Spotlight on Lillan

http://Lillan.etsy.com

One thing that browsing etsy has taught me is that I am drawn to art of certain things. Draw, paint, collage, gocco, letterpress, screenprint, carve, or otherwise depict a tree and my attention is all yours. While it's a little depressing to discover that my list of likes usually coincides with what is "hot", I think I'll just pretend that I'm always leading the crowd, not following it. ; ) (Although that is probably a catch-22 worthy of it's own post). The good news about liking what's currently the in-thing is that choices abound. Big trees, little trees. Trees of every color, shape, size, material, and level of representationalism abound.

Every so often though, I find a seller who doesn't just offer a single beautiful tree, but a whole forest of them. Lillan shop is exactly such a store. And the longer I looked, the more attached I became. Her trees demonstrate a gorgeous mastery of linework, hand-drawn in black ink and colored with washes of watercolors. Add to this adept calligraphy and Lillan has my rapt attention.

While the original pieces that I was enthralled by have long since been sent off to happy homes, this duo is equally exquisite. In an artistic decision that allows the color to be rich and vibrant and the linework to still be the star, the color stops several inches short of the edge of the canvas while the trees continue on, their branches wrapping around the edges of the canvas. This particular piece would make an inspired wedding gift, sentimental without being overtly "mushy".



Once I pulled my head out of the trees and looked around the rest of her shop, I was equally enamored. Solemn little girls drawn and painted with the same detail and tenderness as the trees make appearances in many prints and paintings.

My favorite is shown below. Many artists, struck with a similar idea would take this in a very different direction. Think over the top cutsey with big flowers, loads of pink, and big cheerful smile. Lillan, however, makes her plant-girl hybrid all the more real by showing her as contemplative and a bit wistful. Her hair is not perfectly coifed, a few stray wisps dance out and she looks like she will soon shift positions because her arms are sore. I find the print soothing. You could spend idle hours just watching her grow (you can almost see her growing can't you?) wondering what she is thinking about.

The package in the lower left hand corner shows a glimpse of Lillan's beautiful calligraphy (as does the watermark). While it is not a main focus in this piece, the careful print adds a bit of our world to this fantasy.



Lillan builds a powerful, peaceful world through captivating art. And with affordable pricing, even for original works, everyone can bring a bit of that magical world into their own home.