Inspiration #16 - Helen Beatrix Potter

posted by julie on Saturday, March 10, 2007

Just moving away from 'Vitamin D' for one inspiration post..this is for Gracia as i promised her a while ago to dig out 2 postcards of Beatrix Potter illustrations from an exhibition i visited at the Tate in the 80's...and today i happened to fall upon them...
illustration for 'The Tailor of Gloucester'

So i started looking for more info on dear mrs potter and i found this site and was looking through her delicate illustrations and i found these...

fly agaric (amanita muscaria)

yellow grisette (amanita crocea) and fly agaric (amanita muscaria)

the very same mushrooms i painted ...(these blog connections and coincidences are appearing all the time) well, it seems that mrs potter also had a thing for fungi! "Her interests in entomology, geology and paleontology were only surpassed by her interest in mycology, the study of fungi. For years she collected specimens, identified and dissected them, painted them in minute detail .." As well as her acurate drawings of them, she also included them in her illustrations...


The Toad's Tea Party, painted for the unpublished 1905 Book of Rhymes

From 'The Tale of Benjamin Bunny', 1904

She was raised and educated by nurses and governesses and led a lonely life. She would spend most of her time drawing and painting on her own. Looking at her illustrations it is like entering into another world which i guess helped her with the solitude. During the summer, the family would holiday in the Scottish highlands or the Lake District of northern England and this is where her love for nature grew even stronger..

I love her delicate and sensitive studies of the animals in her stories "Although many of mice, rabbits, kittens and hedgehogs wore clothing, they still exhibited their specific animal traits while still reflecting on the life of children."

 

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10 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...
    9:20 pm  
    when i was little i would sign her little books at of the library and spend hours and hours reading them over and over.
    lisa solomon said...
    4:12 am  
    ah yes... gotta love b. potter. just got to!
    Anonymous said...
    9:57 am  
    I'm a bit of a fan too, though not nearly as much as Gracia. She is slaving away on some work right now, making a rush for a self imposed deadline. I'm sure she will be thrilled to check out your posting when she finally gets to have a look around the blogging world.
    Anonymous said...
    12:11 pm  
    This is a wonderful post Julie, thank you for the history of Beatrix Potter. Love her illustrations and fungi paintings, I'll be looking out for her biography. Do you remember the fly agaric Maditi found in the forest? http://www.flickr.com/photos/smorgasbord/275148497/in/set-72057594125988277/
    I would love to see them in real life.
    Anonymous said...
    4:57 pm  
    would love to join the toad´s tea party - thank´s for the charming post :)
    Anastasia said...
    5:55 am  
    im a huge fan too...she had such detailed illustrations of flora and fauna...and how cute are her story characters...I could never tire of them!
    Anonymous said...
    8:59 am  
    Finally I have dug a small hole to freedom, I have managed to carve out a little fun blog time... and, wow, when I do, I am rewarded with a little Beatrix Potter postcard love. Thanks, Julie!
    take care, g xo
    shari said...
    2:47 pm  
    love beatrix potter. have you seen the new movie? i am thinking of going. i have a little box that fastens that holds a collection of her books. i treasure them! xox s
    amisha said...
    5:00 pm  
    i love the quiet detailed beauty of the world that she creates... the intimate warmth and humor and love in it. thank you for sharing these illustrations!
    Marieke said...
    11:40 pm  
    So great! Will check those links out now. Have you seen the film? x

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