Little women grow up

This large format illustrated version of Andersen's Thumbelina was published in 1978.

It was created by Nicole Claveloux, a French artist that I am planning to feature again soon

on Animalarium. I love this book for its unusual structure, which alternates pages of text

with spreads packed with sequences of small illustrations that can be visually read in  

a variety of ways.

The illustrations are beautiful and funny, and the abundance of details on each spread

is very appealing to children and visually oriented adults like me.

But I love this version also for its feminist ending, in which Thumbelina refuses to marry the King of Flowers

choosing instead a life of freedom and travels in the company of her swallow friend.

Click on the photos to view them at full size!

Monday Matticchio

Sunday Safari - Arachnophobia

 M. Dobuzinskij, D'javol from Zolotoe runo, 1907


Halloween is drawing near
time to face our wildest fear 

Odilon Redon, Smiling Spider, thanks to Japonisme

Bruno Paul, Plague in South Africa, illustration from Simplicissimus, 1901.

Many thanks to ihatemusic1943 for the info! 

 A. H. Watson, illustration from The Enchanted Blanket, 1936, thanks to ElfGoblin

 Aleksandra Waliszewska, Dom Babci

Film poster by Wojciech Fangor for Les Compagnes de la Nuit, 1956

Book cover by Rein van Looij, 1940s, thanks to 50 Watts

 Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz, Traveler at Night

Michael Sowa, Spider on the wall

Book cover by Emanuel Schongut, 1960s

Film poster by Wiktor Gorka, 1964

Film poster by Werner Klemke for The Golden Spider 

from Graphis 1959-60, thanks to Sandi Vincent

Lorenzo Mattotti, illustration from The Raven

Ant Adventures

This sweet and funny short about the travels and encounters of a little lost ant 

was created by the master of Russian animation Eduard Nazarov in 1983.

From the Field

Yellow Warblers

Holly Ward Bimba, the artist behind Golly Bard, paints lovely watercolors inspired

by the nature surrounding her cottage in the rural village of Upperville, VIrginia.

After learning how to work with watercolor from her high school art teacher, 

she studied printmaking, papermaking, and book arts at Syracuse University. 

Watercolor still remains her favorite medium, and she uses it to create 

delicate portraits of wild animals, plants, and other tiny wonders.

Wild Hare and Honey Bees

Web Weaver no. 5

Ant Hill

I love the way she combines her methodic, science–oriented approach to observing and recording

details and patterns, with a spontaneous, whimsical style and wonderful feeling for color. 

Frolic in the Fernwood

Wild Hare and Honey Bees

Black Swan and Water Lily Bog

RIng Necked Pheasant no. 2

Bard is fascinated by natural history, repetition, and cataloguing. She often creates

artworks featuring series of animals, or series of artworks with the same subject. 

Swarm of Empresses

Migration

Fanciful Feather Collection no. 1

Beetles, Weevils and Flies no. 8

You can view the rest of the series on Bard's Flickr gallery. 

Bard has recently designed the Woodland Collection of fabrics. These charming works can be bought 

from Spoonflower, a company that allows artists to print their own designs using digital textile printers 

and eco-friendly inks on natural fiber fabrics.

Distracted by Porno

It's a crazy, scary, surreal time for Italian politics, and like many I am torn between

anger and frustration at the sad state of our democracy and hopes for a real change. 

Outraged by the shameless, vulgar, arrogant machismo of our political rulers, 

last night I consoled myself rewatching one of my favorite icons of Italian style, 

 the always lovely, classy, smart and free spirited Isabella Rossellini 

narrating and playacting the bizarre sex lives of animals.

A few years ago Isabella was encouraged by Robert Redford to create a series 

of very short films intended for the new audience of mobile Internet and You Tube. 

Being a serious animal lover, she came out with the concept for a low tech, 

irreverent, funny and sexy take on educational nature documentaries.

Rossellini then wrote, produced, directed and starred in some very unusual 

but scientifically sound videos about the mating habits of insects.

The highly successful Green Porno project won two Webby awards in 2009, 

and was followed by two more series about sea animals and a book.

Green Porno's offspring Seduce me focuses on the often bizarre rituals 

that precede mating, and features creatures ranging from salmons to snakes 

to cuttlefish. Two series have been produced, for a total of ten videos.

You can watch all of Isabella's animal shorts on Sundance Channel.

The recent Sundance festival also premiered Animals Distract Me, the new 

Rossellini film following her concern for wildlife "as she visits with Mario Batali, 

Andre Leon Talley, Charles Darwin, and a host of urban creatures in New York City". 

The feature will debut on Earth Day (April 22nd) on Discovery Channel's Planet Green.

Monday Matticchio - Strange Bathroom

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Photo from a Turkish stockings ad campaign

thanks to This isn't Happiness and Ads of the world

Strong and delicate, dangerous and alluring,

let the spider woman pull you into her web

Two Spider Woman circus posters

thanks to DoubleM2's remarkable Circus Circus flickr collection

Walter Schnackenberg, Die Rauschtranke, 1949

thanks to A Journey Round My Skull

John Brophy, Princess Minky Momo

Nicoletta Ceccoli, Spidergirl

Jennifer Conway, act spider artdoll

Jane Dyer, cover of Sophie's Masterpiece

Poster by Elzbieta Chojna

Ray Caesar, Madre

Carroll Borland in Mark of the Vampire, 1935

thanks to Monstercrazy