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Houses In The Snow
A collection of hygge houses surrounded by snow.
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Fairies in Art and Illustration
Much can be said about fairies but a few nuggets of info have stuck with me as I read about them. Also: Some of my favourite fairy art.
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Snowy Landscapes In Art And Illustration
Like the various underwater scenes, snow can be many colours other than white. The colour of snow depends on the colour of the sky, the ambient light. As you’ll see below, snow can also be quite brightly coloured.
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Stories Which Appeal To The Desire For Self-Sufficiency
World events have an effect on the stories which follow. Take the 9/11 terrorist attack for instance. Commentators have drawn a direct line between that and Mad Men, or rather, the desire for Americans to retreat to a safe 1950s version of America which exists only in modern imaginations. The wish to return to an earlier era even influenced fashion.
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Post Christmas Moods In Art and Illustration
The period between Christmas and New Year is a classic example of a liminal space in which we feel this sense of unease, captured best through art, perhaps.
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Krampus, Saint Nicholas and Santa
A collection of facts about Santa traditions around the world
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Warm Yellow Windows Which Look Cosy From a Distance
It’s that time of year again in Australia, where the land becomes brown and dusty, I’m stuck inside to avoid the heat, prepping for Christmas, looking at artwork from the Northern Hemisphere, where 90% of humankind live.
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Snowmen In Art and Storytelling
It’s that time of year in Australia, when it starts to get uncomfortably hot and I start looking at pictures of snow.
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That Pre-Christmas Spirit In Art And Illustration
Snow, warm yellow light coming out of cosy buildings, villages coming together, decorated trees, love, bell towers, churches, white people… The illustrations below are largely from 20th century illustration and convey the Christian American hygge of December.
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A Victorian Creepy Christmas
I’m not sure if Victorian sends of Christmas cards were having a laugh or if they enjoyed a genuinely creepy aesthetic. Probably a bit of both.
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Chickens and Roosters in Art and Illustration
Chickens have been (and still are) immensely important to human evolution. No surprise they feature large in art and illustration.
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Domed And Bubble Worlds In Storytelling
What better way to seal off the outside world than by plonking a dome over it? If an island doesn’t work for your story, maybe a literal or figurative dome will?
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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Novel Study
Various notes collected about Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
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City Streets In Art And Illustration
A collection by various artists
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Dog, Cat and Baby by Joe R. Lansdale
“Dog, Cat and Baby” is a very short story by Joe R. Lansdale, an American writer born 1951. This story is an excellent example of a double twist ending.