Blog #5: Artemisia and The Country Bunny (and the Little Golden Shoes)

This painting, Madonna and Child, is believed to be one of Artemisia's earliest work. At age 16, she definitely demonstrates technical and compositional skills that many male artists never attained in their lifetime! In addition, , I notice such a sweet motherly tenderness which I haven't witnessed in past Madonna and Child paintings. This week, while at the library trying to locate the Artemisia's DVD (side note: not an easy task!), on my way out, my attention was drawn to a section of Easter books, and "The Country Bunny and The Golden Shoes" caught my eye. I checked it out planning to read it to my 5 yr old daughter. About 6 pages into it, my daughter grew bored, and wanted to know why the story was so long! I continued to read it without her and much to my chagrin, it held my attention. This book was written in 1939, and it's about 5 Easter Bunnies who have been chosen to deliver Easter baskets to all the children in the world. It is a highly coveted position---especially if you're a bunny. To be chosen, you must be the kindest, swiftest and wisest bunnies in the world. Needless to say, there's a lot of competition by the MALE species. But there was a young female bunny who dreamt one day she would be one of the five. However, she became a mom...and as the story unfolds, raises 21 bunnies. In spite of her responsibilities-- and to much dismay from her younger male competitors--she was awarded this coveted job by Grandfather Bunny. It's a heartwarming feminist story. So, my point is this, that despite society's prejudices--woman have proven to beat the odds, and lucky for us--accomplish amazing things leaving us and our children impressionable marks. In closing, Artemisia was the eldest of five children and the only one to show artistic skill. Her father recognised her abilities and began tutoring her. I guess there are some similarities between my two characters--Artemesia being the 5th Easter Bunny chosen by the old, kind wise Grandfather Bunny!