A few of my favorite pieces of art

Woman and Horse (2006, 60" x 60", Digital C-Print) by KARIN BUBAš

This print first spoke to me through the television. It was in the background of a scene in the Showtime series, "the L Word". Immediately, the photo spoke to me. I wanted to be the girl with the horse. I tracked it down (through an L Word fan website) to the Monte Clark Gallery in Toronto.

Woman and Horse is part of the
Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe collection. The biography on her website reports, "Karin Bubaš's new photographic series Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe takes its inspiration from the renowned films of Alfred Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni. Using the language of Hitchcock's cinematography and Antonioni's depiction of women (seemingly lost in expansive settings), Bubaš plays the role of director with her friends and has created a series of images reminiscent of film and painting. '
'Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe uses nostalgia for films of the 50's and 60's to explore the tension that exists between the female figure and the environments they inhabit.'

I love their whimsical style that is reminiscent of childhood. Several of her prints remind me of my childhood, for example:

Girl In Apple Orchard (2007, 40" x 114", Digital C-Print)










Dryad (2008, 22.75" x 72", Digital C-Print)

(Of course, this is probably because I used to day dream in the apple orchard at my parents farm about being a dryad while reading Shakespeare and fairy tales...)



The previous artwork reminds me of a few favorite illustrations from children's books:

Thumbelina Rides on the Water-Lily Leaf illustration by H.J. Ford from Andrew Lang's Yellow Fairy Book (1906)
Thumbelina was one of my favorite fairy tales as a kid. Growing up, I would often make fairy beds out of walnut shells and huts in tall grass. I also have been known to make a few fairy huts since childhood...

My favorite fairy book was Flower Fairies of the Trees. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find high quality photos from the book on Google. There is a nice website now dedicated to the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker, http://www.flowerfairies.com/.

The Ice Maiden by Edmund Dulac (1915) was one of six illustrations to "The Dreamer of Dreams" by Queen Marie of Roumania.

'Everything about her was white, glistening and shining; so shining that the human eye could hardly bear the radiance. Her long white hair hung about her; a circle of glow-worms surrounded her forehead ... On either side marched one of the great bears like two guardians.'

This image is sometimes confused with an illustration from the story The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.


A few from my personal collection of artwork:



Rainy Etudes by Leonid Afremov

I discovered this painting with the Stumble button. I had it on my work computer as my background for over a year. My boss noticed how much I loved it and last year at our wedding, we received it as a wedding present!!










Crane by Mirka M. Fetté (This is actually a similar but different pose from the painting we own.) Our crane resides over our mantle and keeps a watchful eye on our kitties!