The Fox & The Grapes
Translated by George Fyler Townsend, via Project Gutenberg.
A FAMISHED FOX saw some clusters of ripe black grapes hanging from a trellised vine. She resorted to all her tricks to get at them, but wearied herself in vain, for she could not reach them. At last she turned away, hiding her disappointment and saying: “The Grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought.”
People often downplay what they desire when they cannot attain it.
According to Scholarly Journal Wikipedia (ahem), a guy named Phaedrus recorded this fable in Latin prior to his death in 50 AD, so it’s at least 1,973 years old—though, almost certainly older. Over time, storytellers would change the fruit to whatever their audience best recognized: cherries in France, rowanberries in Scandinavia, and raspberries in areas of Germany.
MY SHOP IS OPEN!!
It’s here!!! I am officially soft-launching my retail site and offering a 20% off discount to you lovely newsletter subscribers for the rest of September! I’ve added new prints, enamel pins, and greeting cards for you to enjoy. Check it out at lizvolpi.com/shop and use the discount code: ARTFABLE20
Other Work Stuff
Y’ALL, I’m super honored to have been featured in the article “100+ Resources for Hand Letterers and Calligraphers” on the Paperlike Blog! It’s written by the INCREDIBLE Alanna Flowers, a lettering artist who is also one of the kindest / coolest people on the Internet. This is seriously the most comprehensive guide to hand-lettering and calligraphy you’ll ever need, so check it out if you are interested in skilling-up.
And finally, the Almost Autumn Art Challenge is in full swing! It lasts through September 23rd (the first day of autumn / my 32nd birthday), so you have plenty of time to jump in if you want! Check out the prompts below and read more about how to participate in this Instagram post.
Freebie Zone
New freebie! Some of you might recognize this coloring page, I made it a little over two years ago for my local Creative Mornings chapter in Dallas. This project kinda unlocked something in my brain and, ever since, I’ve been super into drawing little lady bugs and bees like this. Anyway, I’m bringing it out of the archives for you! I hope you enjoy giving it color as much as I enjoyed making it. :)
Epilogue
SO, how’d you like that fable?! This one really highlights for me that, even though we’ve learned a ton over the last 2,000 years, in a lot of ways human behavior has remained the same. I mean, it sucks to admit defeat! Even worse, it sucks to deal with people who CAN’T admit defeat!! Turns out we’ve been annoyed by this kind of behavior for millennia, lol.
Anyway, as always, reply to this email if you have any questions about my work, or if you just want to say hi. Otherwise, catch ya next time (:
Totsiens,
-Liz