Art&Ghosts Blog

Whistler's Kitten

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Original painting here

Whistler's Mother, which I am sure most people are familiar with already, was the inspiration behind this ludicrously silly little homage. Silly or not, it has sparked off a new series of Anomalies! This was really quite fun to work on, and working with the original paintings has taught me to see more, to look a little further, with respect to my own inventions, my visual interpretation of the world. 

Yesterday was something of a distressing experience, to say the very least. My sisters little dog (still quite a puppy) became extremely ill and had to be taken to the emergency vet for tests and so on. It is only 2 years since her darling little her cat died, (the same time of year, too, she died on xmas eve), so we have all been so anxious and upset. Today, he seems to be returning to health, after what appears to have been a severe bug, although he is still being kept in for observation. I mention this because the experience actually inspired these latest images, possibly an attempt to indulge in something warm, endearing, silly, in contrast to a situation so horribly unforgiving and 'real'.

I am not entirely sure of the artists identity behind each and every work, but I have provided a link to the paintings so that perhaps someone can help me discover them:)

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Inspired by this painting

Most of the works are repainted, with some elements, particularly colours and occasional outlines, pulled out from the original and reworked. 

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Inspired by this painting

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Inspired by this painting

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Inspired by this painting

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I hope to work with more of these little oddballs soon, so expect some new additions along the way!

♥

 

Through the Looking Glass

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The Looking Glass

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Digital illustration with vintage frame. 

I've always loved the concept of stepping through mirrors, into an alternate world behind the glass. One of my favourite themes in art and film; Ozma imprisoned behind the mirrors in 'Return to Oz', Helena's adventure in Mirrormask, Lewis Carroll's other world for Alice, and of course so many more that I cannot think of off the top of my head. I recall discovering a shattered mirror in a field when I was a child. I picked up some of the pieces, turning them around in my hands....and somehow my belief in the impossible was shaken. I could see how the mirror was made, how it worked. It was a trick, an illusion! Well, It didn't take altogether too long for my imagination to over-rule the disappointment. Whatever perpetuates our fascination with mirrors never seems to diminish. 

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The Looking Glass (basic)

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The Pool

Digital illustration and photomontage.

The Pool gave me quite a bit of trouble - this is the third version, the previous just did not settle with me so well. She was inspired by the gothic, my endless obsession with 19th century literature and ghost stories. 

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New goodies for the shop, too!

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A new sampler pack of Imagined Portraits, along with plenty restocked items and larger prints. 

The books have sold out for the time being, but I plan to order the remainder of the edition very soon.

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♥

Minn's Theatre

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Minn's Theatre

On becoming a tree instead of a person. A childhood story of my very own, this time (see my profile)

Her hairstyle and name are influenced by Iris Murdoch: Minn's Cauldron is the name of a coastal feature in her novel 'The Sea, The Sea', the book which I am currently reading. Her leafy attire and the five white butterflies are magical, of course. Or perhaps they're her siblings. The butterflies, I mean.

Minn is a digital painting with illustration and watercolour: each element created separately then later combined, the watercolour layer taken from an older painting on paper. My images rarely appear quite sharp enough on Typepad, so try viewing here for a tad more clarity.

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♥

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Winter Mornings cont.

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Vintage cups

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The Cath Kidston worm

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Winter berries, Ilex

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Idle hours

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Penny, my most cherished Ashley Anna Brown creation

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Winter wonderland

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I am sleeping so deep, dreaming so vividly these days. Important dreams, tiny pieces of the whole. Feeling strangely content with the long, dark days. Planning a new series of works based around the image in my previous post: Faux. The pale colours obsess me. 

I have also added a few new print sets to the shop this week, the most recent being Lapin de Lune:

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More soon!

♥

Faux

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Faux

Digital painting with lace and crackle texture.

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Faux detail

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Faux rabbit

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For clarity, please view here.

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And finally, my sweetheart posing amongst the Monsoon pompoms!

♥

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Winter Mornings

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Winter mornings xxx

Pearl

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Pearl

Digital painting with photo scratch texture. 

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Detail

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Pearl's face warped, repositioned and painted around rather roughly. May work into this one at a later date. 

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Levitating Girl

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Digital painting with photocollage. The 'remade' version of an older work from 2007.

A quick post with few words, I need toast and honey and to continue reading Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea...

♥

New Book

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The new book has arrived! I am very pleased with it, small as it is. The book contains 30 full colour pages and measures 8x8 inches in sturdy glossy soft cover. At present there are three available, although I will print up to 10 of them in total. The works featured focus mainly upon those created over the past 12 months, including many of my most recent (Lydia and Little Drops included)

For further information, more photographs and a full list of images, just pop on over to the shop!

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xxx

Ruby Remade

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Ruby remade

Slowly recreating older favourites into digital paintings. There will be many more! I really love the challenge. Please check out the Flickr version, which seems a little 'truer' to me.

The old version was a photo collage - the new one a digital painting (although I did add photomanipulated details with the mice and cages) I wanted to remain somehow faithful to the essence of the original character, hence the coat almost killed me, but I am so happy with the recreation of her face! 

The new Ruby also has little teeth:

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More soon!

♥

Lapin de Lune

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Danse de Lune

Digital painting. This began with the soft rain and the misty moon. A serene Halloween with the pumpkin and Bach and strawberries with whipped cream lollipops. November now. We are surrounded by fine rain mist. The world is silent. Winter is here. I am quietly happy.

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Lapin de Lune

Contemplating the winter night light...

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Danse de Lune Redcap

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New Imagined Portrait sets are due to arrive at the shop very shortly, too. I am at present compilling new themes for sampler sets, including Anomalies, winter themes, etc:

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I hope that you all enjoyed a most wondrous October 31st! 

♥