The Fairy Circus 1931

Dorothy Lathrop animated her own world with ink, making a scene that feels like a dream you half-remember. I imagine her, bent over the page, scratching out a universe with tiny marks. Her pen must have danced across the surface, swirling and stippling to create this flurry of fairy activity. The light and dark areas create a stage where the drama unfolds. Those fairies are riding rodents like they're in the Kentucky Derby, while their pals cheer them on from the sidelines. Is that one fairy wearing clown makeup? Lathrop was an illustrator of children’s books so this world-building reminds me of Arthur Rackham, but also of a dream world made up by Max Ernst. It is as if she were opening a portal with each stroke, inviting us to get lost in the joyful chaos. I admire how she made the unseen visible.