August 12, 2009

"The Pool of Tears"




"The Pool of Tears"

While painting I started thinking back to my first exposure to Alice, and it was this book. Beautifully Illustrated by Marjorie Torrey and published by Dandelion Press it was a "flip" book with "Peter Pan" on the other side. Peter Pan was one of my favorite stories while Alice on the other side was someone I wasn't quite comfortable with.
I admired Alice but her adventures made me nervous, as I grew older I started to realize that being an only child had some influence on my feelings about Wonderland. Alice stands alone, no prince or brothers to rescue her.
I actually felt daring when I flipped that book over to visit Wonderland. I had a lot to learn from Alice, she keeps her wits about her and only cries once that I remember, the pool of tears. The thought of tears so large you could swim in them like a salty sea is right up there with the disappearing cat in my childhood imagery. So I finally had a chance to paint my own "Pool of Tears" and it was like going back to visit an old friend.
She will be available in my Etsy shop

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi :)
POOL OF TEARS
What a beautiful picture!
You are a terrific artist.
:)
I had that set of books & read them to my children. They (& I) loved the illustrations. The Peter Pan ones in particular were true art.
:)
Thanks for sharing.
Love and best wishes,
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo

Artsnark said...

great piece

A - Zinnia Productions said...

Beautiful! I love your inspiration and motivation for this work! Wonderful! oxoxoxo Zinnia

My Journey to Hope said...

What a great version of Alice! I love her eyes.

:) Michelle

Danielle Barlow said...

What a gorgeous picture!
I too felt disturbed by Alice as a child - maybe because I was ( and am) such a control freak, and found the idea of an unknown and unpredictable landscape most unnerving!

Cat (darklingwoods) said...

RK, thank you and I'm glad to hear that edition is still being read and I agree the Peter illustrations are really magical.

Thank you ArtSnark adn Zinnia and Hope :)

Danielle, I completely understand, these tales touch us at a very deep level and we can learn as much by what makes us uncomfortable as by what we love.

Anonymous said...

FABULOUS! Love her sweet and dreamy face!

julie king said...

her big gorgeous eyes totally draw me in. just wonderful!!

Maia said...

Pool of tears - not a very common Alice illustration. I love it! :-)

Carolee said...

Beautiful, Cat! :)

~ Carolee

Christopher A. Klingler said...

LOVELY new piece Cat!

Chris :-)

Linda said...

Very expressive, and beautiful. Lindax

Amy said...

I had that book too!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful history to a lovely painting- Fabulous work!

Ruthie Redden said...

beautiful! i was always slightly scared by alice as a child too, it grew on me as i grew x

Jennifer MacNeill said...

What a gorgeous piece, I love it!

sarah said...

As always, another beautiful piece - and you know i love Alice in Wonderland themed art :)

Mette said...

I love your Alice painting, it so beautiful and dreamy.

Anonymous said...

I love this!!! Your work is beautiful:) Her eyes tell it all. (tammy)

Athena's Armoury said...

Cat, she's stunning. And what an amazing interpretation of Alice being such a self-confident girl!