Tasha Tudor

Tonight, there is a full moon and our yard looks something like this... minus the rustic, log fence!

This is by no means a culmination of Tasha Tudor's work. However, for now I'd like to bring you a few winter-y scenes from one of her many books.* A favorite theme of mine is the way she captures the dogs and cats in her illustrations. She had several Welsh Corgis and cats - many are found in most of her books. I find her life and way of living so interesting and inspiring. She died just last year. Learn more about her life and art here.

*From The Night Before Christmas by C.C. Moore and Tasha Tudor - Little, Brown.

Kaye Synoground - A Closer Look

(title unknown)

Astoria Houses

Kitchen Cupboard

Morning Coffee Break

Here is an artist I met when I lived in Portland. Kaye Synoground is a wonderful illustrator and watercolor artist. She has a little gallery in Multnomah Village, SW Portland. Upon my first visit to her studio/gallery, I climbed a long staircase. She had an old fashioned stove with all the cute curves, etc. - probably a Merritt-O'Keeffe. Anyway, she was just taking oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven & offered me some. The place smelled lovely and the artwork so fun and beautiful - I was hooked! I enjoy her subject matter... little vignettes around the house, village scenes and hip ladies in vintage dresses. Her winter snow scenes of the village are so nice.

Kaye ended up closing her shop just as I was moving to Spokane. She wanted more time in her home studio to produce work. About 3-4 years later we were visiting Portland and discovered she had opened up a new gallery down one block where an antiques store once resided. Now, if only I could get to Portland more often. She teaches watercolor classes at Multnomah Art Center and did illustrations for a book called Married to My Garden. Kaye and her husband have a beach house not too far from Portland and I think she likes to paint out there. Wish I knew more about her to tell you all ... enjoy her paintings.

Trina Schart Hyman

Trina Schart Hyman in 1972

From Snow White, Translated from the Brothers Grimm by Paul Heins

The Studio, 1970 from Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman

From Celebrate Cricket, 30 years of Stories and Art

Another Image from Snow White

From Tight Times, 1979. By Barbara Shook Hazen. (dig her dress and purse - vivid childhood memories!!)

From A Child's Calendar by John Updike, 1965, 1999


If there was a visual page from my childhood it would look something like this post. Trina Schart Hyman is one of my all time favorite illustrators and made me want to be an artist from a very early age. Her work is very recognizable, I'm sure If you grew up in the 1970's - 1980's it's familiar.

"She was born in 1939 in Philadelphia, PA and attended the Philadelphia College of Art, the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, and the School for Applied Art in Stockholm, Sweden. She has illustrated more than one hundred books for children. Her work has received the Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Honor awards, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award." (Taken from book flap in A Child's Calendar) She resided in Lyme, New Hampshire for many years in a wonderful, old farm house but sadly, died of Breast Cancer in November of 2004 at the age of 65.

Go to www.ortakales.com/illustrators/Hyman.html to read more about Mrs. Hyman - there's also a wonderful interview there.

Ephraim Mose Lilien

Illustration to Gensis 1:1-6 in Die Bucher der Bibel, Berlin and Vienna 1908.

I was facinated by this book page and had to post it. Love the layout and swirling stars and night sky in this illustration. Lilien was much inspired by English book illustrations.

"Lilien was a Polish painter, graphic artist, and illustrator. After an apprenticeship as a signpainter, he studied under the history painter Jan Matejko (1838-93) at the Krakow School of Art. In 1894 he won an honorary diploma in a competition in his hometown. He founded the Jewish Press in Berlin and was also the editor, publisher and illustrator. He followed in the footsteps of English Art Nouveau, but his work was a bit "tighter". He was one of the great Jewish artists." (Gabriele Fahr-Becker)

Mary Azarian

Here are a few examples of Mary Azarian's woodblock prints. She is a wonderful and very talented (as well as successful) print maker and I really admire her! Her work has appeared mostly in children's books. She won the Caldecott Medal for her book, Snowflake Bently, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. The back flap of this book, which I love, reads: "Mary Azarian is a consummate gardener, an avid reader, and a champion bridge player - and, of course, a skilled and original woodblock artist. She has lived in Vermont for more than 35 years."

She prints her woodblocks on an old Vandercook Press and has devised her own (and as far as I know, secret) way of hand coloring her prints. I believe she uses acrylic paints and watercolors. Mary has a nice website at www.maryazarian.com.

Lisbeth Zwerger

From the Little Mermaid by Lisbeth Zwerger
A Crowd of People


Artist profile:

Lisbeth Zwerger is a very accomplished illustrator of children's books. She was born in Vienna, Austria in 1954 and has illustrated hundreds of books. In 1990, she won the prestigious award, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, celebrating her lifetime achievements in children's literature.

Working mostly in watercolor, Ms. Zwerger has a very magical, dreamlike quality to her work. She has illustrated many fairy tales and classic stories. Her style is much like 19th century children's illustrator, Jessie Wilcox who did Mother Goose, among others.

My favorites books by this artist include Alice in Wonderland, Swan lake and Gift of the Magi. Here are a few photos from the books I have, enjoy!