This gentle man is much respected and admired as a fantasy artist, colleague and teacher. Larry Elmore’s wonderful art is extremely popular in the comic book, gaming and role-playing genres, has been published for many years and is also highly esteemed in the fantasy world. He has such a friendly warmth about him and great humour, it’s no wonder that his art classes are so beloved and enjoyed by some of the fantastic artists here on EF! Larry has that rare gift of being able to paint and draw in his own right so amazingly, but can also teach, nourish and inspire other artists too. You can see his awesome portfolio at www.larryelmore.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(photos here) As the sun drops lower in the sky and we are getting nearer to the winter solstice than the summer one, I mourn the loss of the sunlight for many reasons. We have three birdbaths outside our backdoor, and as the sun comes around to its daily resting place in the west, it pours in through our kitchen window during the afternoon and causes the most fascinating effect on the water in these bowls. If there is the slightest whisper of a breeze, then the reflected light will bounce off the ripples that are almost imperceptible to the eye, and this results in beautiful shimmering patterns that cast shadows on the kitchen ceiling. They are wonderful, all shades of white light, constantly mowing and mesmerising to look at. Sadly, as we get nearer to the wintertime, the sun struggles to get a peep into this window and I know I’ll have to wait until our part of the earth awakes again next year. It is such an odd phenomenon but one that is a delight to me and, of course, mix those dancing light patterns with the rainbows (refracted prisms from all the crystals hanging up) as well, and I think even the faeries would be impressed!

Magical Blessings, Be

“The mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is open.” – Fourteenth Dalai Lama

As I said in my blog yesterday, now it is Allen’s sister-in-law's turn. Ruth Thompson gets the award for the most energy and biggest grin Ever! One cannot help but be totally and literally swept up into this very special lady’s world. Ruth’s artwork is astounding, her dragons and horses, mythical creatures, knights and angels and all forms of fantasy are so distinctive and beautiful – painted from her heart. (Ruth is also a passionate horsewoman and adores her horses in her real life!) A true sci-fi, fantasy enthusiast, Ruth began her career as an illustrator for gaming companies, but she soon took courage and began to promote herself as an independent artist, her story is so inspirational and great fun to read. This wonderful woman has such a fantastic sense of humour and desire to take us all with her on her fantasy journey - there is a wealth of interesting information on her web site www.tarnishedimages.com including her personal story that is as inspiring as the lovely lady herself. When you meet her, you feel like you’ve know Ruth for years as she has such a warm welcoming way about her and I laugh continuously when I’m with her, she’s gorgeous! This is the kind of person who makes you proud to be a fantasy fan and spends time at the convention and Renasissance Fairs meeting everyone and delighting everybody. With Ruth, you will always find a friendly hello, but be careful, as she may get you hooked on WoW too…

         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

photos here) Across from our house to the east, is a hill that is home to a group of wild horses. Although from our distance I have never actually seen them up close, from our window I can see them grazing and enjoying the delights that their freedom obviously brings them. When they have foals you can just make them out, keeping so close to their mothers, but occasionally leaping about with the joy that so many young animals have at that age. I have so much respect for these magnificent beasts and, a few years ago, was extremely privileged to be able to watch an amazing Horse Whisperer at work. It was such an important event for me that I even took the boys out of school and together we truly witnessed magic happening. This gentle chap worked with this poor, damaged horse for days and I realised the similarities between what he was doing and the way we all try to bring up our children with respect, trust, firm but fair holding, eye to eye contact, rewarding and praising, being the leader of the pack so that the pressure is not theirs to bear and so on. The transformation in that wonderful horse - rescued from not being allowed outside of his stable for all of his six years - once so wild and hysterical that he used to hurt himself as much as others, was remarkable and breathtaking. A mutual respect was already forming between them and I began to understand some of these miraculous methods and a little of what maybe goes on in their minds. I have looked at horses in a very different way ever since and realise how privileged we are to share this life with them.

Magical Blessings, Be

“Serenity isn’t freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm.”

Lawrence A. Williams, known to many as Allen, gets the prize for being the most charming artist I have ever met, oh and his work is gorgeous too!  I was blown away when I first saw Allen’s beautiful original art a few years ago as there was a majesty about his paintings of myths and legends that left me awestruck. Allen has also published a wonderful book with his sister-in-law (who I’ll blog about tomorrow) of Angels with some of the most fantastic angelic art I’ve ever seen. He has worked in fantasy, horror and role-playing game illustration and, possibly due to the influence of his young son, paints the cutest children’s dragons ever! You can see what I mean on his web site  www.lawilliams.com  Allen is an extremely popular figure on the convention and festival circuit where one is always assured of a warm welcome and a big grin - just say Be sent you!!
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(photos here) As a child, one of my clearest memories as I lay in bed on light summer nights, was being serenaded by a blackbird at the top of our neighbour’s willow tree singing his evening song. It is a very special memory that is instantly evoked when, all through my life, I have heard that distinctive rich and varied melody at dusk, wherever we have lived in England (except on the Mendips, but I’ll post about that another day). This amazing bird with his bright yellow beak and beady eyes has such a delightful way of securing his territory and I am even more blessed where we live now, as we often have two different males staking their tuneful claim, one at each edge of the garden! When our children were young, and I’d be tucking them up when it wasn’t yet dark, I truly gave thanks that they too were falling asleep to these musical notes and although they are probably not aware of it consciously, maybe they will one day be transported back to their childhood bedtimes as they hear that distinctive refrain. Thank you Mr Blackbird for your evening song.
 
Magical Blessings, Be

“May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp and peace in your heart.” – Eskimo proverb    

This lovely chap’s work has a quality that is so beautiful, one feels as though you could be looking at paintings from long ago. There’s a romantic and feminine thread here where one is rather inclined to wish to get to know those figures in the frames. Ian Daniels detail of the female form is delightful, his male characters have a great strength and there’s a story woven through it all, myths, legends and faerie tales. His rich colours use light as a magical quality and are so luxurious, contrasted with his immensely detailed black and white studies that cross to the darker side of fantasy art with a more pagan style. Ian has been extremely popular as a book illustrator for many years with some impressive authors! A more gentle soul you could not wish to meet though, so many of these awesome artists are so humble and such a delight to talk with. There’s a feature on Ian’s wonderful work in Faerie Magazine International coming up soon, what a joy - http://hometown.aol.co.uk/iandanielsart/home.html

(photos here) Well, what can I say here, we’re in Bunny heaven. Our favourite time of the year though is in the spring after the kits are born and venturing out for the first time. I’m not ashamed to say, I think they’re really cute. The only problem is when it gets to the summer and they’re a bit braver, and play ‘chicken’ with each other across the lane in front of the car… Why is it that instead of just jumping into the bank, that they insist on running down the road in front of you for ages, I’m sure they’re laughing their heads off! Some larger ones are brave enough to come up near to the back door to nibble at the more tender shoots and I’m sure that if our garden hadn’t fallen into a wilderness these past years working in faerie (I’m beginning to see a suspicious pattern here) then I’d be cursing them if I’d got vegetables planted. As it is, they’re most welcome to my weeds and I am always thrilled to see these shy wild creatures with their white behinds bounding about the garden.

Magical Blessings, Be

“Create your own myth.” - Rumi

As an artist I think that Sheila Wolk captures movement in an exquisite way and that is possibly because she initially began her career as a successful sports artist. I think that her amazing observations and fluid depictions are so talented and give an inspirational feel to her paintings that seem to come alive as you watch them. Her beautiful fantasy work is so detailed and believable that one feels drawn into the dream and at one with the movement. Sheila’s delicate style becomes breathtaking as the truth in her figures seem to want to emerge from the page… This is gorgeous fantasy art and her web site is www.sheilawolk.com  I’m sure you will enjoy the experience.

The first and most important enchanted task of the day here is to make a cup of tea - truly, our lives and business are dependent on it. It is an odd thing to write about as most of my blogs are nature based, but I feel that tea is one of my blessings and therefore should be mentioned. It is also the best way to conduct an interview for Faerie Magazine Int. in Britain, in fact, I haven’t managed one yet without! What is it about these fragrant leaves steeped in boiling water with a dash of milk that can literally run a company, soothe an upset, celebrate a wonderful recording session here with our youngest son or welcome in a dear guest, or even a delivery man! This odd ritual is sacred to my life and for that I have to thank my mother who is seventy five years young today! She followed her mother, my beloved grandnana, who was still heartily enjoying her cups of tea at 100 years old and taught me the art of laying proper afternoon tea, that is still my very favourite time of the day and much more preferable to me than an evening meal. Making a cup of tea is the first thing we do on returning home, to warm us up on a cold winter’s day or cool us down in the summer, fuel a long nights writing session, sit and put the world to rights or ease us all down after an awesome piece of theatre with our eldest son. I have experienced many momentous things in my life over tea, including the amazing memory of my first cuppas after giving birth, both times! In fact, to take out a thermos of steaming tea when we go on a journey, suddenly doesn’t seem too fuddy-duddy now that we’re older. Maybe it’s just that our blessings get simpler as we gain in age or maybe we just appreciate the simpler things in life more. Raise your mugs and warm that pot…     

Magical Blessings, Be

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt