The Sacred Union of Female and Male : Art of Lovers
The Masculine and Feminine revolve
through nature and life as One.
The Sun and Moon symbolize a great
power of love and balance…
Throughout my artistic life I have been drawn to expressing the beauty and power of romance between Feminine and Masculine elements. The Lover Archetypes are inherent throughout all cultures, religions and mythologies, and is woven deep within our collective consciousness and the very laws of Nature herself. Here are some of the paintings that I have been inspired to create in honour of the love that man and woman have spun together in the timeless dance of sacred love, union and deep mutual fascination that is the basis of the creation of human life…
you can click on the images for more information
The Secret Garden original watercolor fantasy painting
This is the completed commissioned art work for Aldene in Wales! I enjoyed getting lost in the realms of nature and fantasy…and added some hidden fairies and little creatures throughout the painting if you look closely. It measures approximately 20 inches x 20 inches ; 51 cm x 51 cm ~ my previous posts outline the process of this painting.
You can purchase a beautiful print of this painting here.
The Secret Life of a commissioned painting…initial stages
I have the pleasure of being able to do some wonderful commissions for fabulous customers over the years, and have been asked by Adlene of The Secret Garden of Beauty to do a custom painting to express the magical essence of her unique beauty salon in Wales.
I first liaise with the customer as to the vision of the original artwork they have asked me to create just for them, which may include photos, stories, memories or just imaginative feelings that they would like me to translate into a painting. In this case, Adlene wanted a secret garden theme with a magical, fairytale element to reflect the charm and tranquility of her wonderful beauty salon. Each commission process is different, and in Adlene’s I began with a black and white sketch, which I coloured in with a rough idea as to what she and I may be visualising about the nature of a secret garden….
The painting I have just begun is a watercolour and coloured pigment pencil artwork, which features mainly greens and pastel lavender with aqua blues, capturing the English garden flowers that one may find in the hidden garden of a mystical realm. More progress reports to follow ~ here is the beginning:
Moon Owl original Folk art drawing
This is my completed owl artwork, as begun in the previous post.
Owls are such enigmatic creatures, and I have done many paintings, drawings and also an etching of these fascinating animals which you can purchase here. I enjoyed using plenty of gold pigment ink and pigment based coloured pencils on Stonehenge paper, thus creating a very decorative folk art style reminiscent of the naive artist Henri Rousseau and also traditional icon art.
You can purchase a beautiful giclee print here, and the original is for sale here.
Owl original pencil drawing
My fascination with owls continues….
Here, I am using beautiful Swiss made Caran d’Ache colored pencils on my favourite Stonehenge paper. I am inspired by the work of the Primitive / Naive artist Henri Rousseau and his rich, textural and beautifully illustrative images. I have briefly sketched the outline and then layered the colours as I go, including pigment gold and silver ink for decorative highlights.
Cat Folk Art Painting Art Nouveau style with poppies, butterflies and ladybugs
This is my completed Art Nouveau style Cat painting. It is watercolor with gold and colored pigment ink and is inspired by folk art as well as the illustrations of the Art Nouveau period which had a wonderful flowing style and often incorporated natural elements within the diverse themes depicted.
It is for sale as a beautiful print in my online shop here and the original painting is for sale here – I have not come up with a name for it, so any suggestions are welcome!
Cat and Moth new Choker style necklaces from my original designs
These necklaces have just been cast in beautiful shiny lead-free pewter right here in South Africa, from designs and wax carvings that I had made a few years ago. I loved the idea of turning my little cat into an unusual necklace, and the moth, or butterfly, was inspired by the bold designs of the Art Deco era.
The whole process of carving an original design from jeweller’s wax, then casting it with the lost wax process and centrifugal casting is an amazing process and one which I have learned over the last 5 years. I hope to be able to make many more unique and soulful design in the near future…!
The choker style necklaces are really stunning, and are adjustable in length. You can see more of my own jewellery designs: Necklaces, Brooches and even Keyrings here on my online shop. Or view my exclusive range on the menu bar to the left!
“Luna Moth” : New Fairy Painitng, Art Nouveau style…
It is time for another fairy painting! To me, fairies represent the feminine spirit in Nature: ethereal, transcendent, beautiful and inspiring.
I love the work of Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha ; his illustrative style is highly decorative yet maintains a wonderful evocative realism that captures the feminine essence within the natural world exquisitely. I also have a fascination for the exotic luna moth and want to combine those two inspirations with the magical ambiance of a crescent moonlit night… ~ You can see more of my original fairy and fantasy paintings here. ~
Here is the quick sketch, and the beginnings of the painting. I am using Fredrix watercolor canvas which is so interesting to paint on. It has a smooth and very watercolour- paper like canvas surface, but one can achieve beautiful blending and painterly techniques.
New : Original Miniature Paintings / Hand painted Gift Cards
I have been very busy painting these beautiful little pieces of art, each a one-off original miniature painting : I have produced about 20 or so, a selection of which you can see below.
Some of them are inspired by Art Nouveau style artwork, reminiscent of the art of Odilon Redon, and also the stunning designs of William Morris of the Arts and crafts movement in the late 1800′s. Each one has been carefully painted on gorgeous silky handmade mulberry bark paper in vibrant watercolors with highlighted colors in pigment gold and silver ink.
The border has been uniquely drawn in a combination of silver and gold ink.
The paintings, measuring 4.5cm x 4.5cm (1 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches) have been mounted on stiff coloured card which actually opens up and can be written inside, so this makes an ideal and very collectable all-in-one gift !
You can find a range available for sale in my Etsy online shop here: Small Original Art for Sale ~~ or you can simply click on the Permalink below each image to find out more details and see a larger image…
Contact me if you see something below that is not for sale there…and thanks for looking!
Owl Painting
I have finally found a way to paint with watercolours on stretched canvas that works for me, as I sometimes get a bit bored with conventional watercolor painting on paper. And it’s always good to paint something that is ready to hang in only a couple of hours!
I painted it fairly quickly while doing a few hours at the wonderful art & craft co-operative that John and I are members of – The Nook – here in the Blue Mountains.
It was a very spontaneous painting; I had been cherishing a gorgeous photo of an owl for many years from which I had been wanting to paint some kind of picture. It has been stuck to my cupboard in the studio waiting to be realized. We are lucky enough to receive occasional visits from what I think may be a Barking Owl – he sits on top of the clothes line and watches silently in the dark with his curious eyes…
You can purchase a gorgeous giclee print of this painting here.
Dragonfly Painting – Chinese brush style
Our good friends supplied me with some gorgeous handmade mulberry bark paper from Thailand – where they deal in fair trade amongst various communities.
This paper is also known as Rice Paper but it is made from Mulberry trees. It is beautiful to paint on in a spontaneous, direct way much like the Chinese style of brush painting called Shui-mo..
I have been experimenting with this style of painting with dragonfly imagery and these are some examples of the results. Once the paint has touched the paper’s silky surface, there can be no mistakes- expression, fluidity and focus are elements that help to make a successful painting on this kind of paper. It is a lovely challenge, and a wonderfully mindful way to create – quite relaxing and meditative…
Dragonfly Picture with Bamboo
I am looking at plants, insects and flowers in a completely different way now- in terms of their essence and how to capture this in a few simple brush strokes.
These paintings are available from my Online Shop here: Original Paintings
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Tree Jewelry Design for Necklace & Brooch
I have finally finished the Tree design – the master copy has been cast from my wax carving.
I had previously posted the initial wax carving and sketch – see Jewelry Designs to the left – and here is the final piece cast in solid silver after the wax carving was finished. I used the hard green carving wax and filled in details with pink relief wax – wax is such a wonderful medium to work with. The finished piece or master copy is used to create a silicone mold to be cast centrifugally in pewter, and the design will be a brooch, a choker, a keyring and a pendant. Exciting!
I love depicting trees in all forms; their sinuous trunks and branches are perfect for translation into Art Nouveau style designs, and trees have powerful symbolism in their soulful beauty.
I decided to put two little birds in the branches of this tree so it would have company….
- Tree Necklace and Tree Brooch Design
Under the Tree
A soldier rode up on his tumbling black horse
to the woman under the Tree,
“What are you waiting for ?”, he said
“For Death”, answered she.
.
He asked “May I wait by your side?”
“Sit down” she beckoned him there,
and he sat beneath the shadowy branches
As she began plaiting her hair.
.
He watched as her fingers parted her tresses-
turning this way and that ,
and she gathered some flowers, grasses and clover
and knotted them in with her plaits.
.
” What are you doing?” asked the soldier,
Desire creeping into his heart
” I am gathering my possessions around me
before my funeral may start.”
.
And he saw how lovely she was
There in the shade of the Tree
“Surely you are born of this meadow
and lie waiting in it for me…”
.
He took off his armour and he took up his sword
as he brushed the hair from her face,
and he entered it into her body
with beautiful sly, gentle grace.
.
She clung to him whispering softly
so that only the Tree could hear
New Jewellery Design – Tree Necklace and Brooch
well- that says it all….
I have all the paraphanalia spread out before me…gas burner, hard and soft wax, old dentist tools, craft knife, sand paper -
here is a photo of the sketched idea and the current state of the carving…it should be finished in a month or so- and will be here on our website amongst all my other original jewellery designs when it is!
My inspiration, again, is Nature – the all embodying Tree. I want something that is both lyrical in form but also functional as a totem piece of jewellery, so hopefully I can realise this….
Some New stuff before the Dark stuff
Just finished this painting of what I think may be a self portrait with a swan.
Again, Blue is the colour of a certain emotion…. we are both dreaming of something…flight, perhaps ?
It is done with watercolour, gouache and pen on a beautiful 100% cotton rag Italian paper -and I think one of John’s gorgeous recycled timber frames in white Federation moulding will be perfect for it!
Dragonfly Pictures
Thought I’d quickly post this collage of new Dragonfly works that I have obsessively been painting on scraps of lovely paper left over from my Printmaking.
They have been great to do -mostly because I love depicting dragonflies whenever I can, on whatever I can(T-shirts ,Bags, Prints)
The first one is a dragonfly sojourn at midnight under a full Moon – kind of dark but I like that … and the black & white drawing is still a work in progress, so we will see how it develops. The bottom one is a Japanese-style watercolour painting on beautiful handmade Mulberry bark paper from Thailand – this kind of textured natural paper is really interesting to work on – it is not a watercolour paper so does not allow the paint to blend on the surface- more suited to quick line work. Here is an original for sale.
They were very popular during the Art Nouveau era as they are so stylistically suited to the flowing organic forms of Nature depicted by the designers of that time. Tiffany and Lalique have some of my favourite pieces of dragonflies- so inspiring !
I just wish things were made like that still, with care and great imagination; that’s why I have been slowly developing my own range of Art Nouveau Jewellery. -in honour of this forgotten era
thanks for looking – there will be some darker stuff coming soon….
Faery Cat…the beginnings
I am really missing having a cat around the house as I have always grown up with them and found these beautiful creatures a constant source of inspiration and comfort. So I am bringing their spirit through into this A4 drawing about the exquisite beauty and tranquillity of a sleeping cat…they almost look like they are lost in faerieland when they are asleep ! I am working on it slowly, while sitting at our market stall at Glebe Market, Sydney.
I used to do a lot of black & white drawings when I was a student, filling in all my lecture notes with little illustrations. There are some of my older works on my website and it is really wonderful to be doing this sort of finely detailed work again.
Listening to p.j harvey’s new “White Chalk” album with it’s simplicity and haunting emotion reminds me why I love this way of creating. Drawing in freehand, with only the barest of pencil lines to guide the progress of pen on paper – it is a good meditation and a great way to gain drawing confidence and freedom of expression ! Guess we’ll have to see how it turns out….but the path to creating is often more fun than what is at the end….
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27 February 2008
Finally finished this – here it is ! …it kind of got spirited away with itself…
The Song of the World
I have just finished this book – The Song of the World – by French author Jean Giono – and it was incredible. I must say that I have never read anything quite like it – it’s prose is powerful and archaic, and the imagery is so vivid, I could feel so much of the sensations described in this beautiful story.
Nature’s divinity is truly captured in this book, and the human condition contained within it in such a poignant, intuitive way really resonated with me. He also wrote “Horseman on the Roof” which will have to be my next read….
