Carapace

The word carapace visited me yesterday. It stirred the image of a greeting card found, purchased in multiples, more than 20 years ago. I wondered if I could summon the illustration via Google. Then in another reading today, carapace, sly creature, appeared again. That the word was also used in reference to the painting, once I found it, tells me I am onto something. The only question is, what?

The blog site at which I found the carapace work, Yvette's in so many words... would keep me fascinated and linking for hours, probably days. So many favorites, such a kindred spirit. Here is her link to the Sept. 10 post, equally illuminated and illuminating. And a clue: Chinese lanterns and vintage detectives. With grateful thanks to Yvette at in so many words... Do, please visit and leave a comment.

Image by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale from The Book of Old Songs and Ballads. The knight's armor looks like some strange carapace, doesn't it? The painting is an odd mix of the ominous and the innocent.


The British artist Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale (1872 -1945), though born a bit late, was a Pre-Raphaelite painter known for her luscious use of color. She was also, as you can see a brilliant designer. Her paintings tended towards the allegorical and the medieval in subject matter. Later in her life she also turned to working in stained glass.

Primarily I'm drawn to these paintings by the way Brickdale uses color. It's interesting to me that she manages to use such a bright spectrum yet her work though hardly subtle, somehow, remains fairly soft-spoken.

I'm fond of Victorian painting with all its rich detail, especially when it's this colorful and full of story telling.

To read more about Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale please go to these other blogs and pages:

Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood and Victorian/Edwardian Paintings.

(Painting, text, research and appropriate links courtesy of Yvette at in so many words...)