A bite in the night

Hello lovelies! I am working on the next companion illustration for my upcoming book Wounds : New Openings Into Old Stories. 

This is for another of the folklore stories  which concerns a mythical creature. It's a winter tale that deals with the themes of blood and virginity (among other things.) Can you guess the mythical creature?

I am out of action tomorrow as we are away having a fun day so I won't get to work on it again  til Friday. There are lots of fiddly bits so it may take me all the way to Sunday.

Sleeping somehow implies consent

Hello lovelies! I have finished the next companion illustration for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories that will be on display at my book launch.

I had hoped the clue of the vines and the Liberty fabric that had the briars might be a hint that this was Sleeping Beauty (also called Briar Rose).

My version is a poem entitled By the Pricking of My Thumb (The Beauty Sleeps).

I wrote this poem as a response to one of the earliest versions of this story where it is not a chaste kiss that wakes her from her sleep but the fact that she gives birth to twins. He sees her in her unconscious state which somehow inflames his passion. He rapes her and leaves. She wakes up and finds him and marries him. Let that sink in.

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, what is the meaning of consent?

I heard it through the (grape) vine

Hello lovelies! Here is the next clue for the companion artwork for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories. 

This illustration is for a traditional fairy tale. If you look at the Liberty fabric and the vine leaves it should give you a clue.

Can you guess the tale?

She hoped the pain would be worth it

Hello lovelies! This has been the hardest illustration to date mainly because I was fighting with the shrink plastic. More on that in a bit.

As the companion piece of artwork for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories I knew exactly what I wanted to make because the story of Cinderella has always troubled me. I should clarify that when  I say Cinderella I mean the version made famous by French writer Charles Perrault that includes elements such as fairy godmother,  a pumpkin turning into a carriage and the glass slippers.

As someone who refuses to wear uncomfortable shoes I have often pondered on what would actually happen if you wore shoes made of glass. I explore this idea in my short story Shattered Dreams . 

This one uses a fiddly iridescent crimson fabric fof the blood. It doesn't photograph well due to the shine but it is gorgeous.

 You can't tell but the background fabric is this beautiful gold with vine leaves reminiscent of the pumpkin carriage and I have framed it with this textured sage ribbon. 

My original plan had been to have a whole shoe and a broken shoe but the shrink plastic refused to play ball. Every attempt to make a whole shoe caused it to curl up and stick to itself and no amount of reducing the oven temperature and prying it apart with a skewer or flattening it with a spatula made any difference. There was blood, sweat, tears and burned fingers with this one, folks. 

Failed attempts

But it was worth it.

In these shoes

Hello lovelies! Here is the next clue for the illustration that will accompany my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories. 

This one should be fairly easy to guess as it is based on a traditional fairy tale.  Look at that opulent burnished gold background, the shiny blood red fabric and the clear shrink art plastic.

Can you guess? If all goes well I will have this one done by Thursday. 

She was not like other boys' mothers

Hello lovelies! My next companion illustration for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories is finished. This illustration is from my story entitled Home From the Sea.

This is one of the three short stories based on mythical creatures from folklore.

I have always been fascinated by selkies-- those creatures who are part seal and part woman. Legend says they come to the shore at night and shed their seal skins to dance naked on the sand. Sadly selkies are often exploited  by  men.  It is said that if a man steals the seal skin then he can make the selkie his wife. As long as he hides the skin she is forced to stay with him because she cannot return to the sea. But if she does find her skin she will be be able to leave him.

Selkie close up

My story deals with this sort of abuse. It is the tale of a woman forced to stay in human form by an uncaring husband who will not return her skin.

Stay tuned for the next illustration which I hope will be done by Thursday. 

Down by the sea

Hello lovelies! I have been struggling with my latest illustration that will be a companion artwork  for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.  I can't seem to get the size right and so I have put it on hold for a bit while I work on another illustration.

I am so glad I did. This one is for one of the folk tales rather than fairy tales in my book. It is about one of the mythical creatures that are often exploited by men.

If you look at the sandy gold, ocean blue and soft grey they might give you a clue as to the mythical creature. 

I hope this one will be done by Thursday.  

You never even asked my name

Hello lovelies! This may be the quickest I have finished an illustration as I did it in one day. I wanted a simple, bold design so the message would stand out.

I gave a clue in my last post about this story. It starts with a lie. A lie that his daughter can spin straw into gold. Some stories say he lies because his daughter is lazy and he hopes the boast will make her more industrious.  But mainly he lies because he is greedy. He puts her life in jeopardy with no regard for her feelings or wellbeing because she is his property and he can say and do what he likes. The tale is, of course, Rumpelstiltskin.

My poem Rumple in my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories concerns sex trafficking and the myth of virgin cleansing .If you have never heard of virgin cleansing it is the belief that if you have sex with a virgin you will be healed from sexually transmitted diseases.  This myth was popularised in the Victorian era as a cure for syphilis,  but is still practiced in parts of the world today as a cure for AIDS.

My poem is about a child who is forced into prostitution by her father who lies about her ability to cure disease.

As I was sewing this, I was listening to the powerful song by Ballydowse called Sons and Daughters.

Chain of fools

Hello lovelies! Exciting times over here. The uncorrected proof of my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories arrived today so we are busy proofreading it to get it ready for publication.

This illustration is a poem that re-imagines a traditional tale. It is a tale of extreme unfairness where a father sells his daughter. In the traditional story he metaphorically sells her down the river with his lies, but in parts of the world daughter's bodies are being bargained for every day.

Can you guess the fairy tale?

This is who I am

Hello lovelies! I have just completed the next illustration to go with my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories. 

This illustration goes with the poem Perception Filter which is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Remember in the clue I said it was about two opposite characters?

Many people recognized the mirror in the board book and thought it might be a Snow White illustration ("Mirror, mirror on the wall ") but my take on this classic tale is what if these are the two warring sides of your self esteem? You know how some days you wake up and look in the mirror and like who you see and other days you can't bear to look at yourself? I chose a mirror from a board book because they always have a distorted reflection like a fun house mirror. 

Today we filter our selves in so many ways...we filter our lives by only putting the good bits on Instagram...we filter our selfies  with Snapchat and give ourselves smoother, lighter skin, bigger eyes, plumper lips.

The poem says:

I look at myself.

I'm a gorgeous beauty. 
I'm a repulsive beast.

This is who I am.

We are all at war with ourselves.

Stay tuned for the next illustration which I hope will be done by Wednesday. 

Opposite sides of the mirror

Hello lovelies! I spend an hour today shopping at our local craft shop Community Crafts. How I love this shop! The two ladies who run it are so helpful and love to see what I am making.

This illustration for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories is my twist on a traditional fairy tale. I will give you a hint -- it is a tale with opposites. Two characters, both the opposite of the other.

My take is a bit different so I can't wait to reveal it to you. Can you guess what it is? One thing you might be wondering is "Why is there a children's board book?" Well, if you look closely you might be able to see what part of the book i plan to use.

Stay tuned for the reveal. I hope to have it finished by the weekend.

Don't be so frigid my dear

Hello lovelies! A quick dash out this morning in the freezing rain allowed me to get some blue embroidery floss to finish the second in my series of nursery rhyme illustrations for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.

This poem deals with harassment in the workplace and is titled Pink Workplace Blues.

I wanted to figure out how to portray sexual harassment in a symbolic way so I asked myself "How does a flower sexually harass another flower?"

I took my inspiration from Gerald Scarfe's animated sequence from Pink Floyd The Wall as well as paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. I tried to portray body language as well as make the flowers suggest genitalia.  It might be worth clicking on the picture to see the pearl detail on the female flower.

Stay tuned for the next illustration which will represent a classic fairy tale.  I will post a clue when I get the rest of the materials.

Quite Contrary

Hello lovelies! I have worked all weekend on two illustrations in tandom because they are both nursery rhymes that deal with gender issues in the workplace.

This one is from the poem Quite Contrary from my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.  

This poem deals with the perception of both men and women in the workplace.  I read an interesting article in Harvard Business Review about how the word ambitious was considered a positive trait in a man but was an insult when describing a woman.

Stay tuned for my next illustration where I tackle sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Often times she cried at night

Hello lovelies! It has taken me all week, but I finally finished my artwork to accompany my version of the nursery rhyme Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater.

Have you ever wondered what the line "He put her in a pumpkin shell" means? Historically the word pumpkin shell referred to a chastity belt.  I have chosen to make my poem about a younger abused wife and her older domineering husband. 

This is one that the photograph doesn't do it justice. I chose the busy background fabric partly due to the autumn colours and partly as I wanted the busyness of the designs to represent the complexity of her life. I wanted to make her a "melon brain" as that's how her husband sees her and I thought a literal Jack-o-lantern for a head would be perfect to represent her powerlessness and the way he abused her. I wanted the words "Often times she cried at night" to be on a twisty vine that grew out of her head. Its harder to read in the photo but much clearer in person. Some of this may be due to me taking the photo at 9pm . I would highly recommend clicking on the photo to enlarge it so you can see it properly. 

Stay tuned for my next illustration which I hope (if all goes well) will be done on Wednesday. 

Pumpkin (Spice)

Hello lovelies! Its the first day of September and starting to feel like autumn so this seemed the perfect day to work on my next illustration which has a decidedly autumn feel about it.

This artwork will be representing a nursery rhyme that involves a pumpkin...can you guess what it is?

What else can I do but jump?

I finally finished the artwork for the poem Towering from my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.  It took two tries to get the lettering just right (ah, the curse of perfectionism) but I am pleased with the final result. I love the textures of this piece.

This poem is about having very clear cut black and white views of the world which can be very old fashioned and oppressive and I wanted the artwork to reflect that. I wanted the only colour to be her hair as part of the theme of this work is the value of women being only their beauty and ability to reproduce. I deliberately made the bars on the window in the shape of a cross for this reason. 

Stay tuned for the next illustration which I hope will be ready by Wednesday.