure, when Kristin Hersh sings that line, she has an entirely different take on,

liquid memories, but for me, it always seems to remind me that mine are impossible to hold, always slipping through my fingers...

Dripping Trees 3

by ElRat

These Liquid Memories

by ElRat

These Liquid Memories

by ElRat

Quick

by ElRat

Nostalgic flowers wound their way
Around your core ~Kristin Hersh "Quick"

Static

by ElRat

Your hope is on the wing is on a bus
Tearing down the road
Your road is in the dark is in the sun
In the rain and cold

You're cold
You're made of heat
You're made of skin
Made of cloth and bone

Your bones are made of sponge
are made of plexiglass
Tin and hope

~Kristin Hersh