Rackham and the Wind

Something I love about Arthur Rackham's work is how so many of his works feature a very exuberant wind. There's nothing as exhilarating as being caught up in a wild wind!

Arthur Rackham, "And now they never meet in grove or green," from act 2, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, en and black ink and watercolor with scraping and minute touches of white gouache on artist’s illustration board, 1908, source: http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.651?artist=Arthur+Rackham

Arthur Rackham - Illustration for "Till Eulenspiegel"

I am an admirer of Arthur Rackham and am often to be found scouring places for his work. It's great fun to get lost in the online galleries of museums and dream of one day seeing the works in person. I stumble across this beauty of his in the Metropolitan's gallery. I have never read the story it's from, but now I must see if I can get my hands on it. How terrifying and haunting the figures are. I wonder if the fact that it was done right in the middle of WWI had anything to do with the darkness and fear in this painting.

Arthur Rackham,  Illustration for "Till Eulenspiegel", watercolour, pen, ink, and guache on paper, 1916

Surrey, England

This looks like it's straight out of a story book.

Surrey Hills, Surrey, England, from http://www.surreynet.co.uk/things-todo/surrey-hills/

Dreaming of Dreaming

With all the business of the holiday season, I've been dreaming of doing this:

"The Siesta" by Frederick Arthur Bridgman

Lunar Eclipse

The eclipse was so inspiring last night! There was cloud cover for part of it, but now and again it would appear. It was so eerie, watching it turn deep red, then drift back into a bright, icy white light that my eye fancied was tinged with blue. How exciting to get to see it!

photos by me

The Moon Has Lost Herself

Art by me, words by Roma Ryan

Tonight there will be a total solar eclipse of the harvest moon, and it also happens that the moon will be the closest to the earth that it will be all year. I'll be out watching tonight...

Gaston Bussiere, "The Death of Roland"

The Death of Roland by Gaston Bussiere