Dede Pup.

Our Valley-Bull Dede, back when she was a puppy.

Goblin Shaman

Echidna

Ceiling Mural

Last year I undertook a project that for me, was beyond anything I had taken on previously.  For one, it was to paint an angelic mural on a ceiling, for two, it was to be colourful.  As you can obviously see from works posted so far, my range has been somewhat monochrome, a trend I have been attempting to veer away from in the past year in order to add a bit more scope to the copious visuals dancing around inside my head.

I think next time I will attempt to acquire actual models that on working solely out of my head.  Still, it's been received well, which for me is the true reward.

Crane

Mistress.

Gorgon

Gorgon; Face of Mystery.

The Lady

Poem; Fields of Duality.

Fields of Duality.

Contained in Mind,

A Universe of Being,

Unrestrained consciousness,

A river of eternity.

Contained in Body,

A Universe of Being,

Encompassing flesh,

Fruit of Creation.

Unity in Mind and Body,

Pleasures unbounding,

Blissful union,

Ecstasy of Spirit.

Awareness of Self,

Attainment unto God,

Progressive evolution,

Fruit of the soul.

Plucked and consumed,

Continuance of Being,

Recycled of Body,

New life of death.

Consciousness reborn,

Continuance of Spirit,

Rebirthing of flesh,

Flame in the dark.

D. 09

Oxen.

Warrior

Fire-Wyrm.

Anne Boleyn

Taken from a painting, done in charcoal.  Known as that unfortunate queen of Henry VIII.

My Gran.

Recently I did a sketch of my gran who passed away earlier this year from an old photo taken of her in her youth.  Following is also a poem I wrote in the weeks following her passing, an expression of how I felt on the subject.

Day Player.

In the vastness that is our Universe,

I am but a forgotten cameo upon the reels of time,

My place is as a player; enacting anew each day,

The sordid truth of our lives.

With each new curtain fall renewed applause,

Great joy of the celestial one’s O Princes of Heaven,

Well does our farce amuse and delight you,

Recollection of forgotten pain.

See how I praise this ending as I look to new beginnings,

With Dawn’s curtain rising will come another play,

The act of another living day,

Another life’s record for the pyre.

Woe be this hypocratic eternity forever undressing,

Enacted anew with each new day; mirror of the past,

With each new pyre the flaming seed,

Conception of the Dawn.

With each new burning the Nightfire’s dancing,

Alighting a play of their own devising,

Inspiration afire as flames do dance about the pyre,

Their dance pure worship of forever,

The burning truth of us all.

D. 11

King Tut

I did this charcoal piece about 10 years back, based on the funeral mask of king Tut.  There is however a proposed theory that the mask was originally intended for his father Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV.)

Recent commission piece.

Here's a commission I undertook a few weeks ago, undertaken in graphite.

Henry VIII

A young Henry VIII in charcoal.

Henry VII

This is a charcoal historical portrait of Henry Twdwr (Tudor,) the father of that most notorious of British monarchs Henry VIII.  This being Henry VII.

Martian.

As much as I feel like a Man from Mars most of the time, or rather an extraterrestrial in general stranded on a primitive world, I must concede that I am sadly, just another human being seeking to come to terms with the implication of his own sentience.  That said, I love to read science-fiction and after reading that most famous book by H.G.Wells 'War of the Worlds' I took it upon myself to illustrate my own concept of what the Martians look like, following faithfully the description within the book itself.  The result I present here.

Art of Life.

When it comes down to that much repeated question of 'what is art?' I usually refer to my own philosophy on Life, Death and everything that exists between.  For as much that art represents as a medium for individual creative expression of one's observation of the world surrounding us and within us, it presents also a practical metaphor for living as it does creating.

Art after all, is not something we should wish to see neatly cataloged in the ever extensive list of labels and definition that compound and complicate the social consensus of identity and individual relationship within the Universe.  It is something that is free from this, a freedom that we can all tap into should we truly wish to realize it, rather than the boxed in conceptualization that plague so many of us.  I suppose this may illuminate why so many within the creative vein may seem a little 'different' to others, for we are not constrained solely by social convention.  Such represents a freedom dreamed of by the majority yet realized by those who understand the internal drive to take it and express it rather than simply sit by and hope someone hands it to us.

Yes, I am an artist and I am free; simply because I deem myself to be.  This is my God-given right, and something I will not relent, for to do so would undermine the primary fundamentals of my life, my Art.

Art:  The active application of self expression upon the blank canvas that is my life.  Mine to do with as I Wilt, a personal journey that as much combines all those intermingling aspects that make up this somewhat chaotic and abstracted psyche of mine.  Upon this canvas I put it all, my philosophy, my spirituality, interests, observations, hopes, dreams, fantasies and the multitude of quirky ideas that either endear or repel those who deign to take a peek.  Sometimes I'll draw on it, at others I'll paint or sculpt; no matter the chosen medium of the moment the artists palette is limitless, from pigment to words and musical notes that aid in the expounding upon this simplistic of concepts into a cornucopia of the beauty of human expression.

deHoleweia.  2011

Ozzy.

My sister and brother in-law's dog, he's a lovely dog.

Wolfie.

This is Wolfie, a scan of a photocopy of a charcoal piece I did of him several years ago.  He will be missed.  RIP Wolfie, you cantankerous little bastard.

Thinking of him now, brings to mind so many adventures.  Like the time he vanished, wandering into town only to be picked up by the police.  Imagine going to pick up this little ball of fluff at the police station!

Then there was the time he thought he'd act all tough and bark at some sheep.  Someone should have told the sheep how they were expected to act, because I tell you, those sheep can get vicious!  Wolfie discovered this all too well when one of them decided they'd ram him.  He was one sorry pup after that little bout of 'when sheep attack.'

I also remember his jaw locked around my forearm as my mum attempted to take the scissors and trim his undercarriage.  I can say I blame him for that, it's a very sensitive area to be snipping around in!

He was quite a character to be sure.

Scatterbrain.

I'm a notorious scatterbrain, forgetting something recently told to me, only to remember it at the most inconvenient time.  I suppose it would help if I actually made a list, but considering the piles of loose paper scraps I have littered about, I'd most likely forget where I put it in the first place!

There is the computer of course, no doubt it would be easy enough to keep an active 'to-do' list on my desktop... But where I ask you would, I fit in my most convenient excuse for not doing something?  Yes, I wouldn't have it anymore.

With that in mind I'll go create a to-do file right now.  I know I know, the things we do to conserve the sanity of those we love eh?

A Caracal.

A Monkey.

Elephants.

Horse portrait 1

Moving On.

Well, I'm officially 32...

Apart from the usual sense of dread and slight increase in anxiety, I can't really say that I feel much different.  After hitting 30 I got used to the prospect that certain fun foods may have to be stricken from my personal menu on account of the after-effects registering as a potential Biohazard.

I've also noted that I don't recover quite so quickly after a party; it should be noted at this point that I have set a recommended recovery time of 48hrs post party! This is not to say that I wont be up for events in this period, just don't expect much of me in any way unless you're fine with a shuffling mumbling Brit who comes across as an Ozzy clone.

Danarbal

When I was a lad of... O' 17 or so, still in the grip of that hormonal teen nightmare, I conceptualized a character that summed up how I felt about myself at the time.  This Alter-Ego I should say I named Danarbal, the Vampiric Lord of Judges.  This was a fallen spirit given reprieve through the power of Love, a somewhat wretched persona raised from the shadow that continues its earthly wanderings beneath the light of Day (despite the negative reaction of such solar exposure) in his relentless quest for love.  Somewhat masochistic and melodramatic I must say, yet he remains a part of me, much like the shadow of our pasts from which we learn as, we move forwards from the present into the realm of possibility supplied by our prospective futures.

Thoughts Nov6/11

I am 2 days away from turning 32 and what do I have to show for it?  A whole stack of notepads, sketchpads and other assorted pieces of paper with who knows what plastered over it.  Paintings and ramblings of mundane and mystical ponderings that do nothing to advance the quality of life for myself or that of my family.  So guess what?  I think it's high time that I started sharing them, don't you?

Up to this point, procrastination on this issue has been my calling card.  An ever pervading psyche of self criticism that verges on the insane as I talk myself out of sharing my work time and time again.  Who would want to read this, look at that? Why would anyone care?  Such self depreciating thoughts and more have forced me into a form of mental prison that has no true reason to exist other than stifling my own personal growth.

This rather unhealthy trend I'm of a mind to see end, and with this in mind I have decided to try the good ol' blog method.  It may turn out to be so much white noise, blending seamlessly in with all the other garbage that makes up the bulk of the internet, but who cares right?  Time I added some shit of my own.