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Spring is on its way, but it's still feeling fairly wintry over here in Scotland. Before all the flowers bloom and the sunshine returns, I wanted to share this cosy bookmark I made for Ewan a while back on our first and last Christmas together. He knew I was making something for him but was very diligent about not looking at the kitchen table while I was working on it so that he would be surprised on Christmas day. It's a project that's very dear to me.

#linocut #badgers #coorie #linoprint #handcarved #handstamped #bookmark #handmadebookmark

Spring is on its way, but it's still feeling fairly wintry over here in Scotland. Before all the flowers bloom and the sunshine returns, I wanted to share this cosy bookmark I made for Ewan a while back on our first and last Christmas together. He knew I was making something for him but was very diligent about not looking at the kitchen table while I was working on it so that he would be surprised on Christmas day. It's a project that's very dear to me.

#linocut #badgers #coorie #linoprint #handcarved #handstamped #bookmark #handmadebookmark

I didn’t think I would be sharing the design for my husband’s funeral order of service before I got the chance to share the design for our wedding invitations, but here we are.

When we found out that after over five years of stability, Ewan’s brain tumour had started growing again last January, the first thing he said to me was ‘I’m so sorry’. He was always thinking about other people and apologising when he had nothing to be sorry for. I told him that I wasn’t sorry. I told him that I would rather spend a year with him than a hundred with anyone else. That’s almost the exact amount of time we had left together, just under a year. And it was beautiful. Amidst the brain surgery and recovery, the chemotherapy, the radiotherapy, the countless changed and cancelled plans, the brain scans and bad news, Ewan was an unimaginably wonderful husband. Through all the tears and exhaustion and sickness, we never stopped laughing and loving and serving one another, we never stopped hoping and dreaming together. Ewan lived such a full life in his 27 years and I feel so privileged that I got to be part of his story and stand by his side for the final chapter.

The last year and a half has been a chaos of brightness and darkness. I’ve been making art but I haven’t had the energy to share it here. Over the next few months, I’ll be retrospectively sharing everything I’ve been working on for the last year and a half as a way of remembering and processing my time with Ewan and figuring out where to go from here, both personally and creatively. Thank you for joining me on the journey. I’m so grateful to the many people bearing witness to my story.

I didn’t think I would be sharing the design for my husband’s funeral order of service before I got the chance to share the design for our wedding invitations, but here we are.

When we found out that after over five years of stability, Ewan’s brain tumour had started growing again last January, the first thing he said to me was ‘I’m so sorry’. He was always thinking about other people and apologising when he had nothing to be sorry for. I told him that I wasn’t sorry. I told him that I would rather spend a year with him than a hundred with anyone else. That’s almost the exact amount of time we had left together, just under a year. And it was beautiful. Amidst the brain surgery and recovery, the chemotherapy, the radiotherapy, the countless changed and cancelled plans, the brain scans and bad news, Ewan was an unimaginably wonderful husband. Through all the tears and exhaustion and sickness, we never stopped laughing and loving and serving one another, we never stopped hoping and dreaming together. Ewan lived such a full life in his 27 years and I feel so privileged that I got to be part of his story and stand by his side for the final chapter.

The last year and a half has been a chaos of brightness and darkness. I’ve been making art but I haven’t had the energy to share it here. Over the next few months, I’ll be retrospectively sharing everything I’ve been working on for the last year and a half as a way of remembering and processing my time with Ewan and figuring out where to go from here, both personally and creatively. Thank you for joining me on the journey. I’m so grateful to the many people bearing witness to my story.

Six months ago today I had the absolute privilege of marrying the most remarkable man I have ever met in the most beautiful place I have ever lived. Loved ones came from all over the world to join us in defiantly celebrating our shared life.

Just days before the wedding, we found out that Ewan's chemotherapy treatment hadn't worked and that his brain tumour was growing. During the ceremony, we sang 'love is come again like wheat that springeth green' and read an excerpt from Charlotte Brontë's 'Villette'. She writes, 'in some shape, though perhaps not the shape you dreamed, which your heart loved, and for which it bled, the healing herald will descend'.

There is much healing I have asked for in life and not received. But there are also miracles I never imagined or hoped for that have found me. Being seen and loved by someone as special as Ewan has given me a strength that I will carry with me, and a song that I will dance to for the rest of my life. He has given me more than one new name and proven to me that life truly is a fairytale. Though it is full of unimaginably dark twists, it is also full of impossible light and magic.

Whatever the coming days hold, we are grateful.

Six months ago today I had the absolute privilege of marrying the most remarkable man I have ever met in the most beautiful place I have ever lived. Loved ones came from all over the world to join us in defiantly celebrating our shared life.

Just days before the wedding, we found out that Ewan's chemotherapy treatment hadn't worked and that his brain tumour was growing. During the ceremony, we sang 'love is come again like wheat that springeth green' and read an excerpt from Charlotte Brontë's 'Villette'. She writes, 'in some shape, though perhaps not the shape you dreamed, which your heart loved, and for which it bled, the healing herald will descend'.

There is much healing I have asked for in life and not received. But there are also miracles I never imagined or hoped for that have found me. Being seen and loved by someone as special as Ewan has given me a strength that I will carry with me, and a song that I will dance to for the rest of my life. He has given me more than one new name and proven to me that life truly is a fairytale. Though it is full of unimaginably dark twists, it is also full of impossible light and magic.

Whatever the coming days hold, we are grateful.

I figured #MerMay would be the perfect opportunity to introduce one of my favourite saints, Muirgen the mermaid! Muirgen is an Irish saint who died in the 6th century. A 12th century manuscript called ‘The Book of the Dun Cow’ tells how she was transformed into a salmon (and her dog into an otter) after Lough Neagh sprung from a well and drowned her family. After 300 years of swimming freely, she agreed to be taken on land and baptised.

I’ve drawn her raising her right hand in blessing. In religious iconography, this gesture of blessing represents the incarnation (among other things). The touching of the ring finger to the thumb symbolises the union of divine and human natures. I thought this was appropriate because Muirgen’s story includes an account of her blessing someone who is kind to her, and I’ve always thought that the mermaid’s union of human and fish is an interesting lens for contemplating the incarnation’s union of divine and human (I actually wrote a paper about this for my masters).

I hope Muirgen has added some enchantment to your Monday✨

#wacommermay2022 #mermay2022 #madewithwacom #holywoman #irishsaint #celticsaints #illustration #muirgen #mermaid #ireland #blessing #loughneagh #theologyandart #enchantment #reenchantment

I figured #MerMay would be the perfect opportunity to introduce one of my favourite saints, Muirgen the mermaid! Muirgen is an Irish saint who died in the 6th century. A 12th century manuscript called ‘The Book of the Dun Cow’ tells how she was transformed into a salmon (and her dog into an otter) after Lough Neagh sprung from a well and drowned her family. After 300 years of swimming freely, she agreed to be taken on land and baptised.

I’ve drawn her raising her right hand in blessing. In religious iconography, this gesture of blessing represents the incarnation (among other things). The touching of the ring finger to the thumb symbolises the union of divine and human natures. I thought this was appropriate because Muirgen’s story includes an account of her blessing someone who is kind to her, and I’ve always thought that the mermaid’s union of human and fish is an interesting lens for contemplating the incarnation’s union of divine and human (I actually wrote a paper about this for my masters).

I hope Muirgen has added some enchantment to your Monday✨

#wacommermay2022 #mermay2022 #madewithwacom #holywoman #irishsaint #celticsaints #illustration #muirgen #mermaid #ireland #blessing #loughneagh #theologyandart #enchantment #reenchantment

Happy daffodil season! It's been nearly 9 months since I last posted, so I wanted to join in on #MarchMeetTheMaker to say hello and give a little update on what's been going on and what's coming next for Hiraeth Illustrations.

It's been a busy 9 months - I wrote my masters thesis over the summer, got engaged in September, graduated in December, and then in January we found out that my fiancé's brain cancer had recurred. We've spent the last couple months with his family as he's undergone brain surgery and chemotherapy treatment.

And, I turned 30 this week! It's been a season of upheavals - both joyous and heavy. But, there's been a steady thread of beauty through it all. Thank you to everyone who has surrounded us with care and love these last few months. The thought of celebrating with loved ones at the wedding in May has been such an important source of hope and joy for us both.

I have some art I've been working on that I'm excited to share with you. My favourite of which is the invitations I designed for our wedding. I had so much fun working on them that I think I've decided to focus my freelance business on stationery as I settle into living and working in the UK. I'm looking forward to deepening my relationship with Edinburgh printers and other local small businesses when we move there over the summer.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope that wherever you are, there are daffodils brightening your days.

#daffodils #spring #march #illustration #springart #floralart #artnouveau #artnouveauflowers #penandwatercolor #traditionalart #femaleartist #marchbirthday #marchbirthflower

Happy daffodil season! It's been nearly 9 months since I last posted, so I wanted to join in on #MarchMeetTheMaker to say hello and give a little update on what's been going on and what's coming next for Hiraeth Illustrations.

It's been a busy 9 months - I wrote my masters thesis over the summer, got engaged in September, graduated in December, and then in January we found out that my fiancé's brain cancer had recurred. We've spent the last couple months with his family as he's undergone brain surgery and chemotherapy treatment.

And, I turned 30 this week! It's been a season of upheavals - both joyous and heavy. But, there's been a steady thread of beauty through it all. Thank you to everyone who has surrounded us with care and love these last few months. The thought of celebrating with loved ones at the wedding in May has been such an important source of hope and joy for us both.

I have some art I've been working on that I'm excited to share with you. My favourite of which is the invitations I designed for our wedding. I had so much fun working on them that I think I've decided to focus my freelance business on stationery as I settle into living and working in the UK. I'm looking forward to deepening my relationship with Edinburgh printers and other local small businesses when we move there over the summer.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope that wherever you are, there are daffodils brightening your days.

#daffodils #spring #march #illustration #springart #floralart #artnouveau #artnouveauflowers #penandwatercolor #traditionalart #femaleartist #marchbirthday #marchbirthflower

If you're having a rough Monday, I hope thistle cheer you up 🌱⁠
⁠
#thistle #scotland #mural #paintingonwalls #landscapemural #lineart #oldcourse #pun #standrews

If you're having a rough Monday, I hope thistle cheer you up 🌱⁠
⁠
#thistle #scotland #mural #paintingonwalls #landscapemural #lineart #oldcourse #pun #standrews

I did a couple watercolor studies of the cathedral ruins here in St Andrews. The medieval cathedral was ransacked by a Protestant mob in 1559 and consequently fell into ruin. It's preserved now, but for the first couple centuries following the attack, the town took stones from the ruins and used them as building material. ⁠
⁠
It's a sad story, but there's something beautiful about the idea that those missing, hallowed stones are dispersed throughout town, hidden in the walls of rooms where people eat and sleep, laugh and cry. ⁠
⁠
And, the stones that remain have their own beauty. The ruins are a good reminder that something does not have to be whole or as it was originally intended in order to be beautiful and holy and worthy of love. ⁠
⁠
#tinypainting #architecturepainting #ruins #brokenbutbeautiful #standrews #standrewscathedral #smallpainting #watercolour #watercolourstudy #penandwatercolour #watercolor #lightstudy #medievalart #medievalruins #illustration #historicalillustration #illustrator #watercolorillustration #womenwhodraw #history #scottishreformation #scottishhistory #architecture #holy #livingstones

I did a couple watercolor studies of the cathedral ruins here in St Andrews. The medieval cathedral was ransacked by a Protestant mob in 1559 and consequently fell into ruin. It's preserved now, but for the first couple centuries following the attack, the town took stones from the ruins and used them as building material. ⁠
⁠
It's a sad story, but there's something beautiful about the idea that those missing, hallowed stones are dispersed throughout town, hidden in the walls of rooms where people eat and sleep, laugh and cry. ⁠
⁠
And, the stones that remain have their own beauty. The ruins are a good reminder that something does not have to be whole or as it was originally intended in order to be beautiful and holy and worthy of love. ⁠
⁠
#tinypainting #architecturepainting #ruins #brokenbutbeautiful #standrews #standrewscathedral #smallpainting #watercolour #watercolourstudy #penandwatercolour #watercolor #lightstudy #medievalart #medievalruins #illustration #historicalillustration #illustrator #watercolorillustration #womenwhodraw #history #scottishreformation #scottishhistory #architecture #holy #livingstones

"'Is it rivers?' asked Odu, gazing at the little streams that flowed adown her hollow cheeks.⁠ ⁠
⁠'Yes,' answered Mara, '—the most wonderful of all rivers.'"⁠ - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Tears⁠ are beautiful, healing, life-giving things. Psalm 126 promises that "they who sow in tears / in glad song will reap." I created the Lilith project during a time of deep grief, almost in a dreamlike trance, and amidst many tears. I didn't feel like creating, I didn't feel inspired. But I had the exhibition deadline and I wasn't able to focus on anything else, so I drew. And somehow, something came of it.⁠ It was all strangely fitting and something I couldn't have planned.⁠
⁠
The project as a whole is a single, long, vertical strip that combines illustrations with text from the novel. Lilith's tears wind throughout the composition, weaving everything together. It's meant to re-tell the pandemic narrative through MacDonald's words, and to offer the viewer a chance to reflect on their own story through an enchanted lens. I specifically designed it to be interacted with on a phone screen, to be a journey that you walk with your fingers.⁠
⁠
If you want to see the full project as a coherent piece, click the link in my bio.⁠ Thank you for following along and letting me share these illustrations with you over the last two months. I'm grateful to have you along for the journey.⁠
⁠
#tears #riversoftears #sowweeping #harvest #grief #redemption #portrait #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #drawing #digitalart #digitalpainting #wacom #visiodivina #womenwhodraw #illustration #digitalillustration #longhair #underwater #subduedpalette #bluehair #mermay

"'Is it rivers?' asked Odu, gazing at the little streams that flowed adown her hollow cheeks.⁠ ⁠
⁠'Yes,' answered Mara, '—the most wonderful of all rivers.'"⁠ - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Tears⁠ are beautiful, healing, life-giving things. Psalm 126 promises that "they who sow in tears / in glad song will reap." I created the Lilith project during a time of deep grief, almost in a dreamlike trance, and amidst many tears. I didn't feel like creating, I didn't feel inspired. But I had the exhibition deadline and I wasn't able to focus on anything else, so I drew. And somehow, something came of it.⁠ It was all strangely fitting and something I couldn't have planned.⁠
⁠
The project as a whole is a single, long, vertical strip that combines illustrations with text from the novel. Lilith's tears wind throughout the composition, weaving everything together. It's meant to re-tell the pandemic narrative through MacDonald's words, and to offer the viewer a chance to reflect on their own story through an enchanted lens. I specifically designed it to be interacted with on a phone screen, to be a journey that you walk with your fingers.⁠
⁠
If you want to see the full project as a coherent piece, click the link in my bio.⁠ Thank you for following along and letting me share these illustrations with you over the last two months. I'm grateful to have you along for the journey.⁠
⁠
#tears #riversoftears #sowweeping #harvest #grief #redemption #portrait #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #drawing #digitalart #digitalpainting #wacom #visiodivina #womenwhodraw #illustration #digitalillustration #longhair #underwater #subduedpalette #bluehair #mermay

"She loves no one, therefore she cannot be WITH any one. There is One who will be with her, but she will not be with Him."⁠ - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
More and more I believe that the true purpose of existence is intimacy - to be "with." Even in Paradise, in perfect connection with God and the earth, it was not good for man to be alone. ⁠
⁠
MacDonald paints a beautiful picture of this reality in one of my favorite passages of Lilith. The main character has been wandering alone for a long time and is starved for human connection. He recalls with horror the memory of his former life in which he preferred the company of books to that of living men and women. Only in losing human companionship does he learn to love it and come to realize that "a man alone is but a being that may become a man...nowhere but in other lives can he breathe." ⁠
⁠
After the last year of isolation, can you relate?⁠
⁠
#pandemic #socialdistancing #isolation #intimacy #trinitarian #socialanimals #madeforlove #hair #underwater #alone #notalone #redemption #lilith #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #womenwhodraw #mermay

"She loves no one, therefore she cannot be WITH any one. There is One who will be with her, but she will not be with Him."⁠ - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
More and more I believe that the true purpose of existence is intimacy - to be "with." Even in Paradise, in perfect connection with God and the earth, it was not good for man to be alone. ⁠
⁠
MacDonald paints a beautiful picture of this reality in one of my favorite passages of Lilith. The main character has been wandering alone for a long time and is starved for human connection. He recalls with horror the memory of his former life in which he preferred the company of books to that of living men and women. Only in losing human companionship does he learn to love it and come to realize that "a man alone is but a being that may become a man...nowhere but in other lives can he breathe." ⁠
⁠
After the last year of isolation, can you relate?⁠
⁠
#pandemic #socialdistancing #isolation #intimacy #trinitarian #socialanimals #madeforlove #hair #underwater #alone #notalone #redemption #lilith #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #womenwhodraw #mermay

"I heard a voice, and knew it was the Mother’s. She was singing, and her song was sweet and soft and low...and I thought I had heard the song before." - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Here's the finished illustration of Eve carrying Lilith. It wasn't intentional, but I feel like Eve ended up having some Botticelli Venus vibes.⁠
⁠
#eve #motheroftheliving #victory #redemption #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #drawing #digitalart #digitalpainting #wacom #visiodivina #figuredrawing #forgiveness #womenwhodraw #illustration #digitalillustration #halo #lullaby #goddess #botticelli #venus #mothersday

"I heard a voice, and knew it was the Mother’s. She was singing, and her song was sweet and soft and low...and I thought I had heard the song before." - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Here's the finished illustration of Eve carrying Lilith. It wasn't intentional, but I feel like Eve ended up having some Botticelli Venus vibes.⁠
⁠
#eve #motheroftheliving #victory #redemption #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #drawing #digitalart #digitalpainting #wacom #visiodivina #figuredrawing #forgiveness #womenwhodraw #illustration #digitalillustration #halo #lullaby #goddess #botticelli #venus #mothersday

"We passed Eve with Lilith in her arms, and went farther in. 'You shall not go to the Shadow,' I heard Eve say, as we passed them. 'Even now is his head under my heel.'" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
MacDonald's redemptive portrait of Eve here is so powerful. She is so full of motherly love and forgiveness that she carries Lilith - her husband's first wife and the enemy of her children - in her arms and whispers words of comfort to her. ⁠
⁠
The heart of this novel's cosmic drama of redemption is intimate, messy and familial. How often might our own small, domestic actions and failures have cosmic echoes?⁠
⁠
#eve #motheroftheliving #victory #redemption #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #spiritualart #figuredrawing #forgiveness #womenwhodraw #cosmic #halo

"We passed Eve with Lilith in her arms, and went farther in. 'You shall not go to the Shadow,' I heard Eve say, as we passed them. 'Even now is his head under my heel.'" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
MacDonald's redemptive portrait of Eve here is so powerful. She is so full of motherly love and forgiveness that she carries Lilith - her husband's first wife and the enemy of her children - in her arms and whispers words of comfort to her. ⁠
⁠
The heart of this novel's cosmic drama of redemption is intimate, messy and familial. How often might our own small, domestic actions and failures have cosmic echoes?⁠
⁠
#eve #motheroftheliving #victory #redemption #lilith #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #spiritualart #figuredrawing #forgiveness #womenwhodraw #cosmic #halo

"Those great long heads of wild hyacinth are inside the piano, among the strings of it, and give that peculiar sweetness to her playing! — Pardon me: I forgot your deafness!" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
I love this scene where Mr. Raven explains to Mr. Vane how everything that he sees in the world on the other side of the mirror overlaps with and influences his home world. If Mr. Vane had only been paying more attention, had not fostered a deafness to the sweetness present in his own world, he might have been more ready to understand how the new one related to it. ⁠
⁠
What a beautiful analogy for the way that our failure to attend to our everyday, material reality impedes us from understanding spiritual realities.⁠
⁠
#theordinary #nothingisordinary #piano #hyacinth ⁠#digitalpainting #drawing #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #georgemacdonald #lilith #macdonald #mixedmedia #scottishauthor #spiritualart #subduedpalette #throughthelookingglass #visiodivina #illustration #digitalillustration #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #fairyland #spiritrealm #alternatedimension #music #musicalart #pianoart #everydaymagic

"Those great long heads of wild hyacinth are inside the piano, among the strings of it, and give that peculiar sweetness to her playing! — Pardon me: I forgot your deafness!" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
I love this scene where Mr. Raven explains to Mr. Vane how everything that he sees in the world on the other side of the mirror overlaps with and influences his home world. If Mr. Vane had only been paying more attention, had not fostered a deafness to the sweetness present in his own world, he might have been more ready to understand how the new one related to it. ⁠
⁠
What a beautiful analogy for the way that our failure to attend to our everyday, material reality impedes us from understanding spiritual realities.⁠
⁠
#theordinary #nothingisordinary #piano #hyacinth ⁠#digitalpainting #drawing #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #georgemacdonald #lilith #macdonald #mixedmedia #scottishauthor #spiritualart #subduedpalette #throughthelookingglass #visiodivina #illustration #digitalillustration #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #fairyland #spiritrealm #alternatedimension #music #musicalart #pianoart #everydaymagic

"'But this is not the season for the hawthorn to blossom!' I objected.⁠
⁠'The season for the hawthorn to blossom,' he replied, 'is when the hawthorn blossoms.'"⁠⁠
- Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
There's so much profound wisdom smuggled into this strange little fantasy novel. C. S. Lewis said that when he read MacDonald as a young man, his "imagination was, in a certain sense, baptised." In reading the fantasy of MacDonald, he saw "the bright shadow [of holiness] coming out of the book into the real world and resting there, transforming all common things."⁠
⁠
#cslewis #surprisedbyjoy #imagination #inklings #holiness #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #lilith #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #spiritualart #blossom⁠ #alternatedimension

"'But this is not the season for the hawthorn to blossom!' I objected.⁠
⁠'The season for the hawthorn to blossom,' he replied, 'is when the hawthorn blossoms.'"⁠⁠
- Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
There's so much profound wisdom smuggled into this strange little fantasy novel. C. S. Lewis said that when he read MacDonald as a young man, his "imagination was, in a certain sense, baptised." In reading the fantasy of MacDonald, he saw "the bright shadow [of holiness] coming out of the book into the real world and resting there, transforming all common things."⁠
⁠
#cslewis #surprisedbyjoy #imagination #inklings #holiness #enchanted #enchantment #reenchantment #lilith #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #visiodivina #spiritualart #blossom⁠ #alternatedimension

"The business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise!" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Another gem from Mr. Raven. I'm really happy with the way the digital painting of this drawing turned out. I'm thinking about making it available as a print. Would anyone be interested?⁠
⁠
#artprint #butterfly #digitalpainting #drawing #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #georgemacdonald #lilith #macdonald #mixedmedia #newlife #raven #ravenart #redemption #resurrection #riddles #scottishauthor #spiritualart #subduedpalette #throughthelookingglass #upsidedown #visiodivina #illustration #digitalillustration #birdart #butterflyart #metamorphosis

"The business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise!" - Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
Another gem from Mr. Raven. I'm really happy with the way the digital painting of this drawing turned out. I'm thinking about making it available as a print. Would anyone be interested?⁠
⁠
#artprint #butterfly #digitalpainting #drawing #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #georgemacdonald #lilith #macdonald #mixedmedia #newlife #raven #ravenart #redemption #resurrection #riddles #scottishauthor #spiritualart #subduedpalette #throughthelookingglass #upsidedown #visiodivina #illustration #digitalillustration #birdart #butterflyart #metamorphosis

"I am quite content where I am." ⁠
"You think so, but you are not.⁠"⁠
- Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
My favorite character in Lilith is Mr. Raven. He begins as a ghost librarian in our world, but we later discover that he is the sexton of a surreal alternate dimension before he finally reveals his identity as Adam, the first man and first husband of Lilith. As his "bird-self," he digs up worms and, instead of eating them, releases them into the sky to become butterflies. ⁠
⁠
The main character is very disturbed by this, because these worms are not caterpillars - they are not meant to grow wings and dwell in the air. But Mr. Raven says it is the business of a sexton to "have the air full of worms." I love all the riddles and upside down wisdom of Mr. Raven.⁠
⁠
#raven #ravenart #upsidedown #riddles #throughthelookingglass #adam #lilith #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #hope #redemption #visiodivina #spiritualart #resurrection #upsidedown #butterfly #birdart

"I am quite content where I am." ⁠
"You think so, but you are not.⁠"⁠
- Lilith, George MacDonald⁠
⁠
My favorite character in Lilith is Mr. Raven. He begins as a ghost librarian in our world, but we later discover that he is the sexton of a surreal alternate dimension before he finally reveals his identity as Adam, the first man and first husband of Lilith. As his "bird-self," he digs up worms and, instead of eating them, releases them into the sky to become butterflies. ⁠
⁠
The main character is very disturbed by this, because these worms are not caterpillars - they are not meant to grow wings and dwell in the air. But Mr. Raven says it is the business of a sexton to "have the air full of worms." I love all the riddles and upside down wisdom of Mr. Raven.⁠
⁠
#raven #ravenart #upsidedown #riddles #throughthelookingglass #adam #lilith #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #graphite #sketch #sketchbook #wip #traditionalart #drawing #pencildrawing #moleskine #hope #redemption #visiodivina #spiritualart #resurrection #upsidedown #butterfly #birdart

“Son of the Living God, who at this evening hour didst rest in the sepulchre, and didst thereby sanctify the grave to be a bed of hope to thy people…” - The Office of Compline, from the Proposed Book of Common Prayer (1928), Church of England⁠
⁠
Here is the digitally painted version of the sketch I shared earlier this week. I tried to give it a sleepy, subdued palette that shimmers with just a glimpse of hope. Really, it was the mood of compline that I wanted to communicate. ⁠
⁠
I first started attending compline services last fall when I arrived in Scotland and they quickly became the anchor of my week. I don't think anything has ever produced such a sense of peace in me as these evening services do. That phrase "bed of hope" has remained with me these last months, teaching me to rename all that I might otherwise call a grave.⁠
⁠
#compline #digitalpainting #subduedpalette #lilith #chrysalis #moon #coffin #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #spring #drawing #hope #redemption #visiodivina #spiritualart #resurrection #grief #sleep #mixedmedia #liturgy #bookofcommonprayer #reenchantment #illustration #digitalillustration

“Son of the Living God, who at this evening hour didst rest in the sepulchre, and didst thereby sanctify the grave to be a bed of hope to thy people…” - The Office of Compline, from the Proposed Book of Common Prayer (1928), Church of England⁠
⁠
Here is the digitally painted version of the sketch I shared earlier this week. I tried to give it a sleepy, subdued palette that shimmers with just a glimpse of hope. Really, it was the mood of compline that I wanted to communicate. ⁠
⁠
I first started attending compline services last fall when I arrived in Scotland and they quickly became the anchor of my week. I don't think anything has ever produced such a sense of peace in me as these evening services do. That phrase "bed of hope" has remained with me these last months, teaching me to rename all that I might otherwise call a grave.⁠
⁠
#compline #digitalpainting #subduedpalette #lilith #chrysalis #moon #coffin #newlife #macdonald #georgemacdonald #scottishauthor #fairytale #fantasy #fantasyart #spring #drawing #hope #redemption #visiodivina #spiritualart #resurrection #grief #sleep #mixedmedia #liturgy #bookofcommonprayer #reenchantment #illustration #digitalillustration

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