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My interest in art has stemmed from
early childhood, inspired especially by reading.
This has continued to be one of my primary sources
for images, from early fairy stories to folk tales
from a variety of cultures. While Brothers Grimm
and Hans Christian Andersen were my original bed
time stories, I later discovered the tales of
Russian collectors like Afanasyev and Norwegians
Jorgen Moe and Peter Asbjornsen. Many other stories
have been passed down and changed from culture
to culture. My favorite is the Icelandic story
of a young girl whose adventures are much like
those of Cinderella, but in this version she rejects
the prince as being too superficial, having only
noticed her in her finery and gold slippers.
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In most of the cultures I have explored, animals play
central roles in the stories. Some cultures have animals
representing deities, and in some they are comical characters
whose behavior mimics humans. Some of the Native American
tales use ravens, coyotes, or turtles to explain the
origins of the world. Some African cultures have the
spider, Ananzi, outwitting Tortoise, or the reverse.
The possibilities for imagery are endless.
I am currently doing more watercolors, though my illustrations
so far have been in color etchings. I mainly do folktale
imagery for educational textbooks.
Esther's Artists Rep. site: www.kirchoffwohlberg-artistrep.com
Esther's website:
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