I have been a big lover of fairy art since I don't know when, but it's mostly the old stuff, late Victorian and early 20th century artworks. A hallmark of the era when romanticism was popular. I have numerous picture frames dotted around the house with beautiful images of classical fairies, like the lily fairy adding to the romantic tone of the rooms. To me it harmonises with house plants and bringing the outdoors, indoors.
It adds a gentle atmosphere to a bedroom, study or your favourite place to sit in the living room. Placed by a soft lamp light or hung on a wall. Just a little statement to add to the mood of the room where your favourite things are on display. Classic pictures or prints, not garish like pop art, but beauty and grace mixed with elegance that makes the room pleasant and speaks to the heart.
Spirit of the night fairy by John Atkinson Grimshaw
This is one of my absolute favourites , The Lily Fairy by Luis Ricardo Falero
The flower series by Cicely Mary Barker
May Gibbs series of the Gum Nut Babies
Artist, Cicely Mary Barker, of the Flower Fairies fame, Beatrix Potter, and the Australian artist May Gibbs, famous for her Gum Nut Babies are absolute favourites of mine for whimsical illustrations of bygone times and still very much loved for their beautiful work. Nothing in modern times can capture the essence of these beautiful artworks for me. There is an incredible energy of the times about these beautiful creations, gentleness and beauty, yet something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.
It’s something alluring, beautiful and mystical that I feel. An aspect of nature which is hard to define if you know what I mean. People find strong nostalgic memories that evoke childhood memories and innocence in these illustrations and artworks. Like as a small child sleeping over at their grandparents house and feeling safe and warm, tucked up in bed dreamy and happy knowing they are loved.
The excitement of waking up early on a summer morning and playing in the garden imagining fairies among the flowers as you catch bees with a jar. Butterflies hovering over your head and the sweet smell of the grass as the sun dries the early morning dew. The stillness of the morning air as you play in the sunshine, these are the simple things that these artists evoke
Childlike innocence and joy of each season, a never ending childhood that we never want to lose. Perhaps it’s all just a fantasy or a much hoped for dream that we want to be a reality which we never let go of. What is it, in humans that we crave for? This world of fairies and wonder that we never find in our lives. Where does it come from and why?
Collectively we must be missing something so special yet we can’t seem to remember and keep trying hard to recreate. It could be a single moment, a snapshot in time of a moment that we never wanted to end. And somehow we manifest a fantasy unobtainable, in our imagination, yet somehow artists create something that gently reminds us of a memory so precious that we can’t maintain. These artworks give us simple pleasures and appreciation but we still struggle to recall what the distant memories are. Live in the moment and enjoy the experience you are the creator of the magic that you created inside you.
The artist’s job has been done, to facilitate your creativity and to live in its essence or energy which sustains and supports you to live in the moment and express your own love, that’s my take on it and I think it will suffice until I have an epiphany that transcends this belief.
