Here I explore the promises, dreams and awakening spirituality associated with the profound union of a man and a woman, the merging of two kindred souls. Below is a detailed image of this collage, with the poem that I wrote which is featured in the painting.

I have painted it on beautiful ivory coloured smooth Stonehenge watercolour paper, using a mixture of watercolours, gouache, gesso, wax, coloured pencils, gold and silver pigment inks, mosaic slices of copper, pewter and brass and dried pressed flowers that I collected whilst living in various countries. This picture mostly has pressed poppies – I also did a Fairy picture a few years ago with wild flower collage and watercolours which you can see here available as an art print for sale: Flora Fairy Painting

This Lovers painting is available as a Limited Edition print at my shop Here:   ~ I will only be making 50 prints in 7 x 10 inch size and I have the first artist’s Proof for sale. I feel that some of the more personal paintings I have done deserve to be released as small runs of limited edition prints – this means that there is only a certain number of these prints produced in a particular size- after they have all been sold no more will be ever produced.

You can see more of my Lover Art if you click on the menu to the left.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and may you walk in Love : )

I was intrigued by the idea of placing this lovely whimsical owl over the delightful words of the great Bard, creating a mixed media original yet very affordable piece of artwork. The result is what you see below. Each creation has been hand painted with acrylic upon a different page of the play, over the original print. The colours are fantastically vibrant, with highlights of gold and silver pigment to further enhance this little ACEO collectable work of art.

You can find it for sale here in my online shop!

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.

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!

This wonderful market is held on the grounds of the Waldorf School in Johannesburg, which is a very similar school to the Steiner schools. It is the original art and craft market in Johannesburg – check the link out above. I am so looking forward to meeting some new people and introducing my artwork to this part of Johannesburg.

I will have a large range of my original paintings, limited edition etchings, miniature hand painted gift cards, prints, embossed metal artwork and more….maybe see you there!

“Night Skye” ~ one of the original paintings for sale at my Bryanston Market stall

It started with one of the first etchings I ever did, in London where I learned the craft 14 years ago; for some reason I was compelled to portray a little black cat swimming merrily along with some goldfish:

I hand coloured it with gouache, loved the result, and put out an edition for sale, which you can find at my Online Shop.

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The image of a cat’s fantasy underwater realm stayed with me, and a number of years later I painted a whimsical watercolour and pastel of the same topic, only with added water nymphs and spirits:

The original is also for sale at my Online Shop.

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Yesterday, I found myself in one of Johannesburg’s quirky bead shops, where I picked up a wonderful stash of gorgeous Czech glass beads and findings with which to play and create, and the result, unsurprisingly was this:

I had such fun making these, and have decided to start a few themed jewellery pieces along these whimsical lines. This pair and other lovely creations can also be bought in my Shop!

….with more to come soon….

Here is the completed painting. It has been such a wonderful experience doing this commission: thanks to my patrons for their creative support encouragement!  Here is a shot with my Dad who helped my with the construction of a shippping box and a large board on which to paint. It measures nearly 2 meters x 2 meters (6 foot x 6 foot) and has been painted in acrylics. See the posts before this one for a step by step journey through the painting process.

Here are some detailed shots, and you can purchase beautiful prints of this painting here on my Etsy Shop

The painting is nearing completion now, and I have added much detail and flow to the composition.Below is the painting in its entirety, and once finished it will be rolled up, carefully packed and shipped away to be stretched onto a frame ready for hanging. I will post the final photos very soon…..

I have reworked the face of the lower mermaid, and am adding more and more detail and design to the composition, just on a free-form basis with paintbrush and paint – I love this intuitive style of painting and working the form and colour in.

Here is the entire painting, before I reworked the faces. Please click on each photos to appreciate them in their fullness of size – More photos to come soon!

Here are two shots of the progress of my mermaid commission so far – I have blocked in the basic colour and forms and composition, and started on the face details of both mermaids. I always like to do this initially to get a feel of the facial expressions and features that set the tone and nuance of the overall image. I have used acrylic drying retarder when painting in this technique, which gives flow to the polymer paints similar to that of watercolors.