Art&Ghosts Blog

Wolf Lover Wallpaper for the Soul...

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New silhouettes.

TO VIEW THIS SET OF IMAGES, PLEASE VISIT THEIR FLICKR SET:)

Possibly illustrations for the fairytales i might yet write. Who knows? I couldn't quite resist playing with pattern as well as shape, hence the curious, wallpapery backdrops. I also like the idea of the process showing through, somehow. Not caring so much about the 'overlap'. I had a lot of fun with these (whilst listening to Amiina), so there are sure to be more in the making!

Yesterday i smashed my head into a shelf at the local supermarket. Ever since, i have been walking around in a daze, brooding upon it, then, alternately, trying to distract myself from the pain (like a sickening hangover without having indulged in alcohol). Working on the pictures, a nice long walk in the crisp winter light....and several servings of soluble codeine have certainly helped to ease the discomfort.

into the Wallpaper 1

 

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I have been working with the idea of combining natural/wild and domestic themes, symbols from folklore, nursery tales, and then bringing them together in a sort of picture-book style. Well, this is what i set out to do. I think i have come at least part ways to achieving it. The above image, something akin to hickory dickory dock (without the infamous clock), is how it all began. I stuck with simplicity over detail, the main focus for me being the posture of the girl, her braids. Her turned up toes suggest that she is quite relaxed in the company of the mouse/rat.

Two worlds merge here, or are supposed to. The black areas (feet and mouse) may represent the hidden, the repressed, the unconscious (you know, i like these themes)

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Into the Wallpaper 2

 

I have no idea how to even begin explaining this. Folklore again, the hare as a symbol of the feminine, the moon, etc. I like how this particular image appears more like a shadow against the wallpaper than merely a flattened silhouette. We have a full moon tonight (cloudless) and I do tend to get quite excited about such things.....so back to the image: I was thinking of old festivals (English), curious rites, and of course, childhood games.

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Into the Wallpaper 3

 

The wolf and his longing for the forest. A longing quite similar to my own.

The domestic meets the primitive.

Into the Wallpaper 4

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A meeting of minds here.

They appear to be in the midst of some sort of conference. A meeting before a journey. I see them as such, about to set out on a moonlit adventure, a top secret expedition. The girl can speak with the rabbits and hares. She's a natural. They are belonging to two worlds; again, like the images above.

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Into the Wallpaper 5

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I have used this figure quite a lot recently. And here she is again, expecting to fly. And why not? She may just do so in the blink of an eye. Or perhaps she awaits instruction. I'm not entirely sure. She too longs for the forest, the tree tops, for the glacial air to embrace her.

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Into the Wallpaper 6

 

Into the Wallpaper 7

 

xxx

The First Day Of September.......

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My favourite time of year is almost here. Soon the light will change, the temperature will plummet, and my senses, all three hundred and eighty six of them, will come alive.

And i like how dark it is at 5am nowadays.

So, a mixed bag of new offerings for a new month. Artwise, that is.

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Claire Voyance (click title to view)
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The emotions, intuition, instincts.
Water, Pisces, a positive response to what is often regarded as weak, negative (also the feminine, lunar).
I have been listening to sea sounds, that old conch in the bathroom.......and sea shanties, my take on them, like Electrelane's 'Eight Steps', for instance, or Sunset Rubdown's 'Swimming'. My dreams, too, concerning the ocean, floods; as if for some reason right now it is my mirror. Too vast, perhaps, yet so seductive.

The Heart of a Stranger (click title to view)

(apparently, if you throw a toad against a wall it is said to transform into a handsome young prince. But i want to know if this same logic applies the other way around - a prince becoming a toad, etc. Although, i don't advise trying to find the answer to this by hurling your significant other over the bannister)

(And to my knowledge, a princess rarely transforms into anything other than herself in fairytales. She will ascend to womanhood, or sleep for a thousand years, or become a prisoner of the heart, but i rarely hear of princesses becoming animals, like many of the handsome princes do. Please feel free to enlighten me. Just a thought. You'll have to ask Marie Louise Von Franz, she appears to know the deal)

And the moral of this story is.........never leave home without your crown.

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I would also like to share some of my favourite discoveries of recent days before i leave you for the night (or month, as is the way it often goes with Artandghosts...)
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From top left to bottom right:

.  Splendid Company by marmeecraft

.  Pony Postcard by enna

.  One Misty Morning by sarahblank

.  Portrait of Little Red Riding Hood by rosieNZ
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(please view enlarged)
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.  The Twins by eekdesign

.  Handsoap by foliage

.  The Day He Could Not Sleep by LaMaga

.  Black Cat by NaturalForms

And one of my all-time favourite images..........
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. Parapluie by marinkel
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And some websites i would recommend:
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.  Jeffrey Michael Harp

.  Swan Bones Theatre

.  Puppychick 

.  Mikel Robinson
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♥  Happy Birthday to my dearest Mirlo (he is six today)  ♥

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And thankyou, eternally, for putting up with the strangeness of my world.

Enjoy September, for it will soon be October, my very very very most favourite month of all.

The World at Large.............

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I am temporarily incapacitated by the heat, the humidity, a backlog of responsibilities, a teetering pile of commissions, The World at Large, and a Fox.

But today has been the most joyous of all days, for so many different reasons, not to mention a scattering of new creations......

Telepathy

 

Whenever i utilise twins, one of them will most often be blind.
I have my reasons, of course: this is more often than not a suggestion of what exists (or may exist) beyond the confines of ordinary 'sight'.
I made this image whilst listening to peculiar yet playful songs......i think the polka dot stockings might have evolved somewhere around Fairport Conventions version of ' Si Tu Dois Partir ' (Bob Dylan) and the White Stripes 'Jimmy the Exploder'.
Stranger things have happened............

Discarnate Deep
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Of dreams and the sea...... and when moons collide.

Titled by He Who Inspired It (Brandon).

Crimson Waltz
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Yet more dreams..........and crimson ideas.
I have recovered a passion for watercolour and acrylic washes. It could possibly be interpreted as an adventure with textures or a desire to fall through time.
I think i prefer the latter.



Harlequin

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A character from the story-I-never-wrote.
His passions are fairytales, anagrams, quicksilver and glass hearts.


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And finally, such gratuitous loveliness..........the kitten:)
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And speaking of gratuitous loveliness, a thoroughly unexpected surprise package of Alice related goodies arrived in the post for me this morning - a set of cards, a picture pamphlet and this mindnumbingly beautiful book by Suzy Lee...

(Leone, i am forever indebted to you for this...every particle of my being yells thankyou very much!)

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Meep!

I must apologise...I didn't photograph the images very well.

My concentration is kind of 'stacked crooked'.

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Enjoy!

And sleep well...


xxx