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.