Handmaidens of the eternal: away with the faeries

Death and faeries this week……firstly a time lapse of what I call the ‘inbetween stage’-adding the initial areas of shadow and colour. There will be a lot of layering and detail to go. This bit is fun and loose and just me fathoming out the composition. This is one of a few paintings I have been putting thought into on the theme of the faerie soul; although these folkloric beings appear mostly cutesy in popular culture, I’m more interested in the dark and mischievous aspects of what they represent in the human experience. The Latin root word for fairy is ‘fay’ meaning fate. No concrete outline for this project just yet but the faeries have taken hold….

Time lapse of sketching phase

Music: The Dance`of Death by Audiomachine

Fathoming out composition and playing with colour

As autumn creeps over us I’ve been bonkers for conkers.....conkers smuggling contraband in the form of red locked fairies in hibernation. I love the symbology of magic sleeping and dormant inside the seeds of the trees, awaiting invocation. This concept is rooted to a few ghost stories I am conjuring, and edging towards Samhain gets me in the spooky mindset. Ghost stories and fairytales were my favourite as a child, the tingle on my skin as I imagined the antagonist wandering into fateful woods……these tales of wandering into the unknown were and still are a pure joy.

Time lapse of a conker faery

Music: ‘September Song’ Agnes Obel

Time lapse

Music: ‘Move on’ Anna Von Hausswolff

The autumnal hues of greens and oranges won over here for my palette choice. I am obsessed with this fiery haired cherubic aesthetic…..

Time lapse video of the colour layering

Music: ‘In the tall grass’ Cinderwell

According to Arthur Conan Doyle, faeries are ‘The handmaidens of the eternal’. I’ve been researching the stories connecting faeries and the inbetween…….including many an account of those convinced they were lured by the little folk to a feast, only to suddenly realise they are being coerced into a dance of the dead. I find these detailed anecdotes fascinating, the mix of reality and faeryland as an exploration of a person’s psyche. For now I am busy layering up these little sprites from dark to light as they lead me through both….

Sketch to colour time lapse

Music: ‘All alone’ Like what

Ginger cherub Angel/faery/horned sprite vibe…….