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Evelyn Lambart Shorts

The Lion and the Mouse is a classic fable that highlights how huge contributions can come from unexpected places, that a kindness is never wasted, and that even when you’re the king of the forest, you can be in need of help.

This 1976 version of the story was created by National Film Board technical director and ‘First Lady of Canadian Animation’ Evelyn Lambart in her signature style: “…paper cutouts transferred to lithograph plate which she would then paint and animate.”

In this short animation by Evelyn Lambart, a greedy little blue jay carries away whatever his beak can grasp. Berries, birds’ eggs (nests and all), and even the sun in the sky go into his secret cache. Nothing is safe from his consuming avarice. But, as in Lambart’s film Fine Feathers, there is a moral tucked away. The blue jay learns a lesson about the importance of sharing, and he and his friends are all the merrier for it.

Canadian animator Evelyn Lambart is celebrated for her trailblazing contributions to animation and her beautifully illustrated work with cut outs of construction paper and painted zinc. In 1942, she was the first woman animator to join the National Film Board of Canada where she worked for more than 25 years. The Hoarder, shown above, was created in 1969.

Fine Feathers (1968)

From Evelyn Lambart, renowned Canadian animator and technical director with the National Film Board of Canada, this is Fine Feathers, a 1968 cut paper animation about two rival birds that trade their plumage for green cedar and red oak leaves. Of her beautifully illustrated animation work, Lambart said:

“I loved to do the whole job myself, you know, figure out what you need to tell your story, and then to make it myself, to design the character and paint it and draw it and then to sit under the camera and move it. I did all the shooting myself too. I used to hope I was making films that were simple enough for children but still interesting to adults.”

St Blaise Abbey Color Palette

Leonilla Color Palette

In a daring pose reminiscent of harem scenes and odalisques, the princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn reclines on a low Turkish sofa on a veranda overlooking a lush tropical landscape. Only her unassailable social position made it possible for Franz Xaver Winterhalter to use such a sensual pose for a full-length portrait in Paris in 1843.

Known for her great beauty and intellect, the princess is resplendent in a luxurious gown of ivory silk moiré with a pink sash around her waist. A deep purple mantle wraps around her back and falls across her smooth arms. Under carefully arched eyebrows, her heavy lidded eyes gaze languidly at the viewer while she artfully toys with the large pearls around her neck. Winterhalter contrasted sumptuous fabrics and vivid colors against creamy flesh to heighten the sensuality of the pose, the model, and the luxuriant setting.

Image courtesy of The Ghetty Museum

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (German, 1805 - 1873)

Portrait of Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, 1843, Oil on canvas

142.2 × 212.1 cm (56 × 83 1/2 in.), 86.PA.534

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Champagne Color Palette

Turquoise Color Palette

Snow Tree Color Palette

Landscape with Lanterns Color Palette

Alcoholic Oranges

The word ‘isochronal‘ means “equal or uniform in time”—iso meaning equal and chrono referring to time—which makes sense when watching this mysterious isochronous curve video.

In this old Curiosity Show clip, science educator and co-host Rob Morrison demonstrates how to draw an isochronous or tautochrone curve and why these curves are extraordinary. Watch as every steel ball dropped on any point in the curve meets in the middle of the curve at the same time as a marble dropped from any point on the other side. Or as described by mathematician, physicist, astronomer and inventor Christiaan Huygens in 1659:

On a cycloid whose axis is erected on the perpendicular and whose vertex is located at the bottom, the times of descent, in which a body arrives at the lowest point at the vertex after having departed from any point on the cycloid, are equal to each other…

The award-winning Curiosity Show ran from 1972 to 1990 for school-age kids in Australia. Co-hosts Morrison and Deane Hutton won the rights to the show in 2012, and now share clips on their YouTube Channel.

John the Baptist (Reclining Baptist) Color Palette

The Hayfield Color Palette

The Rialto Bridge Color Palette

Rialto Bridge Color Palette

The Rialto Bridge is a famous bridge in Venice.

Photo courtesy of Shaun Dunmall © 2008

The Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto) is a bridge spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It is the oldest bridge across the canal and probably the most famous in the city.

 

The first dry crossing of the Grand Canal was a pontoon bridge built in 1181 by Nicolò Barattieri. It was called the Ponte della Moneta, presumably because of the mint that stood near its eastern entrance.

 

The development and importance of the Rialto market on the eastern bank increased traffic on the floating bridge. So it was replaced around 1250 by a wooden bridge. This structure had two inclined ramps meeting at a movable central section, that could be raised to allow the passage of tall ships. The connection with the market eventually led to a change of name for the bridge. During the first half of the 15th century two rows of shops were built along the sides of the bridge. The rents brought an income to the State Treasury, which helped maintain the bridge.

 

Maintenance was vital for the timber bridge. It was partly burnt in the revolt led by Bajamonte Tiepolo in 1310. In 1444 it collapsed under the weight of a crowd watching a boat parade and it collapsed again in 1524.

 

The idea of rebuilding the bridge in stone was first proposed in 1503. Several projects were considered over the following decades. In 1551 the authorities requested proposals for the renewal of the Rialto Bridge, among other things. Plans were offered by famous architects such as Jacopo Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, but all involved a Classical approach with several arches, which was judged inappropriate to the situation. Even the great Michelangelo was considered as designer of the bridge.

 

The present stone bridge, a single span designed by Antonio da Ponte, was finally completed in 1591. It is remarkably similar to the wooden bridge it succeeded. Two inclined ramps lead up to a central portico. On either side of the portico the covered ramps carry rows of shops. The engineering of the bridge was considered so audacious that architect Vincenzo Scamozzi predicted future ruin. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.

Beryl Cook

Beryl was born in Egham, Surrey, as one of four sisters. Her parents, Adrian S. B. Lansley and Ella Farmer-Francis, separated very early and her mother moved to Reading, Berkshire with her daughters. Beryl attended Kendrick School there, but left education at fourteen and started to work in a variety of jobs. Having moved to London towards the end of the war, Beryl attempted working as a model and showgirl. In 1948, she married her childhood friend John Cook, who was in the merchant navy. When he retired from the sea, they briefly ran a pub in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk. Their son John was born in 1950, and in 1956, the family left to live in Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). They would remain in Africa for the next decade, where in 1960, Cook produced her first painting, Hangover.

The family returned to England in the mid-sixties and moved to East Looe, Cornwall in 1965, where Beryl focused more on her painting. They then moved to Plymouth in 1968, where they bought a guest house on the Hoe. Cook shared her time between running the guest house and producing more and more paintings. In the mid-seventies, her works caught the attention of one of their guests, who subsequently put her in touch with the management of the Plymouth Arts Centre, where her first exhibition took place in November 1975. The exhibition was a great success and resulted in a cover feature in The Sunday Times. This was followed by an exhibition at the Portal Gallery in London in 1976, where Cook continued to exhibit regularly until her death.

Cook was enjoying growing popularity and her paintings soon were in great demand. Her first book of collected works was published by John Murray in 1978, and in 1979, a film was made for LWT's The South Bank Show, where she discussed her work with Melvyn Bragg. Cook then collaborated with such authors as Edward Lucie-Smith and Nanette Newman by providing illustrations for their books. She continued to regularly publish books of her own artworks up into the early 2000s, including Beryl Cook's New York (1985), inspired by her visit to the New York City.

In 1994, she received the Best Selling Published Artist Award from the Fine Art Trade Guild. In 1995, Beryl Cook was awarded the Order of the British Empire. She did not attend the official ceremony due to her shyness, and accepted the honour at a quieter ceremony in Plymouth the following year. Post Office reproduced one of her paintings as a first class postage stamp. In 2002, her painting The Royal Couple featured in the Golden Jubilee exhibition in London. Tiger Aspect Productions made two animated films called Bosom Pals using characters from her paintings, voiced by Dawn French, Rosemary Leach, Alison Steadman and Timothy Spall, and broadcast in February 2004. Channel 4 News produced a short film on Beryl and her work in 2005, and she was also the featured artist in BBC Two's The Culture Show in 2006.

Beryl Cook died on 28 May 2008 at her home in Plymouth. Peninsula Arts of the Plymouth University mounted a major retrospective exhibition in November that year. Two books devoted to the artist were subsequently released, Beryl Cook 1926-2008 and The World of Beryl Cook. In 2010, two of her paintings were used as part of the Rude Britannia exhibition at the Tate Britain. Beryl Cook's paintings have been acquired by the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth Art Gallery and Durham Museum.