{"id":2124,"date":"2011-04-27T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T06:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2124"},"modified":"2011-04-27T00:01:12","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T06:01:12","slug":"a-nicoletta-ceccoli-sighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2124","title":{"rendered":"A Nicoletta Ceccoli Sighting"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n

Fight<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

“The dark side of a nursery rhyme.” I wish I’d written that. That is from a reader over at this Amazon link<\/a><\/strong> who has seen Italian illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli’s<\/a><\/strong> Beautiful Nightmares<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, released by Soleil Editions (France) last Fall. “Don’t let the rosy cheeks and dewy eyes fool you,” this person added. “{T}hese characters are in control of the subliminal messages that abound….” <\/p>\n

I’ve got some illustrations from that book to share here this morning, this book which is a must-have for any Ceccoli fans. I’ve had Beautiful Nightmares<\/em> for a while and have been wanting to share some of these images, but last week I stumbled upon this below video of Nicoletta speaking about her work — in celebration of an overseas exhibit of hers. (She’s speaking in English, incidentally; at first I thought I’d be seriously out of luck and just guessing on the Italian.) So, I thought today I’d share the images along with the video. <\/p>\n

7-Imp readers will recognize her work. She first stopped by here in 2008<\/a><\/strong> to share some art and say a few words. I then featured her illustrations here<\/a><\/strong> from Kate Bernheimer’s<\/a><\/strong> The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum<\/a><\/em><\/strong>; here<\/a><\/strong> from Debbie Ouellet’s<\/a><\/strong> How Robin Saved Spring<\/a><\/strong><\/em>; and here<\/a><\/strong> from Jacqueline K. Ogburn’s<\/a><\/strong> A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Beasts<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. (Note: Ms. Bernheimer contributes a short written piece at the opening of Beautiful Nightmares<\/em>.) <\/p>\n

I believe Beautiful Nightmares<\/em> is the first collection of Ceccoli’s work. If you’re a fan, you’re in for a treat. It’s stunning, all her luminous, surreal images in one thick volume. In last year’s post about A Dignity of Dragons<\/em>, I noted Kirkus’s<\/em> words on the matter of looking beyond what you see on the surface when it comes to Ceccoli’s work: “Every figure is pretty,” they wrote, “but the illustrator staves off preciosity by injecting plenty of drama into her compositions.” She’s also not afraid to disturb. Or surprise. Or send you into a fairy-tale wonderland reverie of one sort or another and then jolt you out of it. It is a mysterious, sometimes dark whimsy, this world of hers. <\/p>\n

Here is the video—Nicoletta musing on beauty, cruelty, fragility, not wanting to grow up, and throw in some monsters and impending threats, too—followed by a couple more images. Anyone wanting to see more of her artwork would do well to simply google her name. There are many of her portfolios at various places online. <\/p>\n