And the winner.....

 

71 entries! 71 small pieces of folded paper went into the bowl, and the owl - daughter  chose one with eyes tight shut. The name that came out , and the new owner of the Beltane hare is Sage Jay Crosby.

Because there were so many entries, and it felt mean to only choose one winner (and because the wolf boy wanted a turn at picking a name from the bowl) we decided to choose a runner up, who will receive a print of the Beltane Hare. The second name out is Lyra.

Both of you need to contact me by email (dbarlowart@aol.com) and send me your details so I can get your gifts in the post. 

Thankyou so much for entering and spreading the word :)

'Stiniel Down'

10/5/12

ink and watercolour

I've got some new large work to show you next time, once I have good photos, but in the meantime I managed to do another local landscape. The weekly landscape has fallen by the wayside at the moment, but I'm trying to get back on track!

Tricksters and Totems : A Virtual View of the Exhibition

So, here we are! My exhibition is up in the Courtyard Cafe, Chagford, for the month of April.
I'm sorry for the colour in most of these photos - they were taken indoors without a flash, and have a very yellow cast!

'The Goat Guardian'

These are the lovely oak frames that I salvaged from the Proper Job recycling centre, which fit the Guardian paintings perfectly.

'Hare Guardian'

'She Waits'

'She Wishes'

And these are a pair of small mixed media paintings which I finished in time for the show. There will be prints of these on Etsy any day now.

Thankyou so much to everyone who leaves comments - I really love to read them, and appreciate them all. I'm sorry I have been extremely slow moderating them recently, but I'm having some major issues with my internet connection at the moment.

New work emerging from the studio......

"We Are Kin"
A3 watercolour

Busy days in the studio at the moment. I have an exhibition coming up, and have been working like mad on some larger pieces for it. I have grand plans for a much more extravagant version of this fox woman, but for now I need to tidy up loose ends and finish some smaller pieces.

These two paintings are huge (for me) and are off being framed in some lovely second hand oak frames that I found at Proper Job. Having the new studio has meant I have had the space to work larger, and these are very personal paintings that I have been wanting to create for a long time. These characters are my muses and guides :)

Spring has well and truly sprung. While I am working I have been fidgety and eager to get outside into the glorious March sunshine.
Captain has been wonderful, taking everything in his stride. River crossings, log lorries, ice creams in the village! I am reduced to walking everywhere, as the girls have stolen him entirely. I'm guessing there will be a lot more walking in the future, as my car is on its last legs. The lovely local garage have stuck it back together with sticky tape, but it's only going to keep it going a bit longer.

More work....

Well, the weather has been so atrocious this last week that I have battened down the hatches and got stuck in to work. I finally finished the Hare Wheel Quilt. I just need to find a suitable bony stick from which to hang it. I'll show you close ups next time. That is a Hare's head in the middle, by the way, not a tadpole, as my small son thought. He also commented that all the words go round and round in circles 'just like your words do when you talk, Mummy'. Hmmm, I'm not quite sure what to make of that!

Here are the fox and magpie, tricksters and lovers, spirits circling and dancing.

And some of the composition sketches, large ones by my standards, listed on Etsy, as I REALLY need to start paying the rent on the studio :)

Time to choose

Time for a long overdue 'Illustration Friday' submission, as my current piece fits this weeks theme.

Last week I finished a painting, of the Fox and Magpie, the bones of whose story has been rattling around in my head for a while. The story is not quite there yet - each time I throw the bones, the pattern comes out a little clearer, but in the meantime the images are shrieking to be given life on paper.
So, I painted them. But I wasn't happy with the result, so I decided to 'reverse' the composition and try again. I like todays painting much better. Curiously,in the studio, everyone else disagreed and preferred the first.
I'm not telling you which is which, but I'd be interested to know which you like best!

*** Thankyou to everyone who gave their opinion :) The bottom picture was the first one painted, and it was the top one which I preferred. Interestingly the majority of you agreed with that, but of the people who have compared them 'in the flesh' so to speak, it has been the lower one which was liked better. I'm wondering if this is simply due to the way I scanned them and uploaded the images. *****

Wandering between worlds

"Between Times"

I have been contemplating gateways and openings since the month began. Doorways to magical places, and world's within worlds. That moment when you step from one place to another.

When in fact, I should be madly finishing off work, and framing it. I have an exhibition to hang on the first of June, and am nowhere near ready ;)

"Magic Hare"

Instead I painted a little hare miniature ( it's an ACEO - that's really tiny - only 2.5 by 3.5 inches). I've listed it HERE.

The title of the fox painting above ( Between Times) made me suddenly nostalgic for my teenage years, and my love of Robert Smith and The Cure. I had to go and search out and listen to "In Between Days"! Here it is, for anyone else who feels a pang of nostalgia for those heady days of boys with black eyeliner and guitars.

THE CURE - IN BETWEEN DAYS from Pablo Morais on Vimeo.

A foxy dog, and a doggish fox

'Boris and Bracken'


Oh my! It seems two weeks have flown by, and I have barely had a chance to go near my computer! I'm sorry - things are happening so fast here, it feels a bit like my life has been turned upside down ( in a good way!). It has made me stop and think a bit about this blog. There are lots of things I am starting to work on with the horses which I would like to document as I go, but I am worried that putting it here will bore my loyal readers ( well, many of you - I know there are one or two who are as horse obsessed as I am!). So, this is my question - should I include a bit more of the horsey stuff here, or should I start a separate blog just for that? Your opinions would be gratefully received ;)

In between taking large steps forward with my life, and listening to Regina Spektor ( listen above if you don't know her work - she's fab!) I have been out with the dogs in this glorious sunshine, taking pictures of stone walls and hedge banks for my latest foxy painting. Here is a little peek - I'll show you the whole thing as soon as it is finished!