Happy 30th Anniversary, Star Wars!
It feels like forever since the last time I did an art related Friday Favorites. To make up for that, and to close out this week of Star Wars 30th Anniversary celebration, I want to talk about some of the art of Star Wars. This is by no means a comprehensive look, just a quick overview of some of the things I like.
(Metamporphosis 8 by Terri Windling*)
“Myth must be kept alive.
The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another.
The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment
and the world.”
~ Joseph Campbell
The Endicott Studio was conceived in the heart and mind of Terri Windling and began life housed in a real, physical place. It has since morphed into something that I admire more than I can readily describe: it is a caring, compassionate and passionate community.
Early inspiration for my site came from the endless variety of fun garnered from daily visits to Neil Gaiman’s journal. Like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, I can trace so much of what I like and what I treasure over the last decade back to Neil Gaiman. One of the most influential of them is The Endicott Studio. My goal here is not to give a blow by blow account of how Endicott Studio came into being. That can be found here, and it is a fascinating read. What I want to do is give a brief overview of Endicott Studio’s inception and then launch into what I personally love about this community and how it influences me.
(Red Riding Hood, all images copyright Terri Windling)
“Fairy tales have much to say on the subjects of heroism and transformation; about how one finds the courage to fight and prevail against overwhelming odds. They are tales of children abandoned in the woods; of daughters handed poisoned apples; of sons forced to betray their siblings; of men and women struck down by wolves or imprisoned in windowless towers. Such tales were passed down through the generations by word of mouth, woman to woman, mother to childâ€using archetypes as a mirror held to daily life . . . particularly the lives of those without clear avenues of social power. Why do we continue to be enspelled by fairy tales, after all these centuries? Why do we continue to tell the same old tales, over and over again? Because we all have encountered wicked wolves, faced trial by fire, found fairy godmothers. We have all set off into unknown woods at one point in life or another.”
~Terry Windling, Women and Fairy Tales
(Cover image for the new Stardust hardcover)
The results may not always reflect it, but I have been planning various aspects of the Once Upon a Time challenge for many months. One of the things I have done in preparation was to hold off on posting about artists whose work I thought would be more appreciated during this challenge. What I didn’t plan on was the way that Stardust would dominate my mind this week. How perfect is it that my desire all along was to present the work of Charles Vess as the inaugural Friday Favorite artist for this challenge period?
Week after week I leave little doubt as to my enthusiasm over the artists whose work I am presenting. This week, however, I am even more excited than usual. For today I bring you the work of one of the foremost fantasy illustrators working today: Kinuko Y. Craft.
Kinuko Y. Craft is not only an obvious fit for a month focusing on fantasy/fairy tale art, but her feature here coincides with the recent release of her first art book, pictured above. I will share more about this fantastic book at the end of the post. The image pictured is just a part of the cover for the book Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip (If you click on the above picture it will open up an example of the full cover image).