Monday, November 26, 2007

I win a snowflake! (and do some gumshoeing)

Isn't it gorgeous?



The artist is Inga Poslitur, and I've been snooping around, trying to find out more about her.

Cool facts:

#1: She studied Russian Native Embroidery Design at the Academy of Applied Arts in Moscow.

#2: She painted props for the Earth Day Parade, New York City.

#3: Look! Her online portfolio! I'm especially fond of this beautiful painting, which is titled "Village Ryuminskoe, Russia." I hope this one might be part of a longer story, one that she's illustrating, perhaps?

#4: Aha! Maybe THIS is her next book! Look at this illustration for "Soup from a Sausage-Peg," which is a Hans Christian Andersen tale that I've never heard of. Here's the traditional translation, which is difficult to read online, but I love the part where the mouse grandmother says:
"If one is a poet, one can make soup out of a sausage peg."

Ha! I should post THAT where I can see it every day. (Psst! Want to know what a sausage peg looks like? Well, they really look more like skewers than pegs. Here you go.)***

If you want to have a snowflake of your own to research, check out Robert's Snow, Auction 2, which begins today.

***I imagine this is just the kind of detective work that illustrators do, looking for visual references for their work. Except they probably run down to the market, and sketch some sausages, and buy a yummy cupcake with sprinkles or something while they're there, instead of surfing the internet for an hour, with only their lip to chew on, like I just did.


7 comments:

  1. Lord knows YOU can make soup outta a sausage peg! Congratulations. This is truly, truly beautiful...

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  2. Sara,

    Congratulations! I bid on five different snowflakes. Unfortunately, I didn't win any. I hope to snag at least one "little work of art" in the second auction.

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  3. I just squeaked when I read you'd won one!!! Yay for you -- I'm very pleased for the Foundation and that the bids are going beyond my purse -- but am SO GLAD that someone got something beautiful they wanted!!

    And I love that phrase "soup out of a sausage peg." I must now find out what that is...

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  4. Congrats!

    I linked to Inga's portfolio when I featured her snowflake (http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1024). I couldn't find any info about her having illustrated anything, but I see I didn't look hard enough. I do hope she's about to illustrate a book. Her paintings are beautiful, no? I like that one, too, that you linked to.

    What a great snowflake you got!

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  5. Congratulations on a beautiful snowflake! Inga's work is quite stunning, and that sausage peg is very substantial! Write us a sausage peg poem, please.

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  6. Congratulations, Sara! What a great snowflake!

    I won Elizabeth Dulemba's "Give a Little Push." Wasn't it such a thrill to get that email?

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  7. Oh, hooray and good for you! Congratulations. It's a beautiful piece.

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