Showing posts with label fairy tale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fairy tale. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

House No. 96: Sleeping Beauty's Castle

House No. 96: Sleeping Beauty's Castle
wood, wooden spindles, wooden spools, chipboard, acrylic paint
10 in. x 21 in. x 8 in.
096/365; 04/06/11

The fairy tale houses continue today with another tale constructed out of objects from domestic work.


Luckily for me, my mom has everything and is willing to part with it for art's sake.

Say, for example, I wanted to make a palace for Sleeping Beauty out of spinning spindles (of course), not only would my mother dig up a whole basket full, she would ask me if there is anything else that I would like to take on my way out. As if her house were a shop.

Then she would convince my dad that he can part with one of the blocks from his childhood set (that also occupied my sister and me — it is a beautiful set of wooden blocks) because a dog had already chewed on it anyway. And that is where I got the supplies for this castle.

And it is one of my favorite houses so far.



See the golden tower? That is where Sleeping beauty lies asleep.

I love these spindles. Working with them is like playing a xylophone. The soundtrack of my working with them, all colliding together, sounded like the Fossils from Camille Saint-SaĆ«ns's Carnival of the Animals.  It's such a happy sound.

Friday, April 1, 2011

House No. 91: Kejserens nye Palads (The Emperor's New Palace)



House No. 91: The Castle from Kejserens nye Palads  (The Emperor's New Palace)
mixed media
roughly 18 in. x 12 in.
091/365; 04/01/11

Continuing with my fairytale-themed houses, today’s house is based on the Danish folktale, Kejserens nye Palads by Hans Christian Anderson.  As you can see, this house is one of my most work-intensive and elaborate to date.


I am most proud of the detail work on the leaded windows and the masonry work of the castle, as you can see in this detail, below.


Again, as in Rapunzel’s Tower, I tried to use materials that reflect the story from a contemporary perspective. In this case, I want to reflect the current American political lexicon, populace perspective, and media in Emperor Kejserens’s castle. I think the medium speaks for itself, here.

Update: Happy April Fools Day!  The Danish Kejserens nye Palads, as was disclosed in the Google Translation link, translates as The Emperor's New Palace. Thanks for playing along!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

House No. 48: Fairy Tale House

House No. 48: Fairy Tale House
ink on cardstock
3 in. x 5 in.
048/365; 02/17/11

An illustrated love letter to my husband, the literal happy homemaker in my life, who has been working very hard on our house.