Winter Weather At Last: A Fairytale World

All photos by me.

After spending most of my childhood in Texas, where there is very little in the way of a discernible change in the seasons aside from hot and hotter, I have an utter and complete fascination with snow. For a child who loved reading the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the various Red, Blue, and Violet Fairy Books, all of which have tales of Snow Queens and winter lands, the rarity of snow or even sleet was extremely disappointing.

Thus, when my family moved to an area where there was at least one good snowfall every winter, I developed the habit of wandering for hours in our woods every time it snowed, reveling in the enchanting sound of falling snow and the way the ordinary world could be transformed in a matter of minutes into the world of the fae, dangerous and beautiful, silent and yet full of music.

To an artist's eyes as well there is endless fascination and inspiration. Ice and snow exhibit some of the most exquisite, detailed patterns one will ever find. If you bother to slow down and look closely, new worlds reveal themselves to the naked eye. I invite you to try it next time you're outside in the snow.

The Snow Queen in Art

What with all the snow on the ground, lately I've been thinking about the Snow Queen, both of Hans Christian Anderson's classic fairytale and the other representations of her in mythology and folklore, notably as Skadi or Skade in Scandinavian stories. There are so many beautiful representations of her in art as a consequence of these stories.

I've drawn a great deal of inspiration from the idea of the Snow Queen. Several years back now I did my own version of the Snow Queen or Ice Queen. I've done numerous small paintings and sketches of her, but this is the only image I have saved of one of them.

Edmund Dulac is one of my very favorite illustrators, and he does a lovely version of a snow maiden that I find simply enchanting. If I could get away with it, I'd dress like that every day.

Edmund Dulac, Ice Maiden, 1915, http://www.artsycraftsy.com/dulac/dreamer_of_dreams_p.jpg

Dulac also illustrated Anderson's The Snow Queen, and I haven't found any illustrations of that story to surpass his.

Edmund Dulac, The Snow Queen Flies Through the Winter's Night, http://www.artsycraftsy.com/dulac/dulac_snowqueen_streets.jpg

Edmund Dulac, The Snow Queen On the Throne of Ice, 

http://www.artsycraftsy.com/dulac/dulac_snowqueen.jpg

We mustn' forget the North Wind though. Without him, the Snow Queen wouldn't have anyone to pull her sleigh. Kay Nielsen, another favorite of mine, has done an excellent portrayal of him.

Kay Nielsen, The North Wind Went Over the Sea, 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irmavepisalive/4107090518/

Nielsen also did a lovely piece of Sleeping Beauty in the snow. This dainty little painting is so sensitively rendered.

Kay Nielsen, Study for Sleeping Beauty

Nielsen also did this wonderful illustration for the book East of the Sun, West of the Moon. If polar bears were docile creatures, I wouldn't mind having one for a stead myself.

Though no-one can top Nielsen, Amanda Clark comes close and has done a lovely version of this same story herself. You should check out her enchanting blog, http://earthangelsart.blogspot.com/, and her Etsy shop full of covetable prints of her incredible art, http://www.etsy.com/shop/earthangelsarts.

Amanda Clark, East of the Sun, West of the Moon,

 http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/east-of-the-sun-west-of-the-moon-amanda-clark.jpg

There are so many more beautiful versions of ladies in the snow, but that's all for now! Happy New Year!