Jacklyn and the Beanstalk

Okay, fine, so I wanted to share another image. This photo is from Kolby Schnelli's Flickr album, part of the Fairy Tales Project on Flickr. I plan to write about the project more in the future, but this one just shouldn't be missed.

Overall, a lovely image from the subgenre of heroines and beanstalks, such as Jack of Kinrowan by Charles de Lint and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne. I really love the beanstalk image even if the model is a little overposed. :) Not a criticism because it works anyway.

Jack and the Beanstalk at the Beach

Today's the final day of Jack and the Beanstalk week. I have more to share in the future, but this week has been full of editing and writing so I will save my list for later.

The above image was found on the Flickr page of Daryl Sims. I saved it for Saturday. I know beach season is mostly over, but I always enjoy October weekends, this one is sunny and being outside is wonderful.

I'm always fascinated by artists who work in temporary mediums, especially sand and cake, since neither will last very long in the relative scheme of things. A friend who loves making cakes once explained to me that she finds the medium liberating since perfection is not necessary, she's knows its only temporary and thus she creates for the joy of creating instead of impressing or being burdened with another object to store.

But I still think: "All of that work! Gone!" Well, not so much when we have photos like this one.

And here's another bonus from the same album, featuring a fable this time:

Fairy Tale Ornament Giveaway

Did you realize that Christmas is twelve weeks from today?

Does anyone out there have a fairy tale themed Christmas tree? In recent years, I have. I don't have much fairy tale decor in my home--beyond my bookshelves and desk, my passion isn't very obvious--but a few years ago I decided to have my favorite illustrations made into ornaments on CafePress to add to my tree. So for about six weeks of the year, I see several of my favorite illustrations displayed in my house.



I've been pondering the next SurLaLune Giveaway and decided to have a twelve week giveaway up until the Christmas holiday. I will give away a different fairy tale ornament each week on Fridays for the next eleven weeks starting on October 9th. On the eleventh week, December 18th, I will give away two ornaments in hopes of them arriving in time for Christmas day (no guarantees, just the hope).



Now I know not everyone celebrates Christmas. I debated tiles instead of ornaments but I have a few of the ornaments hanging in my workspace. They are prettier than the magnets and in no way say "Christmas" unless they are actually hanging on a tree.

This time I've also included the question "What is your favorite fairy tale?" for the entry submission. All readers can see the responses--no emails though so privacy is protected--and hopefully I will have most of the fairy tales represented in the ornament giveaway.



Additional Giveaway Rules:

You may only enter once and your name will stay in the giveaway for the length of the giveaway unless you win. Winners are limited to winning one ornament.

If you win, I will contact you by email and ask for your mailing address. If I do not receive your mailing address within three days, I will pick another winner.

This SurLaLune giveaway is open to all readers, inside the United States and out. We will all cross our fingers that the ceramic will survive international mailing!

Beanstalk Sculpture

I have several things I hope to post here in the next few days--I'm always behind!--but I had to share this image for Jack and the Beanstalk week first. This one was gracefully shared by Gypsy at Once Upon a Blog. I had never seen it before and wish I could have seen it in person. The artist's website and information is in Spanish, a language I'm not adept with so I have nothing but the following description and a wonderful image to share. (Or is it Portuguese? See, really not adept.)

João Pedro Vale

"Beanstalk"

"Beanstalk", Sculpture made with nylon legs stockings, iron and wire scaffoldings, Variable dimensions
2004

Really quite magical, isn't it?

The Jack Tales Wall by Charles Vess

Continuing Jack and the Beanstalk week, I offer a link to an article and images of The Jack Tales Wall by Charles Vess. The 30'x50' brick wall sculpture is part of a campus building at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands, Virginia. Many of you know Charles Vess as the illustrator of some of Neil Gaiman's work, such as Stardust, but his body of work is large and shouldn't be missed. Visit his website here. Or simply look at some of his other work such as Medicine Road by Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess, and, coming soon, Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess.


From his explanation of the work:

Who better to represent the people of these four counties than young Jack, the hero of hundreds of lively tales, indigenous to the Appalachian mountains? These very tales that were brought by the Scots-Irish and German immigrants from Europe into the southwestern Virginia region during the mid 1700's. Much as the early pioneers adapted themselves to this mountain environment, so did their stories adapt along with them. Thus, tales that were first transmitted orally throughout the British Isles and written down by the Brothers Grimm in Germany, mutated here into stories with an intrinsically 'American' hero. A hero who possessed limitless optimism and a trust in his absolute ability to control his own destiny.

Be sure to click through to the full page to see several more images. I only used four of them here, but there are several more to demonstrate the scale of the project.

Halloween Costuming

October is here and will end with Halloween here in the states. Thus inspired, I did a search for fairy tale inspired costumes over the last few days in case you are needing your own inspiration for this month's festivities. I stuck with cute or fun and avoided naughty, so you're on your own for those. I also avoided the obvious Disney choices, especially the princess line. I don't think anyone will have a problem learning about those.

The first one pictured above is the Rubies Lil Frog Prince Costume w/ Sound Chip and one of my favorites, but there are plenty more.

Little Red Riding Hood Elite Collection Child Costume


Big Bad Wolf Costume

Little Pig Costume


And in keeping with Jack and the Beanstalk Week, wouldn't it be fun to wear a plaid shirt and jeans or a peasant style costume then add lots of vines for the beanstalk? Homemade is always fun for those who aren't time challenged. And greenery can often be found at the dollar store.

If anyone has any fun costume pictures to share, post below or send me an email. I hope to have a Halloween post of "real world" costumes to share at the end of the month.

I have to admit I've cheated over the years since I'm not much of a dress-up person. I usually stick with my Fairy Godmother t-shirt and blue jeans or something similar. I do have a pair of fairy wings, but they are very much a nuisance at a gathering, either getting damaged or damaging others. I should have chosen smaller ones, subtle ones, but no, I chose big, pretty blue ones instead. There had been plans for a traditional fairy godmother costume when the purchase was made, but that never happened.

Wonderland Exhibit

Found at Fairy stories come to life at Museum of Childhood:

KIDS saw their favourite stories come to life as an exhibition of contemporary artwork showing fairytales, myths and legends from around the world opened at the Museum of Childhood.

The exhibition includes work by East End-based printmakers inspired by well-known European tales, including much-loved favourites like Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, and the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen.

Around 50 artists from Hackney-based East London Printmakers are exhibiting their work at the museum in Cambridge Heath Road and visitors are able to create their own interpretations of fairytales to add to a mural.

You can read more about the exhibit and related activities at the Museum of Childhood website. There are workshops and activities planned for children, adults, and pairings of both.


According to the East London Printmakers website:

Our touring exhibition about fairytales, myths and legends from around the world has returned from the German Fairytale Museum in Bad Oeynhausen and the Brothers Grimm [Brueder Grimm] Museum in Kassel and will include work by 10 new artists.

The Printmakers site had a link for a catalogue but the PDF file was corrupted. I'm trying to learn more--perhaps get some imagery to share--and will post more if and when I learn more.

And this is yet another reason why I wish I was traveling to England this year.

Jack and the Beanstalk Jewelry

Today I am sharing surprising finds, Jack and the Beanstalk related jewelry, either direct or indirect through design or marketing. I say surprising because this tale tends to be considered more of a "boy" story and thus isn't often interpreted for jewelry. (No arguments about stereotypes, just stating the facts!) I provide links to sources but by no means do I endorse any of these sellers having no experience with them. I'm simply sharing the images and links for the curious. And because with some, such as the Etsy designers, I'm inspired by their work.


These make me wish allergies didn't prevent me from having pierced ears. Sigh.... These were also available several places online, but I liked the description at this site best.

Jack and the Beanstalk vine accent earring: Relive your childhood when you wear this whimsical ear Jack and the Beanstalk ear cuff and it's vine accent earring. The designer suggests that you wear the vine accent earring on the right ear to compliment the Jack and the Beanstalk ear cuff or consider ordering a pair of the vine earrings for a more elaborate statement. This does not include the ear cuff pictured.

These Jack and the Beanstalk earrings --handmade and offered on Etsy by amoronia--feature illustrations by Walter Crane. (She has some other surprises like Cinderella, Frog Prince, and Little Red Riding Hood, too. Love!)


3D JACK & THE BEANSTALK Charm: Currently available on Ebay in silver or gold. Once again, available a few places on the internet, but this time I prefer Ebay as a more reputable resource.


Another Etsy find, a beanstalk pendant, this time from juliespace.

Jack and the Beanstalk Illustrations

One of my sorrows with SurLaLune is that I can only showcase older illustrations of fairy tales, not the more recent ones due to copyright restrictions. However, the wonder of the internet means that several of the artists post samples of their work for portfolio work.

Today, I offer a collection of some well-known and lesser knowns from their online portfolios. Click on their names to go to portfolio sites or on the images to see the pictures full size (Blogspot crops and crops again).

This collection is by no means comprehensive or necessarily of my absolute favorites. They just happened to catch my eye as I was preparing for Jack and the Beanstalk Week.

I am always fascinated by the age choices for portraying Jack.


by Elizabeth O Dulemba from Paco and the Giant Chile Plant/Paco y la planta de chile gigante (Bilingual English/Spanish) by Keith Polette


by Wendy Berry


by Scott Gustafson from his Classic Fairy Tales


by Fiona Sansom


by Carol Newsom


by Lindy Burnett


by Patricia Cantor Okay, this one captures the terror of the chase without being graphic better than almost any illustration of this moment I've seen. Brava!

Fairy Tale Economies Conference: Oct. 1 & 2, 2009

This is very late notice--I only learned about it a few days ago and Once Upon a Blog beat me to posting it first (Hi Gypsy!). However, I want this blog to be a place to learn about these events and since it's only a few months old, three actually, I don't feel too badly. Still, if I had known earlier, I probably would have made a trip down to Mississippi since I am in Tennessee and such a trip would be driveable for me.

And I've always wanted to visit the de Grummond Children’s Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. Really. It's been on my list for almost two decades now since I first learned about it as a precocious undergraduate student who studied Children's Lit at much as possible. I'd go crazy in there. My hubby would go along just to watch me be excited like I was in the Reading Room of the British Museum several years ago. I think he took more pictures of me wandering around, reading names and looking at first editions (behind glass) than of the actual place. But I have really digressed...

Anyway, USM is hosting the Fairy Tales Economies Conference this Thursday and Friday. Here's an article. Here's a press release. Here's an official site. Here's a schedule.

The list of papers to be presented is not on the schedule. I'll print one here if anyone has a list to share. I wish there was an online repository for fairy tale related conference papers that are never formally published. I'd host those on SurLaLune if I saw a true interest. (I have an old moldering one about Nancy Drew I presented years ago at a conference so I know they disappear just as often as not. More often actually.)

Keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Schacker, author of National Dreams: The Remaking of Fairy Tales in Nineteenth Century England, will deliver a highly visual presentation about Victorian fairy tale pantomime theatre. Schacker is an associate professor and director of undergraduate studies at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

And the exhibit of tale artwork, titled "The Alphabet of Fairy Tales," developed by Ellen Ruffin, curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at Southern Miss, will be available for viewing during the reception. Another treat.

Attendance is free, a boon to those who are in the area and can attend.

Jack and the Beanstalk Mural

The Main Library of the Pine Bluff / Jefferson County Library System in Pine Bluff, Arkansas has a wonderful Jack and the Beanstalk Mural near one of its elevators that I wanted to share. The mural was painted by Dr. Henri Linton, Chair, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Art Department and student Ariston Jacks in August 1998 when the library was remodeled.


Since most of us will never visit the library itself (myself included), I'm thrilled that the library has included great pictures of the mural on the website to share with the rest of the world. You can read the story illustrated with studies from the mural at: Jack and the Beanstalk Mural with Story.


There is also a page with more pictures that provide a better perspective on the entire project at Jack and the Beanstalk Panoramic View.


And speaking of wonderful library murals, one of the top ranked libraries in the country, Richland County Public Library in Columbia, SC, has The Wild Place at their main library, a children's room decorated with wall murals from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. (With the Spike Jonze movie out soon, I thought this was a nice crossover.) I have visited there--I lived in Columbia for one year long ago--and it's wonderful to see the Wild Things in big-as-life size.


There aren't many images on the web but I found these on Lee County Public Library - SC's Flickr page. Sendak gave special permission to RCPL to use the images which are also included in some of their marketing materials. Makes me want my own Wild Thing for my desk. But I'm refraining. For now.

Faerie Magazine: Summer 2009 Issue

The Summer 2009 issue of Faerie Magazine should start appearing on newstands today and in the coming weeks. (Yes, it has been delayed due to multiple reasons, but it is coming slowly but surely.)

My contribution to this issue is an article about Jack and the Beanstalk, a rather summery tale to me but still quite lovely for autumn harvest time, too. As always, I discuss the history of the tale and modern versions.

The issue also includes a feature on Paul Kidby, the illustrator to Terry Prachett; the unique vision and fantasy art of Jasmine Becket-Griffith; an article on Glastonbury Abbey: King Arthur's last resting place and Charles Vess' Midsummer's Play.

And since I wrote about Jack and the Beanstalk, I will be offering extra Jack and the Beanstalk posts this week. Let's call it Jack and the Beanstalk week. I'll continue the newsy and current events posts, too, but add some extra posts of my favorite Jack and the Beanstalk related work.