Tomb of Francois II Duc de Bretagne

During my visit to Nantes earlier in the year I was lucky enough to visit a number of stunning churches and cathedrals. My favourite was Cathedrale de Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, its sheer scale and quiet, tranquil atmosphere was beautiful in itself, yet there were so many incredible details and unique elements to be seen within the Cathedral. One of these incredible sights to behold was the Tomb of Francois II Duc de Bretagne and his wife Marguerite de Foix.

I suppose in the vast grandness of the Cathedral it might be easy to pass by a tomb, even one as elaborate as this. However I'm not one to carelessly pass by any monument to the macabre. My ongoing interest in Gisants is always well satisfied in France, and the Duc de Bretagne's Tomb was no exception.
Instantly I was struck by the stunning sculptures which made up the massive monument. At each corner of the Tomb stands one of the four cardinal virtues, each with its own symbolic elements representing each virtue. Courage stands armor clad forcing a mighty dragon from the tower cracking under her might. The great serpent figure represents Satan and the root of evil. Temperance holds reigns and a clock, representing restraint, balance and self control. Justice holds a double edged sword and the book of law with balanced scales upon it, both representing balanced, fair judgement. And lastly, my favourite of the sculptures, is Prudence. The image looks to have been closely modeled to resemble the daughter of Francois II, Anne de Bretagne. She gazes into a looking glass, holding a pair of compasses, representing self discipline, guidance through wisdom and reason. At her feet sits a snake, which along with the mirror is the symbolism typically associated with this virtue and used in many personifications of 'Prudentia'. Most intriguingly the face of an emotionless old man sits within her hood, staring blankly towards the Gisants of the dead. The old man, perhaps, represents the inner wisdom of Anne de Bretagne.

The Gisant's of Francois and Marguerite lay recumbent in in their state of eternal rest, looked upon by angels and protected by the most loyal creatures at their feet. A Lion lays by the feet of the Duke, a symbol of his dynasty and adorned with his coat of arms, while a Greyhound wears his wife's heraldic shield.
Around the Tomb itself stand mourners, the 12 apostles and the patron saints of the deceased. Each one in carved in tiny scale and incredible detail, just one of the many exquisite details of the Tomb.

The craftsmanship of the Tomb is second to none. It was commissioned in 1499 by Anne and her new husband King Louis XII of France. The Tomb took 8 years to complete and was designed and created by the most skilled, talented craftsmen of the time. Michael Colombe sculpted the Tomb from the finest Marble sourced by an Italian artisan. The Tomb has survived being moved, the revolution and over 500 years of history, but now rests back in the Cathedral at Nantes where Anne wanted a fitting monument to her parents to honour their memory forever.

The Tomb is one of the finest examples of sculpture I have seen outside of a museum. With an incredible fineness and haunting realism the ghostly white marble faces look out through history mourning what must have been two truly loved people.

Courage

Temperance

Prudence

Justice

Stag Beetle Hand Painted Cards

A couple of years ago in the spirit of doing something a little different I decided to do a small run of hand painted cards. These featured one of my favourite subjects to draw; Stag Beetles. But as ever, the creepy critters had to have a twist. And with my lifelong obsession with Ancient Egypt a contributing factor I created 8 slightly strange Beetles adorned with gold and jewels or emanating an unholy halo. Two beetles sold soon after their creation, but the others ended up in the deepest, darkest corner of my studio, neglected and forgotten about, until now ...

After rediscovering the pieces I decided to dig them out of their hidey hole to offer them for sale on the Etsy store as a unique opportunity to to own an entirely on off miniature specimen and pocket sized piece of art ... Click here to check them out!

Flora and Fauna Cards

Brand new greeting cards featuring designs from my 'Flora and Fauna' series and my Moth illustrations are available now from the Etsy store! New for Autumn 2017 the cards are the perfect pocket sized pieces of art to frame, give as a gift or even have nestled among your house plants.

The pieces of the 'Flora and Fauna' series, also available as A4 prints, celebrate in the rich history and symbolism of flora and fauna in traditional culture and folklore. Each piece is carefully created to communicate specific messages to the viewer, celebrating both the beauty of nature and its deep rooted messages.

The Moth illustration cards, one featuring British Haw Moths and the other, Tiger Moths, indulges in my love of Moths and their beautiful, vibrant patterns. Who said Moths were boring?!

To check out the new cards available on the Etsy store now Click here!

Marlpool Cemetery

On what transpired to be on of the hottest days of the year it was fitting to do something I love so much; walking. Wandering among wildlife and absorbing the beauty of nature is something I thrive upon. So making the end destination of a many miles walk a local cemetery, and finally a tiny ale house for some refreshment and rest bite from the heat was to me a perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday.

Like so many local cemeteries many monuments are faded and forgotten, with nature taking hold, years of erosion and poor weather felling these stony tributes, or far worse; vandals getting a cheap laugh out of the desecration of the memory of some mysterious man.

I wandered in the barmy haze, as ever pondering on the stones and their inscriptions, thinking about the lives which lay behind these few short words and how the world must have been for them. Suddenly I stumbled across one of the most striking inscriptions I've ever read 'Daniel Stirland. Aged 52. Who was killed by lightning at Heanor. August 11th 1890.' I can't imagine that was an everyday occurrence in Victorian Derbyshire. What was even more surprising was that after some subsequent research into newspaper archives it appears to have been during a cricket match!

There really are so many stories to tell hidden behind the long forgotten names of those which lay before us ...

Flora and Fauna Prints

My latest series 'Flora and Fauna' partly harks back to my past work from my time at university, when I first began studying flora and fauna and nature in print in a serious way. The series is highly symbolic and draws both from my obsession with nature and my love of history and complex, often subversive symbolism. The symbolism surrounding the flora and fauna of our world is deep, running through our history and still playing a part in our life today. Within many cultures plants have deep rooted reputations, some still translating into society today through folklore or simply tradition. One element of this is the Victorian phenomenon 'The Language of Flowers' which saw flora, as a method of communication, and deep expression so complex a dictionary was necessary to decipher the message. The concept of communication through nature essentially inspired the series, taking into account different elements such as Herbology, Witchcraft, The Language of Flowers, regional traditions and Art History. Through 'Flora and Fauna' I attempted to combine complex and ancient symbolism  to tell a tale through the medium of Flowers and insects. A face of beauty carrying a deep, sometimes sinister message ...

Available from the Etsy store now ...  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DanseMacabreUK

'Satan whispers softly ...' Belladonna Flora and Fauna

Belladonna has many names, deadly nightshade, banewort, beautiful death and my personal favourite; 'Devils Cherries'. When researching flora to feature in a more sinister piece I began to focus on plants used in ancient witchcraft and healing. Many were familiar to me from herb and medicinal gardens in French Abbeys and Monasteries. Plants with healing and even poisonous properties were often grown by monks in medieval times, and some abbeys have maintained this tradition to present an authentic view of the Abbey as it was. I had seen Belladonna growing at Abbey de Fontfroide, and knew it was a highly poisonous plant, but with a little more research about its misunderstood history and witchcraft connections I became more sure this was the flora for the piece. And honestly, 'Devils cherries' sealed the deal, there was just something about it I loved.

Abbey de Fontfroide - just some of the extensive gardens

Before starting the series I had already thumbed through my 1970s butterfly and moth book (another of my charity shop purchases) and seen some moths with glorious names with sinister connections, such as Goat Moth and Brimstone Moth and put them on a shortlist for a devilish inspired piece. So Belladonna felt like one of those pieces that formed fluidly as a 'meant to be' idea with great potential. Its a rare moment that everything snaps together in this way, so its a satisfying feeling when it does happen!

After completing the initial pen layer of the piece I realised just how many fine details in the piece required a lot of precision and delicacy, this piece was not as bold or forgiving as Silver Thistles and bulky beetles. The moths had many intricate areas of pattern to detail. but this was only preparing me for the real challenge. The Belladonna itself was particularly difficult, with delicate details such as the veins of the leaves and the fine folds of the petals a real challenge to capture. It was one of those rare occasions where its difficult to draw the line on where to stop and how much depth you should go into for the scale of the piece. As I progressed through the painting of the flora I developed a technique and approach to both the flower heads and the foliage which worked. Developing a system which would create reasonably uniform, aesthetically correct leaves was essential, and although I don't like working in a formulaic manner it was essential to complete this piece to the standard I have and have it look fluid.

The name for this piece came to me very late in the day. Some of the pieces in the series I had clear ideas for their title, or a series of scribblings I was still considering. But this piece, other than a reference to ancient witchcraft and the Satanic implications often wrongly connected with it (sometimes rightly also) in ancient Europe I had no definite idea. I had several phrases jotted down such as 'The Devil is upon my shoulder ...' 'Satan tempts me ...' 'I summon you from darkness ...', but none quite conveyed what I wanted to express. I wanted there to be a sense of mystery, what did Satan want? What was he bidding this witch to do? How on earth is Satan connected to this picture of flowers? The sort of questions I wanted to raise from the title. Quite a while after the piece was complete it suddenly came to me, when I was not particularly trying to think of one; 'Satan whispers softly ...'. Finally, I felt this was right, this was the one. The idea of the soft whisper refers to the gentle delicate appearance of the Belladonna, which may look pretty and innocent, but Satan hides behind this facade of beauty (in the form of the plants poison and its history dark history). The soft whispering of the wings of the Goat Moth as Satan swoops by and the Brimstone Moth lingers menacingly also maintains the idea that sinister and evil can hide behind a beautiful exterior.
The idea behind this piece was essentially Sinister, Satanic happenings, Dark thoughts which hide behind a pure face, evil which looks like nothing other than mere beauty and innocence, as you too, the viewer, fall under the spell of deadly nightshade.

What is Satan whispering in his persuasive dulcet tones? Only the Devils Cherries know ...

Memento Mori - St Lawrence's Churchyard, Eyam

My cemetery creeping activities have been more active than ever this summer. And I confess I find great peace and calm from wandering through graveyards and observing the wildlife, the flora thriving in a truly natural, unfettered way and the legacy of generations summed up in a simple stone.

Recently I have found myself observing more and more closely the designs of gravestones. It is interesting to observe the aesthetics of different ages, the favoured motifs of the day, popular phrases which came and went, strange symbols familiar in a time long since passed but now nothing more than a curious creation on an eroding face of stone.

One strange design which struck me was that of a hand pointing to the sky, surrounded by flowers, holding a scroll with words 'Meet me there', suggesting an eternal reunion together in Heaven. Later the same day at Spittal Cemetery I found an almost identical design, with variations in the scroll wording, the flowers used and shapes within the headstone, but the similarities could be no mere coincidence. I initially assumed these were perhaps by the same stone mason, however further investigation proved this theory incorrect. Then I began to compare the actual inscriptions of the stones and their dates, both late Victorian period (1890's), both men, leaving behind a widow and daughter, who naturally in the order of the grave followed afterwards. The inscriptions on both of the stones are lengthy, and their ornamentation is fine and extensive, suggesting they would have come at quite a cost. Are both of these grave stones towns apart desperate expressions of grief for the loss of the head of the household? Or am I missing the bigger picture of Victorian funerary tradition?

Observing and comparing the various graves from many hundreds of years there are certainly trends and fashions, even in death. Some years the cross was very popular, or a Gothic arch, the Victorians seemed to favour lengthy inscriptions, sometimes even detailing how a person died (my favourite one to date is lightening) and lamenting their woe, yet as time moves on our grave stones become plainer, more uniform and the exuberance fades. The varied sea of stones, some dating back to the great plague, sit like broken teeth jutting in and out of the undulating grass and wild blooms. The ravages of time have spared some, with their proud artistry still intact and preserving the memory of many below, others have been less fortunate, with their twisting and toppling being a slow ballet performed over the ages as the weather wears away names and sentiments of love that are forever lost to time.

I dearly wish we still had the pride and enthusiasm for funerary art that our Victorian predecessors possessed. The time and care that was taken over these designs, the incredible work by stone masons bringing them to life, miniature monuments to a memory, designed to cement their place in history and stand the test of time. Yet the majority of modern monuments in Britain do not have the same detail or dedication displayed as in years gone by, with the concept of design and individuality virtually being eliminated, doesn't choosing the colour of your stone say enough about the deceased? Keep your inscription short and sweet, you're paying by the letter. Lined up neatly like faceless figures, there's something very detached and distant about modern gravestones, which perhaps says just as much about our attitude to death, the morbid and macabre as Victorian headstones said about theirs ...

Demonology Prints

My recent reworking of my Demonology series has finally come to fruition and the series is completed at last. As all conceptual work, research and planning was completed when the original drawings were finished a couple of years ago. Meaning the reworking as been a reasonably straightforward exercise in pure art, which feels like a rather rare, carefree experience.

I've enjoyed completing the short series which is certainly a contrast compared to the mammoth undertaking of my Major Arcana. But that doesn't mean there aren't other Demons that need some infernal imagining ...

My Demonology series is now available to purchase from the Etsy store, as a set of prints, or individual prints, for more information Click here!

Danse Macabre Tarot Card Deck Release

The Danse Macabre deck is finally available for purchase!
The Tarot cards feature my 22 Major Arcana designs, in which each artwork was specifically conceived and created for the Danse Macabre deck.
The deck was inspired by the complex meanings and symbolism of Tarot, but also by occultism, nature, history, art symbolism and my own brand of weird wackyness.
Creating these artworks was a mammoth undertaking across 2016/17. This deck is the culmination of over 160 hours of work drawing and painting, plus countless hours of conceptual work, sketching, and finally scanning and photoshop.

The Tarot deck is now available from my Etsy store, priced at £19.50 (plus shipping):

Click here to check out my Major Arcana!