Vibrant bird and floral artworks and patterns...

It's been back to school for me this autumn - I'm currently just over halfway through Victoria Johnson's wonderful Create Collections class - and I'm enjoying taking a new look at colour and creating my artworks and designs with a collection in mind...

Here's some of what I've been up to so far, with more to come!
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My Celtic Ivy art - plus I explore the ivy symbolism, stories, myth, meaning and folklore that's shaped the way we understand ivy today...

And climbing walls and buildings where, far from common misconceptions, it actually seems to prove beneficial keeping buildings dry and warm in the winter and cool in the summer – and it’s certainly seen as very lucky to have ivy covering your home!

As 2020 is proving to be an 'unprecedented' year (as everyone keeps saying), my artworks are going to be included in Goole Museum's very first Digital Open Art Exhibition which takes place from 1st September to 31st December 2020.

You can be part of this, too, by visiting the gallery in person (if you choose) to view the digital part of the exhibition on a slideshow within the gallery, or you can also see it on the museum's digital gallery page.

You will be able to see these two artworks which I've submitted to the Open Art exhibition, alongside lots more gorgeous artwork from very talented East Yorkshire artists...

Click here to view the Goole Open Art 2020 Digital Exhibition...

Celtic greyhound knotwork art plus gifts for greyhound lovers, greyhound-design fabrics and loads more…

I, myself, used to own a rescue greyhound and I still consider myself a greyhound lover, so I was keen to create a Celtic artwork and have a go at intertwining knotwork around those lovely long legs and tail. The greyhound is such an elegant dog that perfectly suits the Celtic knotwork style...

My Celtic Bear art plus a dive into bear meaning and symbolism, now and through the ages...

The bear is a powerful symbol for us - even today, when bears have not been living wild in Britain for hundreds of years…

And indeed, bears are generally seen as symbol of strength and power – but the story is more nuanced and interesting than that and bears definitely have a different side to show us, too…

My beautiful Celtic Hazel artwork - part of my Celtic Tree Calendar collection - plus I take a deeper dive into hazel folklore, history, tales and hazel meaning...

Celtic knotwork art - Humanity & Kindness...

I created this colourful Celtic knotwork design on the theme of humanity and kindness and based on a traditional Celtic knotwork design -

I actually created it in the first weeks of lockdown (late-March 2020) for a book on kindness, 'Be Kind' by Tecassia Publishing - thinking about how we're all interconnected across the whole world and how we need to cultivate our kindness and patience towards each other so that we can all live together effectively, especially in those most difficult moments when we sometimes feel anything but patient and kind...
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My Celtic goose art plus goose myth & meaning explored...

The farmyard goose was once widespread across Britain and Ireland – equally so its wild ancestor, the Greylag Goose.

The name is thought to relate to the fact that this grey goose ‘lagged’ behind other geese at migration time and was one of the last to leave for migration. Another suggestion is that it was originally the ‘grey-legged goose’ but since its legs aren’t grey, but orange, I feel this theory is unlikely.

Even in the earliest times, geese were seen as special. In Ancient Egypt, the goose “was the Sun as it emerged from the primeval egg” (Albert Champdour, Le Livre des Morts) – a solar bird-god that laid the golden egg (the sun) each morning.

Pharoahs who identified with the sun were shown with their souls in the shape of a goose. And when a new pharaoh was proclaimed, four wild geese were released to the four corners of the Earth to tell the gods of the new earthly ruler. So the Egyptians saw the goose as a messenger between heaven and earth.

My Celtic Holly art - plus a look at holly folklore, tales, meaning & symbolism...