As an artist, I avidly encourage everyone to explore their own creativity, in whatever form that may take.
In these Features section, a range of my art works and how / why they were created are explained.
Of course some pieces of work take literally years from start to finish- not because they are very large, but because the creative act is a force that has its own cycle, and we can never really predict it.
How do I work: When inspiration hits, I do quick drawings, doodles or sketches on note books- sometimes any piece of paper I can find! At some point I then sit down to draw them out / flesh them out in detail. (after many cups of coffees, television programs that just happen to be most interesting as they have never been before!). Once this is done (the agonising process of primal fire that just will not stop till it’s energy has been spent!), I put the work away- and this is where the `years’ might come in! And one day when the mood and circumstances take me, I take it out of some long forgotten folder and (after more cups of coffee) start painting! Of course once the painting starts, I become utterly involved, irritated by interruptions of having to eat, drink and sleep.. till the work is done. Occasionally mistakes happen, water spills, (worse- coffee spills!) (even worse, I accidentally rinse my paint brushes in the coffee cup!) But the joy has always been in correcting the mistakes and finding that the finished painting turned out far better than planned! Serendipity?!!
`The Calling’ was initially done as a painting/crayon work on A4 paper. But few years later, I took a photo of it, and whilst keeping the dragon intact and enhancing it, I added photos of April, backgrounds (countryside from Cornwall, cliffs from Hasting) by building up layers (infact the original photo of the `girl’ is a nude one, and the cloths were built up using other photos of fabric!!)
`Cover design’ for a book that I am now working on. No less than 8 separate photos were used in creating this `scenery’ of the little `boy’ playing hide & seek in the woods, with wild life. Key symbols relating to his `mythology’ have been placed in. Some photos were taken in Kent, Richmond park & Windsor Great Park.
 |
The Hern graphics (left) is quite old.. almost 6 years, and was initially created for the ritual group `Hern’s Tribe’ (something I started). You can see how the original photo of me (beardless, short cropped hair) was digitally pained and enhanced. The interlaced background of Trees came from a photo of trees i had taken in Wimbledon! Few years ago,the same art was used in A Pagan Federation magazine `Pagan Dawn’.
The eco-art `Deer Goddess’ (right) is one that my partner April and I created in Richmond park some 3-4 years ago, using twigs and pieces we found nearby. Once finished, we did some meditative work with the creation, and left it for the natural elements (and real Deers) to scatter it again. We can just imagine if a passer-by had seen it (it wa slightly hidden) and got a surprise
Moor Witch – from sketch to painting!
Project: Gaia Sol Convenion- Props & stage backdrop painting.
The slide show gives a snap shot of some of the stages, in creating the large `Rock’. (this is a photo of a stone-sun dial I found in Avebury, which became the inspiration for the Convention theme & name `Gaia-Sol’ . I wanted to re-create the stone as a prop for the Gaia-Sol convention, which you can see in this slideshow (right).)
It was cut out of hard-board, wrapped in chicken wire, and pasted with many layers of news paper (using wall paper paste.) Some work was done in the garden (it was early June, so warm enough for paste to dry), and then painting with acrylics and poster paint (obtained in plastic bottles from art shops for £2 each!).
The poster took many days. I worked on it while it was mounted on my bedroom wall, from initial drawings to final painting!). I used similar animal mottifs from an older `eco-poster’ (Extinction is Forever).
QuantumPhoenix 