Over Easter, I had booked a holiday in Glastonbury but unfortunately, I had to cancel this due to the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore I found myself with a few days to myself, which in some ways was really nice. It gave me the opportunity to make some art and do some readings (tarot and astrology) just for fun, to share with some of the special people in my life.
My Easter Bunny 2020
The picture below was made using Brusho watercolours for the background and a black sharpie for the portrait of Bob Marley as a birthday gift for my son-in-law. I chose the greens and yellows in the background to symbolise the Jamaican flag as Bob was a proud representative of the Jamaican people.
‘Don’t Worry’
Next, I made this painting of Brian Jones who was a member of the Rolling Stones for a friend’s birthday down in London. In fact, I made it twice because the first image got lost in the post and stupidly I hadn’t taken a good photograph of it (lesson learned!) I drew the picture with black fine liner and then used black acrylic and grey watercolour to paint it. Brian died in mysterious circumstances when he was only 27. My friend is a Medium and Brian is my friend’s spirit guide so hopefully, this will be a special gift for him.
‘Paint it Black’
Meanwhile, I’ve been spring cleaning the house and in the process noticed this lovely piece of wood that I’d drawn a design on and forgotten about! So one evening I burned the design in (to practice my pyrography). I was pleased with how it came out as I’m totally new to wood burning and quite enjoyed the process. I made this just for myself, it is a voodoo symbol which symbolises the magical character called ‘Papa Legba’. He is the gatekeeper in the voodoo religion and is a friendly grandfather figure that I have worked with magically in the past and am fond of. Next year at college I am going to be working more with symbols, particularly magical symbols and this is a good example of a magical symbol from another culture.
‘Papa’s Altar’
Next, I wanted to make something special for a best friend in London whose birthday was fast approaching. She is a great lover of cats and has been following my artwork with interest. I challenged myself to create a picture for her using my encaustic skills, which have improved considerably this last term at college. It took some time but I managed to create this picture using beeswax, oil pastel and coloured encaustic paints on a wooden panel. Working with an inflexible surface was my greatest challenge and I was reasonably pleased with the end result. I do hope she likes it too. There is always an element of unpredictability with encaustic art, this is something I really like about it. The medium doesn’t link with the subject of this painting but I am hoping that the unusual combination will appeal to her. She has a new black kitten called Lucy, so I called the painting ‘Lucy-fur’ in honour of her kitten, Lucy.
‘Lucy-Fur’
Finally, sadly a friend died recently and his widow asked me to make her a ‘pagan’ painting. The couple were very much in love and I had the pleasure of performing their handfasting (pagan wedding) last summer solstice. I wanted the painting to signify the deep love that they shared and to represent the message that true love never dies. So I chose the two swans to symbolise the couple, surrounded by nature (which she loves) and included the large full moon to represent the Moon Goddess watching over the swans and blessing them. This painting was also made with wax, oil pastels and encaustic paint (like the one above it). It was a challenge for me to create a landscape on this rigid substrate and I was pleased that I managed to do it. My confidence in my ability to manipulate this medium to get the effects I want is growing.
‘True Love Never Dies’
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