Dream Spell

Dream Spell

by Dorlana Vann

She never knew where she’d go when she closed her eyes
Her deep dreams bewitched, and her sleeping soul stolen
Always to follow her love through tomorrow’s skies
Cursed by her own craft, ties deliberately woven.

“I place this herb where I have cried
Hopes of waking beside a new lover.
For now and eternity we’ll be tied
His true love for me he’ll soon discover.
Neither time nor distance will love divide
His heart will never beat for another.
Now sleep please find me before the new dawn
From which a charmed passion will truly spawn.”


The enchantment’s promise laced in bitter-sweet lies
He loved her before they met and days gone golden
Now they’re in yesterday’s forest, sweetly embraced
But when he wakes, memory of love is erased.


Note: To me explaining a poem is like explaining a joke. If you have to explain it… However, this time I going to make an exception, because this is the result of this month’s challenge – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, witches and time travel. I usually write a short story, but for some reason, it wanted to be a poem. And since A Midsummer Night’s Dream has a play inside the play – I wrote a poem inside a poem. :)

The Fairy Tale Art of Jessie Wilcox Smith by Guest Writer Chrissa Sandlin

The fairy tale art of Jessie Wilcox Smith

by

Chrissa Sandlin

Water swathes them like sheer linen, drawn over skin and scales like a curtain that could be drawn back, letting us down into their fantastic world. Jessie Wilcox Smith in her many fairy tale illustrations layers colors like fine veils woven of sunlight and sea air, illustrating both classics such as Water Babies, and scenes that drift from her imagination.

As a child, I devoured everything relating to swimming and the water—my favorite place was laying in the inflatable pool, head canted to the sky—and Ms. Smith’s illustrations carry everything of that contemplative mood. She herself built a home and studio with gardens in which she could bring her young models to play and explore, drawing her art directly from the experiential world of childhood.


She came to professional illustration later in life and at a time in which a woman who chose a profession most likely did so over marriage and motherhood, studying for and becoming a kindergarten teacher before taking up drawing and shifting into professional illustration. A contemporary of Mary Cassatt and Maxfield Parish, Ms. Smith is considered to have been influenced by Japanese prints and Art Noveau, softening her style away from firm charcoal lines as she developed her own style.


Born in 1863, Ms. Smith had already become a kindergarten teacher before a cousin encouraged her to pursue an art education. By 1894, she was taking classes from Howard Pyle at the Drexel institute and receiving commissions for book illustration. While at Drexel, Ms. Smith met Violet Oakley and Elizabeth Shippen Green and the three became friends, joining together to work in a shared studio called Red Rose Cottage. This period of their lives is captured in the book The Red Rose Girls by Alice A. Carter. Ms. Smith eventually purchased a home and studio of her own and her popularity continued to grow.


Her illustrations earned her a nationwide reach, particularly in the Good Housekeeping covers from late 1917 through early 1933 and she continued to paint until she passed away in 1935. These and other illustrations show her gift of portraying children in their many moods and in their fragility and evanescence, all of which are also keys to the fairy kingdom. Laughter rings from the water’s edge, toes splash, and we creep to the hem of wonder, floating on the wondrous curls of Ms. Smith’s brush.


Visit Chrissa Sandlin's blog - The Pollen and The Sting.


Jesse Wilcox Smith Links:
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/jwsmith.htm
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9906/babies.html
http://www.ortakales.com/illustrators/Smith.html

Buy prints at ART.com

A Midsummer Night's Dream - A Dreamy Night at the Opera

In an enchanted forest outside of Athens there are magical fairies, a love spell, a case of mistaken identity, a group of silly actors and a play about a play. Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based on Shakespeare’s play, was truly a dreamy and magical treat. I am so glad I chose it for my first opera experience.

When the lights went down and the red curtain went up, an abstract forest - upside-down black trees on a blue green painted background - came to life with playful white fairies. The clouds (a clear blue tarp that hung from the ceiling) breathed up and down with the rhythmic sounds of the brilliant Houston Grand Opera Orchestra.

Puck, (Jon Michael Hill) a mischievous and invisible sprite, was the only one who spoke, instead of sang, his lines. I really enjoyed his high-spirited and fun performance.

By far, my favorite character was the fairy queen Tytania (Soprano Laura Claycomb). Her costume was a beautiful, dazzling gown with a long, four-sectioned sheer train, which was carried by the little fairies. Her voice, oh my goodness, was mesmerizing. Even though she sang all her lines, I left wishing I could have heard more.

The audience was conducted like an orchestra. It was silent at times, as if not to wake the sleeping characters, and then later roaring in laughter at the hilarious antics of the actors playing actors and asses.

Surtitles were provided, although the opera was in English, which I was grateful for. After all, it was still Shakespeare. I would recommend seeing this opera, especially if you are a Shakespeare or fairy tale fan.

Until next time – Adieu!