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

Little Birds

Little Birds

Digital illustration, acrylic, photo, textures.

Inspired by an older digital collage from 2007 (The Bridge of Sleep). Wide eyed somnambulists, searching between worlds.

Marchpane

For Sandra.

Digital painting and collage.

For the Specters and Dreams series.

Will write more later!

And later: The images were inspired by a fictitious portrayal of the young life and conflicting nature of Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. I have recently finished reading a deeply moving story concerning her (fictional) life at court, her marriage to the king, and her subsequent downfall - a very beautifully written book which I was delighted to be able to create several illustrations for (I will be able to give a clearer description and details about its release soon!).

These images represent Katherine's dual nature, or her conflicting emotions as a lover and a queen. The Katherine to the left symbolizes her integrity, tenderness, her emotions, whilst the Katherine to the right enjoys the distractions of merriment, dancing, feasting, weaving intricate webs of mystery around herself, and indulging the attentions of her admirers. Personally I am quite taken with both sides to Katherine. Although my images are not entirely descriptive of Tudor fashions, I simply wanted to create my own impression through my own working style to represent her. The stain around her neck in the first image is supposed to suggest her future, her fate, whilst also alluding to her love of rubies and luxurious jewellery. Here she amuses herself with kittens instead of her beloved dog, holding onto her precious letters to Thomas Culpeper (her secret lover), wearing the key to her heart as a brooch, and her frock adorned with fresh roses, which harks back to Henry's pet name for her 'a rose without a thorn'.

The ravens/black birds are concerned with the Katherine on the right. Her fate in the balance once more.

And concerning the title - a word which really resonated with  me whilst reading the story. Marchpane, (the old English word for marzipan) consisting of almonds, sugar and rose water was a luxurious component of medieval cuisine. I should love to create my own now, with gilded quatrefoils around a crowned Tudor rose! Easy peasy;)

xxx

Harlequin

Harlequin, possibly my favourite ever drawing from the Singing Tree series, now available in print. Hoping to create more intricate work for this particular series quite soon, if time allows. I really love how they combine both digital and traditional media so harmoniously: the scanned watercolour paintings and textures merging with digitally drawn lines.

A long overdue stock update this evening also. All regulars are finally back in store: be sure to check out a few renewed oldies and a couple more pieces from the Singing Tree, too!

xxx

Remember...

xxx

The Somnambulists

Several old favourites and a selection of brand new prints have arrived at the shop.

xxx

Initiates

Initiates

For Specters and Dreams.

Digital painting/illustration/collage.

"My name is Tabitha and today I turned seven years old. My older sisters and I live with our grandmother in a little town called Rye, which is in Sussex, England. Our garden goes all the way down to the water, and we have lived here all of our lives.

Today, my grandmother gave me a golden key which I am to wear around my neck like a pendant. It is very old and quite heavy, but I like it. My sister Cally told me that very old things, especially keys, are sometimes haunted, but my grandmother told her to shut up. Cally believes that everything in the world is haunted, it's all she ever talks about. Grandmother said that my key is lucky, and not haunted at all, and that it has been in our family for over a hundred years! Cally doesn't own anything this old, which is probably why she got mean about it. I'm going to sleep with it hidden beneath my pillow tonight and every single night from now onwards.

My oldest sister Lucy knows about magic. She wears a bracelet of magic skulls that nobody else can touch but her. She can talk to animals and always knows when it is going to rain. Lucy likes the rain, but her favourite weather is thunder. It makes things happen, she says. Cally said that thunder was made by angry ghosts and the sound was the sound of them roaring. I think she read it somewhere, so she doesn't really know it for herself. Reading things is different to knowing them yourself. Today it didn't thunder, but there was a lot of mist before lunch time. My sisters and I performed a ritual, which Lucy says is the way to give things special meaning. Lucy knows how to get secrets out of things. Things that don't usually talk, like trees, stones and animals. Lucy says there is power in numbers and birthdays, and that seven is a 'significant' number. I don't know what she means, but I like it. For my birthday, Lucy made a ritual and gave me an important book. I am not supposed to talk about the ritual or the book because it is a secret."

xxx