This was a changeover week for me. First of all, it was time to take down our exhibition 'A Discovery of Witches' and this was a lot quicker and easier than hanging the work! So that was really great. A few people from the HIVE 'family' of artists were at hand to help us too which was marvellous. A big thank you, Kate Yates, Dawn Mander, Lindal Dease and Peter Jamieson-Sinclair for all their help and kindness!
My next task was to parcel the work up that I'd sold, and I found this to be surprisingly enjoyable. I'd bought some large boxes online to pack my planet artworks into and they also fitted my new encaustic work perfectly. I had some lovely white tissue paper at hand too, so could pack them up nice and securely and was very pleased with the final result.
I also finished my commission this week 'Glastonbury by starlight', so packed that up too for collection.
While this was happening a new exhibition went up at HIVE and this time it was a collaborative exhibition by all the artists involved in the group. The title of this exhibition is 'Winter Light' and I have one painting in it (which is below). The painting is called 'Tree of Life' and it is a magical artwork which references the Qabalah (also known as the tree of life) which is an ancient mystical system. This system underpins the Western Mysteries Tradition and is something I have studied for many years. The coloured spheres on the tree suggest Christmas baubles on a Christmas tree and are seasonal. However, they also symbolise the planets in our solar system. The silver star on top of the tree symbolises the Moon Goddess and Witchcraft. It is a symbol of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water plus the unseen element 'spirit' which is the point at the top of the star. The pentagram is also a symbol of the Goddess and as such, protection. Solomons temple was designed with this qabalistic blueprint and so are most cathedrals and churches. Some cities and towns are also built on it too. I find this a fascinating subject.
I was particularly pleased with this painting because it fitted the brief 'a festive picture, that is cheerful and bright' and my artistic identity really well. I wanted to keep it 'clean and bright' in contrast to the recent exhibition which was 'dark and spooky' for Halloween so chose a crisp white watercolour paper to work on. I used watercolours in the piece as a subtle reference to the goddess whose element is water, associated with emotions and feminity. I enjoyed creating something precise and flat, a diagram that looks simple but is in fact quite complex. It is a different way of referencing magic and the Divine Feminine than my usual style of misty, ethereal light and shadows. For those that appreciate magical art, this is a clever piece. For those that don't, it is a quirky, original piece. I felt confident that no one else would be creating something like this. I hope it provokes some questions in the viewers.
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