Looking Backwards Before Moving Forwards...  

Lately my mind has been distracted and reflecting on 2011. Sometimes I feel it's important to look back, stopping for a moment to see what you have achieved and how you can improve things in the New Year... To me, January seems to be an odd month, when you can think about all of the other months ahead of you and new possibilities you can create in the future. It's interesting how we all have to drive our own lives in a direction that suits us and somehow along the way try to find some kind of inner peace and happiness.

I think when you do something creative that you really enjoy, it can make you feel truly happy and alive, maybe that is when you find the key to positive well-being in life.

Tell me friends, what makes you feel happy and fulfilled in your life, apart from family and friends?

When I look at Zigsa cat stretched out enjoying the sun, I feel he has found the answer to cat well-being. Life is simply uncomplicated... Oh to be a cat!

Because of distractions lately, I have not started my small fairy paintings yet, but I did make some more commissioned jewellery pieces and another heart picture for Valentine's day. A new Owl and the Pussy-Cat picture will be listed in Etsy this week.
Traveling back in time...

Last year I visited a few inspiring places with a lot history and plenty of character. There is nothing like visiting grand old houses to invoke the imagination. 

The Vyne is a 16th-century house in Hampshire that was visited by a few famous people in the past. The Tudor king, Henry VIII stayed for a while, Jane Austen went to a few dances there and Tolkien was inspired by an engraved gold ring that can be seen in a glass cabinet in the Library. It is such small precious item that helped Tolkien to create his amazing book!

The house has a classical facade and does not look very Tudor from the outside, but it has a mixture of styles due to renovation and changes in fashion over the past 350 years. 

 

My favourite room was the long Oak Gallery with it's Elizabethan influences and beautiful stained glass window. The glass design is called 'The Market Seller and her Dog in a Landscape' by William Price the younger, c1750.

Huge paintings of ladies from the Tudor court decorate the oak paneled walls. They look like ghostly figures staring down at the visitors who view the house... I wondered what their lives were like all those years ago during King Henry's and Queen Elizabeth's reign.  

The Vyne has it's very own wood and well kept gardens. I was more interested in seeing the woods than the garden.  

The day I took these photos the sun was low because it was autumn time, so the trees looked especially magical with dappled light and rainbows.

Revisiting Lacock Village...

Also last year I went to Lacock village in Wiltshire and of course I had to stop by to see the pottery again. It was a cloudy day and not like the warm spring afternoon on my last visit.

Unfortunately I do not know who created these lovely ceramic pieces, but I especially liked the owl bowl and cat plate. They really are fun works of art.  

I now see that Lacock pottery is on facebook. The link is HERE if you would like to follow! 
 

Winter or Spring is when Lovebirds will Sing!
Welcome to 2012 and so far this year we have had nothing but rain here in the west of England!
The garden has moss and wild mushrooms growing on the lawn. It has been very mild weather for January and I saw the first few snowdrops growing in the nearby woods, so I'm asking myself, is it winter or spring?  

I have been wishing for the snow to arrive to create a post with some nice winter scenes, but instead I have created a collage with moss and fungus. 
I found this lovely image of a Horned Owl, also known as Bubo. I have been obsessed with drawing these beautiful creatures in my sketchbook. 

Pussy-cats and owls have inspired me a lot recently and when you look at the photos in the collage of natures colours and textures, you can see that owl and cat seem to be connected and kind of related, somehow. Zigsa's nickname is Bubo, so to me he is an owl cat, with his big ears.

Valentines Jewellery and paintings... 

Talking about inspiration, I was going to do less jewellery making this year and more illustration work, but it is Valentines Day next month and lovebirds with glass beads have inspired me to create a new jewellery collection, with a fairy gypsy theme!
The red necklace and earrings are made from Bohemian glass and Garnet stones. They will soon be listed in etsy, along with a matching brooch.

Also next month, I will be listing another heart frame picture and some fairy paintings... I would like my work to be more affordable, so as from today there will be free postage for all of the items sold in my Etsy shop!

The original fairy pictures will be the size of a postcard with similar detail as this Fairy Warrior illustration. I think there will be a few snowdrop and mossy characters in the pictures too. They will be featured in my next blog post.

The results of the giveaway draw! 

Thank you to everyone who entered the draw and for leaving kind comments here and on facebook. It has been a great result. I will be sure to have a another giveaway later this year as this one was really successful.

The winner of this draw is... DULCY! 

Congratulations! Please can you send me an email with your address details and the fairy brooch will be flying it's way to you soon.
Have a great week blog friends and thanks again for stopping by. I hope your New Year has been good so far! xx 

Christmas Fairy Brooch. A Giveaway Draw! 

Just for you this Christmas and the New Year, I thought it was time for a giveaway! 
All you have to do is to follow my blog, facebook or both and leave a comment HERE to be entered into the draw. If you follow me on Joanne May Illustration and Jewellery Design and my blog, you will be entered twice, giving you a better chance of winning this silver Fairy and Amethyst Brooch.

An Art Nouveou fairy pin is also for sale in Etsy, so if you don't want to enter the draw you can buy a similar pin from my shop instead. For December I had a special offer which is continuing through the whole of January as well. When you buy a painting, print, or any jewellery, you will receive a surprise free gift!

I will announce the winner of the giveaway in the middle of January so there is plenty of time to enter. If you like, please feel free to share this post on Twitter and facebook.
Finally, here is my Christmas card to all my blog friends. This beautiful sensitive image is by my very favourite illustrator, Arthur Rackham and it is called 'The Night before Christmas'. I love how Rackham has captured the sweet innocence on the children's faces and the guardian angels floating above them while they sleep. 

Have a Magical Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true in 2012! xx 

Autumn to Winter, Sun and Moon.
I thought I would start this post with an autumn poem that captures the season beautifully. It seems that we are in between two seasons right now as we are edging into cold December. The photos of the leaves were taken in the woods near my garden.

 Leaves,

"How silently they tumble down

And to rest upon the ground

To lay a carpet, rich and rare,

Beneath the trees without a care,

Content to sleep, their work well done, 

Colours gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly

Until they nearly reach the sky.

Twisting, turning through the air

Till all the trees stand stark and bare.

Exhausted, they drop to the earth below

To wait, like children, for the snow."

Poem by Elsie N. Brady.

The stone faeries are keeping watch at the door and looking out over the garden which is transforming into a wintery scene, with grey skies and bare branches.  

At night their dark eyes observe the wild foxes, badgers and owls that visit from the woods.

Years ago, I bought these faery faces from a reclamation center. The fae with the poppies in her hair is called Titania.

Red Berries and Heart Hares.

For the past few days I have had a bad cold which is typical for this time of year, but while I have been recovering, I was inspired by red Hawthorn berries and found some delicious ruby garnets in my bead collection. I did not intend to create new stock for the shop, but I felt that the beads had to be made into some jewellery pieces. The hare brooch, the silver moon earrings and the berry hare necklace are all available in Etsy.

Also, soon to be listed will be this original 'Heart Hares' illustration. This lovely hand carved frame needed a painting, so I illustrated these hares in love!

You can click on the image to see a closer view. The picture has a gold velvet ribbon and a silver hare charm. It is signed on the back of the wooden frame.

All of the items featured here could make a nice gift for Christmas or maybe even for Valentines Day! ;-) 

P.S. This December receive a surprise free gift when you buy any jewellery items, paintings or prints from my Etsy shop!
The hare picture has now gone before it could be listed in Etsy. Thank you Sarah. ;-) 

Moon owls with Fire Dragons. 

Now that we are half way through November. I can't help feeling that life is speeding up as we head towards Christmas. I'm not creating too much stock this year for my Etsy shop as I feel I would like to take some time away from jewellery making for a while and concentrate more on illustrating. I have a few secret projects on the go at the moment that I wish to put my heart into and since moving to the old farmhouse I have been inspired in a different direction, which is a nice change.

The collage above shows just a few new things that are currently listed in Etsy. There are two Owl and the Pussy-Cat pin brooches, some Owl Fairy greetings cards and a framed, original painting called the Garden Tiger Moth.
Fireworks and Fire Dragons... 
This autumn I was so pleased to get the chance to see a brilliant firework display. I have not been to a good party for ages. The display was held in a friends field within our village.

I only had my little camera with me, but I manged to take some decent photos. There were some wonderful lights and the fire flames created a shape of a dragon, which looks as though it's about to take flight into the night sky. 

Painting a Dragon.

In between moving house during the summer, I managed to start a commission for a good friend who I met through blogging. Michelle May from The Raspberry Rabbits, asked me to paint an illustration for her of a dragon, a monkey and a rat. She wanted the painting in time for the year of the dragon in 2012, so I had plenty of time to complete the picture for her. Also the illustration had to represent a celebration of her marriage to her husband, David. Shell is born in the year of the monkey and David is born in the year of the rat. I decided that both characters in the picture should wear gold wedding ring necklaces.

When Michelle first asked me to do the commission, I was a bit apprehensive as I have not painted very many dragons in the past and I have never painted a monkey before either. But I like a challenge and she had faith and believed that I could do a nice illustration for her.
In the end, it turned out to be such a fun image to create. I regularly kept in touch with Shell throughout the progress of the work and sent her emails with photos. I think the reason why it was an enjoyable commission was not just because it was different from my usual fairy paintings, but because Shell trusted me to create her vision with the freedom to use my imagination. Luckily, I did paint a picture that she was very happy with. It is a great feeling when someone really appreciates your work.

Michelle very kindly sent me this photo of the painting framed. It has a nice green card mount that matches the dragon and I love the natural wooden frame. The illustration is called, "Follow your Star in the Year of the Dragon".
If you have a moment, hop over to Shell's BLOG and see her lovely textile work. It is well worth a visit!

Witches and Wild Cats!

I apologise blog friends for being away for far too long. Things have changed quite a bit on Blogger since I have been away. I hope you are all well and enjoyed the summer. I cannot believe that it is autumn and already Halloween. The time has flown by!

The vintage book prints shown here are by Arthur Rackham from the Ingoldsby Legends. Titled Round and Round We Go,1907. I especially love the print above because it reminds me of Harry Potter. The creepy image below is called Witches and Warlocks, Ghosts, Goblins and Ghouls, which is also from 1907.

As well as collecting old children's books, I like to collect these tipped in prints. The quality and detail is very fine considering how old they are.  

Moving House...

Moving house was a lot more time consuming and stressful than my last move. This time round we are living in quite a run down farmhouse in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside. It is a beautiful area, but the old house and garden require quite a bit of maintenance. 

We spent most of the summer cleaning, painting and tidying the place up ready for winter. In early autumn I climbed the trees and picked apples. It has been a good harvest this year.

When we first moved in we had a few problems with some unwanted visitors who did not want to leave! 
There were mice scratching all night in the bedroom walls and under the floor. I did not want to set traps or kill them, so I put down peppermint oil in jars under the floorboards and it seemed to do the trick and they moved out. Apparently, mice hate the smell of peppermint. 
Also, there are bats living in the roof and large black beetles living in the hallway cupboards. I know I wanted to live close to nature for inspiration, but this is crazy!

Zigsa loves his new home and luckily he did not catch any mice. His favourite spot to sit and dream is in my new studio, where he likes to look out of the window and watch me work at my desk. At night the owls softly fly past the window and for now all is peaceful here until we move again next year.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ;-) 

The Merry Month of May and Lacock Village. Part 2.

It is the merry month of May and I'm on my way. Creatively and physically moving again!
I hope you all had a really good Easter break enjoying all of the wonderful sunshine. I have been busy over the holidays and have missed some of the sun. The Etsy shop has been redesigned and I have listed some new fairy jewellery for spring.

My mind seems to be buzzing with fae ideas at the moment for greetings cards, prints and jewellery which is featured here and on facebook. 

The Moon Owl Fairy is an illustration in progress and as you can see I have painted a piece of luna jewellery into the image. The fairy creature with the long eared owl is another shape shifter like the Fox that I created last September.

I think there is definitely going to be a series of shape shifter paintings that will be made into unlimited prints and cards. The Fairies Under the Tree will be printed as well.
Also in the near future we will be packing boxes again and moving to another part of Wiltshire for the summer. We don't know which area yet, but it will be interesting to see where we eventually land.

I looked out of the bedroom window the other morning at the empty pink cottage across the road. I love it's thatched roof and I'm sure the May fairies have built nests in the thatch. I began to think maybe we could move in as well, but then again the little cottage would be too small for us. We need some extra rooms for creative work.

I do have mixed feelings about shifting again, we are kind of fed up with it and we would like to stay in one place to put down some solid roots, but on the other hand it is nice to have a change of energy and scenery. I think we will find a permanent dwelling one day!
Lacock Village. Part 2.
One of the highlights of visiting Lacock is seeing the beautiful pottery and art studio, owned by David McDowell. The ceramic pieces there are stunning and I especially liked the running hare sculptures. I would have loved to have bought one... Maybe next time when we visit again. To see the website link to Lacock pottery, just click HERE.

In the very heart of the village we visited the Fox Talbot Museum and the spiritual Lacock Abbey which is such an unusual piece of architecture. It was built during the early part of 13th century and then the Abbey was converted into a house in 1539.
The splendid building was built around the abbey cloisters, so much of the original ground floor still survives largely intact today. Looking at the grand facade of the house it looks to me like a Moroccan or an Indian palace with the arched doorways and windows.

Most of you will recognise the abbey hallways from the Harry Potter Movies. The Warming room has a huge type of witches cauldron and information about the Potter films. It used to be the only room in the abbey where the nuns could go to keep warm.

We were very lucky to have visited on a quiet day. It was so peaceful and beautiful to see the sun shining through the windows. I took some photos of the hallways and to my amazement I captured something very unusual in the photographs... Who or what do you think they are?

I showed this image on facebook and received a very interesting response about these light ghostly figures... I think I have seen some ghosts at Hogwarts!
What do you think? ;-) 

The painting below is called Fairy Homes and Gardens, painted in 2008.

 Moving Notice... At the moment I'm away with the fairies and moving to a new nest at the end of June. Have a lovely summer blog friends and I will see you again soon, either here or on facebook! xx