We are 75% of the way to our initial goal - Thanks to everyone who has been sharing the project with friends! We are just wrapping up the book this week, and wanted to give you a little peek at how the art progressed from initial idea to the front spread!

One thing we are most excited about with our new album, To Warm the Winter Hearth, is the artwork! We've spent months collaborating with the incredible illustrator Matt Spencer, who truly brought our vision to life in ways that far exceeded our expectations!

Join the crowdfunding for the album here: To Warm the Winter Hearth

The songs on this album come from a variety of midwinter traditions and celebrations that are rich with characters and symbols, and from the beginning we knew we wanted the art to depict as many of them as possible, all mashed up together in a giant party! We think of the artwork as a bit of a Where's Waldo or scavenger hunt for all the hidden gems and special meaning, and we wanted to share some of those secrets with early backers.

In the cover spread above, you can clearly see us leading the procession of revelers towards the house on the hill. Just behind us, the four men in colorful costumes are the four members of Nowell Sing We Clear, a group that was an integral part of our holiday celebrations as we grew up and inspired so much of our album (and include Lauren's dad Fred, playing fiddle)!

Many of the images come directly from the lyrics of our songs: the red fox is featured in our first track Here We Come A-Wassailing, and Derby Ram in the righthand corner has a whole family of songs dedicated to his legend. By the ram's feet, you can see a timid hare like the one mentioned in Time to Remember the Poor. There are people beating on pots and pans and dancing around a bonfire from Welcome In Another Year, and just above the ram's head you can see Satan falling on his nose as he does in Satan Es Ben Estonat!

There are also some images that are more of an inside joke among us. Do you see the camel with a rider playing an instrument? This is also a reference to Satan Es Ben Estonat, but not because a camel is actually mentioned in the song. One verse of the song has the line, "Enflatz la calamèla," and when we were first learning the song, we joked that it must mean "inflate the camel!" The verse is actually about playing the cymbals and the chalumeau (a clarinet-like instrument) to celebrate Satan's downfall, but when it came time to brainstorm imagery for the book, it seemed fitting to include our imaginary friend the camel in this scene as well.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to "easter eggs" hidden in the art. What other references can you spot here? Do you have questions about details you notice? We're happy to tell all the stories!

In harmony and celebration,

Lauren, Jeremy, Lynn, and Will

Please do keep sharing and thanks for your support <3