pagan

Ember’s Embrace

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A colorful painting depicts a woman with her cat sitting by a roaring campfire in a forest. The scene is illuminated by the fire's glow and a starry night sky overhead. Trees surround them, and foliage is visible on the ground, adding an enchanting touch to this forest pagan setting.

From the imaginative halls of the Flights of Fancy Gallery in New York City, the latest exhibition presents a captivating painting that invites both admiration and contemplation. Titled “Ember’s Embrace,” this piece is a striking exploration of contrast and emotion.

The artist employs a vivid color palette that masterfully captures the ferocity of fire against the tranquility of a forested backdrop. The night sky, awash with hues of purple and speckles of white, suggests a cosmos that is both distant and intimately connected to the scene below. The foreground is dominated by a fiery silhouette that seems to draw energy from the flames enveloping it, creating a focal point that is as enigmatic as it is commanding.

“Ember’s Embrace” showcases a blend of techniques, with textured brushwork that adds a tactile depth to the forest, contrasting with the smoother strokes that define the figure and flames. This juxtaposition can be seen as a metaphor for the chaotic nature of life and the pursuit of inner stillness amid turmoil.

A woman sitting in front of a bonfire in the woods, her cat beside her.

However, the composition does leave room for improvement. The balance between light and shadow is somewhat uneven, with certain areas of the forest receiving less definition, which detracts from the overall depth. Additionally, while the central figure is mesmerizing, its contours and the interplay with the flames could be refined to enhance the illusion of movement and transformation.

In conclusion, “Ember’s Embrace” is a commendable piece within the imaginary Flights of Fancy Gallery’s collection. It demonstrates the artist’s bold use of color and their ability to invoke emotion through abstraction. While certain technical aspects could be honed, the painting remains a testament to the enduring power of art to evoke wonder and introspection.Forest

A Celebration of Máni

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The moon is out. the Autumn winds whisper through the trees as most of the world is asleep in their beds. But in the wilds a celebration of the Moon, of Máni, the moon personified in Germanic Mythology, is underway around a small fire. His priestess is free of earthly woes as she crafts her … Read more

In Our Defence, Silence.

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It’s been exactly 10 days since I’ve been able to create art as it’s been wage-slavery for the last two weeks. I needed to create. Don’t like it? I’m wearing the Melania jacket today. Although I could have spent a little more in post-prod.

Why? Because, sometimes something just needs to be. I’m busting through stereotypes about age, about witches, and a third thing, which I forget.

Video of Recent Art

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I’m truly sorry I’ve not done anything in the last couple of days. I’m working through proposals at work (to pay for my art!) and skin cancer to boot, but last night at 3ish, I made this video of recent art (going back to October (ish). I’ll get creative again soon! I kind of want to do a full length video of all the artwork I’ve done, but it would be significantly longer than 2 minutes – more along the lines of an hour. Maybe over the holiday weekend.

The Calm Before the Heresy

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“The Calm Before the Heresy.” 18×24 #acrylic #painting on #canvas. $300 if interested, which is, mmm, $0.70 per square inch, plus $20 shipping CONUS. That’s a great deal. Prices are sure to shoot up the moment I’m discovered 🙂


I had the idea a couple weeks back, but it really wanted out of my head today. It’s part of my ramp up to #Halloween, the season of #magic – where the boundaries between our world and the #supernatural are at their weakest. 
The setting is #Colonial #America, or Europe, suit yourself (as Marty Feldman used to say). A man, walking through the woods, comes upon a scene of #occult #witchcraft, or worship as the old religions call it. You get the rest, burnings, hangings, people succumbing to their basest instincts.

The Watcher

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My favorite time of the year is here, Fall/Halloween. I’ve geared up the darker art to celebrate. This one I call “the Watcher”. I love gargoyles, so I painted one. The bushes are a combination of fantasy and berries I encounter on my daily walks. 

Techniques used include spray paint, acrylic paint, brushwork, finger-painting,  and the use of these styrofoam balls one can find in a craft store.

I wanted to do rain, but you can’t have a full moon in view with rain falling, apparently. I wanted to keep that accuracy.

Flight of the Raven

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A vibrant painting depicts a large, luminous moon surrounded by colorful clouds against a pink and orange sky. In the foreground, a dark blue bird with bright, reflective eyes appears to gaze toward the moon, an enchanting moment in the Flight of the Raven, framed by abstract, swirling shapes and colors.

My first finger-painting since the third grade.  I’ve always wondered how effective it would be. The answer? For a guy with big fingers, I can’t get any detail.  I’m going back to brushes for the next one, but it was fun to ‘roll around in the mud’, if you will, and stretch my wings.

As I’ve said, no brush touched this canvas.  It looks like it, right? The story, a raven soars in the evening sky, trees below and a gibbous moon riding high in the sky, illuminating it’s coat as it searches for a throne upon which to perch… or something like that.

Acrylic finger-painting on canvas (good thing its not the Middle Ages, where this stuff was not cheap). Comments welcome, I have mostly thick-skin 🙂

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Earth Mother

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Surreal painting of a glowing blue face with a serene expression emerging from a dark background. Spiraling, bright green vines rise from the orange-red base, entwining towards the face. The artwork conveys an ethereal and mystical ambiance, evoking the presence of an Earth Mother.

I went ahead and signed this one because I don’t know when, if ever, I’ll get back to it.  It’s a nature piece, dealing with the mystical forces surrounding the entity that is Mother Nature, both from a pagan and artistic perspective.  She’s never really portrayed as a creature one wants to be around; rather, people would rather just appreciate her children.  This is why she is depicted as serious, even of stern visage, in my portrayal of her.

Once again, the vision in my minds-eye did not match what came from my hand, so I will have to keep trying.  The exercise in the piece was lighting from multiple sources, the plant, emanating the energy of its birth, the right, and from above, representing the night.  One can see faint traces of it in the downward strokes of the background.

Vitals: 18 x 24 acrylic on canvas.

Comments are welcome, more so if they go beyond “this is total rubbish”.

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Harvest Knights

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A surreal painting depicts a vibrant, oversized orange moon against a pink and purple sky. In the foreground, a lush landscape with tall, dark trees and dense foliage evokes the Rites of Spring. A small arched bridge crosses a tranquil stream, with mysterious ruins to the right.

“Harvest Knights” Acrylic and Spray Paint on Canvas, 18 x 24. Deep in the night, under the blood moon a pair of knights rush along a deserted road, past ruins of long forgotten folk towards an urgent engagement. At least that’s the idea. The skills never match the concept.

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