The Eerie and the Faerie

Well, October is just flying by, isn't it?  We're closely approaching the holiday of Samhain, All Hallows Eve, better known as Halloween.  And I thought it would be fun to explore the places where the Eerie and the Faerie intermingle.

We'll start with the unsettling...Faerie specimens.  The first ones are by Dan Baines, the artist behind the Derbyshire Fairy Hoax.

These are by artist Jacob Petersson.

More whimsical is this Halloween Faerie cross-stitch design by Nora Corbett.

And this antique Faerie-themed Halloween greeting.

Of course Voysey is one of the two godfathers of Domythic wallpaper design (along with William Morris of course).  His Bat and Poppy design is just exquisite, and the perfect blend of the charming with the mysterious...

I also love this Halloween Fairy paper doll from Etsy.

And this haunted faerie garden.

 Finally there's my new obsession: the utterly adorable and yet very Unseelie-looking dolls of artist Amanda Louise Spayd.  Amanda is from my home state, but her art first came to my attention from my dear British friend Bryony Whistlecraft, who has one of Amanda's pieces in her home.  I was immediately taken by these strange little creatures with their enormous eyes and distractingly real-looking resin teeth contrasting with their pastel and ruffly ensembles.  They remind me of a cross between the imagination of Guillermo del Toro and Mary Cicely Barker.  Love them!!  Must own one someday.

Amanda's work has most recently been abuzz on the internet because of the outstanding and very enchanting short film, The Maker, for which she provided the puppet main character.

So do enjoy your Halloween.  And remember...there is plenty of Unseelie in Faerie. 

Forest Floor Carpets

Our foresty bedroom is coming along, and as I was sitting in there today I thought "wouldn't it be wonderful if I could get rugs for our bedside that looked like part of the forest floor?"

And so it began....


We'll start with my favorite one...a reversible summer/autumn carpet.  I'd love to know where, how, and how much to get this.

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The same company makes this amazing wood cut rug.

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From what I could tell at the link, the below carpet is actually yarn.  Wow!

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Directions on how to make this grass carpet:

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Or you could just go with real moss.

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More yarn moss:

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Or maybe a rug made of *real* forest components?  Okay, not practical but still lovely.

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I really love this one below as well:

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A La Ronde

Many thanks to Horus for commenting on Sunday's post about Shell Cottage from Harry Potter.   Horus pointed out that the probable inspiration for the look of the location is a place called A La Ronde.  When I clicked the link, I saw a place so enchanting and unique it deserved its own post!

And of course it's in Devon.

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 The house was built for a pair of single female cousins in the late 1700s, and since that time, only one owner has not been a single woman.  The house is described as having "'a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child." 

The upstairs gallery is an awe-inspiring work of art, covered in shell mosaic.  Until recently it was open to the public, but now only accessible through a digital virtual tour to preserve it.

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All of the above images after the sculpture are from Joel Bybee on Flickr.  So many details of this beautiful and unique building are made of shells and natural items.  The tiles on a fireplace feature patterns made by moss, feathers and sand.  Flowers made of shells are displayed under a glass dome. 

I can hardly think of a more incredible example of real life magic in a domestic location by which the Harry Potter visual artist could be inspired.

Shell Cottage - Harry Potter

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Harry Potter is a series that created a remarkable and fully-absorbing new fantasy world for our generation.  The films took the visuals written by J.K. Rowling and made them manifest in incredible ways.  There could hardly be a film series with a wider plethora of Domythic locales.  One of my own favorites, however, is a simple house that was only featured for a brief time in one of the films: Shell Cottage, from the last Harry Potter film.  This house by the sea was where Dobby was buried and Harry found new courage to face the road ahead.

In the epic tome coffee table book, Harry Potter: Page to Screen, there is a section on the locations from Harry Potter.  Shell Cottage, however, only receives a one-page mention with no real photographs.

So what was I to do but to get out the DVD and take the best screen caps I could of this amazing little magical cottage by the sea?

A beautiful shot of the location of Shell Cottage.  I could get used to those views, couldn't you?

Also, of course, Dobby: (sad face)

Olivander recovers in one of the two rooms upstairs.

I love the way the stone or sand of the walls has shells embedded into it in a tile mosaic pattern.

Harry and Ron sit in the dining room area on the ground floor.  Again, more shell mosaics are embedded into the walls, and the diamond pane window is actually diamond-shaped.

Luna (my favorite character) lingers in the hallway/entrance.  It looks like more shells and items from the sea are embedded into the walls, almost like fossils.  A set of windchimes made from shells is next to her.

Oh that *kitchen*.  Give me a kitchen like that, and maybe I'd actually cook...

A zoomed-out image of Luna also shows the living room area of the cottage.  There's another enormous diamond-shaped window, and also a diamond-shaped window in the front door.

The goblin Griphook sits in the second upstairs bedroom at Shell Cottage. 

I don't know if I'd rather look at the windowsill or the view out the window if I was staying here...

Another view of the house from the front door shows that the kitchen is straight back, with a cozy table to eat.  A strange small slitted window is in the living room area.  The kitchen appears to be almost like a greenhouse with windows all around.  I can't imagine it would keep the place very cool on a hot summer day, but it sure would be cheery.

One more view of Ollivander's room, showing how some of the walls are left rougher, and others have a more smooth finish. 

So what was your favorite set from Harry Potter?  Or spot in Hogwarts?  I love Shell Cottage, but my favorite is still the Griffindor Common Room...