Organizing my desk today and visiting my fountain pen collection has made me reflect on the allure of old fashioned letter writing. There is nothing like the unhurried act of putting pen to paper. It slows down your thoughts and allows your words to wander in and out. I've pictured here some of my favorites including an italian glass pen, a petite Visconti I treated myself to in Florence, a vintage dip pen that I believe belonged to my Grandfather which still has the dipping base, a simple, elegant, black Omas with a greek key design on the band that I adore, and a tortoise pendant pen. My favorite to write with though is still my Pelikan M300 with the green and black striped body. It is classic, vintage and smooth; what more could you want in a pen? I use it every day to write in my journal. My dog Bingo helped me with this layout, hence the Airdale figurine in the corner.
Favorite 19th Century Authors - Edgar Allen Poe
Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes; since early childhood I remember my Father encouraging me to journey to the far ends of the world through the pages of a book. I am so grateful for that advice and continue to explore all sorts of different worlds and time periods while safely curled up in my armchair. One of my favorite genres is the mystery and like many others my first love was Edgar Allen Poe. If only I could re-experience the thrill of reading each of his stories for the first time! The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Gold Bug, Murders in the Rue Morgue; each one terrifying and exciting in it's own way. So when I decided to pay homage to some of my favorite writers from the 19th century for a series of paintings, the first one simply had to be of Edgar Allen Poe. I decided to keep them in a sepia toned palette, reminiscent of the daguerreotypes of the time. Since The Raven continues to be his most popular poem I favored that image but also incorporated a scarab, a heart and a black cat from his other stories into the background wallpaper. I am so excited to be working on these illustrations and am already up to my elbows in the second portrait of the series featuring Jules Verne!
Edgar Allen Poe Portrait - Lisa Zador Illustration
Watership Downton
Even rabbits had a class system it seems, in Edwardian England. Mr. Carson and Mrs. Padmore of Downton Abbey have nothing on this Rabbit Butler and Cook. They are all ready to serve up their own carrot delicacies and spread some good old British cheer!
Prints, Note Cards and Brooches are available for purchase in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits.
Drawing for Fox Hollow Wine Label
Working on a Clever Fox
I've been working on a very exciting project lately; a wine label illustration for Fox Hollow Vineyards, part of Casola Farms in New Jersey. Since their beautiful farm was historically the site of fox hunts, we thought it would be humorous to portray a fox in a hunting outfit! This perfectly suited my preference for painting well dressed animals.
Early Sketches
I always begin with rough sketches to get an idea of what direction we would like to take it. First we tried various hunting elements such as the horn, riding crop and riding hat.
Second round of sketches
Once we decided on a horn, we tried many variations. Here are the 3 finalists. I still favored the round horn for aesthetic reasons but in the end the client preferred the straight horn.
Final sketch and drawing on board
Once we found the perfect pose, I had to refine the sketch which meant holding a horn-like object and looking in the mirror (in this case a long fluted vase) to see how a fox might naturally hold a horn providing he had thumbs. I also dropped his shoulders and gave him a more relaxed stance with one hand behind his back. Now that I have the drawing on the actual primed and toned wood panel, it is time to start painting, the most exciting part!
New Beaded Portrait Miniatures and Mourning Brooches
I have been fascinated by the beauty of antique portrait miniatures since my first visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Uffizi in Florence. I am no expert on the subject but from what I have learned over the years is that they were often given as a keepsake by a loved one and were popular until the development of photography. Also referred to as mourning portraits they were given as a memento mori to mark the passing of a loved one or in the vanitas style of the day meant to remind the recipient of the transience of life.
Here are 2 beautiful examples from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection. A fascinating variation of the Portrait Miniature is the Eye Portrait. Given as love tokens, having only the eye painted kept the identity of the subject a secret to everyone but the beloved recipient. I find the idea of this clandestine gift giving so touching .
Some examples of Georgian Lover's Eye Brooches
My fascination with this art form led me to design a contemporary version using my own animal portraits which already have a Victorian theme. I was first introduced to the art of bead work by costume designer Ramona Ponce. I remember watching her doing her intricate bead work and just itching to get my hands into a big jar of glistening glass beads! It wasn't until I saw the embroidered bird brooches of Conieco and the whimsical wall hangings of Rebecca Purcell that I began to imagine how beautiful the combination of Victorian animal portraits and bead work could be. All the following ornaments are available in a round or oval format in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits.
Here is a sample of my first set of portrait miniatures. I used the eye from my Deer Portrait as I thought it was the most alluring of all the animals!
I began with a printed image of the animal and sealed it behind a resin cabochon (as I do in my brooches). I then glue that onto a double sided felt setting with a cardboard insert and a grosgrain hanging ribbon and hand sew the rows of black glass beads, which I import from the Czech Republic. A final layer of felt backing is applied to make it neat and ready to hang! The round ornaments measure approximately 2 3/4" in diameter and the oval ornaments measure 2 3/8" x 2 3/4".
Uncle Omelette may be my favorite portrait miniature, his unusual countenance seems perfect for this presentation.
The White Rabbit looks especially good in a round format.
My Headless Skeleton Ornament should appeal to all you Victoriana and Gothic aficionados out there!
Snow Day in Prospect Park
I know that snow isn't everyone's favorite subject but I must take a moment and express how magical and miraculous yesterday's snowstorm was to me! As I saw the snow coming down I had a feeling it might be the last of the season so I decided to take a snow day and headed out to my favorite snow destination, Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It is only a 20 minute subway ride from the West Village and totally worth it. Why not Central Park you may ask? I have nothing against Central Park, there is just something about Prospect Park that resonates with me. Everything seems so quiet and peaceful giving me the sense of stepping back in time. It is also a manageable size; I can wander from one end to another in an afternoon and never fear of getting hopelessly lost although I must admit under the blanket of snow yesterday I did lose my bearings more than once! Here are some photos I took of the magnificence of nature in the heart of the city.
Sledding in the great meadow
The Waterfall covered in powdery whiteness
The Waterfall seen from the bridge, all the branches reaching up to the sky covered in white!
A King of trees majestically leading me on.
I couldn't resist the temptation to follow this bridle path toward the interior with only one set of lonely footprints leading me on
Walking was a bit of a challenge
It was as if the branches had been hand painted with white
A well earned lunch awaited me at the 12th St Bar & Grill on 12th and 8th in Park Slope
Bingo endorses Condo Puppy
Bingo was very pleased to be asked to represent Condo Puppy, a real estate website that helps dog owners find the perfect home with their pup. Bingo was first approached by Chip Barkel, a dog friendly real estate broker in Toronto who is a member of Condo Puppy and he was thrilled to be the spokes-dog. He knows how difficult it can be to find apartments and condos that accept pets.
Chip wrote a wonderful blog post about my work being used to decorate a child's room and gives some great tips about how to go about it. You can read more about it here.
Etsy Shop Facelift
As an Etsy seller I always find January and February to be a good time to review the items in my shop, Curious Portraits. I have learned to keep track of things that I notice need improvement during the holiday frenzy when there is no time to address them. Then when things slow down I can tackle them one by one. Two weeks ago a spike in Halloween themed sales had me up-dating item descriptions for all of my goblins, pumpkin men and skeletons. This week I've been looking at my Christmas ornament listings. I have been feeling the need to re-photograph them for awhile and realized while doing so that if I photographed the non-Christmas themed ornaments in a non-Christmas setting that I could re-list them as wall decor instead of Christmas ornaments. This was very timely as Etsy recently re-vamped their categories and I had to re-evaluate my old ones anyway. I also re-titled them as Portrait Miniatures instead of Christmas Ornaments. Since I am in the process of designing a new, higher end line of Victorian inspired Portrait Miniatures for the shop these can now act as ambassadors for the new product! As soon as I get my hands on some holly or red berries I will re-photograph the Christmas themed ornaments as well since I do like a little Christmas cheer in my holiday listings! Here are the before and after shots, let me know what you think!
New Portrait Miniatures Listings
I used a damask stripe that I had designed for another project and printed it out in soft, neutral tones for the background.
New Portrait Miniatures Listings
Former Christmas Ornaments Listings
For the new Christmas Listings I will keep the red ribbon and add in some greenery and red berries (if I can find any in February) but put them on a cleaner background, perhaps the same damask stripe that l used in the Portrait Miniatures of which I am so fond.
Halloween In February?
I have noticed a surprising increase in Halloween themed sales in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits over the past few weeks and simply cannot account for it. I am happy to believe however, that the world is simply filled with fellow Halloween enthusiasts like myself who just never get enough!
Saying Good-bye to Christmas here in NY
Every year at this time I struggle with post Christmas melancholy. All those weeks of excitement; watching the mail for Christmas cards, decorating the tree, making cookies and seeing the city come to life with twinkling lights are all behind me. I always love walking around the West Village and peeking in windows to see all the Christmas trees, wreaths, bows and lights to get myself into the Christmas spirit. This week as I began to see the sad, discarded Christmas trees on the curbs I thought I'd take a last stroll with my camera and capture some of my favorite sites before they are taken down till next year.
Simple Christmas Tree in Greenwich St. Car Rental
Reindeer in scarves in Bigelow Pharmacy
Beautiful snow scene in Hudson St Pharmacy window
Sweet chocolate Snowmen in Lilac Chocolate's window
Even the White Horse Tavern looks festive with their branches and lights
Bingo and Santa 2014
It is that time of year again and yesterday I happily continued one of my favorite holiday traditions; taking Bingo to Petco for his annual photo with Santa! This year was much less stressful than last year I am happy to say. I must admit that even though I understand playing Santa to a bunch of dogs and cats all day is not an ideal job I do wish the Santa's they hire could be a little more enthusiastic! All in all it is a fun excursion and I love Petco for offering this to pet owners everywhere.
Renaissance Reindeer
Presenting Renaissance Reindeer, the Curious Christmas portrait of 2014. I realized this year that of all the Christmas portraits I have done I had never painted a reindeer. As I worked on his portrait I found I was using a color palette resembling that of some of my favorite Italian renaissance painters so I decided to name him the Renaissance Reindeer!
Prints, Christmas cards, brooches, coasters and ornaments featuring his portrait are all available in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits! Merry Christmas everyone!
Outer Space Bingo
For Bingo's annual Halloween portrait this year I combined my love of Jules Verne and of 1950's sci fi movies in an homage to vintage space travel. I have always loved reading Verne's imaginative descriptions of victorian science, particularly in From Earth to the Moon. I have also spent many Saturday afternoons as a child entranced by 1950's sci fi movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Destination Moon and It Came From Outer Space to mention just a few of the many. I also thought a lunar landscape would be the perfect counterpart to Bingo's deep sea adventure of 2013. I had so much fun combining the deep black of space with the atomic green of the cheesy moon foreground.
Let me also make it clear that Bingo was never in any actual danger during the painting of this portrait.
The Writer's Chronicle
I am so pleased with the new issue of The Writer's Chronicle which features an illustration by yours truly. It was such a pleasure to work on and I couldn't be happier with the layout and the beautiful script they chose for the cover story title.
The title essay explores all the ways the image of the window has been used in nonfiction beginning with Forster's Room With a View, one of my favorites up to the present. It was a challenge to illustrate and initially I thought using an actual window would be too predictable. My love of repeating patterns however kept drawing me back to the possibilities presented by a curtain and wallpaper if a window was viewed from the inside out. As I sketched out different ideas I kept coming back to my original thought of using a lace curtain as a sort of veil between the inside and the outside. The essay mentions captivity vs. freedom as one of the concepts a window could represent and I thought incorporating the motif of keys and locks into the lace could be a subtle and graceful way of portraying that.
The second essay was even more abstract. It explored all the different elements a writer must consider in creating a character's identity in a story. I decided to continue the theme of a repeating pattern that I had used for the cover and incorporate some of those elements including location, religion, home life, occupation etc. This was an engaging project and the art directors were a dream to work with. I am so excited to be part of this issue of the magazine!
Portrait of a Sock Monkey Dandy
I just finished a particularly enjoyable portrait of a sock monkey commissioned by a very lovely woman as a gift for her nephew via my Etsy shop Curious Portraits. She shared with me how much he loves this sock monkey and thought dressing him up in formal attire would make it special and memorable. The original monkey had a striped body which would of course be covered by the tuxedo. Since it was this characteristic that made him stand apart from any other sock monkey I decided to incorporate his stripes into his bow tie to portray his own personality. These whimsical projects are just about my favorite to work on and I never get bored with all the interesting requests that come my way.
Autumn Leaves
Autumn has always been my favorite season. As soon as Labor Day is over I start anticipating all the wonderful things I love about the season. Here in the Northeast the air is already beginning to chill and I am on the lookout for the changing of the leaves. As a child growing up in South Jersey I spent hours in our yard collecting different leaves, seed pods and acorns. I decided to try to capture these moments from my childhood and put them all in one painting. Researching all these familiar leaves and seeds was like going home again. The Tulip Poplar, the Sycamore and the Sweet Gum feel like old friends. Just looking at them all together brings the scent of woodsmoke to my mind and puts me right back in my Parent's yard all those years ago!
Prints are available for purchase in my Etsy shop The Curious Kitchen
Woody the Waterbug
Text conversation between my roommate and myself:
Lisa: I spotted a waterbug in my studio the size of a kitten
Cajsa: Eeeeeaaaaaahhhhh! I have two follow up questions:
1 Did you name him?
2 Have you painted his portrait?
Lisa: You are a real comedian
Cajsa: Seriously, did you kill it?
Lisa: No but I chased him into your room so no worries there
It turns out she knows me very well so here is his portrait, I hope she likes it...
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Mr. Softee Says..
Have a great end of the summer. Don't forget the ice cream.
You can read more about Mr Softee's portrait here.
Victorian Sock Monkey
I just received an interesting portrait commission that I am very eager to begin. A lovely customer from my Etsy shop Curious Portraits, contacted me about painting a portrait for her nephew of his beloved sock monkey but in full victorian dress! She loved my original sock monkey portrait whose model was my dear friend Keith's vintage childhood toy. She also loved my Cat Dandy portrait and wants me to take my inspiration from the two paintings. I love doing portraits that will be given as gifts because I always feel so much love behind them. It will be a surprise Christmas gift so I have plenty of time to finish it!
Two Handsome Men and a Richly Roasted Coffee...
I recently did an illustration for the Rabbit Coffee Roasting Company's premiere coffee label. They just had a very interesting article published about them and their company in Opulence magazine and I thought I would share it. Being such a coffee enthusiast myself I found their story and all the subtleties of the coffee bean roasting process so fascinating. It was such a pleasure working with Iain Yeakle on this project and I am so pleased with the final product. I am however waiting for a sample bag of these rich, velvety beans to reach find it's way to me...
Two Handsome men and a richly roasted coffee bean, what more could you ask for?
