The Goose Girl

This fairy tale, another dark masterpiece of the Brothers Grimm, is the favorite of my little sister.  As I noted below, it has all of the elements of a good yarn: a fairy, a magical horse, a girl separated from her mother.  The princess is cast down by her maid, who takes the true bride's place on her intended's arm.  The true princess is forced to become the goose girl to make her way, and the false princess kills the girl's horse, the only tie to her homeland.  Of course, deception never pays, and the king realizes the goose girl, resplendent in her beauty, is the true bride of his son:

"But the old king begged so hard, that she had no peace till she had told him all the tale, from beginning to end, word for word. And it was very lucky for her that she did so, for when she had done the king ordered royal clothes to be put upon her, and gazed on her with wonder, she was so beautiful. Then he called his son and told him that he had only a false bride; for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while the true bride stood by. And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty, and heard how meek and patient she had been; and without saying anything to the false bride, the king ordered a great feast to be got ready for all his court. The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false princess on one side, and the true one on the other; but nobody knew her again, for her beauty was quite dazzling to their eyes; and she did not seem at all like the little goose-girl, now that she had her brilliant dress on.
When they had eaten and drank, and were very merry, the old king said he would tell them a tale. So he began, and told all the story of the princess, as if it was one that he had once heard; and he asked the true waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who would behave thus. ’Nothing better,’ said this false bride, ’than that she should be thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that two white horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street to street till she was dead.’ ’Thou art she!’ said the old king; ’and as thou has judged thyself, so shall it be done to thee.’ And the young king was then married to his true wife, and they reigned over the kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives; and the good fairy came to see them, and restored the faithful Falada to life again."

I looked to the end of the tale, and imagine a scene not told by our Brothers Grimm: when she reenters the city with her geese and with her horse, Falada, who had watched over her even in his death.  I followed the pattern I set forth in my "Self Portrait with Fairy Tale" (see below in earlier posts), with a decorative border as part of the actual image itself.  I'm inspired by the richness of medieval tapestries and the constant juxtaposition of pattern that can be found on them.

"The Goose Girl" Pencil.  Copyright 2012 Jessica Marie Boehman

The Cold of Winter

Winter is still a pretty great time to visit the zoo.  There are no crowds, and though many of the animals are taking it easy, you can still enjoy yourself at the petting zoo.  There, the llamas, alpacas, cows, horses, pigs, sheep and goats still vie for your attention unabashedly.  My husband and I visited the Queens Zoo for the first time on New Year's Eve.  What better way to end the year than hanging with the animals?  We met some new friends.

Me and the alpaca at the Queens Zoo.  He only wants me for my pellets.

Seeing all of these animals wearing their winter coats, I was grateful for how their wool keeps me warm in the winter as well.  My favorite winter hat is a Peruvian style alpaca wool hat, died bright colors.  You won't miss me in a snow storm.  Some of my favorite pictures of my husband and I are in our Peruvian hats.  

Indeed, this basically served as our engagement photo, as we never had any taken. My little sister did a photo shoot with us in our hats on Black Friday 2009.

In our Peruvian hats.

Here I am again in my hat at Cromwell Manor Inn in Cornwall, NY for my birthday weekend this past November.  They had a hammock, cool fall air, a petting zoo next door at Jones Farm, and crisp blue skies.  Bliss.  

In the hammock in my hat.

So I made a drawing to show how animals may keep warm, too.  Here are many friends I've met recently: the alpaca and the sheep from Queens Zoo, the rooster and spotted pig from Jones Farm, and a winter goose from the Brooklyn Zoo.  May you all be warm, safe, happy and healthy in this New Year.

"Staying Warm" Pencil and digital color.  Copyright 2012 Jessica Boehman

It's amazing how much it looks like the hasty sketch I made on a yellow post-it note.

Initial sketch for "Staying warm"