Nature Does it Better!

There are some things in life that nature does better and one of them is sunsets! Does this mean that as an artist I shouldn’t bother, leave those sumptuous sunset hues in the drawer and move on? I don’t think so, give it the go but be aware that it can turn into one of those simperingly sickening Disney princess scenes, where the unicorns are hiding behind trees waiting to pop out and burst into song. (Do unicorns sing?) 

This is my latest wip, it's funny how your brain and imagination can play tricks on you. One evening around about Hallowe’en I was cycling past a field and looked up to see the sun setting over what looked to me like a field of frothy dandelion clocks. Gobsmackingly (haven’t used that for a while) ethereal and beautiful it was, it really took my breath away, so I dragged out my camera. Looking back at my photo, the atmosphere was there, the sunset too but the dandelion clocks, were missing ...... so I headed off to investigate. The field was there, the trees were there but not a dandelion in sight. My mind had played a wicked trick on me, the scene was so present however I decided to give it the go, trying to capture the light and the (non-existant) clocks bathed in velvety blue hues. 

Having a family who loved books, I was lucky to have been given some gorgeous fairytale books illustrated by Arthur Rackham (which I used to read under the covers by the light of my electric blanket) by my wonderful aunt. 

Aunt Jean played a big part in my life, she was the bringer of wild and wonderful Christmases, outrageous gifts and a one off! Thanks to her I discovered my love of fairies and beautiful illustrations (including those of Audrey Beardsley, probably not suitable to underage viewing). On the wall of my room at her house was an amazing painting by Richard Dadd, ''The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke'', here is a Public Domain Photo . 

Painted by Dadd while he was in an asylum for going insane and  murdering his father (he definitely had more than just one screw loose). This small painting (54cm x 34cm) is packed with fascinating detail. Titania and Oberon and the rest of the fairy folk are waiting in anticipation for the Fairy Feller to swing his axe. I spent hours lost in the scene, fascinated for example by the strange leg of the fairy mid-left and I think this painting is responsible for my obsession with negative space between grasses or plants. 

Another book that I adore is Kit Williams ''Masquerade'' (remember it, it was an armchair paperchase, looking for a golden Hare), and although both Dadd's painting and Williams illustrations are in the realm of photorealism, they transport me into that world of mystery and fairies at the bottom of my garden. At the end of the day nature does it better though! If I painted this, everybody would say how unrealistic!  #nofilter!