The Kind Moon
I have always been inspired by folktales and fairytales and I have quite an extensive collection of books on the subject I have collected over the years. Many of them are so rich with detail and are hauntingly poignant, they linger with you.
The English folktale 'The Buried Moon' is one of those. The version I am most familiar is by Joseph Jacobs. Here is my shortened version
In East Anglia when it was all marshes and bogs, evil creatures would roam at night looking to make mischief. It was only safe for folk to travel at night when the Moon shone bright and upon hearing this the kind moon decided to put on her black velvet cloak and come down to earth to see for herself.
Sadly for the moon as she made her way through the marshes, she lost her footing and fell into the bog. The evil creatures seized the opportunity and held her down beneath the murky waters and placed a large stone over her to trap her.
In a strange twist of fate, a lost traveller was wandering nearby and his path was illuminated by the glorious light which had filled the marshland as the moon’s hood had fallen back as she had fell. He made his way safely out of the marshes.
Days later when the local folk were worried as the new moon was yet to arrive; the traveller retold his lucky escape from the marshes. Suspecting this was no mere coincidence, a wise woman persuaded the locals to go to the marshes.
Leading them to the place where he had seen the glorious light, the traveller found the large stone. Pulling back the stone, they were all amazed to momentarily see the moon’s beautiful silver face floating to the top of the dark water before she rose back to the sky in a spectacular flash of blinding light.
To me this tale; shows the true magic of folktales. Beneath the darkness and horror lies the kindness of the moon and a tale of caring for each other. I created the piece during Folktale Week 2021 which is a week long instagram challenge. The original piece includes the creature's hands surrounding the moon as this is how I would create a book illustration.
However I decided to create a new print 'The Kind Moon' for my shop in which I have excluded the hands as I felt they overshadowed the moon and the real beauty of the tale is the light overcoming the darkness and the strength in helping one another.
The art print is also hand finished with gold ink in small areas. I really enjoy adding these subtle touches to prints as it is a way of offering my art in an affordable way but still has the personal touch. Also, I have a thing for adding gold wherever I can 😉 ⭐️
The art print is now available to purchase in my shop and I'd love to hear if you have heard of the tale before?
Take care until next time
Cassandra xx