On Angel Wings

Another request for a memorial canvas came my way... this time from somebody wanting something special for a friend, in memory of her father. I don't suppose either of us had any idea how this would look as we exchanged emails... I never know exactly until I actually do it, even though I may think I have fairly clear ideas... and explaining what I'm really thinking by email is pretty hard, and it takes so long to write & describe, I'm not much better verbally, lol!

(photograph reproduced with permission)

Commissioned work involves a huge element of trust. A client has to trust me to interpret their ideas in a way that they find acceptable... I have to trust that they can accept my interpretation... and trust my own instincts & feelings about what they tell me. At times I have produced something very different from what I know is expected. 

 However, at some point, the necessary trust was established. K was happy to furnish me with several  snippets of information and allow me to "pick and choose what you as the artist think will work." Just the kind of words I like to hear. Plenty of information helps to build a picture... to create a resonance between the person it is for & the work, but  put too much in & things would look messy. Also, I'm not an 'illustrator' so any artwork is suggestive rather than literal.

K came up with an extract from "In Her Eyes" by Michelle W Emerson, a poem about the love shared between father & daughter,

'Upon angel wings you soar; your sparkling golden halo glows

Whenever she's with you, it's Heaven in her eyes that shows.

Her eyes hold a song so beautiful you'd think it was Heaven's melody.

It's the music of love's symphony composed by each precious memory.

The love known is the love you've shown from sunset to sunrise.

The depth of your love will forever show in your daughter's eyes.'

together with a biblical extract,

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, 

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." 

 John 3:16

The main colours were sepia tones, to tie in with the photograph, also K suggested earthy would be good. The main 'memory' that we wanted to include was the love of fishing together... right from the start i visualised the blues & browns together, but it took several layers of paint to get the textures & depth of colour how & where I wanted! I also had a strong feeling about adding a silver fish right from the start... in the end it served as an anchor point for the whole thing, pulling it all together!

I have heard that L is over the moon to receive her gift & I felt quite teary myself when i read K's note of thanks... it really was an honour to work on something that means so much to someone...

canvas size ~ 10 x 14 x 1.5 inches (25 x 36 x 3.5 cm)

I looked for an alternative image to use in case L wasn't comfortable with 'her dad's' canvas on show... I really like this statue of an angel & the colours tie in perfectly... looks like i will be doing some more angel-y ideas soon!

Memorial Canvas

I've been looking into these twinkly eyes a fair bit this past couple of weeks & it's just dawned on me that I don't even know his name! That may seem strange, but it hasn't been important until now... I've been more concerned with the 'feel' of this man... his energy. I know him as 'Inghinn's Dad' and he recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge to the Summerlands. Ing wanted a canvas with his photo & a quote from 'Le Petit Prince' by Antoine de Saint Exupery in remembrance of her dad.

To begin with I just couldn't 'get' what I needed to do with this. Inghinn told me her Dad was a farmer who loved nature and she asked for dark green lettering. She would have let me change that if I wanted, but the photo background definitely lent itself to greens.

It took me a while just sitting with the photograph... connecting & feeling the energy. After a little while I had more ideas than enough. I printed the photo onto canvas and frayed the edges for a raggedy effect.... i didn't want any hard lines. The lettering too was a quite loose italic, done with a draftsman's ruling pen.

 

Wenn du bei Nacht den Himmel anschaust

Wird dir sein, als leuchten alle Sterne

Weil ich auf einem von ihnen wohne

Weil ich auf einem von ihnen lache

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

It's from The Little Prince, and roughly translated it means, when you look at the sky at night, it will be as if all the stars shine brightly, because on one of them I'm alive, because on on one them I am laughing.

the canvas size is 10 x 14 inches...

 small enough to be personal & large enough to have a visual impact

Once i started, everything came together. By then I had an idea of how it should look.... the format, the colours... and a tree. For some reason I felt that a tree was important, and Ing confirmed that her Dad had trained as a tree surgeon in his youth. How I represented the tree was important too...

The bare branches with just a few leaves suggest the end of autumn, moving into winter... which is how I see the end of our life... more like a change of season, a time of withdrawal, returning to earth, preparing for the next stage of growth. The spirals suggest that continuity too,  the cyclical nature of life and ancient connections...

It was one of those jobs that from start to finish felt special, and was an honour to do... I hope that it gives some comfort when you think of your dad, Ing xo

Handmade Journals

'Love' Memory Album

This personalised  memory album was a gift from a groom to his bride.... various 'love quotations' are written throughout, with several envelopes inside for keep-sakes. It could be used as a photograph album or as a special scrapbook of their wedding day.

Commissioning something like this, for any occasion, makes a really special gift.... and you can choose colours & words that suit the individual. This one was 15 x 15 inches and prices start from £45, depending on number of pages, quotations, envelopes & whether interleaving is desired.