Sanna Annukka

Sanna Annuka is a half Finnish, half English illustrator and print maker whose work is influenced by nature and folklore.

Family trips beyond the Arctic Circle, camping in the nightless Lapland wilderness, hold some of my most treasured memories. The forests, lakes and wildlife of the region remains a constant inspiration. My personal work infuses nature, childhood memories and my love of storytelling and folklore.



Sunbird


Spirits of the North


Owl pair


Keane cover





Soul bird


In Karelia there was an ancient belief in the Sielulintu or Soul Bird. The Sielulintu was thought to deliver the soul to newborn babies and also to transport the soul to the afterlife at the moment of death. It was believed the Sielulintu protected a persons soul at it’s most vulnerable; when dreaming, and it was tradition to keep a carved wooden bird by the bedside to keep the soul safe during sleep.

Much more to see here:
Sanna Annuka's website

Book covers

Russian Art Nouveau book cover for The Fire-bird.



Arts and Crafts style book cover: "In Russet and Silver" by Edmund Gosse.

Dragon

By Laurel Long

The Starlight Hare

By Karen Davis

Blue!

Thanks to my friend, The Charcoal Burner, for this illustration by Annegert Fuchshuber.

The Wishing Star

One more by William Joyce.

Waiting-for-Spring

Frontispiece illustration for Waiting-for-Spring Stories by William Joyce; stories written by Bethany Roberts.

Books!

I managed to snaffle an armload of children's books from Saver's over the past two evenings, most for 69 cents apiece. It looks like most of my finds were dumped from childcare centers or school libraries. One of these nights I'll have to scan some of the illustrations.

Illustration by Jimmy Liao

Snail At Moonrise

Each night, Snail
unhooks himself from earth,
climbs a slick trail of silver
up, up
the horizon of log,
up stems of leaves
to their dewy tips,
seeking
with his tiny sandpaper tongue
morsels of green
to mix in his dark, moist body
and spin
into whorls of light.

Shell-maker
Moon-maker
gleaming silver-bright.
Each night:
darkness
into
light.

The poem by Joyce Sidman and illustration by Rick Allen are from Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.

Soizick Meister

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - early Chinese belief

The Intruder by Swiss-Canadian artist Soizick Meister



More here: soizimage