~Mermaids~

"If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one,
you may see at times a shapeless
pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness;
then if you squeeze your eyes tighter,
the pool begins to take shape, and the colours
become so vivid that with another squeeze
they must go on fire.
But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon.
This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland,
just one heavenly moment;
if there could be two moments
you might see the surf and
hear the mermaids singing."
-J.M Barrie, 'Peter and Wendy'

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~Florence Griswold ~

    
Florence Griswold opened her timeworn family home
to artists searching for a quiet country retreat where
they could rejuvenate their spirits and find sources
of inspiration. The group was known as the Lyme Art Colony
and Miss Florence's boardinghouse became the center
of Impressionism in America. To honor Miss Florence
and the Colony, the Florence Griswold Museum was
established and has flourished in exciting ways. 
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Who was this remarkable woman?
One of four children of a ship captain, Miss Florence
was born on Christmas Day, 1850 and raised in the finest
house on the main street of a thriving Connecticut town.
Old Lyme, a center of shipbuilding and commerce,
was established in the early 1600s and counted the
Griswolds among the town's oldest families.
Their Late Georgian-style mansion, built in 1817 on
a twelve-acre estate, was purchased by Captain Robert Griswold
for his bride Helen Powers in 1841.
The family's and the town's fortunes reversed, however,
as a result of the Civil War and the invention of
steam-powered vessels. To survive financially
the Griswolds turned their home into a school and
eventually a boarding house.
By the late 1890s only Miss Florence was left to
maintain the family homestead. Soon she,and the town,
would transform and survive in unexpected ways.
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The Florence Griswold House, Originally built
in 1817 for William Noyes, Jr.,
a son of Judge William Noyes,
the house was designed by Hartford builder
Samuel Belcher, who was already at work on
Old Lyme’s Congregational Church.
In 1839, the house was sold to Richard Ely
and in 1841 to the sea captain Robert Griswold.
By the 1930s, Florence Griswold was in debt and
her property was sold, although the land’s new owner,
Judge Robert McCurdy Marsh, who built a new house,
allowed her to live in the old house until
her death on December 6 1937.
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The artist William Chadwick often used Miss Florence
as a model and once featured her at the piano
and reading a book on the sofa!
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In 1941, the house was purchased by the Florence
Griswold Association and opened as a museum in 1947.
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Florence Griswold Museum, exhibiting both art
and historical material. The house was declared
a National Historic Landmark in 1993. In July 2007
the building reopened after a 14-month restoration project.
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The museum features a collection of American art
and history, including fine art, sculpture, works on paper,
artist's studio material, toys and dolls, ceramics,
furniture, textiles, decorative arts and historic artifacts,
and the Lyme Historical Society archives.
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The side porch of the Griswold House became an
extension of the interior space, and served as an open-air
dining room. Meals were taken here in warm weather,
with views of the gardens and barns beyond.
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~Visit to the museum~

http://flogris.blogspot.com/
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~Kay Nielsen~

 

  
Kay Nielsen was born in 1886 and died in 1957
He was a Danish illustrator who was popular in the
early 20th century, the "golden age of illustration"
which lasted from when Daniel Vierge and other pioneers
developed printing technology to the point that drawings
and paintings could be reproduced with reasonable facility,
He joined the ranks of Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac
in enjoying the success of the gift books of the early
20th century. This fad lasted until roughly the end
of World War II when economic changes made it more
difficult to make a profit from elaborately illustrated books.

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Born in Copenhagen into an artistic family, his father was
director of the Royal Danish Theatre. He studied art in
Paris from 1904 to 1911, and then lived in England from
about 1911 to 1916. He received his first English
commission from Hodder and Stoughton to illustrate a
collection of fairytales, providing 24 colour plates and more
than 15 monotone illustrations - In Powder and Crinoline,
Fairy Tales Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1913.

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In the same year, Nielsen was also commissioned by
The Illustrated London News to produce a set of four
illustrations to accompany the tales of Charles Perrault -
with the images for 'Le Belle au Bois Dormant'
('Sleeping Beauty'), 'Le Chat Botté' ('Puss in Boots'),
'Cendrillon' ('Cinderella') and 'La Barbe Bleue' ('Bluebeard')
being published in the 1913 Christmas Edition.

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In 1939 he left for California and worked for
Hollywood companies, including The Walt Disney Company,
where his work was used in the "Ave Maria" and
"Night on Bald Mountain" sequences of Fantasia.
In 1940 he was laid off. He did some work on
"The Little Mermaid" story, but it was almost 50 years
before this reached the cinema. His final years were spent
in poverty. His last works were for local schools
including 'The First Spring' mural installed at
Central Junior High School, Los Angeles  and
churches including his painting to the Wong Chapel
at the First Congregational Church, Los Angeles -
illustrating the 23rd Psalm.

 One day the queen dreamed that an eagle
snatched a bouquet of roses from her,
and when she woke, the princess had vanished.
(from Rosanella, or The Inconstant Prince, by Comte de Caylus)

nielsen.artpassions.net.
Read More about Kay Nielsen

~ Honor C. Appleton~

Honor Charlotte Appleton werd geboren in Brighton
op 4 Februari 1879 en studeerde aan de South
Kensington Schools, Frank Calderon’s School of
Animal Painting en de Royal Academy Schools.
Aan het eind van haar eerste jaar op de RA Schools,
publiceerde zij The Bad Mrs Ginger (1902). Ze was een zogenaamd “nursery”–illustrator.
Acht jaar later werd zij een professionele illustrator
met de Blake’s Songs of Innocence (1910).
Om in contact te blijven met haar tijdgenoten tekende zij
zich in voor de cursus van Percy Bradshaw,
de Kunst van de Illustrator, in 1917.
Tijdens de volgende drie decennia illustreerde
zij meer dan  honderdvijftig boeken.
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Honor Charlotte Appleton was born
in Brighton on 4^th February 1879. She started her art
studies at the Kensington Schools and then attended
Frank Calderon’s School of Animal Painting and finally
the RA at the start of the 20^th Century. Whilst at
the RA she illustrated ‘The Bad Mrs Ginger’, starting
a book illustration career in which she would
illustrate over 150 books.

Honor Appleton developed a very delicate
watercolour style that captured the innocent world of
children, their adventures and life. She was influenced
by illustrators such as Kate Greenaway and Annie French
and other illustrators of the period.
Her watercolours where exhibited at the RA.
She unfortunately died before seeing her works
exhibited at the Hove Public Library in 1952.
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Terwijl zij het meest bekend is door haar vroege
illustraties voor de reeks ‘Josephine’, met teksten
van Mevr. Cradock, maakte zij ook veel ander fijn werk.
In de jaren '30 en '40 van de 20^e eeuw verwijderde
zij zich van de ‘nursery’-onderwerpen door zich op
de versies voor kinderen van literaire schrijvers uit
de klassieke oudheid van George G Harrap te concentreren.

Honor Appleton stierf op 31 December 1951.
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Titles of some books illustrated by Honor Appleton:

~ Littlewood, L. and F. Our Nursery Rhyme Book.
Honor Appleton, illustrator. London: Herbert, 1912.

~ Perrault, Charles. Fairy Tales. Honor Appleton,
illustrator. London: Simpkin Marshall, 1919.

~ Andersen, Hans Christian. Fairy Tales.
Honor Appleton, illustrator. London: 1922.
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~Errol Le Cain~

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Errol Le Cain was born in Singapore on
the 5th of March 1941. He traveled through the Far East,
lived in India for 5 years, and moved to England.
...
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Although educated in Singapore, Le Cain had
no formal art training. He was fascinated with
the cinema and produced a small film at the
early age of 14. It was an animation entitled,
The Enchanted Mouse.
At age 15, he created another animated
film called, The Little Goatherd which drew
the attention of British film distributor,
Pearl and Dean Limited.
.. . .
In 1965, Le Cain worked in advertising and film
studios designing film titles for the Richard Williams Studio,
for such films as The Charge of the Light Brigade
and the original Casino Royale.
He became a freelance designer in the late 60s.
He worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation
as a set designer for t.v. programs and
also did cartoon illustrations and graphics.
.. . .  . .
His first illustrated book was published in 1968,
King Arthur's Sword, and started his new career
as an illustrator. He is quoted as saying in ICb4 that
his first book “made me aware of the the scope
and possibilities in children's books and now I am
convinced this is the medium for me”.
He continued “The first task of an illustrator is
to be in full sympathy with the writer.
No matter how splendid and exciting the drawings
may be, if they work against the story,
the picture book is a faliure”.

He was the author of some of the books he illustrated,
but mostly worked with other authors.
He was twice runner up for the
Kate Greenaway Award for The Cabbage Princess
in 1969 and Thorn Rose in 1976 and
finally won it in 1985 for Hiawatha's Childhood.

Errol Le cain died on the 3rd of January 1989
after a long illness and left a wife and 2 children!
.. ..
A Few of Errol Le Cain Titles
-King Arthur's Sword
-The Cabbage Princess
-The House on the Strand
-Cinderella
-The King's White Elephant
-The White Cat
-The Devil's Piper
-The Twelve Dancing Princesses
-The Snow Queen
-Beauty and the Beast
-Mrs. Fox's Wedding
-The Three Magic Gifts
-Aladdin
-Molly Whuppie
-Hiawatha's Childhood
-Crisis at Crabtree
-The Enchanter's Daughter
-The Pied Piper of Hamelin
-Have You Seen My Sister
..

http://www.errollecain.com/index.htm