Angels & Fairies

I've had this little book out of my school library for i while now. It's called 'Angels & Fairies' by Iain Zaczek. Infact i renewed it today as it was a month overdue (woops!). I conjured up an excuse as to why i still need it, other than it being just soo pretty haha...i've decided to change my extended project essay from being on the Medieval Crusades (which was just too damn time-consuming and difficult!) to Victorian art and the way it reflected the British society at the time/the situation...i don't know, i haven't decided on exactly how my question's going to be worded or what the focus is going to be on yet - maybe the degree of hypocrisy that existed? You know - covering up piano legs 'cos they're too sexy but then William Etty painting all his nude ladies..and aren't Victoria and Albert supposed to have been a bit raunchy behind closed doors? I don't know i'll have to look into that one. But i do know that it's got to be both started and finished by the end of this half term, as does my coursework in both English Lit and History. I've had god knows how long to do this project but i just never bothered getting round to it and now i'm paying for it - i really need to kick my butt into gear. 

Sorry for the 'look inside!' - I nabbed the image off Amazon

But anyway, this beautiful book (or rather the beautiful content of the book) is so lovely i may have to buy it off amazon or something. Flicking through it, it's hard not to love all the of the artists featured. I've extracted a few to give you an idea of the wonders that it holds. Alot of the pieces are from the Victorian era so it's actually rather relevant to my project.

Edward Robert Hughes - Midsummer Eve

My parents gave a card of this painting to me a few years ago for my birthday, and i've had it stuck it up on my wall every since (well the side of my bookshelf to be precise, so i see it's every time i walk in the room - wall space is a rarity in mine & my sister's bedroom, there's so much stuff everywhere). I also noticed a large print of it in the pub the other night, which was nice. I do love this painting though. The way the little lights of the fairies are painted is just so gorgeous and delicate, and the way the light from the creates this warm glow on the standing woman in the center of the painting is lovely. 

John Atkinson Grimshaw - Spirit of the Night

Yes, i'm aware that this is the on the cover of the book, however it didn't feel right not to mention Grimshaw. As with Lowry and Valette, he is most well known for his city scapes, though his were of Leeds as opposed to Manchester. This subject matter, therefore, is not coherent with most of his work. He did however paint several versions of the painting with varying names. I'm pretty sure this is the most famous, and i just love the body of the fairy (not in a lesbian way - not that that's wrong or anything i just don't get turned on by fairies (or females in general - just to clarify)...ok i'm gonna shut up) here and the way it is bent (i can't think of a more poetic way of describing it :S). His paintings, this including, have a very peaceful and relaxing air to them. His paintings of Leeds often depicted the city at sunset and they're just so calming to look at. I can imagine being there - when it's been raining - the orange glow of the sun is being blurrily reflected in the roads and pavements. The air has this soft freshness to it and the streets are all but deserted when all the families are inside having tea. Niiice...

Isobel Lilian Gloag - Four Corners to my Bed

 I thought this was such a sweet little painting. It's a 'wonderfully literal' depiction of an old nursery rhyme or prayer:

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Bless the bed that i lie on!

Four corners to my bed, 

Four angels round my head: 

One to watch, one to pray, 

And two to bear my soul away!

It apparently dates back as far as the mid-seventeenth century, and concerns infant mortality which was unsuprisingly alot more of an issue in this country at that time than it is nowadays. Reading this rhyme brought to mind a little rhyme thing that my Grandma used to say to us when were were little and stayed at our Grandparents' house from time to time when our parents were out etc. We've mentioned it to our mum but she has no idea what we're on about, and my Grandma passed away a few years ago (well a bit longer than that now - it doesn't seem like long ago at all). Up until now i could only remember one line of it, but have just done a bit of searching on t'internet and think i may have found it. I think i can remember her saying all of it, i just thought i'd share it:

Good night, God bless you, Go to bed and undress you.
Good night, sweet repose, Half the bed and all the clothes.

 It makes me smile but feel a bit sad at the same time...

Still, it's best to smile :)

Hans Zatzka - A Water Idyll

I don't think this particular painting of his is in the book, but i couldn't find a decent image of the one that is so chose this one instead. Only just discovered Zatzka today but his gleeful paintings are a bit of a breath of fresh air. They're full of pretty, smiling women with animated cherubs and fairies, and bright colours....something to inject a bit of fun into the world of fine art.

I'm sorry this post has turned into such a rant - I haven't done one in a while so i suppose it was due. I'm off to bed now - i need to make sure i'm not sleepy for the RAY LAMONTAGNE CONCERT TOMORROW!!!!!!!! Haha sorry about that little outburst, but i'm so thrilled to be seeing him live! Sooo much more excited than i was with Kings of Leon last December. Don't want to be cheesy but his i feel alot more of a personal attachment to his songs. I am in no way the sort of person that cries at films and songs but his music can actually move me to tears (in private witht he doors locked under the cover of darkness, of course. crying in public? how embarassing haha) Plus i've decided i'm going to buy a camera. Finally. I never bought the ipod touch with my birthday money in the end, i just can't bear to part with that much money unless it's really unavoidable! But i keep being in places and thinking 'ooh i'd love to take a picture of that', and i can't because i don't have a camera. So hopefully in the near future i will be able to, and this blog might get a bit more interesting with photos that i've taken myself. Yaaay!

Lots of love

Lucy

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