Not all meanings are meant to be clear at once. Some ideas take time. Some words are designed to lead us on inner journeys, with truth hidden deep inside them. Brian Froud More Quotes by Brian Froud More Quotes From Brian Froud The myths and legends about Faerie are many and diverse, and often contradictory. Only one thing is certain - that nothing is certain. All things are possible in the land of Faerie. Brian Froud legends fairy land Naming a fairy is notoriously difficult, because they don't particularly like to be named. There are so many of them, and humans have always wanted to categorize them. In that way, we think we can have more control over them. Brian Froud fairy way thinking Spirits were seen to be very much part of the everyday world, and you were accosted by spirits all the time. It's only really quite recently that we've relegated the fantastic as being just imagination and not real and having no purpose. Brian Froud everyday real imagination It seems to me that art has lost its connection to spirit. Brian Froud connections spirit art I went and studied graphic design, because it seemed to me that advertising is more honest - the image actually has a function. But once I started on that, I realized that was really boring. Brian Froud advertising honest design I live in a house that's incredibly old, and it's typical that part of it is slightly in the ground. It's very earthed. It's almost like living in a hobbit house. Brian Froud typical house Nobody wanted to publish a book about fairies; they said people wouldn't be interested. Luckily, I discovered Lady Cottington and her pressed fairies, which revived a huge amount of interest in fairies, so I could go ahead and do the book I wanted to do. Brian Froud fairy book people To me, intolerance leads down a dreadful path that the world sometimes seems to be going to. Brian Froud path sometimes world It was hard for me to move forward, because I take responsibility for what I introduce into the world through my paintings. So to actually introduce something evil or bad was quite hard for me. Brian Froud responsibility evil moving In college, I became interested in folk tales and fairy tales. Gradually I became more and more interested in the underlying meaning of it all and the possibility of the reality of real fairies. Brian Froud fairy-tale real college It was ironic that there I was finally painting the pictures I'd always wanted to paint and feeling very much at home in the countryside, and I ended up working in New York City, which is definitely the archetypal city. Brian Froud cities new-york home I had a job as an illustrator, and I wanted to change the direction of my work. I moved to the country, and immediately I started to paint fairies and trolls. Brian Froud troll jobs country In the 20th century, artists did a great disservice to fairies. They painted fairies in a way that was shallow and trite. So when people see my stuff, they suddenly realize the depth of fairies. Brian Froud depth artist people You do not see fairies through the eyes, you see them through the heart and that took me a long time to learn because I was always trying to see them through my eyes. Brian Froud always-trying eye heart I paint the spirit and soul of what I see. Brian Froud spirit-and-soul soul spirit