Sunday 14 June 2020

Green Men - The Spirits of the Seasons

I'm so pleased at long last to have finally given my Green Man series the time and attention it deserves. These ideas have laid waiting patiently for so long I had been feeling serious guilt about neglecting them for so many years. But after months of work I can finally say I have done the pieces justice.

Initially I intended to simply create a series featuring as many of my Green Man ideas as possible. However as sketching progressed and the complexity of the pieces grew I decided I would have to limit which ideas I was exploring unless I was willing to dedicate the entire year to the series. After some consideration I decided to transform my favourite ideas into the Spirits of the Seasons.

The series is designed to capture the essence of each season, visually but also the personality and feel I get for each time of year. Spring is the awakening, sleepy and bleary eyed but sending out new growth into the world. Summer is joyous and vibrant. The happiness seems never ending as he chuckles to see the insects go by and the flowers bloom. Autumn is humble and quiet. His appearance is most fleeting of all, yet he knows he is the most beautiful. In creeps winter, grumpy and frostbitten. Sad to have lost his leaves once more and silently waiting for Spring to awaken him and give him life anew.

Creating these characters was quite important for me in the process of developing the series, which I wasn't expecting. It helped me to give the pieces real depth and feeling which is something I really wanted to achieve to do the series justice. Through this process I hoped to evoke some of what our ancient ancestors felt about the seasons and how important these changes were for ancient Britons.

My Green Man series is now available as A4 prints here, with postcards and greeting cards coming soon ...