Mont-Sylvain is a made-up name that is based on where I live. While I live on a hill that with its many suburban gardens might more or less be seen as a fairly "green" hill, Mont-Sylvain has closer ties to the name of the street of my parents´ house. "Grünberger Straße" most probably refers to a town of that name, "Grünberg" that is. But I see it more as "grün" (green) and "berg" (mountain) describing a place or region. The old french word "sylvain" means wood (=> green). Also, there is a nice associative line towards the "Counts of Berg", who gave their name of "Berg" to the region I live in, the "Bergisches Land". Being interested in history for as long as I can remember, this coinage of Mont-Sylvain also shows my love for words and for playing with their meanings and history. Mythologically, the Roman god Silvanus might have some kinship with the Celtic Cernunnos, which of course works prettily to my advantage here as I feel very drawn to Celtic culture past and present. Needless to say that green is my favourite colour.
As a child I chose comic books over "real" books until my Dad had the great idea to give me a "Prince Valiant" comic book that had more text in it than what I was used to before and spoke to my interest for the Middle Ages. The rest is legend as they say. I was hooked for life. Sitting in a corner and reading was what I usually did, even during family gatherings. Along with that came films. And I delved into them with my usual abandon and zest for detail. It was one of my private games to switch channels for an unknown film and try to guess its year of making by looking at the architecture or the style of the cars. It was always about finding the morsels of real life inside the fiction.
On an abstract level, one could say that I´m fascinated by the process of perception - encoding the perception - and decoding it again. And all those spider-webbery associations that come with it. A vortex of feelings and facts entwined in a 3D chess game. So, it´s the Media, stupid.
I´m a gardener. I love to watch things grow over time. I discovered early in life that, besides green things, I have two main passions: Words & the Financial World
However, I always found it difficult to translate these aspects into a catchy career description. Sometimes in life, earlier decisions lead to a stronger emphasis of a single direction that later doesn´t exactly advertise itself to be pursued as intensively as before. While I have earned my living for a long time in the accounting field, this pastime is no longer a relevant component of my professional wishlist.
Gardening means to have a plan and patience. Both are needed in writing and investing. Ideas need room and time to grow and be understood fully, investments need commitment beyond ephemeral weather conditions. For some time, I have been trying to find a fitting avenue to put those two horses to race after all.
The general heading for my activities is Grapehorn Gardens, with four subitem areas denoted by more or less colourful names, where I create varying sorts of content. I aspire to gain a professional foothold as commentator, copywriter, data storyteller or editor in the first area and under my legal name. While as Markus Kalter I analyse and synthesise mostly in the non-fiction fields, Morgan Peregrine of Wolfin is the product label for my fiction writing and, occasionally, some amateur photography. MonsfortCapital is similarly my vehicle for thinking about investments, while Osmélian de Mont-Sylvain creates designs, mostly for merchandise of various sorts; again reality and dreamy creativity juxtaposed. Between them I plough the field with an idea of what to plant where, and why.
I love all media, although my true home is the realm of words. I believe that fiction begets reality, that what we term the real world is secretly linked to the world of dreams, ideas and art. Contrasts open up as blossoms and their scents and colours instigate a silent communication, a blissful tension that leads me to always thread those thoughts and emotions diligently to weave quality foliage. Pushing my sorry boundaries.
Narratives have to be untangled and questioned. Ivy needs to be pruned.
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Green Knight
Coat of arms of the Duchy of Berg: Arms of Luxembourg.svg: Katepanomegas; elements drawn by Sodacan Bergischer Loewe.svg: Jüppsche derivative work: OwenBlacker (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bergischer_Löwe.svg), „Bergischer Löwe“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode ; coat of arms of the Dukes of Argyll: Sodacan (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arms_of_Campbell,_Duke_of_Argyll.svg), „Arms of Campbell, Duke of Argyll“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
