There is something completely captivating in Pearly Yon's range of gypsy folklore illustrations. Simone Hodgskiss' visual translation of these bitter-sweet tales of love, tragedy and adventure is flawlessly narrative as she links design elements to different pieces of the stories. Yet, even without knowing the intriguing background tales, the works stand alone as pieces of art and sophisticated design.
All illustrations are sold as limited edited Giclée prints on Hahnemuhle paper and measure 330mm x 420mm.
This is a tragic love story of a young maiden who sold her family to the devil so that in return she would receive a violin. Upon hearing the violin the woodsman would be lured to the young maiden and fall in love. They say that people laugh and cry and dance when they hear the violin because it is such a tragically beautiful sound.
This story begins when a mother runs away from her abusive husband and takes her two sons with her. While camping in the forest the eldest son stumbles upon a troop of thieves who plan to break into the castle and rob the King of all his wealth and his only daughter. The eldest son befriends the thieves pretending he will help them. They send the young man over the fence of the castle first to test his loyalty and to scope out the grounds and bring back anything of worth. While he is in the castle he sees the princess asleep and falls in love with her. He cannot help himself and tears the golden bed sheet that protects the princess and her virtue. When the son gets to the fence he tells the theives to crawl through a crack in the fence one at a time, and one by one he beheads them. Months later the princess is pregnant but does not know who is the father of her child. She offers free food and drink to all the men who come to eat at her table in an attempt to find the father of her child. When she looks into the eyes of the forester's eldest son she knows it is him she is looking for.
This is the story of a stubborn King who would not let a humble, honest Woodsman marry his daughter. The King made a condition with the young man, that he needed to bring him three golden hairs from the Sun God before he could become the Prince. The young man accepted the challenge and on his journey he found the Fountain of Youth, the Tree of Eternal Life and the Sun God. He returned to the King successful, with three golden hairs from the Sun God and was granted the Princess's hand in marriage. When the King heard of the sights the Woodsman had seen on his journey the King ran to go and seek these places for himself. When it came to crossing the river, the King asked the boat keeper to take him to the other side and the Boat Keeper gave him the oar. That is where the King remained for the rest of his life. Unlike the Woodsman, he did not know that when the Boat Keeper gives you the oar, it is a curse for life.
A little bit about Pearly Yon :
The adventures of Pearly Yon began in 2010 as a creative release for Simone Hodgskiss who had spent many years grinding away in the ad industry and decided to take the brave leap into free-lancing. She now works on an array of different projects – varying from wine labels to logos to editorial illustrations - but her highlights are the self-initiated creative ventures such as her beautiful forklore illustrations or the Tea Cup Cushion Range she designed in collaboration with Mingo Lamberti. The name Pearly Yon came from Simone's grandmother who always said “whatever you do make sure you do it properly” which is a motto Simone practises with each project Pearly Yon undertakes - each work has a distinct sense of narrative and thoughtful integrity.
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