The Fairy World of Jessie Marion King

Jessie Marion King was born on March 20, 1875.She was the youngest of four daughters in the family with five children. Her father Reverend James King was a Minister and she was raised in a strictly religious environment. Her talent for drawing was not supported by her parents but by governess and housekeeper Mary McNab who later, when Jessie married and established her own household lived with her.Jessie Marion King was schooled at Glasgow School of Art where she won her first of many awards. Her style was heavily influenced by Art Nouveau with several original additions. Her typical early works were pen and ink illustrations on vellum. Dotted lines which created somehow a transcendental 'fairy' feel became one of her signature elements and it is our intention to focus just on her approach to fairies and fairy tales.Her career lasted more than half a century which means her interests and style changed quite a lot. Anyway, her approach with an immense sense of detail and love of vivid colors is always recognizable. To be honest, due huge amount of work not all of her creations are of top quality yet her oppus is still astonishing.FairiesWhen she was just a kid, he fell asleep outdoors and woke up convinced the fairies visited her. She believed in fairies all of her life and drew them in many different situations on numerous occasions.Here they are.

Jessie Marion King was a writer too. Maybe the most intimate of her books is Mummy's Bedtime Story Book which she signed by just 'Marion'. The whole book can be explored here.Mermaids were one of her favorite themes as well. Here are a few examples.

Her distinctive ethereal style gave her several opportunities to dive into the fairy realm. Illustrations of classic fairy tales were no exception.You'll notice dots forming the circles around the heads of portrayed characters, somehow like creating aureolas, just like angels.On different occasions, she made a few illustrations of classic fairy tales and legends. Always with her special touch of originality, of course. When are talking about Beauty and the Beast it's almost always the Beast who gets the most attention.Well, Jessie focused on Beauty instead.

The dark tones of Piper of Hamelin are completely erased in her approach. Her piper is realy pied.

Or Sleeping Beauty ...

We also can't skip the legend about King Wenceslas.

And look how she saw the famous scene from Frog King. Both characters look a bit out of this world, each caught in his or her bubble, looking for love in this often so cruel world.

By the way, the dress of the princess is a story on its own. Her gown doesn't look European at all, while the fairy tale is definitely one of the most famous examples of European literature. Its exotic look is very likely a consequence of Jessie's fascination with batik, which is the name of the textile and special technique for coloring textiles.Jessie M. King is actually considered one of the pioneers of batik in Scotland. She was introduced to this specific way of creating patterns with the help of hot wax while living in Paris where her husband got a position as a professor between 1911 and 1914. The word batik is very likely closely related to tiktik which means dot (among other meanings) and we all know how deeply was Jessie in love with dots. She wrote a brochure titled How Cinderella Was Able to Go to the Ball.

The story is based on classic Cinderella but with some twists and it gradually evolves into a simple textbook. There were three sisters who would like to go to the ball but only two dresses. But Cinderella was lucky. With some help from the fairy godmother who just for this occasion came from Java and some patience, she got the most beautiful dress ...Way more faithful was her work on Oscar Wilde's House of Pomegranates.

As you can see, no matter what project was assigned to her, she always managed to include some fairy dust. Even more, she spread it all over and her legacy is obvious. It can be seen and felt through her work and through her lessons given to numerous students.To everybody who believes in fairies, actually.Jessie Marion King died after suffering a heart attack on August 3rd, 1949._{This webpage is a participant of The Vintage Artists' Project}