Totem Bear on Hazel (jewellery design)

I recently aquired four nicely shaped pieces of hazel wood, just the right size for making pendants or brooches. Hazel is one of my favourite woods - very light coloured, smooth and almost 'creamy', which is great for contast in the design.
  Here is the first piece which I have used to create a Totem Bear design. Whoever purchases the piece will be able to choose whether to have it made up as a brooch or a pendant.

This Hazelwood piece measures 5.5 x 4.5 cm

I have kept the bark in place

Tashi Owl and the Pool of Meditation

Within ten minutes of  completing 'Tashi Owl' I found a magical Owl feather in the woods!

Tashi appears to be meditating upon Sacred Geometry

The white dots stand proud

This is my second Tashi Owl picture..and pretty similar to the previous one, which was sold as a miniature. I became quite fond of Tashi when I was drawing him the first time round..so decided he was worth repeating..just on a slighly larger scale. This version is about twice the size of the first..although still only measuring 14 x 9.5 cm and extremely detailed. It was created using ink, gouache and watercolour. I'm going to keep this one as part of my personal collection, but may have some prints made to sell in my Etsy shop. It has taken me just under a week to create, and I finished it this afternoon ( June 20th 2015 New Years Eve) having worked on it most of the day. So having added the last dot, I headed straight for the hills and woods behind my house for some fresh air and relaxation...well, that midsummer magic must have been in the air, for what did I find beneath my favourite Beech tree.? An

Detail showing the 'Pool of Meditation' for which I used irridescant turqoise ink

 owl feather of course! Tashi Owl must have been preening himself up there in my favourite tree..and left a little treasure for me to find!  

Pen and Ink Miniature 'The Meditation of Tashi Owl ( in the Forest of Dreams)'

Third in the 'Forest of Dreams' series,

Tashi Owl seated in meditation upon the Bridge Bough

detail

the painting measures 6.5 x 10cm

like the others, this little painting measuring 6.5 x 10cm is a mix of watercolour, pen and ink and gouache. There is text to accompany the picture, but I am not yet publishing this.

Pyracantha Pyro-Art Piece 'Spirit of the Forest of Dreams'

As I continue to explore 'The forest of Dreams' in my imagination, I have re-visited the Totem Tree which was the subject of a previous pen and ink illustration ( see the post for 4th June 2015) and decided to inscribe this nicely shaped piece of Pyracantha with the Totem Tree Spirit. The piece measures around 11cm in height, with a base of about 4 x 5 cm. The entire piece is pyrographed with the design continuing across the top, and under the base. The wording reads 'I am the Spirit, Light and Life of the Forest...I am the breathof the world.'

Totem Tree Spirit on Pyracantha

The piece measures 11 x 5cm

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'I am the Spirit, Light and Life of the Forest..I am the breath of the world'

Pen and Ink Miniature 'Fox Linden and the Ringing Bluestones'

Fox Linden is entranced by the song of The Ringing Bluestones

This tiny painting measures just 6.5 x 10cm

This little painting is the latest in my series of illustrations from The Forest of  Dreams.

Pen and Ink Miniature 'Hare meets the Spirit of the Forest'

This little painting is the first in a new series of illustrations from 'The Forest of Dreams', an enchanted forest realm I have conjured from my imagination. The painting measures just 6.5 x 10cm and is painted on watercolour paper..a mixture of watercolours, pen and ink and gouche. Along with each illustration I am writing a small piece of text, which may be a mini story, poem or descriptive passage. It is my hope to eventually put verse and illustration together in book form..

Hare receives the blessings of the Spirit of the Forest

Applewood Pyro-art Piece 'Here I Stand'

This is a small branch from an apple tree, sliced at an angle, then sanded to provide a smooth

There appears to be a 'secret tunnel' between these two sections!

Tawny Owl

flat area for the design across the face and also at either end. The piece measures 15 x 5 cm.
  The design is a wide spreading tree, with branches reaching to either end, enhancing the '3d' effect. I love the idea of being able to in a sense, 'expand space' by creating a scene which one enters into through the imagination - here is a world within a small piece of wood, in which stands an ancient tree, within an ancient landscape, populated by several birds -corvids of course! At one end a tawny owl in flight.
  The title is a shortened version of words which arose in my mind whilst working on this piece -'Here I stand in the sacred night, behold now a myriad stars in the heavens above..this is Space'

'Valley of Ancient Dreams'

This is my latest small painting/drawing of a 'shamanic' nature. These pictures show the way I like to work, which I describe as 'intuitive'. Despite the high degree of detail, it would be wrong to conclude that the drawing is planned or arranged in my mind beforehand. I prefer to allow images to arise spontaneously and for the picture to 'evolve' by itself, and find that the best way to achieve this effect is by working in great detail quite slowly.

Completed Drawing

  I began the drawing with a watercolour wash, with some drops of ink added while the paper was still wet.

fourth stage

Next, I spent time 'tuning in' to the markings on the paper, to see what images came to mind. The brown ink markings suggested Standing Stones to me, with a river running through, so I added the river colouring with watercolour paint. Then began work on the foreground using my pen and ink technique. It gradually became apparent that I was viewing the scene from an elevated position..in the air..so at this point I became aware of the Buzzards- three enjoying a circling dance in the clear dawn of a far off day in ancient times. Having become aware that it was dawn, I added yellow and pink colours to the sky area. The sky dots suggest thermals..and pathways in the sky as a reflection of the leys and pathways of the land..

third stage

  I used my Rotring technical pen for the black outlines and dots, and watercolour paint and gouache for the coloured areas.

second stage

First stage

 

Sycamore Wood Pyro -Art Piece 'The Sorcerer'

'Ladder' design

Ever fascinated by Paleolithic art, cave drawings and standing stone markings, I have been inspired to recreate some designs on this small piece of Sycamore wood. On one side is the shamanic figure sometimes referred to as 'The Sorcerer' from a cavern in France, and on the reverse, a 'ladder' design similar to markings on the 'Panorama Stone' in W. Yorks, England.

'The Sorcerer'

Applewood Slice Pyro Art Piece 'Moonshadow'

My latest piece on Applewood features some of my favourite images - an old gnarled tree, standing stones and an owl..all lit by the light of a full moon. On the reverse are a few well chosen words taken from one of my favourite books -'The Lord of the Rings'. The words 'Elen sila lumenn omentielvo' are a greeting in the elven tongue, meaning 

'Moonshadow'

'A star shines on the hour of our meeting'.

'skyfields' pen and ink with gouache

I've just completed this little pen and ink drawing which I named 'Skyfields'. I began with a watercolour wash, adding a drop of yellow ink while the paper was still wet, then built up my pen and ink design. Blues and whites filled in with gouache. This is the third in my series of similar designs.

'Skyfields'

Detail from 'Skyfields'

'Diadem', 'Autumnia' and 'Syfields'

Grandfathers Legacy

Grandad Bertie Cannon

Metal badges

Grandad ( bottom right) at work at the royal mews

Ever since I began working with wood a few years ago, I've found myself musing over the little snippets of information I have about my maternal grandfather..and a handful of trinkets I own which were his. I wonder whether or not it is mere coincidence that we share a love for wood. My grandfather Bertie Cannon was a cabinet maker and coachbuilder, and worked at the royal mews in London. I have a photograph of him with one of the royal coaches - I think it is the Lord Mayors coach, and I remember my mother often telling me how he worked long hours at the Royal Mews, travelling from Hertfordshire down to London every day. Unfortunately he died when I was quite young..I think around 1964 when I would have been five years old, and my memories of him are very slight, although I do have a vague memory of being with him in his workshop. My mother used to tell me that he was very skillful with wood, and could make anything - she believed that my ability to draw must have come from him, but I didn't discover my own love for handling and working with wood until I was into my fifties, and my mother was no longer alive to see any of my pyrography work. Apart from the black and white photograph of grandad and the coach, I have some metal 'badges' which I believe came from him, and which I assume were connected with his work, and two old spoke shaves. These have his name inscribed..very faint now, but just about visible and probably would have been with him from his apprentice days. I love to handle these spoke shaves, knowing that he must have used them a great deal for many many years - it almost feels sometimes that he has handed them to me across time, as though handing on a baton..

Grandads spoke shaves

 

Tiny Drawing ' Treasure Within'

This tiny drawing measures just 5 cm square. Painted on watercolour paper in a mixture of watercolour, gouche and ink, it is double sided, with Hare design one side, and a verse of my own on the other..
  The verse reads: 'magic and mystery lie within the heart of all things..seek to know this treasure'.