ULLABENULLA

Wendy's Eye Candy!!!

Following our visit with Stephanie Blythe the other day, we headed over to the tiny town of Port Costa to visit Wendy Addison's studio THEATRE OF DREAMS! As her sign so whimsically proclaims on the front door, she is open only by Chance or Appointment! Not wanting to 'take the chance' of missing her we made an appointment for 1:30!

Walking into Wendy's shop is like entering WONDERLAND. Glass cases are filled with one of kind creations and vintage finds and glittering constellation's hang from the ceiling... Magical Theatres beckon from every corner, and delightful visual poetry fills the air... We were swept away with fairy dust, while being serenaded by 'Queen' Wendy herself. Like little children, we put our noses right up to the glass, and looked with wide eyes, trying in vain to decide which 'candy's' to bring home... Each of us did finally find a few special things to steal away, with the hope that we could bring Wendy's magic with us as we went home... Come join me here in a THEATRE OF DREAMS!!!!

Fables in Colour...

There is a beautiful simplicity and refined sense of design in the art of Neverfly on Deviant Art. An asian sensibility... I love how the lines and colors seem perfectly chosen, not too much and not too little. And of course, the allusions to fairy tales and fables!!! Delightful!

LivingRoom Forest!

How fun is this? "Turn any room into a forest scene. Constructed of reclaimed wood panelling and shag carpeting from the 1960's. Measures about 8 ft. high, by 15 ft. long, by 8 ft. wide, which makes the deer life-sized." Available from Etsy!

The Yellow Kid Dresses Up!

Wonderful period comics by Richard Felton Outcault (1863-1928), who created Hogan’s Alley, which is considered the first commercially successful newspaper comic strip. It featured Mickey Dugan, better known as the Yellow Kid. Link

Dryad's And Angel's!

Yet another artist from Poland! I really love these image's by Misha Dragonov!!!

Magical Linocuts!

Here is another delightful Etsy find!!! These linocuts are by Sonia Romero. I am really attracted to her children riding different animals, but she also has a wonderful alphabet series not to be missed!!!

Romanian Fashion Illustration

These are by Romanian Artist Deea Muntean! I really like her contemporary line and use of bright colors, mixed with folktales and myth from her heritage!!!

Detailed Nature

I really like the simplicity and detail of these drawings by Spanish born artist Ernesto Caivano!

PLAYTIME!

By Dorina Mocan.

The Drone

(By Arthur Hacker via the blog Art Magick)

Patterns And Folklore

Recently Ashley Lloyd sent me an email asking me to 'please take a look at her work.' What a wonderful gift she gave me! Ashley is currently a sophmore at the Maryland Institute College of Art, majoring in Painting. For one so young, she already has a distinct personal style, focus and pattern in her work. But as you can see from her pieces, her true inspiration are FAIRYTALES!!! (Her self portrait was inspired by both Snow White and Cinderella!) I am really attracted to her "shaped pieces", which she says "are toiled copper with paint and threads and I guess you would call it mixed media." They remind me a little of medival purses, rich in history and treasure... Ashley's focus on the handmade is intentional; "Most of my work is about implied symmetry but with the injection of the hand which can never let something be absolutely perfect. I like the romantic idea of the handmade therefore none of my pieces use stencils." Ashley's paintings are lyrical and magical, like stepping into a wonderful story about to begin... I can barely wait to see what she will create next!!! (some of Ashley's work is for sale Here!)

Sweet Petal Doll

I am off to teach 'Figural Theatres' today at the Castle! I leave you with this sweet 'Garden Dolly' by Tamara Thiebaux.

Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus would Freeze

(by Hendrik Goltzius, 1602)

Red Chalk Beauty

Lovely portraits after Watteau by Jaap den Hollander drawn in red chalk.

Colombina

(One of the stock characters in commedia dell'arte via Bill Casselman's site)

'Little Red' Window...

I was given the assignment of making a 'Little Red Riding Hood' Window for the Castle today, due a week from Friday!!! The first thing I do when working on a project like this is search for wonderful images for inspiration! Here are a few of my favorites found on Google-Images. I am thinking of doing a 'Thatch-roof cottage', with 'wolf' peeking through, a 'Little Miss Riding Hood' doll, and some trees... More details as it progresses...

Rise and Shine

(by STEPHEN ALDRICH)

Russian FolkTales Illustrated

Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942) was an illustrator, set and costume designer and artist in Russia. His style is reminicent of arts and crafts as well as art nouveau.

"The forests and mountains of Old Russia were predominant players in images that often provided as many distractions as focal points. He seemed anxious to incorporate traditional designs and motifs, often as framing devices for illustrations that didn't require them. Yet his solid depiction of the terrain and costumes made his work recognizable and appealing, despite his youthful miscues. And, most importantly, his ability to bring a sense of reality to a world of ghosts and glowing skulls reinforced the notion that these stories might really have happened and certainly heightened their appeal."

Fairytales Take Flight...

Caroyln Ryder Cooley is a spinner of sad music and lyrical fairytales. "As an installation and performance artist, I invent haunted dream worlds that echo political and cultural phenomena of past and present. Video, sound and site-specific lighting create an atmosphere of dis-reality. Rescued materials are transformed into props and garments which reveal incomplete evidence of pasts." I love how her fairytale visions in locations, costumes, music and fantasy invite us into her imagined worlds... Breathtaking!

Visual Simplicity...

Gwen Oulman Brennan of Larutan Studio in Saint Louis has a beautifully refined eye in all that she touches... "Natural element of organic forms play off of the elegant minimalism of her studio. River stones collected from around the country adorn both the jewelry and her displays as castings of branches and pieces of lava rock hang delicately from chains." Doesn't this just make you want to step into her world? "When sorting laundry her husband knows to check his wife’s pockets, never sure what he will find. He carefully places her found treasures in a wooden box in the laundry room. Her interest in merging disparate materials has lead to a recent series of landscapes painted on concrete imbedded in beeswax, photographs on silk, river stone jewelry, and even octopus tentacles lost-cast in bronze and silver." A collector of life, her work speaks volumes in its simplicity and delicate attention to details... Lovely