Arthur Rackham's Faery World





  I used to have a big poster of this painting on my wall when I was 16 and all I knew about it then was the caption said "Queen Mab". Many years later when I found it on the web it was entitled "Feeling Very Undancey Indeed," and when I researched it a bit more I discovered it was actually from Arthur Rackham's illustrations for J M Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.



Ah, so that explains why I loved the painting so much! I love J. M. Barrie~the world has lost way too much of its innocence these days. I work very diligently to hang on to as much of mine as I can~reading Peter Pan every few years is one of my favorite ways to accomplish this.






Queen Mab Tiara by Thyme2dr
  According to our beloved Mr Barrie,
dancey is how the faeries say they are happy...so undancey is faerie-folk language for a wee bit dispirited or some such thing. It is Queen Mab, and the reason she is feeling undancey is too long to go into here, but Dover Publications is issuing a new edition of the with Arthur Rackham's original illustrations next month, so you can go and read the story for yourself if you are curious: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (Dover Children's Classics)

One of the things I love most about Arthur Rackham's illustrations of Queen Mab is the beautiful tones of ivory and burgundy that he used...it seemed only natural when I was asked to create a wedding set in these colours that they should be named after the undancey faery Queen.

When I finished the tiara, I went to find the Undancey picture again and was delighted to see how much it the tiara looked like it belonged to her:)! I also made a hair clip, earrings, two necklaces and am currently working on a bracelet as well. They are my new personal favorites. These are for sale in my Thyme2dream ArtFire .
Queen Mab Earrings by Thyme2dream

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Excellent!
Thanks for the heads up on the Rackham edition of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens! That's great news. And wow to you -- such lovely jewelry! Be impressed, for I sure am!
Also, I've got a return book recommendation for you.
There's a new Peter Pan novel out that's based on Barrie's idea for more Pan adventure! And it remains faithful to Peter & Wendy as well as Kensington Gardens! A link is here: http://www.peterpansneverworld.com/
BELIEVE!

Book Calendar said...

I rather like Arthur Rackham, much of his work is in the public domain in the United States. I think his drawings are absolutely fantastic. I also like Edmund Dulac who has a very different style which is also very interesting if you like drawings from the "Golden Age of Illustration."

Marlaine said...

Those pieces are absolutely beautiful. I'm a huge fan of Rackham as well.

Tink said...

I'm a fan of Barrie and Rackham. Your tiara would be lovely for Queen Mab! I'm going to have a look at the books mentioned. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

That's so funny! My elemental fairy watercolor paintings were inspired by Arthur Rackham's illustrations! You can mainly tell in the wings.
-Susan Marie

Karla said...

Thanks everyone for your comments!! Susan Marie's paintings can be seen at

http://thedancingdragon.etsy.com

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