Heather Pollington, an illustrator known for her medieval and Byzantine-inspired artwork in the Tales for Once and Ever series, shares her insights on the enchanting 'Rapunzel and the Evil Witch.' She discusses the evolution of the Rapunzel narrative, exploring critiques of modern fairy tale adaptations and emphasizing character transformation. The conversation highlights intricate symbolism, particularly the relationship between Rapunzel and the witch, while also delving into artistic choices that bring deeper meaning to the story. Expect profound reflections on love, isolation, and female characterization in this classic tale.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Artist's Personal Journey To Rapunzel
Heather discovered a renewed fascination with Rapunzel while working on Into the Woods and reading editions with altered endings.
She watched modern retellings shift elements like the prince's blindness and the cabbage into flowers, motivating her to revisit the traditional tale.
insights INSIGHT
Recovering Subtlety In Fairy Tales
Jonathan and Heather argue modern feminist edits sometimes strip subtlety from fairy tales rather than resolve real issues.
Their aim is to recover traditional depths while answering legitimate modern concerns about characterization.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Iconic Style With Expressive Faces
Use iconographic and Palekh traditions to convey narrative clearly through stylized devices like scale and color.
Combine that language with more expressive faces for modern readers, especially in children's books.
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đ RAPUNZEL AND THE EVIL WITCH IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE: https://rapunzelbook.com/
Heather Pollington and I are thrilled to share our brand-new storybook with you, 'Rapunzel and the Evil Witch'! Following 'Snow White and the Widow Queen' and 'Jack and the Fallen Giants', this third fairy tale feels like the culmination of our work so far. With this book youâll begin to notice the different threads connecting across the series. Heather has created stunning illustrations that weave medieval and Byzantine influences into a style perfectly suited to the fairy tale world.
In this episode, we walk through the process behind the book, the symbolism of Rapunzelâs story, and what's unique about our version of the story. We show many of the book's illustrations. I can't wait to hear what you think!
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/aEWgHif0NS8
Timestamps: 00:00 - Announcement and opening 01:36 - Intro music 02:02 - Introduction 03:41 - Heather's journey to Rapunzel 06:40 - Critiques of fairy tales 07:46 - Tangled 10:12 - Exploring Rapunzel imagery 10:24 - Early sketches 12:14 - Iconography and Palekh fairy tale tradition 15:54 - Frontispiece 17:51 - Green flowers 20:12 - The witch's garden 22:59 - The dark exchange 25:48 - The circle of protection 28:55 - A sense of freedom 30:43 - The moon tower 35:04 - The haunting melody 37:40 - Love in the tower 41:47 - The dream 43:27 - Flax into gold 46:02 - Rain from heaven 53:43 - The wooden throne 56:28 - Order
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NEW COURSE: Jubilees and the Nephilim, by Fr. Stephen De Young - Register now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/jubilees-and-the-nephilim - Course Length: 6 Weeks, 12 Hours - Dates: Live classes are on Tuesday at 7 - 9 pm Central Time, starting August 19th through September 23rd, 2025 - Participants will be given access to lesson recordings. - The course is hosted on the Symbolic World Circle Community platform. Sign up as a free member before making your purchase. - Price: 180 USD, Involved patrons qualify for 10% discount. Step into the strange and revelatory world of the Book of Jubilees, an ancient retelling of Genesis that shaped ancient Jewish thought and still echoes through Christian tradition. In this course, Fr. Stephen De Young guides students through the bookâs expansion of biblical history, unveiling the significance of the fall of the angels, the rise of the Nephilim, and the heavenly origins of the feasts of the Old and New Testaments. Along the way, he'll explore how Jubilees reinterprets creation, demonology, and the prophetic structure of time, and why these themes mattered not only to Second Temple Judaism, but to later Christian understandings of the unseen world.
Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/
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