Tasha Tudor, the children’s illustrator known for her bucolic watercolors and old-fashioned lifestyle, died Wednesday at her Vermont home. Called a 19th-century Martha Stewart, Tudor's art appeared in nearly 100 books and countless greeting cards, plates, dolls, and quilts. The New York Times once applauded her for capturing “the same fragile beauty of early spring evenings.”
The Boston native, born Starling Burgess, claimed to be the reincarnation of a sea captain’s 19th-century wife. The mindset matched her style, which relied on homespun clothing, livestock, and a home without electricity or running water. Tudor, who handled a dulcimer as well as a gun, said her spirit would return to the 1830s. She was 92. (More obituary stories.)