Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Cranbrook and Beatrix Potter



Yesterday I road my bike over 5 miles (round trip), and ended up at the art school library at Cranbrook. Where, after spending an hour looking at two books on Swedish decorative arts, I found a book on the illustrations of Beatrix Potter.

As a child I loved her books about the adventures of animals and their deeds and misdeeds, but it was not until yesterday that I experienced the beauty of her artwork that she did for the books themselves and how as the author of the stories she was able to bring to life moments in her book so much clearer than by asking another person to paint parts of the books for her. 

I was also struck by a similarity between the joy in her work and Carl Larsson's. Perhaps its just a shared sheerness in their work or perhaps because I can picture the adventures of Beatrix Potter's animals taking place in the backyard and house of Larsson's family? I'm not quite sure, but I'll share some pictures with you anyways.



Beatrix Potter:


The Author and Artist





so sweet

Carl Larsson:




Photos of her cottage and studio just make me want to cuddle up by the fire with a sketchbook and this:

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