Today we travel to Greece, courtesy of Aesop, original author of the fable from which my latest fairy tale print, The And and the Grasshopper, is drawn.

I remember watching old Silly Symphonies cartoons on tv, and was especially fond of their version of The Ant and the Grasshopper (or, as they put it, The Grasshopper and the Ants). And even though I knew the moral of the story was that we should be like the ants, industrious, conscientious, and hard-working, ready for winter and any other hardships that may come, my sympathies were always entirely with the grasshopper. And I was pleased that in the end the grasshopper’s contribution was seen as equally valuable. (On re-watching the cartoon now, while I still identify with the grasshopper, I think he is pretty much a tobacco-spitting jerk, and raise an eyebrow at the political implications –from all sides– of his song, The World Owes Me a Living.)

I’ve drawn all my life, and was an art major in college, despite repeated inquiries about what purpose majoring in art would serve. My sisters were also art majors, and I’m sure my parents were pulling out their hair at the thought of three unemployable children. Over the years I’ve gone back and forth between having a “real” job, and suddenly absolutely positively needing to quit the 9-to-5 world to spend time making art. Artists are actually the hardest-working people I know, but our reputation is that of the grasshopper.

In this print, the grasshopper is out in the open air, singing a happy song. The ant is far below in his labyrinthine storehouse, keeping company with his stockpile of goods. And aren’t we all buried under the twists and turns of our busy lives? Owned by our possessions? Often scowling in the dark, wondering how we’ll get free of everything that ties us down? Aren’t we all secretly jealous of the grasshopper?

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The entire series of fairy tale prints (to date) will be on display at the Simpkins Swim Center here in Santa Cruz, from April 1 through May 30. Hours and directions are posted on its website.
The series will also be on display at the Santa Cruz County Government buildings, from June 1 through August 20, including First Friday receptions. Come on down!

Sometimes I’m working on a plate and reach a point where I just get stuck. It’s usually not that I don’t have ideas of what to do, but rather that I can’t decide which of my many ideas I want to follow.

Take, for example, The Little Match Girl. I’ve drawn the block, done a lot of the carving, and have run a test print. Upon seeing it on paper, I realized that there was a large empty-ish area in the center. Is there room for another head? Do I want to add one? Who would it be? There are already three men to two women in the circle, so I thought another woman would be appropriate, and I imagined a young starlet clinging to the man with the cigar. But I don’t really mind the hole in the center, and wasn’t totally certain about what to do. Ta-da! Photoshop to the rescue!

Here is the test print.

And here is my Photoshopped mockup. I cut, pasted, and flipped the head of the woman with the diamond ring, to get the right size head. Then I further cut, pasted, erased and painted to get a different face. Granted, the line weight and feel are different; I didn’t take the time to get it to an exact match with the cut lines, since all I wanted was an idea.

So, now on to finish! I know which way I’m going with this. Stay tuned to find out how this story ends!

“I do not care for your clothes, your pearls and jewels, nor for your golden crown, but if you will love me and let me be your companion and play-fellow, and sit by you at your little table, and eat off your little golden plate, and drink out of your little cup, and sleep in your little bed – if you will promise me this I will go down below, and bring you your golden ball up again.” Thus spoke the frog in The Frog Prince, as he negotiated with the princess as to his reward for retrieving her golden ball, which had fallen into the well.

“Oh yes,” said the princess, “I promise you all you wish, if you will but bring me my ball back again.” But she thought, “How the silly frog does talk. All he does is to sit in the water with the other frogs, and croak. He can be no companion to any human being.”

To what lengths would you go to get, or keep, your heart’s desire?