A Magical Sighthound in the Imaginary Garden

I was drawing this watercolour with my friends in mind; they have sighthounds and I adore those dogs. One friend has Saluki, and another one has a racing bred Afghan hound which means less hair and more muscles and temperament, simply put. However, the dog in the picture looks more like a greyhound which is okay as it is a sighthound, too.

I wanted to make the picture look somewhat medieval in style, and I tried to remember all the paintings, miniatures and tapestries I have seen which were relevant. This is magical dog in the imaginary garden, as you can see, and I wanted the garden to be as full of beautiful things as possible.



This was my first attempt after a long while. Basically, I wanted to remember how to do it. Of course the picture is not as it was planned, as I am still very clumsy after many years of not drawing and painting, but I enjoyed the process immensely. Now I have some other projects in mind, and I think it will be easier technically.

Winter Landscape with a Fox by John Burningham

I am in love with this illustration. It has the impressionist spirit which I love, the instant glimpse, the momentary feeling of beauty of the world. I readily recognise the heavy sun of late winter afternoon and dry grasses covered in frost; they give a crackling sound as you walk. The coy looking fox is as familiar and casual as your neighbours' dog. The dear world of childhood where every animal is your friend, and every walk is an adventure.

It is by English illustrator John Burningham and comes from his book "Seasons" published in 1971, I found it here. 

Winter Tale of Lisa Evans

Lisa Evans (http://firefluff.com) is one of my favorite now living illustrators. The atmosphere she creates is like nothing else. I am looking at this print and memories are coming - memories of moonlit winter nights when I was looking out of the window to see that the whole world was covered in clean glistening snow and the huge benevolent moon was reigning above all, and my room would be almost as light as in the daytime. It felt like magic and gave me a chill in the stomach - expectation of something new, exciting and wonderful. The familiar things around me looked alive and different in this cold and even light.

As a rule, the moon looking into the window at night feels disturbing to me, but Lisa's moon here is so kind, even if a bit stern - like a loving grandmother - and there is no sense of alarm and fear. But this is no time to sleep, either, because everything around is so alight and alive. This might be the time to leave the bed, shake off the sleep, pull on your clothes and run out, to meet some adventures! The toys will follow you to help and protect.

Sophie and the Moon

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, Illustrated by Kalinovsky

Now I have the privilege of owning this amazing book - Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There with illustrations by Gennady Kalinovsky, an eminent Soviet (Russian) artist. I collect books with his works, and this one is a pearl of my collection. No, not even a pearl. A Cullinan diamond!

I am sure no one needs extended comments and explanations, as everyone has read the book. If you have not, or if you have forgotten - read it! It is a true masterpiece. I have read a good review of the illustrations today and it said that probably the book was so fascinating and outstanding not because it was clever, full of chess and mathematics and absurdities and curiosities, but because it was full of love for the girl, and these illustrations do reflect that love and desire to take care. I think this might be true. And although Alice is not as pretty here as in some other books, she is very touching, vulnerable and alive. And all the creatures are of course immensely cute! The White Queen is so helpless and silly, and the Black Queen is condensed fury and determination. My favourite one, however, is Alice in the boat, floating among flowers and lights. It is pure magic and I love it.

Yes, some people still need and want paper books. Just look at this magic of lines and shades. And imagine a child reading this, and his or her imagination working, transforming this into a different reality, playing with the words and images - instead of just watching a bright movie, as simple as fast food.

These are the illustrations which are clickable - enjoy! I have not scanned them, but found them here.

 

Vintage "Thumbelina" from USSR

I buy a lot of vintage children's books with good illustrations. Many of those are unlikely to ever be reprinted, so I grab them whenever I can. My daughter loves reading, and buying books for her is a pleasure (it is quite possible that part of the reason for her loving to read is that I love reading to her and enjoy looking for nice books).

I bought this vintage "Thumbelina" (printed in USSR in 1977, so it is as old as I am) on Sunday; it is illustrated by Natalia Barbotchenko, and I think I love her interpretation most of all. I especially love the cover - it so peaceful and cozy. This is the first tine I have seen this book.

I think that almost any little girl  would like to imagine herself sleeping in such a bed, or, better still - having a tiny girl friend who could be cared for, like a doll.

The house of the witch is quite cozy, too; even though it is dark, it is not scary. She looks neat and well-dressed, very eco style - her dress might be made from undyed linen, and shawl... alpaca? What do you say? Her posture expresses care and compassion. And the woman looks so desperately hopeful and unprotected. By the way, have you ever thought of the injustice done to her in the end? Her child was stolen and never returned to her, and obviously did not even remembered her - there was no single mention of the mother after Thumbelina was stolen. This always stroke me as unfair.

These creatures are not frightening, too. They are so homely and business-like. Note the beautiful lamp! And can you imagine what this place smells like? It is clean and earthy, with hints of dried fruits and herbs. A perfect hole, sound and well-built, full of properly stored food, and any decent mole lady would love to inhabit it.

The glamorous part of it always seemed boring to me - there is too much sunlight, and it lacks the comfort of living in the shadow of grass and flowers. What are they going to do now - just dance and play? If they were to play in the strawberry patch, where the soil is moist, where there is shade and mystery under the large festooned leaves, with ripe red berries hanging low, with small white flowers, with strawberry runners spreading like tentacles - it would be fascinating! You can meet a worm or a beetle there, or even a slug (I was afraid of them as a child, or rather disgusted), and you might have to fight for your life - that is so much more interesting than just jumping from one flower to another.

But the book is written as it is and cannot be changed. Anyway, I am grateful to Andersen for the moments of magic, for green shade under leaves, for mirror-like water of the pond with gold fish sealed inside, and the smell of grain and honey, flour and herbs, in the mole's hole. And when Thumbelina went outside to say farewell to the outside world, it would smell like autumn - wet soil, wet stumble in the field, cold air and smoke somewhere far away... and a single sparrow, the last one, coming from the darkening sky with sparse stars, to take her away from this sad land. What was later - is not real to me.

Russian Folk Tales as Seen by Tatiana Mavrina

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Can you see my hand painted floral silk shawl in the collage? It is in the upper left and right corners. It mingles really well with the lovely illustrations by my beloved Tatiana Mavrina, does not it?

Tatiana Mavrina was a Russian artist famous for her book illustrations. She lived from 1900-1996, and was very prolific. Her works were not limited to illustrations; she painted pictures, too, and made sketches for cartoons. But it were her works for books that brought her fame, recognition and prestigious awards. Books are so much more affordable than pictures, and I had two books illustrated by Mavrina when I was a child. Now I have several, including Russian folk tales and tales for children by Alexander Pushkin, and would like to buy more, but it is not so easy to do now.

I own several books illustrated by her, and reading them is a pleasure. However I do not feel that she was painting for children, and my mother agrees with me. Her pictures are wonderful, but they are clearly for adults, in our view; my own daughter was not impressed at all when she was 4 years old. Now she is 6; just several minutes ago she came to see what I was doing and said the pictures were beautiful, but I know she still prefers more 'life like' pictures to these sophisticated paintings.

Russian lubok, together with other traditional forms of Russian art, clearly was among the origins of these works; however Mavrina went far beyond it. Lubok is always very clear and unambiguous, whereas Mavrina is not. Her paintings are very decorative, highly stylized, with amazing color combinations, but not easily comprehensible for small children. However this is not something to be upset about: I am sure that my daughter will love her works like I do when she becomes older. 

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Below are several beautiful examples of Mavrina's paintings, and you can find more here, in the Russian part of the internet (but of course texts will be in Russian), or look for information in English, but there will be fewer paintings of course. You could combine both approaches, it will be the most efficient way.

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I would love to publish many more pictures by Tatiana Mavrina - it is such a pleasure for me to look at them - but I am afraid the post will become too long. I have had to make an effort to remember what made me think of Mavrina and write all this; it was a floral vintage silk shawl, painted by hand, which is so redolent of Mavrina style - indeed it looks as if painted by her. I listed it today but I am thinking of removing it... We will see; I think if it does not sell, I will keep it.

Vintage Books: A Childhood Remembered

Today I was lucky to buy a bundle of vintage children's books. All of them are in excellent condition and with lovely pictures.

One of the books is Heksen en zo (Witches and such) by Annie M.G. Schmidt, which has amazing pictures. I have never seen this book before. Just look, it is sheer magic!

Source of the scans: http://www.igrateney.ru/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=23981

I have not started reading it yet, but I am looking forward to it.

The second book I am especially happy about is The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell. This one we had as children, and then my younger brother left it in the taxi. My heart was broken! I have been looking for it for a while and how I have my own copy. 

I have looked at the English versions of this book in online bokstores, and some of them are really nice. But of course I wanted to have the one I had as a child, and now it is here!

The Russian edition has lovely pictures showing a very special magical world with amazing mythical creatures, all with their own personalities. The atmosphere in the pictures is very cozy, and even monsters do not look threatening despite their impressive claws and breathing fire. However I think my 6-year-old will be the best judge to decide whether they are scary or not. 

The girl heroine, Penelope, is pretty without resembling Barbie, and the boys are very nice, and all the beasts are charming. The Magician has mimics exactly like one of my school teachers, and it gives me additional pleasure making him even more alive and special to me.

Below you can see the map of the magic world followed by pictures of some of the lovely characters.

Source of the scans: http://kidpix.livejournal.com/278474.html

The remaining books are by Russian writers. Some of them boast pictures by Kalinovski, a great book artist, and they deserve a separate post. Now I will go back to reading - I am going to lie on my bed with The Talking Parcel and a big red apple. As an added benefit, I hope these books will help me with ideas for Halloween - we need to think of what to offer in our Etsy shop.