The Shadow

Digital painting and photo texture.

I love the idea that the small rabbit has become terrified of his own shadow, failing to recognize his own projection. This is both literal and symbolic; the shadow self/unconscious, etc.

The shadow rabbit escapes with plans of his own, he has a purpose.

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Inbetween remembering and forgetting...

To see larger and with more detail, please click the image.

Digital drawing/painting (rough sketches created individually, then collaged into a larger piece)...

Imagine there's a part of you that has become split off, or trapped somewhere else in time. The past, perhaps. Most likely. I think that they are aspects of the same person, struggling to become whole. The floating girl is that missing part of the self which haunts dreams and possibly even the places of the past where she still walks. Always looking for an answer.

I wonder about the ghosts which belong to the souls of those still living.

The following image came together whilst playing with 'leftovers' from the one above. I really love the black cat!

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weird girls conjuring things....

not sure about this one. 

may edit!

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Buried Treasure

Buried Treasure

Digital drawing with lace.

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A psychic/magical process, largely influenced by two wonderful books: Old Peter's Russian Tales & The Shadow and Evil in Fairytales by Marie Louise Von Franz (a remarkable Jungian writer). Have been reading both over the holiday period and also getting to grips with a new computer system and software - my first upgrade in over 8 years! I was absolutely terrified of the change, yet moving forward has opened up an entire new world of wonders for me. These last few images are quite possibly evidence of that, although I am still learning so not quite achieving exactly what I set out to do. But it doesn't matter, because I am in love!

I really want to create a new series/folder for these works: there's something of my love for Lotte Reiniger, Yuri Norstein here.....they're not quite silhouettes, nor animated, but they are somehow connected to the movement of the music that I have been working to. As I work, the images move and dance and shimmer, and a story forms as the image progresses. There's something special about Russian fairytales. I'm not sure that I can explain exactly what that is, but I am really taken by the descriptions of nature, how nature and the elements play such an integral part. They are populated by so many exquisite magical creatures. And this influence ties in so neatly with the writings of Von Franz: magical creatures/forces of nature as symbolic manifestations of the (collective and personal) unconscious.

I feel the desire to work primarily with animals & magical creatures more than ever, even if I don't exactly intend to abandon my little girls completely......I just feel that I may have grown away from the child as a central motif, perhaps something within me has progressed past this - The girls are powerful but always mute. Pretty, yet detached. Immobile. I want them to transform somehow, to explode out of their silence. I think that my previous image 'Revenge of the Girls' kind of illustrates that to some extent. They are simply changing.

The 'Buried Treasure' here is a symbol of (as is usual with me) a recovery of what lies lost or hidden. Potent forces underground. The girls possess magical little gardening forks and have dug out their hearts......they are supported by a constellated horse and two black shadow horses in the background (wearing spiked crowns, which I don't think you can discern at this resolution).

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Revenge of the Girls

Revenge of the Girls

Detail

Revenge of the Girls ver.2

So, I decided to confuse you by not being able to make up my mind which version to stick with. Again. Kind of experimental, rough sketches, playing with newly designed brushes and textures, drawn mostly free-hand and incorporating (instead of deleting) flaws/mistakes.

The scene depicts a world of ghosts and dreams: the girls revealing their true nature (not necessarily a bad thing), or transforming into nature, which they are both attuned to & protective of. I prefer the first version visually, although the second version feels more in keeping with the theme (transforming instead of already transformed).

Inspired by 'The Bears Revenge' by Moulettes, which I am really enjoying working to at the moment. You can listen to a sample here.

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Tricks

Digital painting/illustration with collage + photo textures.

Another remake, this time from 2007, originally titled The Magician's Daughters.

Twins and their tricks, and not a playing card in sight. Most odd! x

Playroom

For Specters and Dreams

Reworked photomontage, originally created in 2006. I wondered about the darkness seen through the eyes of a very young child. Familiar creatures born of moonlight, imagination populating the shadows. And fear.

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Changeling

Changeling or The Fairy Host (I can't quite decide)

Digital painting with textures, for the Fairytales series.

Sometimes there's a story and I have no idea how to translate it via text. The image contains all that there is to know, yet the most vital details remain invisible. This involves a reconnection with what was once lost or misplaced. Who or what does she embrace? Her invisible kinfolk I suppose, an immortal prince or lord of forgotten lands. I wonder what she had to sacrifice in order to reach them.... x

Dressing Room

Dressing Room

One of many versions in the works, can't quite decide upon the final piece, so may share several over the next week or so.

Privileged twins, expensive frocks and broken hearts. One devious, one stoic, of a fashion...x

More soon, I promise!

Quiet Sun

Lewis, created by Le Train Fantome.

We have been experincing mild, sunshiney weather for the past few days, which might just very well turn out to be our first glimpse of spring. So I took myself outdoors without my camera. Typical. I've been enjoying a little time away from home, cycling in the sunshine (pure joy!), reading the English Book of Magic, celebrating my mothers birthday, catching up with Star Trek (DS9), following the moon, and wearing...black.

I am currently obsessed with Arthurian legend (the Templars), fresh lemons, abstract textures, and Chad Merritt's gorgeous photographs. I dearly wish that he lived here in the UK so that we could finally collaborate on a photo project! To see his work in print, click here.

More soon!

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