Day twenty-four of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Gate by Randolph Caldecott from Old Christmas
Wanderer by Arthur Rackham from Siegfried and the twilight of the gods
public display of affection
Day twenty-three of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Bull and goat kissing by Wilhelm von Kaulbach from Reineke Fuchs
summer lovin'
Day twenty-two of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Lions kissing while a monkey entwines their tails by Wilhelm von Kaulbach from Reineke Fuchs
seeking refuge
Day twenty-one of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Garden gate by A. Chapon from Autour de la Méditerranée
Satan by Édouard de Beaumont from Le diable amoureux
Ad astra by an unknown artist from Once a week, volume 13 (June-December 1865)
Man riding a three-headed vulture by Gustave Doré from Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und Lande, feldzüge und lustige Abentheuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen wie er dieselben bey der Flasche im Zirkel seiner Freunde zu Erzählen pflegt. Aus dem Englischen nach der neuesten Ausgabe übersetzt, hier und da erweitert und mit noch mehr Küpfern gezieret
flowers in the attic
Day twenty of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
The attic by Aimé de Lemud from Œuvres complètes de Béranger, volume two
Camellia Grande Duchessa D’Estruria by an unknown artist from Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe, volume two
Cultivated tulip by Pierre-Joseph Redouté from Choix des plus belles fleurs et des plus beaux fruits
Countess of Orkney camellia by an unknown artist from Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe, volume four
Datura metel cornucopia by Pierre Joseph de Pannemaeker from L'Illustration horticole, volume 42
royal portrait
Day nineteen of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Caverswall Castle by Henry Lark Pratt from The baronial halls, and ancient picturesque edifices of England, volume one
Stolas and Abraxas by Louis Le Breton from Dictionnaire Infernal
bog plants
sick ada
Day seventeen of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Woman by W. St John Harper from The day dream
Tacua speciosa by Edward Donovan from An epitome of the natural history of the insects of India
flea course meal
Day sixteen of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Old man by John Dickson Batten from Celtic fairy tales
Chigoe fleas by an unknown artist from Nouveau dictionnaire encyclopédique universel illustré
i'll tumble 4 ya
Day fifteen of The 100 Day Project.
This guy caught my eye on the Old Book Illustrations website pretty early on in the project.
I wasn’t sure at that point what part he would play, but I knew he would appear in my 100 Day Project.
This morning I thought of a perfect setting for him (and his mates) and went about creating this image this afternoon.
It wasn’t until I’d finalised the image that I read the description of Buer:
‘Depiction of Buer, described as a second-class demon and president of hell. He teaches philosophy, logic and the properties of medicinal plants. He claims to provide good servants and cure the sick. He has fifty legions under his command.’
I LOL’ed at the description when I read it. Because yesterday I became caught up in trying to discourage friends on social media from sharing conspiracy theories and misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic, and to instead take a course in critical thinking.
I feel like Buer would have been a handy friend to have around yesterday.
He’s depicted in the Dictionaire Infernal, a wood engraving by Louis Le Breton.
The landscape I’ve set him against was taken by me in Oxford just over four years ago and now seems even more appropriate for such a learned fellow.
I’m kind of confused about why he was deemed a demon, but my atheist self has some ideas...
Illustrations:
Buer by Louis Le Breton from Dictionnaire Infernal
burst
I remember that day so vividly.
We'd been told time and time again not to play there. Not to go beyond the chain-link fence at the edge of the village. We had the run of the quiet dirt roads, the open gardens of our home and our neighbours' homes. But we weren't to venture beyond the fence at any time, for any reason. It wasn't safe.
Of course, that meant we had to. It was a challenge, not an order, wasn't it?
We imagined all sorts of horrible goings-on beyond the fence. Even though nothing was really hidden by it. We could see what was there. It wasn't really dangerous, was it?
Dangerous was something you couldn't see.
Dangerous was falling down the rainwater drain in the kerbside. Falling into the sewers below and being swept along in our neighbours' wastewater. The foul water filling our mouths, our noses, our eyes and our ears before anyone could hear us calling out.
Dangerous was strange men in strange cars offering us sweets. Men who shouldn't be approaching girls our age. We'd been told what dangers lay in accepting candy from strangers. Those men were old and odd, and we weren't interested in them. But we knew they were dangerous even then, so we never entertained the thought of breaking the rules for a few morsels of candy.
Dangerous was playing too near the nuclear power plant that overlooked our village. We'd heard the local butcher telling our parents stories of animals that had wandered too close to the plant that had developed strange defects and growths. He'd slaughtered them with his own hand but buried them rather than selling their flesh to the village, even as feed for other animals.
But beyond the fence, all we could see was the sea. The beautiful ocean shimmered in the sunlight. Blue as the blue sky above it. The waves generated a cacophony of sound that reached our bedrooms. That lulled us to sleep each night in summer when the salty air wafted in through open windows to cool us.
We watched the waves draw up over the shingle while the boys played football in the street. Our fingers curved around the metal diamonds in the fence. We pressed our foreheads against the intersections of metal and watched the foam as it inched its way up over the dry pebbles. Drawing away to reveal wet pebbles. We were mesmerised.
It was our birthday.
Maybe that's why we were such good friends and had been for so long. We were born on the same day, in the same hospital. Our mothers hadn't known each other. They met in the maternity ward and her family ended up moving to our village just after. We'd heard the story over and over. We didn't really care about the details, we just wanted to go out and play together, and rolled our eyes each time our mothers retold how they'd met.
We each had a balloon in the shape of a star. The star in each was transparent. We pulled faces at each other through them. We pushed our noses and mouths against the plastic to distort our features. We laughed until we thought we might burst.
We ran along the street to the fence with our balloons flying in the air behind us. The boys were playing football, as usual, but we were more intent on seeing, if we ran fast enough, would the balloons lift us off the road? Would the run-up we had and the lightness of the balloons allow us to take off and carry us up and over the fence?
It was worth a try.
But, of course, it was a fool's errand. It was fun, but not going to get us where we wanted.
Instead, we knew there was a section of the fence that had been cut away. Opened up by older kids to access the shingle beach so they could gather after dusk to drink and skim stones on the ocean and make out.
We checked the boys were still distracted by football. That no one was watching.
We shimmied through the fence. Protective of our summer dresses and balloons as we did so. Not wanting to tear one or burst the other.
We made our way down to the water, kicking our jelly shoes off as we got closer. We slowed, the shingle awkward and uncomfortable under our bare feet. Despite that, we continued forward. Intent on feeling the coolness of the water on our small toes. Knowing we were doing wrong but doing it anyway.
Because it was our birthday. We could do anything on our birthday.
She waded into the water ahead of me. The waves lapped at our hands, we giggled and laughed together, the ribbon of our balloons still clasped tightly in our fists.
Behind us, suddenly, we heard a collection of screams. The screeching of brakes. We turned back toward the fence and the road beyond. We instinctively reached out for each other's hand and held our breath.
She let go of her balloon. It wafted gently on the wind back toward the fence.
We watched in horror, everything feeling like it was in slow motion, as our parents and our friend's parents ran out into the street.
We watched as her father scooped up her brother's lifeless body from the road. We watched, horrified, and wondered if this was why our parents had warned us about going beyond the fence. If this was why it was dangerous.
Even now, we wonder if it was our fault.
butterfly clips
Day fourteen of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
T-shaped incision by Max Brödel from Diseases of the kidneys, ureters and bladder
Blue mountain swallowtails and ornithoptera priamus by Edward Donovan from An epitome of the natural history of the insects of India
insectation
the disciple and the intellectual
Day twelve of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
A good monk by Wilhelm von Kaulbach from Reineke Fuchs
Heron by J. J. Grandville from Fables de La Fontaine, volume one
those magnificent men on their flying machines
Day eleven of The 100 Day Project.
Here's one I created earlier :)
I made this one yesterday so I could have a lazy lie-in this morning and hopefully get out with my camera this afternoon to celebrate my birthday.
Hope you're having a lovely day wherever you are.
Stay safe! x
Illustrations:
Feathered steed by Carlo Chiostri from La avventure di Pinocchio
The chase by J. J. Grandville from Un autre monde
the courtship
Day ten of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Dodo by Peter Newell from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Flamingo by an unknown artist from Bilder-atlas zur Wissenschaftlich-populären Naturgeschichte der Vögel in ihren sämmtlichen Hauptformen
garden of unearthly delights
Day nine of The 100 Day Project.
Illustrations:
Casts of renal pelvis and calyces by Max Brödel from Diseases of the kidneys, ureters and bladder
Common octopus by an unknown artist from Nouveau dictionnaire encyclopédique universel illustré
class of 1811
Day eight of The 100 Day Project.
The illustrations that make up today's collage are all by Samuel Howitt from his compilation A New Work of Animals.
I've never seen the original book but all of the images were available on the Old Book Illustrations website. They caught my eye for the above concept while looking through illustrations for yesterday's collage.
Illustrations:
Horse, elephant, greyhound, hare, ram and cat by Samuel Howitt from A new work of animals
of frostbite and food bellies
Day seven of The 100 Day Project.
Did I mention I'm also a fan of the absurd?
I had big plans for a new instalment of my postcards from another's life series today.
But then I had a bit of a lie-in. I spent about two hours on Skype with my dad. I did some chores. I joined a Quaranteam session with Marianne Cantwell. And I had to work on 'this' despite not knowing what it was going to be when I started.
My big plans have been rescheduled to tomorrow. But I already have an idea of what tomorrow's collage and my next 'pfal' will be.
Illustrations:
Behemoth by Louis Le Breton from Dictionnaire Infernal
Frostbitten sun by Gustave Doré from Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und Lande, feldzüge und lustige Abentheuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen wie er dieselben bey der Flasche im Zirkel seiner Freunde zu Erzählen pflegt. Aus dem Englischen nach der neuesten Ausgabe übersetzt, hier und da erweitert und mit noch mehr Küpfern gezieret
from the moment you’re born you’re dying
Day six of The 100 Day Project.
This is what happens when an atheist searches for Easter symbols on the Old Book Illustrations website. Specifically, rabbits and eggs, to create a topical collage.
I had no idea what I might create today, but I guess my subconscious was driven by death, birth/rebirth, the perils of life, and the death toll from Covid-19 surpassing 10,000 in the UK overnight.
Listening to The Dirty Three all day may or may not have also contributed to the bleakness of today's collage. Though it doesn't really capture my mood today.
I've had a good day. I hope you have too x
Illustrations:
Four rabbits by Carlo Chiostri from La avventure di Pinocchio
A young one unfeathered by Gustave Doré from Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und Lande, feldzüge und lustige Abentheuer des Freyherrn von Münchhausen wie er dieselben bey der Flasche im Zirkel seiner Freunde zu Erzählen pflegt. Aus dem Englischen nach der neuesten Ausgabe übersetzt, hier und da erweitert und mit noch mehr Küpfern gezieret