Pear Wood Pyrography Art Keepsake 'Autumns Tale'

This small slice of Pear wood was the perfect shape for my vision of Autumn embodied in the guise of a beautiful maiden passing through the woods..with golden leaves falling softly to the ground all around her. The night is clear, with bright moon and myriad stars to light her way. Beneath her feet ( on the base of the Keepsake) a hedgehog sleeps..
   Of course, although my mind sees these images in colour..there is a limit to wood, and so I wrote my poem to accompany the Keepsake :
               
                  Shall I tell you of the Moon in a diamond studded sky..
                  Bestow upon you blessings of My Lady passing by..
                  Give you golden leaves falling softly to the ground
                  As the world keeps gently turning
                  In it's endless sacred Round..

'Moonkeepers' Pen and Ink design (with Gouache)

My latest design features a favourite creature - the Raven!
   I love Corvids, Ravens in particular..and never tire of drawing them, on wood or paper.
This design is primarily pen and ink on watercolour paper, with a few touches of gouache here and there. Measures a little less than A5.

Totem Animal Pyrography Keepsakes

It's been a while since I posted pictures of my pyrography work. I create items of jewellery using primarily Hazel and Birch wood virtually eveyrday, and post pictures on Instagram, Facebook and Etsy. My 'Keepsakes' are generally small stand alone decorative pieces which a lot of folk buy as gifts or to stand on shrines and alters. Most of my Keepsakes feature Totem animals, and are made from small slices of hardwoods such as Apple, Pear, Holly and Box.
   Here are just a few recent examples. You can see more on my Instagram page : House of the Green Lady...
    The pieces shown here are all between  five and eight centimetres only...

Influence of the Bay

In April of 2019 I made the move from Nottingham city centre to Morecambe Bay, on the North West coast of England. Cooler and wetter than the Midlands...it's saving grace is the ethereal beauty of the bay, as it curves round towards the Lake District..the ever-changing colours of sea and sky, and the array of bird-life.
   Even in the town of Morecambe itself, one does not need to walk far to enjoy spectacular views and see and hear the plaintive calls of the Curlew, which is fast becoming one of my favourite birds..
   So I'm sharing here a recent Curlew design, created in pen and ink on watercolour paper...along with some of my recent photographs of Morecambe Bay..

Curlew

My Pen and Ink Curlew design

More Pen and Ink..

Pen and Ink Miniatures

I've been enjoying a return to the simplicity of designing in black and white, using pen and ink.
   As much as I love colour, it is also very pleasing to design with a very limited palette. The use of just black and white presents a number of challenges in composing the picture, but at the same time offers great potential with the use of contrast and pattern..
   Pen and ink also allows me to indulge my passion for detail!
These miniatures measure just 7 cm.

Moths!

 Having always loved insects there was a time when I used to draw and paint them often, especially Butterflies. It's been a while...but recently I began some insect illustration just for my own pleasure.

 These are three of my favourite Moths - Six -spot Burnet, Deaths Head Hawkmoth and Tiger Moth.

Six spot Burnet, Deaths head Hawkmoth and Tiger Moth

I drew these using coloured pencils.

'Lumiere'

Once again I turn to watercolours, pen and ink and gouache - my favourite mediums to achieve the mix of detail and colour I require.

'Lumiere'

'Etherica' Pen and Ink Design

Here is another mixed media painting - similar to my previous 'Spirit Rising' it involves watercolours, pen and ink and gouache, and features many of the themes I habitually return to!

'Etherica'

Pen and Ink with Gouache Design 'Spirit Rising'

'Spirit Rising' is a small design on watercolour paper, incorporating many of the themes which particularly inspire my creativity. Hare in the foreground represents and expresses receptivity to all that lies beyond plain sight.. and the design expresses my belief that all things are inter-connected and that life is inspirational and sacred...

Pyrography on Holly 'The Peace of the Earth'

Holly is a lovely wood to work with, and this was a particularly smooth and slim slice, ideal for my double-sided design..

Pyrography on Yew

A lovely smooth and beautifully shaped slice of English Yew, with a rich golden colouring was the inspiration for my Fox and Hare design 'Rivers of Light. This design speaks of joyful abandonment and inspiration, rather than captor and prey.
    My verse 'Rivers of Light' on the reverse was written whilst living in a remote cottage in Scotland, where I used to regularly see the hares in the meadows..