Clever Maids & Grimm Brothers

I just finished reading Clever Maids, The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales," by Valerie Paradiz.  It is the story of the iconic brothers who lived during the 18th C, a chaotic time filled with uprisings and revolutions.  Germany was occupied by Napoleon, and war was constant. It was also a terrible time for women who had absolutely no rights and could own nothing.  So when Father Grimm dies, according to the law, Mother Grimm loses everything.  The Grimm family tumbles into poverty and Jacob is packed off to law school to make something of himself and save the family.  Instead he discovers literature and resolves to uncover the folk/fairy tale legacy of his war-ravaged homeland.


Everywhere they go, Jacob and Wilhelm search for tales, and they gather most of them from women they meet along the way, although none of these women are credited in the final collection.  They also befriend other soon-to-be famous authors, like Goethe, who is also interested in folk tales and eventually writes "Faust" incorporating the same theme as most of the fairy tales:  women should be submissive, passive, pure or else very bad things will happen if they stray from the righteous path.


Before  reading this I had only the Terry Gilliam film about the Brothers Grimm to go on, which is a lot of fun, but has nothing to do with reality since Jacob & Wilhelm did not make the stories up, they only copied them down.


Grimm's Fairy Tales, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Grimm Fairy Tales

In With the Old

This is a new piece for a book series I'm working on.  This picture, called "In the Stranger's Palace," takes place in Persia in the 11th Century. It needs a bit more work, but I'm on a short deadline with another book, so I have to put it away for now. Thought I would post it anyway.

I've been reading a few interesting non-fiction books lately.  One is  "The History of the World in 100 Objects."  It's written incredibly well by the head of the British Museum, who (as the title suggests) tells the history of civilization with 100 carefully chosen objects.  One of the objects, a tiny gold cart with tiny gold horses and riders, let's us see how sophisticated Persia was 2500 years ago. In so many ways, we humans have not changed much, only our technology makes us think we have.

Happy New Year! Let's hope it's a good one.

Merry Wishes to all

The merriest and brightest wishes to all for a wonder-filled holiday and New Year!

The Way We Were

I've just been reading some books by the painter, Eric Sloane.  He was even better with pen and ink.  He illustrated and wrote a series of books about life in the 18th and19th C. that are full of beautiful diagrams of tools, machinery and trees. In "A Reverence for Wood" he explains the proper way to dismantle a barn... (don't just knock it down with a tractor !) He also writes about how back in the day, people knew how to get along with the environment so much better than we do now (even though we think we are so smart).  They are great little books:
Once Upon a Time: The Way America Was
A Reverence for Wood
A Celebration of Bells
I just unearthed this painting I did a while ago, which also takes place in late early 1900s (and it involved a barn.) I like the way the colors came out.

Artists of Deception

This book I designed and co-authored.  It's based upon the exhibit I co-curated with Rick Beyer, who has been researching this unique WWII outfit for his documentary film, called "The Ghost Army." It will be released next year.  My father was in this outfit, along with many other artists, including Bill Blass and Ellsworth Kelly.  Three cartoonists: Victor Dowd, Bob Boyajian and Roy Harford, who worked worked on Captain Marvel and many other comics before and after the war, were also in this outfit.

"We were sleeping in hedgerows and foxholes, but nothing kept us from going someplace to do a watercolor" John Jarvie, 603rd

They were all sent to Europe armed with rubber tanks, phony artillery, and sound effects in order to deceive the enemy. They also brought along their sketchbooks and painted their way across Europe.  This 48 page paperback, printed by Sotheby's, is jam packed with photos, drawings and stories of their unique adventure.  For more info about the Ghost Army visit Ghostarmy.org. To see more pages and to order this book visit Amazon. 

The Halloween Tree

Sly does it, Tiptoe catspaws.  Slide and creep.

But why? What for? How? Who? When!
Where did it all begin? 
'You don't know, do you?'
asks Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud 
climbing out under a pile of leaves under 
the Halloween Tree.


'You don't REALLY know!'
The stars they turn, the candles burn
And the mouse-leaves scurry on the 
cold wind borne,
And a mob of smiles shine down on thee 
From the gourds hung high on the Halloween Tree.

The smile of the Witch, and the smile of the Cat, 
The smile of the Beast, the smile of the Bat,
The smile of the Reaper taking his fee,  
All cut and glimmer on the Halloween Tree... 

© 1972 Ray Bradbury 

In the Attic of the Museum

Some of my earliest memories of jaw-dropping murals and paintings of the natural world are of visiting the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History in NYC.  I always wanted to paint murals like that, although I never pursued it.

The Museum is currently refurbishing their Hall of Mammals, including all those beautiful dioramas that have inspired and enchanted so many of us. Last week we had a behind-the-scenes tour of the Mammal Department including the dioramas they are working on.  With the glass removed, the animals seemed ready to pounce.  The animals were getting their fur touched up, ears adjusted, noses re-glazed, and the plants were being being repainted in spots. We also went to the research offices and storage rooms where  hallways are lined with skeletons of every kind of mammal on earth, from a tiny leaping fairy-size mammal (that I forgot the name of) to giant skulls of elephants that lined an attic room.  I never realized how many species of animals there are.  I also never realized how many  artists work at the Museum.  Next time I'm bringing my sketchbook.



Above is a book jacket I just finished, and at left is a luscious new book about the making of the ANMH dioramas, called Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural Historyby Stephen Quinn, Senior Exhibition designer at AMNH. It's on my wish list!

Next in the Series

My newest book has just been published: The Very Little Princess: Rose's Story (Random House).  It is the second in the series about an uppity doll and the befuddled girl who befriends her.  It's a wonderful story written by Newbery Honor author, Marion Dane Bauer.

For the Clouds

5pm and I was stuck on the Palisades Parkway heading south in an attempt to pick up my husband who had walked and hitchhiked from midtown Manhattan to someplace in NJ.  The two lane parkway had swelled to 4 lanes;  3 for traffic because the police had shut it down just ahead of me, and the 4th– the left shoulder– was for a  steady stream of emergency vehicles.  A fighter jet screamed overhead and "Hallelujah" came on the radio.  I watched puffs of clouds float up the river on that cloudless day. They floated by and disappeared. All they were now–all those lives–just clouds.  That morning, before the phone rang, I had started the final paintings for a book I was working on. A week or two later, when I went back to it, I could never get the girl to smile.  She looks like she's crying through half the book.  I guess I was.