Melisandre & Her Black Honey Bee

I have exciting news people! I've been busting to tell you!! One of my favourite places in Stirling, The Locavore, has kindly offered me a exhibition :) I am VERY excited. This will be my first true show of my work in a more formal setting (I don't really count my place of work and the beautiful trees of the Hills Secret Garden really because they were less formal and the focus wasn't really on me anyway). I will be hanging some of my most recent pieces, as well as a few archives and some new nude studies that will be nestled in the alcoves of this beautiful Hills restaurant. I think this is a big step forward for me and although I am scared silly of what people might say about my work I think it's really important for me to finally get myself out there.  

Anyway.....after a suggestion from my lovely Lucas to research the origins of the name Melisandre (the name of one of my latest fire twins), I came across some interesting stuff. Melisandre originates from the Greek 'Melisa' meaning Honey Bee and the name Melisandre represents strength and a strong connection with animals. I found this interesting as I have painted my twins surrounded by licking flames, a place where to me not many animals would survive.

 But I got a sudden inkling to paint/draw blackened bee's surrounding and swarming the main ladies 'shadow' (smaller girl in background)...I imagine them nestled in her hair, buzzing around her and disappearing into the flames. I don't know what this is meant to mean yet (if anything by the way) but I am now excited...Can't wait to get down the studio and hash it out now that her initial layering is done.

I have definitely been getting in to a little bit of a bee/bug/butterfly/general insect obsession recently. I've been sketching away and drawing tiny little insect studies all over the place. In fact I'm tossing up whether to call my solo show in September at the Locavore 'Lepidoptera' ~ which is the word for 'collection or order of various butterflies and moths'. I've made a mock flyer...what do you think?

xo. E 

My mock up flyer.....what do you think?

~ I N S P I R A T I O N ~

xo. E

Born Into Fire.

Changed my palette up a bit this week. After feeling sick for three days I wasn't really feeling my soft pink and purple vibes I was before, needed something a bit more gritty and angry to get my hands into. 

I ended up painting/drawing the start of my beautiful Fire Twins. It's the first time (I think) I've drawn multiple faces on one board and it was an interesting experience. It's actually really hard! I wanted them to bounce off one another nicely and not look too different...but I didn't want to end up with exactly the same face! They are a bit more ferocious looking than Daenerys but they are far from finished yet. But I am so happy with the sense of movement I managed to achieve with the paint. It makes them feel like their faces are emerging out of it.

The thing I'm starting to learn with painting is the process of layering. The paint, although bending and twisting with me, doesn't get along with my impatience. I see a colour pattern and want to develop it, but have to wait till that bit has dried to continue because it will all end up smoodging together and looking like a lovely shade of baby poo (esque) brown colour. This is frustrating for me but is teaching me to slow down and I like that :)

My amazing new 'witches broom' (as one of my Instagram darlings put it) is AMAZING. Seriously. I actually can't get over it. If you want to get all techincal: it's an Escoda synthetic bristle brush ~ size six (it's BIG). It handles amazingly well. I mix my palette and then swish with baby through it, dribble on some glazing medium and I am able to create the most amazing movement and abstract textures as a background to my girls. It blends beautifully.....for the amount it set me back it is WELL worth it, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good blocker. 

Enough blabbering. There's no one here to tell me to stop, sorry. Enjoy my photo's! See if you like my Fire Twins......

xo. E

~ Journaling ~

~ Eyes are still at their creppy stage he he ~

~ Art Nouveau Creature Babe Sketching ~

~ Pretty little glass teapot thing I found for my glazing medium ~

~ Scale ~

~ Second Face Detail ~

~ Winter studio days are my favourite ~

~ Ghost Stages ~

~ Vague Lines ~

~ This is my Escoda blocking brush. AMAZE. ~

~ I N S P I R A T I O N ~

xo. E