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

Waiting For Fireflies

Every year I wait for my favorite part of summer, the time when the fireflies finally come out. They're not here yet, and won't be here until sometime in June, but I'm waiting, and thinking about how I might capture them... such as how this artist, Tsuneaki Hiramatsu, has. His images are time lapse photographs of fireflies. Doesn't it make you think of faery tales?

Tsuneaki Hiramatsu, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/beautiful-flight-paths-fireflies-180949432/?no-ist

It reminds me of a Kinuko Craft painting for the cover of Juliet Marillier's wonderful re-telling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", titled "Wildwood Dancing". Wonderful summer reading if you've never picked it up.

Kinuko Craft, Wildwood Dancing (cover art), from http://melodyfarmerphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/art-of-kinuko-craft.html

Or, for that matter, Craft's painting for her illustrated version of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".

Kinuko Craft, The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Tam Lin Artwork

I recently became aware of the artwork section of the site tam-lin.org. It has some wonderful and imaginative illustrations of the the ancient fairy tale "Tam Lin". This one in particular struck me; it's by Vernon Hill, an artist I am not familiar with but will have to do some research on now.

Vernon Hill, 1912, Tamlane http://tam-lin.org/images/artwork/books/weirdandwonderful.png

I think what I like is the starkness of the scene. To me it conveys how afraid and alone Janet must have felt. But she is also resolved, determined, and focused. Brave girl.

My Favorite Flower of Spring

There are so many flowers to get excited about in spring, but I think if I have to pick a favorite, it's probably dogwoods. It wouldn't be an Arkansas spring without them.

Photo: http://extra.mdc.mo.gov/news/out/archive/arc3-2010.html

Winter

Winter is such a wonderful season, despite what the majority of the world thinks! For me as an artist, snow gives a wonderful relief to the business of the outdoors, rather like negative space in a composition allows one to focus in on the small details of a work of art. I think Alphonse Mucha knew what I'm talking about.

John Duncan, "The Riders of the Sidhe"

John Duncan, "The Riders of the Sidhe", 1911

I had never seen this painting before, or heard of John Duncan. What an exciting new discovery! He sounds like quite an odd character too; he said he heard "faerie music" when he painted, and married a woman whom he thought had discovered the Holy Grail in a well in Glastonbury.

My Treefrog and Frog Fairytales

There are several little green tree frogs that live around my house. I snuck up on this one and got a few good captures of him. The jewel-like color of their skin is simply amazing; the color has not been enhanced in any way in these photos.

photos by me

Of course one always thinks of the fairytale, "The Frog Prince" by the Brothers Grimm. In that story, there is no kissing of frogs involved, rather the frog is thrown against a wall and turns into a Prince. I wasn't about to throw this little guy against the wall to see what he'd become. Besides, I've already caught my Prince.

The Frog Prince by Arthur Rachkham, source, Terry Windling's blog: http://windling.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fcf7385883401a3fd23db7c970b-pi

I've always thought frogs are fascinating little creatures, with such odd, enigmatic little smiles. There aren't a whole lot of little girls who squeel upon sight of a toad of frog and run toward it, but I was one of them. Frogs feature a great deal in fairytales, though the one we're most familiar with is "The Frog Prince" by the aforementioned brothers. However, there's a Russian folk tale of a Frog Princess. If you're interested, you can read it here.

Sunset for Fairyland

photos by me

There are some sunsets that have to be seen to be believed.

Silver Point Grasshopper

All photographs by me, subject: grasshopper in silverpoint

I recently discovered silver point drawing, a very old method of drawing in which you use a wire of pure silver to draw on specially prepared paper. Old masters such as Leonardo da Vinci used it during the Renaissance, some of them drawing with pure gold, brass, and copper too.

I was drawn to it because, being obsessed with details, it allows one to draw the finest, most delicate lines possible because of the combined hardness of the metal, fineness of the point, and the ability to make a stroke with the lightest of pressures.

Another wonderful attribute is the highly reflective nature of the marks made. Before the metal tarnished on the page, it glitters and glows like the precious metal it is.

October Lunar Eclipse

Photo by Me

I went out to see the lunar eclipse early this morning. It was foggy and misty, and the moon was low on the horizon, but I still managed to capture an image of it, albeit not a very good one. I enjoyed being out in the chilly October morning. It's not often you get to see a lunar eclipse, and the fact that it was at this time of year made it extra enchanting.

The Oak

Photo by Matthew Jamieson, source: http://jamiesongallery.com/mj.html

Live thy Life,

Young and old,

Like yon oak,

Bright in spring,

Living gold;

Summer-rich

Then; and then

Autumn-changed

Soberer-hued

Gold again.

All his leaves

Fall'n at length,

Look, he stands,

Trunk and bough

Naked strength.

-Alfred Tennyson

Autumn Equinox

by Kirsty Mitchell, source https://www.facebook.com/artpeople1?fref=photo

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of Fall!

Time to Make Beautiful Things

"Wish" by Christian Schloe, https://www.facebook.com/ChristianSchloeDigitalArt

I've been too busy being busy lately. Mostly my life has consisted of driving to work, working, driving home, working in the garden, and cooking. All things that need to be done. But there is something else that has not been done for a long time, too long in fact, and must be done tonight. And that something is to make a Beautiful Thing.

Zephyrus

Flora and the Zephyrs by John William Waterhouse, via saveflowers1

Standing by the lake a few days ago, I felt a strong, warm wind rush across my face and blow my hair about. It was Zephyrus, the warm west wind, herald of spring.