Sun and Ice

This 1936 cartoon by Olga Khodatayeva was one of the first produced at the great 

Russian studio Soyuzmultfilm. It's story is based on one of the many Eskimo legends 

and rituals celebrating the return of the sun after two months of winter darkness. 

Many thanks to Niffiwan for the upload!

Lisa Congdon

Lisa Congdon is a talented fine artist and illustrator based in San Francisco. 

I have posted a few of her artworks before, and have been wanting to feature 

some more. These chilly January days seem like a great time to do so,

since her pictures warm me up like a good cup of hot cocoa.

While her work explores a variety of media and styles, 

it always expresses a great love of nature. 

You can find Lisa Congdon's art on her website, flickr, etsy shop and blog,

while her love of collecting found a creative outlet in the immensely popular blog

 A Collection a Day, which is now also a book published by Uppercase.

If you want to learn more about Lisa you should listen to this podcast interview

by Meighan O'Toole, curator of the great art blog my love for you, 

which also featured a lovely series of photos of her studio last year.

The recent show Boreas was inspired by Congdon's love of barren landscapes and 

by her viewing of Heima, a beautiful documentary about the Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

I really enjoy this exploration of wildlife, arctic whiteness and colorful folkloric motifs!

Sunday Safari - Happy Antlers

Kari Piippo, Rudolph serigraph, 1998

Sorry for this week's lack of posts, my life has been 

pretty hectic since it was the end of the school semester.

Finally as of today I am on vacation, ready to rest, return 

to my beloved Animalarium and ease into the festive spirit... 

Charles E. Martin, 1970

Roger Duvoisin, The Christmas Whale, 1945, via Curio Books

J.P. Miller, illustration from Jingle Bells, thanks to Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

Jim Flora

Edward Bawden, thanks to All Things Considered.

J.Otto Seibold, Olive the other reindeer, thanks to Stella Baggott

Esquire cover, 1959

Werner Klemke

Dale Maxey, illustration from The wild and woolly animal book, 1966,

thanks to Bonito Club

Ronald Searle

Grim Natwick, late 1950s

Artur Barbosa, 1945

Hugo Horita

Christian Montenegro

Thereza Rowe

In the mood for more reindeer? Head on to Shelley Davies' lovely blog...

Shelley and I share similar tastes, and often similar ideas for postings. 

This time she beat me to it, but happily there's so much art out there 

that our selections barely overlap!