The Emporer's New Clothes

I love this sillhouette illustration from The Emporer's New Clothes which leaves everything to the imagination!  It is another picture from one of  the books in my fairytale book collection! 

When I was a child, I thought this was one of the funniest stories I'd ever heard.  As you can imagine--I was routing for the kid who told the truth in the end of the story--I mean, from my perspective and age, I was convinced that Grown ups were often times just TOO silly . . . 

And now that I'm all grown up?  Well, I still think they are!

Fairy Tales - Pink Saturday

A few years ago I was wandering through one of our town's marvelous antique shops.  I have a small collection of old fairytale books, so when I saw this one, I picked it up to leaf through its pages. 

To my great astonishment I knew every story.  I could trace every single illustration by heart.  As I held the book, I began to remember the beloved fairytale book I'd had as a child.  I had literally worn it's pages into nothingness. 

The wonderful thing about this book is I can see from the illustrations how my own style as an artist was forged.  I loved each and every one of those pictures and their beauty imprinted itself upon my mind, even before I could read the stories themselves.  It was as though I journeyed back in time for a moment and saw my world through a child's eyes once more.

Happy Pink Saturday!

A Princess in Danger

This illustration comes from another of the books in my fairytale book collection. In this story of woe, the beautiful princess is in danger. Her stepmother is in actuality a witch, who casts a spell upon the princess, turning her into a wild mindless dragon who scourges the countryside in her search for food.

The prince of a neighboring kingdom is her own true love. When he hears of the spell, he travels to the kingdom to rescue the princess. What he must do to break the spell is gruesome. He must cut 0ff the head of the dragon.

The brave prince takes strength in his love for the girl, strikes the dragon's head away. This breaks the spell and the girl is restored. The wicked stepmother is punished. She is made to dance in a pair of red hot iron shoes until she falls dead.

And the prince and princess? Of course they live happily ever after.



Daddy Update: Dad's cousin Fred came to visit Dad. Dad seems so much better for the visit. He is perky and told me he's getting really bored sitting in bed all day long! A GOOD sign!

Come With Me into the Sea

This wonderful mermaid drawing comes from a book from my fairytale collection. She is indeed lovely, a true siren.

I love mermaids, but in many stories of the sea, they 're rather dastardly. These beautiful creatures have been known to lure ships onto the rocks, to pull a sailor beneath the waves to suffocate him. There are even tales of stolen lovers and missing children.

Still, I tentatively choose to believe there are those among the merfolk, who love mankind and choose to be good to them.