The Awakening

The awakening painting was created by first making a pencil sketch on paper then scanning it into the computer. I used Corel Painter 7 & IX to paint the image.

Mostly I used the soft charcoal variant of charcoal & the artist pastel variant of pastels and oil brushes. I worked in many layers, applying coats of digital paint on successive layers. When I had finished, the layers were flattened on the background image.

This particular image is probably one of the most complex paintings I have done to date, and utilizes many more layers than my other work.

The inspiration for this painting came from my dreams, which at the time seemed mainly focused on the inner child and the awakening of the great healing potential which lies within our deepest selves. These dreams seemed to lift my spirits and helped me through a particularly challenging time in my life so I felt inspired to create a piece of work that reflected my thoughts and feelings about the process.

Moon Goddess

I’ve had a love affair with the moon ever since I was child, and my favorite past time was going outside after sunset to swing on my swing set, until the moon came out. I would sing to the moon and mom would play the guitar, it was magical. We continued this little ritual of ours for years and it ‘s one of my fondest memories.

We lived in a very remote area where the stars were so bright,  you felt like you could reach up and pluck them from sky. Unfortunately, today I live in the city and the sky always looks kind of hazy, but I can see the moon from our patio as she makes her nightly journey across the sky. Our mother is no longer with us, but the memories still live on.

Nimue

The Lady of the lake from the Arthurian legend has always fascinated me, and the moment I laid eyes on a photograph sent to me of my niece Tessa, I knew I had found my inspiration for the painting of Nimue.

It was a photo of Tessa, dripping wet from being caught out in a rainstorm. What caught my attention was the look in her eyes. I loved it and began the  painting  of Nimue that very day.

While most interpretations of Nimue’s role in the stories of  Camelot present her in a negative light, I much prefer the more positive take on her role as a gifted  student of Merlin’s and a Priestess of Avalon.

Daybreak

Aurora is the Roman Goddess of the Dawn. Her name means ” daybreak, the dawn, or sunrise. Ovid describes her as the one who brings the light of day as she rides in her chariot across the skies ahead of the sun.

I envisioned her with a beautiful cloak swirling, flowing around her as she pulls back the veil which separates night from day. Aurora is dancing the dawn into being.

Mask Of Gaia

Gaia the primordial Greek goddess believed to be The Mother Goddess or Great Goddess. She is also said to personify the earth,  the Greek version of  “Mother Nature”.

The inspiration for this painting came from a dream I had in 2004. In the dream I found myself flying over continents and oceans, and finally coming to rest in a beautiful overgrown primordial garden.

Underneath a rather large tree I found an old cracked earthen mask and as I moved closer, the mask  began to shift and change.

The earth itself began to make strange humming sounds. As the humming grew louder, the earth covered the mask with all kinds of leaves and flowers. The mask was completely covered except for the eye holes.

When I bent down to take a closer look, I found myself staring into a strangely beautiful pair of eyes. The earth shook and I heard a voice say… I am Gaia.