When the Creative Spirit goes AWOL

Sometimes my ‘Creative Spirit’ goes AWOL. It’s at times like these when I get out some blank canvases and just paint. I paint with no set theme or idea in mind and just see what happens. Then, I have a stack of pre prepared canvases ready for when the Creative Spirit returns. Sometimes this is just a quotation that I feel I need to write and the canvas is returned once again to it’s resting place. It’s started but nowhere near complete.

After sometime, something will spark an idea off in me and off I go. I thought I would share the before and after pictures with you. I’m sure people think that we, as calligraphers, labour and stare at canvases for hours on end, or have a repertoire of ideas just ready to commit to the substrate, but I’m sure there are many like me who have to sit and wait patiently for the idea to come. Once it has arrived however we can do it to death… until once again we return to the resting stage. I’m sure this is to stop us going mad and keep things fresh and appealing both to ourselves and our clients.

DREAMS CANVAS

Size: 16" x 20"

Acrylic, Ink and Paper on canves

Retail: £50

Detail

More Detail

Below: SPIRIT CANVAS

Size: 11.5" x 32"

Acrylic, Ink and Paper on canves
Retail: £60

Detail

I certainly don’t make a fortune out of my work, and more or less live hand to mouth. I sell my work for far less than I should, but I LOVE my work and would rather someone have the pleasure of it than have it sat around gathering dust. I know at least, if someone buys my work, the very fact that someone likes and appreciates that little part of me that goes with it, is worth far more than any financial recompense. Most calligraphers I know do not charge enough or get reimbursed for all there hard work… not in the creating of the ‘thing’ but in the many hours, weeks and years it takes to become a good calligrapher or lettering artist.During a discussion once, we agreed we could become a brain surgeon quicker than we can become a calligrapher….but it would be half as much fun!

Charge of the Goddess

Who Am I?Well, who I am isn’t the work I do…but it forms a very large part of me. I love my work and there’s not many who can say that in life. I can combine my spiritual beliefs with my creativity. I cannot draw or paint and even less so since I lost my centre vision and I’ve had to learn to adapt my work around my disability rather than my ability.
A lot of my work is small, pin money jobs and nothing that I can really get my teeth into and exercise my talents that took me years to perfect and that I worked so very hard at attaining. I loved doing really large pieces which didn’t have the constraints of size or clients briefs to follow.

This latest piece is for friends of ours that we are going to stay with. It is very special to them and on a personal level very special to me too. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed doing it so much.
The background is Pastel, with spatters of paint. The lettering is Gouache and I’ve added silver foil and pen to emphasise the spirit of the moon.The letters are ‘contemporary’ rather than traditional and the words are magical! And VERY powerful.

The size is approximately 21” x 27”

Title: Charge of the Goddess

by Doreen Valiente There are many variations to The Charge of the Goddess and it has been plagiarised any times. It is still uncertain ‘who’ the original writer is.The version I have written has been changed slightly from the version below. Whoever wrote it, whatever version…

it’s still a powerful piece of writing.

Please feel free to email me

with any questions/comments you may have.

Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente

Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Isis, Brid, and by many other names.Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in the month, and better it be when the Moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these will I teach things that are yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstacy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon Earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the Earth.Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, and whose body encircles the universe.I who am the beauty of the green Earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man, call unto thy soul. Arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou knowest the mystery; that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, then thou shalt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

Personalised and Commissioned Wedding Album

I've just finished a Wedding Album to match some Wedding Invitations I did for an August Wedding. the outside is Japanese paper, the inside is Cannaletto. 30 pages and 40cm wide by 30cm in depth.

Outside Detail
Inside calligraphy inscription
In Burgundy Gouache - An absolute pain in the neck
as any calligrapher will tell you -
RED smudges wonderfully when you rub out the lines!
Probably my least favourite colour to write with!
And below are 2 cards for people at the camps. One is 50 and the other is 60. Just looks like an ordinary concertina card.....
Until you open it out flat and find the message!
This has to be taken with us this weekend to get it signed by as many people as possible.