Introduction
What is "The Stories of The Flowers"?
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote the original fairytale called The Snow Queen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in Danish in New Fairy Tales. (Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samling). It tells the story of of a boy, Kai, and a girl, Gerda, who are best friends. One day Kai gets a piece of cursed mirror in his eye and from then on he becomes cruel and unhappy. He no longer finds joy in nature or in the love of his family. The only thing he finds beautiful is the cold, mathematical perfection of snowflakes. Soon the mysterious Snow Queen comes and whisks him away in her sled to her icy palace in the north. Gerda goes off on a journey in search Kai with hopes of rescuing him and bringing him back home.
Gerda has many adventures on her journey and meets many strange and interesting characters. One of the first she meets is an old woman who lives in a house deep in the forest.
This old woman has a lovely garden with flowers of every kind. Desperate to find Kai, Gerda goes through the garden and asks each flower if they have seen him. But the flowers are so self centered the can only talk about themselves. This book is a collection of their stories.
The Stories
There are 6 flowers that tell their story to Gerda:
The stories are taken directly from an early English translation by Mrs. H. B. Paull in 1888. The language and even the spelling reflect the cultural attitude of the era but at the same time we see Andersen's creativity and imagination shine through.
The tiger lily for example:
And what, said the tiger-lily? “Hark, do you hear the drum?— ‘turn, turn,’—there are only two notes, always, ‘turn, turn.’ Listen to the women’s song of mourning! Hear the cry of the priest! In her long red robe stands the Hindoo widow by the funeral pile. The flames rise around her as she places herself on the dead body of her husband; but the Hindoo woman is thinking of the living one in that circle; of him, her son, who lighted those flames. Those shining eyes trouble her heart more painfully than the flames which will soon consume her body to ashes. Can the fire of the heart be extinguished in the flames of the funeral pile?”
“I don’t understand that at all,” said little Gerda.
“That is my story,” said the tiger-lily.
The Book
The book itself is what is known as a carousel book. It is kind of pop up book which when fully open creates a 360 degree circle.
There are 6 pie shaped sections each telling a different flower's story.
The narcissus for example:
Untie the ribbons and the book can be displayed horizontally
All 3d artwork is based on my original paintings. Prints of the paintings are available for sale.
Check back for additional posts with more details about the history of the story and the process of making the book.
