Goblin Market

This book was provided by Gillian Babcock for a round robin. The story "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti was first published in 1862. This contemporary edition includes paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and illustrations by William Morris. The book jacket describes the story as, "A deliciously dark rhyming fairy tale, Goblin Market tells the story of two beautiful, virginal sisters seduced by lewd goblin men serving up luscious but ruinous fruits."

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These pages were actually the last ones I altered. It took me a few weeks to realize I had the book "Faeries" in my posession. This book offered a great description of goblins along with some illustrations. I thought these elements elements would be a great way to enhance Christina Rossetti's story. The illustration on the right is an antique painting I pasted in to cover up the text underneath.

For several pages, the story talks about a silver penny. To draw attention to the lines referring to the silver penny, I covered up most of the text on the left. I chose the blue/gray and silver papers to complement the illustration on the right. A foreign coin was glued down to represent the silver penny in the story.

This was a fun opportunity to interpret the lines about a penny jingling and bouncing in a purse. I chose the silky red paper to add color behind the purses and I like the contrast next to the rich dark blue of the dress on the opposite page.

OK, I know these two pages are disturbing, but I wanted to represent the fact that this is a dark, disturbing story. At first while I worked on these pages I was listening to a CD of Ella Fitzgerald. At some point I realized the music was all wrong ... too light and kicky. So I threw in a Tori Amos CD which was just what I needed. Her strong voice and deep lyrics helped me get in the flow.

Copyright Jenny Taliadoros | Jenny's Art Space | P.O. Box 14 | Kingfield, ME 04947