Description: We like the bright berries against the cool blue winter sky in "Cluster of Rowanberries with Snow" by Finnish artist Eric O. W. Ehrström, dated 1908. Ehrstrom was an amazing talent. He wrote books, designed jewelry (including a crown for the King of Finland in 1918), designed room interiors, worked with metal to create items both small (ex. vases, boxes) and large (ex. copper doors), while also working with enamel, stained glass, lino prints, and more. He lived from 1881-1934.
Description: The curving lines of the mountain, trees, river, and houses make the farming village feel welcoming and comfortable. The houses have a sort of organic feel to them - they remind us a little of mushrooms. Sekka created this woodcut as part of his woodblock collection "Flowers of A Hundred Worlds" 1909-1910.
Description: French artist Amédée Joyau created this color woodcut titled "Crépuscule à Erquy (Côtes-du-Nord)" (Twilight in Erquy). He showed the beautifully peaceful costline of the shoreline in Erquy, a fishing village in northwestern France. [Joyau notes the location of Erquy as Côtes-du-Nord, which was the pre-1956 name of the current Côtes-d'Armor. Side note - Albert Uderzo was inspired by the coastline of Erquy for Asterix's village.]
Description: At Hidden Walnuts, squirrel illustrations always catch our eye. We really like this art nouveau wallpaper (and borders) from French designer Maurice Pillard Verneuil's " L'animal dans la décoration" (Animals in Decoration). They are dated 1897, and the designs are of: Swifts and honeysuckle, border. Squirrels and hazel tree, wallpaper. Birds and flowering hazel tree, border.
Description: This is a cropped detail of Botticelli's painting - both to make it easier to see the expressions and also to avoid seeing some unpleasantness beyond the crop. Also known as "The Banquet in the Pine Forest" it shows a scene from the Decameron, where news of a proposed arranged marriage was not received well.
