What if the East Wind carried not just a magical nanny, but a work of art that captures her mystery, her mischief, and her impossible grace? This original literary henna artwork shows Mary Poppins floating through the clouds with her umbrella—part bedtime magic, part philosophical riddle.
The portrait itself is 8x10 inches, mounted in an 11x14 double mat (black bottom, white top) so it’s ready to frame. The surface is unusual: I didn’t use traditional watercolor paper, but instead a piece of commercially printed blue paper with a watercolor texture already built in. It gives the background an ethereal wash of sky, before a single line was drawn—like the East Wind itself had already left its mark.
From there, the process becomes part of the story. With more than 30 years as a professional graphic designer (and National and Regional Addy Awards along the way), I started this design digitally, using the same tools I’ve honed in advertising and publishing. I then transferred it using stenciling methods borrowed from both tattoo and henna traditions—techniques I know well from 8 years of practicing henna art on Clearwater Beach. The outlines are drawn in 3D paint, using the same bottles I once held in my hands at the shore. The raised lines mimic the thickness of fresh henna paste or jagua gel, giving the piece a tactile, almost living dimension.
Like Travers’s books, this artwork lives between worlds. Mary Poppins isn’t just a character here—she’s an archetype, the kind of figure who balances order and chaos, whispering secrets from the stars even as she tidies the nursery. There’s a touch of rebellion in her serenity, the same reason her stories were once banned for being “politically impolite.” This piece, too, insists on that paradox: familiar and strange, lighthearted yet profound.
✨ Details
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Original artwork (not a print)
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Image size: 8x10 inches
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Mat size: 11x14 inches, double mat (black base, white top)
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Medium: 3D paint on commercially printed blue paper with watercolor texture
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Ready to frame
Pair it with the 1952 first American edition of Mary Poppins in the Park also found in my store and you’ll have a companion set: one in words, one in art—two different mediums carrying the same reminder that adulthood without wonder is tyranny, and magic often comes disguised in sensible shoes.
