The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

For those who know me, it doesn’t come as a surprise to to see witches of all shapes and sizes showing up all over my home in October. Let me say this…I Love Halloween!  It is also known as All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Spirit Night, and Hallow E’en, just to name a few. It doesn’t matter what you call it, I still love it, all of it, the customs and traditions, the history, the funky facts, the art. I love it so much that I was married on Samhain.

Now that it is October, I find myself looking for all sorts of Halloween information and I found an excellent site just this morning, it is The Halloween News Network. Much  to my delight, It has links to everything. Of course there are my wonderful artist friends,  Carolee Clark is right there at the top of my favorites. Her paintings are to die (no pun intended!) for. Carolee and other artists attend an event called Ghoultide Gathering, where you can find the most fiendishly clever artwork, all original I might add. Stephanie Rawson, an artist and one of the organizers said the event is billed as the Halloween Artist Spectacular. If you are on Face Book add Carolee as a friend. Pictured is one of Carolee’s creations (I love this box!)

Arial has told me that the faerie realm isn’t without their own version of witches. The difference being that the faerie witches don’t need brooms to fly!

There is one more site that I would love you all to visit, it is “The Fantastical World of Holidays” . I think you will agree that it is a treasure trove of art.

All this month I will be bringing other goodies to you, but right now here are a few rhymes from early nineteenth century Halloween postcards (a special thanks to Silver Ravenwolf for including them in her book, “Halloween”).

~~***~~

Come with me

All Hallow’s night

We’ll frighten everyone in sight

Such pranks, for once

are justified

And fun and frolic amplified

~~***~~

On Hallowe’en the thing

you must do

Is pretend that nothing

can frighten you

An’ if somethin’ scares you

and you must run

Jus’ let on like

it’s Hallowe’en fun.

I know what I think of when hearing the words “green faerie”, but this isn’t about the drink made famous by  Bohemian artists like Van Gogh or Toulouse-Lautrec. It’s more about flying things at bedtime.

Last night before we turned off the lights Bill pointed to the ceiling and ask, “Whats that?” At first I didn’t see anything, but after a streak of green flew past in front of the TV I knew immediately. “Oh, that’s just Ferne”, I can’t believe I’ve gotten so nonchalant about faeries! Whats more surprising is how well Bill has adapted to the strange goings on around the house (maybe I should say in and around the house).

I watched as she flew toward my orange tree. I just knew that I was going to lose another of the  small orange fruit that wasn’t in great supply. I had waited so patiently for it. Instead, she pulled one of the older, larger leaves off one of the bottom branches and proceeded to make a bed with it. After she settled herself on the leaf she mounded up the potting soil and buried herself in it. I knew she loved the garden but I didn’t know she would use dirt for a blanket. The only thing I could see now was a tiny face and the sparkling tips of her green wings.

We watched, and after convincing ourselves that she was down for the night, we turned off the lights. I forgot that faeries glow. It’s not obvious until dark, but they all have this light around them and Ferne was glowing green. It was like some weird green night light over by the window, you could even see green coming through the dirt.

“Can’t we throw something over her?” Bill likes it very dark for sleeping. I got up and went to the linen closet, found some things that I thought would work, and trudged, not fully awake, to the pot. Nothing would blot out the light. I remember thinking, when the faeries are outside and they go to sleep, I don’t remember seeing a multi-colored glow great enough to light a city. They must go underground. I chided myself, of course they go underground, I know my history of faeries and faerie mounds.

When it was clear that I couldn’t block out the light I knew that she couldn’t stay in the house. I don’t even know why she would want to. I tried to gently slip the leaf into my hand but as soon as I touched the end of the leaf, Ferne darted out from under her dirt blanket. “Sorry..sorry!” She hung in mid air looking startled and rubbed her eyes with tiny fists. I held out my hand for her to sit in, not really thinking that she would, but after a moments hesitation, she landed lightly in my palm. It tickled, you don’t see it but, their wings beat really fast.

I carried her downstairs to the back door. I will always be fascinated by the existence of these tiny beauties and I felt a twinge of guilt having to put her out like this, it’s so cold out, but then I remembered that she’s a frost faerie, duh! “I’m sorry Ferne, your glow is just too bright”. I opened the door and held out my hand so she could fly out. Ferne stood up on tip toes, yawned, stretched out her arms and flew slowly back through the opening in the ivy.  I watched until the last of the green glow faded and then went sleepily back to bed.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.

Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by fairies. Of course the first fairy I remember is Tinkerbell but then as I got older a whole new world of  little people opened up to me, trolls and gnomes were as interesting as the fairies and I was amazed at the extent of the worlds interest in these diminutive creatures. I realized that I was not alone in my love of fantasy, even the Barbie Doll creators jumped on board the fairy ride.

Just Google “Fairies” and see what you come up with, it’s a wonderfully distracting world out there! And I do mean “distracting” I can lose whole days following links, taking me deeper into their world. Check out the artists who have devoted their imaginations to fairy art. Some of my favorite artists are Brian Froud, James Christensen, David Delemar, and Amy Brown. And the books, well, there is no end to the books (much to my delight). They range from a little girls first picture book to enchanting complex story’s.

There is a fairy festival every year near Eugene Oregon. I went to it a couple of years ago and it was big then, now, the organizers have out done themselves! There’s music and vendors everywhere! All things fairy. People dress up, wear masks, listen to music and dance in circles. We camped out, it was appropriate I think, to be in nature while we celebrated the fairies.

FaerieWorlds Festival with Brian Froud

I look around my room, where I’m writing now, surrounded by all the things I love. You name it, I probably have it in here somewhere. Boxes, statues, and books, sitting on the shelves, prints hanging on the walls I even have fairy music. I wonder…will people ever outgrow the love of fairies? I hope not.