Paintings

I’d describe my paintings as a combination of Pop Art, collage, surrealism, and Fantasy Art; with the symmetrical elements taken from traditional Buddhist thangka painting.

I’m a storyteller, and the study of world mythology, esoteric wisdom, Druidry, Eastern philosophy; and the folk tales of the British Isles, all manifest in my paintings.

The relationship between colour and form lays the foundation of the painted narrative. They owe to the philosophy that all phenomena are mere appearances to mind, that colour and form are merely imprinted in this life, and ultimately do not exist outside the mind that perceives them. Add to this, images from Egyptian, Greek, Tibetan, and Celtic mythology, the Druid tree of life and its cyclic year, the paintings then become a metaphor for a world in transition, an expression of that ungraspable dialogue to the journeys within this life, and beyond.

The works of Alan Davie, Yayoi Kusama, Niki de Saint Phalle, Hieronymous Bosch, and Richard Dadd have had the greatest impact on my own pursuit of artistic expression. The writings of Rumi, Ross Nichols, Robert Graves, David Hume inform my thoughts.

Gallery

“Enchantment”, series 2019 – present

Come on a journey through world mythology, Druid philosophy, esoteric wisdom, and tales of elves, faeries and mermaids

The Immortal Soul

Three paintings that explore the Immortal Soul; the afterlife, rebirth:

“Brothers and sisters, bear your pain in silence”, gouache and ink on paper

“Journey from the self, to the inner self“; gouache on paper

“Sweet joy return, and weep for me“; gouache on paper

The Druid’s belief in an immortal soul was observed by Julius Caesar: “A lesson which they take particular pains to inculcate is that the soul does not perish, but after death passes from one body to another…” Similar beliefs exist in Buddhist philosophy, and by the Pythagoreans of Greece. Below, the cyclic wheel of life from conception, birth, aging, death; and the journeys within this life, and beyond.

“Adam and Eve“; gouache and ink on paper (dyptich)

Many world cultures have a creation myth where humans are created from soil/ clay. The Adam and Eve story has a much older mythology.

“You created us with thirsty hearts”, gouache on paper

The Egyptians believed that the human heart contained all the good and bead deeds of a person’s life, and was used to judge whether that person was worthy of entry into the afterlife. After the person died, their heart was weighed against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. The two characters each side, holding spanners, are attempting to fix/ cheat this fate, they are Sisyphus from Greek mythology, was was punished by Hades for cheating death, twice.

“The heavens are indifferent, life is just a game of chance“, gouache on paper

Matt, the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, who continuously prevents the Universe from returning to chaos, morphs into a chaotic form, that of Yama the Buddhist deity who presides over Hell, and is balanced on a Lucky 8 Ball. Either side, the Gaesatae, the Gallic warriors from the Alps who fought against the Romans, naked. Sisyphus is transformed into a sprite, a Fae being from British folklore. All characters are under the spell of the Red Sun.

“Elf-struck”, gouache and ink on paper

If taken ill, you may be elf-struck, your body pierced by a poisoned elven arrow. In Cumbrian folklore, the elves got the arrows from faeries, who got them from mermaids.

“How can a creature of clay and water perceive existence?”, gouache and ink on paper

Maat transforms into Cernunnos the pagan god of The Otherworld, god of wild places, of animals, of nature spirits/ elementals. The mermaid represents water; the faun, clay (earth); the two sprite, air; Cernunnos, fire. Earth, air, fire, water: the four elements of wisdom.

“May this universe not deceive you”; gouache and ink on paper

There’s an amazing carved stone slab in the church at Kirkby Stephen, the Loki Stone. It’s a representation of the Norse god Loki. In Norse mythology, Loki is a trickster who has the ability to change his shape and sex. His mother Laufey, and her name derived from the tree-goddess Lauf-awaiz.

“The Supernaturals”, series 2023 – present

Many of our cultures have a creation myth, and often these are supernatural beings that arrive from a distant land bringing advances in thought and in technology.

“Journeys through my soul”; gouache and ink on paper

“I stopped here awhile during a previous existence”; gouache and ink on paper