Kelley Lubsen's 'The Seven Swans' and Other Fairy Tale Art

A recent lovely fairy tale discovery on deviantArt, this picture of the Seven Swans is so beautiful I wish I could get a copy for my wall (one of all-time my favorite tales and I grew up with a single book with '7' swans as opposed to the six or twelve that were included in the fairy tale collections). You can see a much larger version with deviantArt stamp HERE.

You can definitely see the Trina Schart Hyman influence (one of my favorite illustrators and apparently one of hers,according to her bio on deviantArt) and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. In fact, more please!

The artist, Kelley Lubsen, known as FAyliN on deviantArt, is a recent graduate of University of the Arts (May 2010) and while she doesn't have a huge gallery on deviantArt it's worth taking a look all the same (click HERE). Fortunately, she also has an online gallery with her latest work HERE including some pieces from the Three Little Pigs and Peter Pan (see small examples at left & a HUGE version HERE, noting you'll have to scroll down a long way to find them). It's a little brighter and still lovely (though I adore the muted tones myself) and the truly gorgeous colored pencil work continues.

I do hope she continues to pursue fairy tale illustration and wish her the best of luck in her career.

Google's 'Flipbook' Logo Tribute to Hans Christian Andersen

Please forgive the delayed news but it's worth a post for two reasons:

1) Hans Christian Andersen's 205th birthday was on Friday and Google had a special logo up all day to celebrate it and
2) It was a brand new style - a 'flipbook' logo which, when you clicked on the image/arrow went to another image, telling you the story of Thumbelina in Google logo form (all five are shown in order in this post).
Here's an excerpt from the story in Christian Science Monitor on April 2nd:

Google has made an institution out of swapping out its company logo for a special nod to great minds of the past. Today, it celebrated the 205th birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish author of "The Little Mermaid," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and "The Ugly Duckling."

But rather than stick to a single novelty image, Google chose five.

Google's tribute to Hans Christian Andersen riffs off his story of "Thumbelina." The tale revolves around a tiny girl that was born from a flower and sleeps in a walnut cradle. But to capture the twists and turns of Thumbelina's adventure, Google created a five-part image gallery, which users can advance by clicking the on the logo. It begins with itty-bitty Thumbelina amid her family's knitting tools. Next, we see the frog and mole that each try to marry her. Once she escapes the frog that kidnapped her, she must hide from a harsh winter, depicted in the third slide. Then, after gliding on the back of a bird (image four), she finds a miniature prince (the final picture).

The pair lives happily ever after, but what is Google's next move? This flipbook style is new to Google doodles. It's a clever yet understated way of honoring a story that's more about the wild journey than any individual scene.

How cool is that? Plus, new Thumbelina illustrations, yay!
I love that fairy tales were involved in another first. Thumbelina is a great choice too, as Andersen's birthday falls on the Easter weekend this year and I think of Thumbelina as a 'Spring' fairy tale, which, apart from the religious celebrations, is what Easter (or Eostar or Oestre, a.k.a. the Spring Equinox holiday) is about.

Grateful

Making Roots

by Kathleen Lolley

Thank you SO much to all who've commented and emailed in support of our situation here. I really didn't expect any feedback but the number of kind and supportive responses have been amazing and really helped keep our spirits up. Every single comment, note and mail is truly and greatly appreciated by me and mine here. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort.

Update: There really aren't any new developments regarding our living situation except to say the pressure is still on and the clock continues ticking but we are making sure we are pro-active in some way every day, being thankful for the good things. We have high hopes that things will be resolved soon (in the next few weeks) and that we'll leave this chapter behind. I'm just thankful I don't have to relocate an entire shoe's worth of children and convince possible buyers to see (sniff?) beyond the old sock smell!

Leave Home
by Kathleen Lolley

Thank you again - to everyone - for the support. I hope to be making more regular news posts from here on out until the actual move happens, though there are bound to be a few missed days here and there still - especially on the day I make my toddler that cardboard box castle I've promised him, when everything is unpacked again! Thank you again for your patience and continued readership. This is an awesome and special community.

The lovely paintings in this post are by Kathleen Lolley. She has a wonderful collection of mythic art at her site HERE and at her Flickr account HERE (a must-see if you like owls), including a number of home themed images that take on new meaning for me at present. "Making Roots" particularly exemplifies our current feelings: our house is up in the air but our roots reach beyond that little detail, growing daily stronger as we work on building our Home.

Rapunzel Illustrations by Yuko Michishita

With all-things-Rapunzel hotting up as Disney's "Tangled" barrels toward its release date late in the year, I'm not surprised to see quite a few new Rapunzel drawings appearing on the web. This is always the interesting time - right before a big movie version of an old story is released - for seeing what parts of a story people are tapping into.

(Side note: As someone who has very long hair - currently to my waist - I'm always curious about how women with long hair manage sleeping. This is one of those day-to-day headaches [sometimes literally] I don't really see mentioned in stories or dealt with in illustrations.)

The images of a pregnant Rapunzel aren't as many as one would think (just like images of Sleeping Beauty with twins is rare) so it always catches my attention when I do. Yuko Michishita has a lovely blog and website for her illustration and today she posted three interesting Rapunzel images. While she obviously loves hair, especially braided hair, (see this interview HERE to read more about her) - and so Rapunzel is an obvious subject for illustration and study - she's focused on some different aspects of the story (have a look at those scissors! Interesting symbols there with the flowers, their open cross-shape and the patterns...) Ms. Michishita's blog says her original idea has been so enjoyable and expanded so much already she's working on a type now too. Her work reminds me of old fashioned end papers, mandalas and the work of Bev Doolittle (minus the camouflage aspect) combined in a whole new way, with a formal graphic design balance.
See more of Ms. Michishita's work HERE and HERE. I recommend clicking on her Faceless Women Trilogy at her website. Unusual, lovely and somehow mythical.

Strawberries in the Snow Illustrations by Folkard & Anderson

The Three Dwarfs in the Wood, Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Charles Folkard

Remember my post on The Twelve Months/Strawberries in the Snow from December HERE?

It's taken me a while but I finally found where I'd read the version with the strawberries. It's a German fairy tale included in Andrew Lang's Red Fairy Book, called "The Three Dwarfs", and includes the paper dress the girl is forced to wear too (don't know how I forgot that part). While I'm certain I've blended parts from different tales in my memory I know I've also read a Russian version with strawberries somewhere too. Strawberries, apples or violets, I do love this variant on diamonds and Toads. I also like that the story continues after the girl is found by a king. Her troubles don't stop until the troublesome step-relatives are dealt with once and for all.

The Three Dwarfs
by Anne Anderson

Once I found the name/s of this variant of "Diamonds & Toads" with the strawberries, I also found these lovely illustrations by Charles Folkard and Anne Anderson too. Pretty, no? (You can see more of his fairy tale illustrations on the SurLaLune page for Folkard HERE and Anderson HERE.) Just like "The Twelve Months", I'm surprised there aren't more illustrations for this story - there's a wealth of subjects for illustrators to explore in this tale.

Girl in the Iron Shoes by Chris Beatrice

After posting on "The Enchanted Pig" today I though it would be a good time to dig up an illustration I found a few years ago also based on the story. The artist picks out details of the tale which are both intriguing and inspiring.

(By the way, if you're unfamiliar with the Romanian fairy tale, you can read the story HERE from Andrew Lang's Red Fairy Book and see some relevant links HERE in Wikipedia.)

Chris Beatrice, a digital illustrator and member of the CGSociety, generously breaks down his process in both the thinking and the execution for this piece. You can see working sketches and preliminary color experiments HERE, (there are two pages) as well as read an explanation of the steps.

Here's an excerpt about the tale's inspiration:

As soon as I read “The Enchanted Pig“, I was drawn to its main character - a young woman who undergoes a host of trials in her quest to find her husband (who has been transformed into a pig), and return him to human form. She must wear out three pairs of iron shoes and blunt a steel staff in her travels. She visits the mansions of the moon, the sun and the wind and even has a baby along the way.

With this picture I wasn’t so much trying to tell a story as fuse a variety of disparate elements in a way that would arouse the viewer's curiosity as to what was going on. The bundle of chicken bones, the knife, the baby, the bandages, the steel staff, the two pairs of metal shoes, all play important roles in the story.

The way the girl handles her predicament was what inspired me to do this piece in the first place, and getting her character right was also my biggest challenge.

I saw this image pretty clearly right from the start, and banged out a very quick thumbnail to capture it. I wanted to depict the girl striding along with a deliberate, unwavering gait, and a determined look on her face, yet no sign of weakness, fatigue or complaint. She is entirely unfazed by her situation.

A strong female figure on a journey that changes her and her understanding of what love really is - tell me you don't want to go read it again right now!
The artist also gives a large-sized download link of the final image, which would be great to use for a desktop picture.

Mr. Beatrice has also illustrated quite a few other fairy tales (Peruonto, Snow White & Rose Red, Donkeyskin [this is a very unique portrayal - a must see!], The Frog King, Red Riding Hood, Faithful John, The Magic Jug [a wonderful Russian tale rarely illustrated], Jack the Giant Killer, The Donkey [male version of Donkeyskin without the same family issues], The White Bear [East O' the Sun], Sun Moon & Talia [one of the earliest Sleeping Beauty stories recorded], Porziella [The flea from Il Pentamerone], Joringel [and the witch], The Golden Fish - seriously awesome stuff!), which you can see in his portfolio HERE.

Stories for the Season: The Little Match Girl

by ArtBIT

You were probably wondering if I forgot this tale but I was just saving it as my 'book end', since it's the first tale I mentioned this month.

by The Enigma (Ella Baru?)

development art from the Disney short directed by Roger Allers


by Jaqueline Hudon-Verrelli

You're most likely all familiar with the story so I won't repeat it except to tell you that the translation of the danish title actually means "The little girl with the sulphur sticks" - which makes it seem even more sad for some reason.

by Miwa Yanagi

In the middle of a stressful season it's good to remember to be thankful for all I have and to remember there are many who aren't nearly so lucky and that if I have the opportunity to help, I should.

by Tekkoman

by Ariel Padilla

I find different images/illustrations bring different emphasis to the story so thought I'd post a few - quite different from each other - that I've found in the past. (The SurLaLune blog has already had a "Little Match Girl" week and highlighted some lovely illustrated retellings so I'm focusing on one-off illustrations, although I've included a couple of classic for comparison.)

album cover for Loren Mazzacane Connors


by Honor C. Appleton


Laetitia Angot plays The Little Match Girl in the theater production by Martin Jaques


scene from the Disney short directed by Roger Allers

by Christian Birmingham



by McLelun

by Robert Dress

And one little charm in a matchbox - a collaboration by Zoe Sernack and Lang Leav.
In addition I found a special Match Girl book, by artist Chloe Lan, which cleverly uses text to both tell the story, set the scene and communicate the mood of the story. I've included one example below. Click to view larger and read the text:

Click HERE to view some other pages and to learn more about the book.

I couldn't complete this entry with at least a little film so found a lovely, 'conceptual art animation' for you by Charlene Wienhold (a.k.a. AuroraInk on deviantArt) who has an amazing portfolio HERE. Enjoy:


I also wanted to mention a story titled Little Piccola by Francis Jenkins Olcott. This story reminds me of The Little Match Girl very much except it has a happy ending - and the girl lives to see another Christmas.

You can read the original poem the story was adapted from HERE.

Piccola, illustration from McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader
St Nicholas Center Collection

Stories for the Season: Snow Queen

Poster for Sherman Cymru's production of "The Snow Queen"
by Savage & Gray Design

One of the obvious stories for the season is "The Snow Queen", despite Christmas not being a featured part of the story. Andersen's long-form fairy tale has grown in increasing popularity (again) the past few years with more and more plays and ballets being staged specifically during the Christmas season, providing an alternate to the traditional Nutcracker production (companies staging Snow Queen are likely to be doing Nutcracker too, to keep their regulars happy though).

English National Ballet's 2009 Production of "The Snow Queen"

It's easy to see why it's quickly become a family holiday theater favorite. The story has remained popular throughout the years and there are many wonderful elements to work with for any form of presentation.

I have to say, that though many people include The Snow Queen when you ask about Christmas fairy tales it's not the whole 'Snow Queen steals Kai away and Gerda rescues him from the Queen and the Ice Palace' that makes me include it too. It's the sequence with the robber girl and the reindeer. Though those characters only appear for one of the chapters in Gerda's long journey to find and free Kai, to me it's the most 'Christmas' part with the robber girl maturing and learning to be a true friend and, in the end, helping Gerda escape, along with the generous gift (and letting go) of her pet/captive reindeer. The reindeer itself helps the Christmas sense too, of course.I won't go into the story too much as SurLaLune just had a Snow Queen week (see HERE) and showcased some gorgeous retellings , while The Fairy Tale Cupboard posted a fabulous article on The Queens of Ice and Snow (see HERE). There are a couple of other Snow Queen things I'd like to bring to your attention as additional resources.

Firstly, HERE is an article by a teacher of children's literature on the difficulties of teaching on the story and her fascination with the Andersen tale since childhood, which some of you will find interesting.

I also haven't yet seen anyone post on the made-for-TV movie Snow Queen (produced by Hallmark), so I wanted to mention it too. It's a very nice retelling of the story (gorgeous artistic direction!) with Gerda having to travel through the seasons to find Kai. In this version Kai is a boy/young man Gerda meets as a girl on the brink of womanhood. The robber girl isn't represented the same way as the original story or in books I've seen (and prefer) but the context for this movie makes sense. (I don't much care for the Summer sequences but that's very likely just my personal taste. I enjoy it again once Autumn appears, as inconsistent as the acting is in that section and the resolution of the movie is well done enough that I can forgive it trying to wrap up all the loose ends.) The power of love - especially true love, though mother's love is highlighted too - is the driving force of this retelling and is nicely handled.

By the way, if you've liked the Snow Queen illustrations in this post they're by award winning Ukranian artist Vadyslav Yerko and are available in a truly gorgeous looking book. You can see a preview HERE and find out more information about the book, the author (HCA of course) and the illustrator HERE.

There are just a few more stories I want to highlight before New Years, the idea being to give you plenty to enjoy if you're lucky enough to be getting any leisure time between Christmas and 2010, so keep watching. After that I will be taking a brief blog break to spend some time with both my family and my new books before I return with tons of news and fairy tale finds as usual. :)

The Christmas Goat - Santa's Predecessor?

Christmas Goat
by John Bauer

I discovered an interesting piece of Christmas folktale history while researching why it was the well known illustrator of fairy tales from the 1800s, John Bauer, would paint such a thing as a Christmas Goat. Here's some of what I found:

The Yule Goat is one of the oldest Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbols and traditions. Yule Goat originally denoted the goat that was slaughtered around Yule, but it may also indicate a goat figure made out of straw. It is also used about the custom of going door-to-door singing carols and getting food and drinks in return, often fruit, cakes and sweets. "Going Yule Goat" is similar to the British custom wassailing, both with heathen roots.

The function of the Yule Goat has differed throughout the ages. In Finland, the Yule Goat was originally said to be an ugly creature that frightened children, and demanded gifts at Christmas. In Scandinavia, people thought of the Yule Goat as an invisible creature that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done right. During the 19th century its role shifted towards becoming the giver of Christmas gifts, in Finland as well as the rest of Scandinavia, with one of the men in the family dressing up as the Yule Goat. The goat was replaced by jultomte or julenisse (Father Christmas/Santa Claus) at the end of the century, and the tradition of the man-sized goat disappeared.

(fromVisWiki- click HERE for more information on the history, tales and the Yule & Christmas traditions involving a Yule Goat.)

Folk depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. (Found at Wikimedia)

So there you go.

You may also be interested to know the tradition* of having a 'Christmas Ham' as part of a Christmas dinner is thought to be related.

Happy feasting!

*You can find a lot of well summarized information and stories about the origins of Christmas traditions (including the Christmas Tree - you'll need to scroll down a bit for that one) HERE.

Stories for the Season: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardobe

I know this isn't exactly classed as a fairy tale but the Narnia tales and creatures blended completely with the many fairy tales I read as a child, as I know they did many others, so I feel I can mention C.S. Lewis' Narnia stories here (Yes, I was one of those kids who excitedly- and a little tentatively -checked the back of each new wardrobe I was brave enough to open.)The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is completely centered on Christmas: when Lucy enters Narnia and meets Mr. Tumnus the faun for the first time, he's sneaking around with packages when he really shouldn't be, according to the White Witch's commands (Snow Queen anyone? Complete with sleigh and nasty dwarf). The White Witch has taken over Narnia, plunging the land into a perpetual Winter - without Christmas! The appearance of Santa later in the story is key to showing the tide is turning for good (and he gives awesome presents so the kids can help kick the White Witch's butt!). We're finally able to see Christmas celebrated, hope revive and the season begin to turn to Spring.The recent film from 2005 was/is stunning and makes for uplifting viewing during a holiday season. The book stands alone though and the movie shouldn't take the place of reading the movie - do both!

I found this amazing promotion for a Christmas party after the release - I'll leave you to read it, to see what I mean. (Click to enlarge.)How could you NOT have a good time at such an event?

By the way, Christian Birmingham illustrated a version of the book and is a must-see. As much as I love the movie, I prefer the old illustrations to read with, however this book is an exception to the rule. The link is HERE (I haven't seen this version with the black and white cover, which is lovely. The version linked to is the colored one I've seen in stores.)

Stories for the Season: The Gingerbread Man/Boy/Baby

You wouldn't normally add "The Gingerbread Man" to a list of Christmas fairy tales but at a time when it's customary to build gingerbread houses and eat gingerbread cookies it's a story that easily comes to mind. To top it off, there's one author/illustrator who will confirm that this is, indeed, a story for Christmas. The much-beloved Jan Brett found a way to combine the story with the season in her book "The Gingerbread Baby"*.It's full of snow, Christmas colors and sprinkled throughout with Christmas motifs (these illustrations are packed with details!), though it isn't specifically a Christmas book (I did notice copies of Ms. Brett's book had made it to the 'children's holiday books' stand at the bookstore this year though!). While it essentially remains the traditional story of The Gingerbread Man, Ms. Brett's version has a twist children, in particular, love: the little boy outwits the gingerbread baby (and all the grownups) by baking a gingerbread house and luring the baby into it. The very last page has a flap you lift where you can see the baby safe, happy and snug in his new house, while the rest of his pursuers are left none the wiser, staring at a pile of crumbs in the snow.It's not the story with the excellent warning that the original is, of course, (I do prefer the Gingerbread Man being gulped down in one bite by the fox) but it's a sweet (pardon the pun) twist - especially when the other most current and recurring image of the gingerbread man is the version forever under threat of losing a limb (or head) from the Shrek movies. (Of course, that makes me think of a dark updating/retelling for a Christmas-thriller... but I digress.)Jan Brett was onto something and she knows it. The book is still in print, in hardcover, after ten years and Ms. Brett has catered to her enthusiastic children (and Mama) fans by making a ton of Gingerbread Baby activities available at her website. She was kind enough to put up all the links via her blog at the end of November HERE. There are bookmarks you can print out (shown in this post), cards to print & send, t-shirts to make, gingerbread houses to decorate and, of course, instructions (for paper) and recipes (for baking) for your own gingerbread houses and babies/men.You can get your own copy of the book HERE and there's also a board book available now too.

* The story can be read/told calling the 'gingerbread baby' a 'gingerbread man' too if you prefer.