Pic of the Week . . . Luis Royo

Since doing Pic of the Week, I've come across and have shared some wonderful and talented artists that I never knew existed.  Their stunning works of art has both awed and inspired me.  But after everyone I've ever listed I still hold Luis Royo at the top of my list.  I absolutely love his work - always have - and even though some of his pieces are a little on the 'risque' side, what he creates is beautiful, mysterious, dark and entriguing.

Yay for Royo...

Have a fab weekend and enjoy :)

Pic of the Week . . . Anne Sudworth

A day late but Hay-Ho.

I happily discovered this artist via facebook and I have to say, her work blew me away! I'm an artistic person, but that lies best with charcoal and pencil. Working in colour isn't my forte - as much as I'd like it to be. I'm a perfectionist, and I hate it when a piece of work I'm working on doesn't go as planned - often the result when I'm working in colour.

But I have to repeat, this artist blew me away!!!

The way she handles her materials is phenomenal. She mainly uses pastels, and she's mastered her technique to perfection. Her work has a gothic feel to it that gives it a mysterious, ethereal feel, and the way she manages to capture moon light and illumination in a night backdrop is breathtaking. When I first say her work I found myself looking twice to ensure it wasn't a photo, but it's not. It's all been created by her talented hand.

Introducing Anne Sudworth. This piece is titled White Goddess and features Stonehenge, a place as mystical and breathtaking as her work.

Seriously, you guys have to check her out.

Hope you all have a great weekend - what's left of it.

Enjoy!

Pic of the Week . . . Lauren K Cannon

I had a power cut last night - or yesterday afternoon. 4.20pm it went out, rendering me with a dead computer and a list of work that I couldn't get done. And what made it worse was the fact it went off before my central heating had a chance to click on, leaving me freezing.

Luckily I have an open fireplace but I'm useless at building fires (the primeval need to make fire is lost in this day and age). I had a fire log, a prepacked, ready-to-burn concoction that kept me cosy for about two hours, but then it died. After that I made good friends with all my candles as well as my hat, scarf and a good few jumpers, and together we sat amidst flickering shadows listening to the gales whistling though my windows (my house if over 300 years old and a tad drafty).

It made me realise how much we rely on power. A mere hundred - hundred and fifty years ago, people would be in my exact position only they would expect it every night. They knew how to build fires, and they knew how to entertain themselves without the need of computers, the web, TV or radio - and they were perfectly happy. They didn't know anything else. Today, I believe we rely too heavily on electronics to keep us entertained and living comfortably - and it's something that most of us take for granted.

I was glad when, at 2.30am, the power company remembered us and switched our power back on, giving me some heat!! Despite the chilliness, I quite enjoyed a quiet evening reading and sketching by candle light. It made a huge change.

And talking of power cuts, I thought I'd go for something a little dark today for Pic of the Week. I'm returning to Lauren K. Cannon, an artist who I absolutely love. If you visit her gallery, all her pieces come with a little tale or explanation. You'll also see close-ups of the detail gone into her eyes, her headdress and each little bluebird. Stunning. Here's the piece for this work, titled Baalhu:

Enjoy!

'She is Baalhu, one of the Ancients. Legends say she dwells in the mountains, waiting for the brave and desperate to seek her out. She richly rewards those who find her, granting them anything they desire… and taking their souls as payment. Before they die, those mortals are forced to return to her. She places their souls into the bodies of bluebirds, cuts out the heart - - staining their chests red - - and sets them free into the world to be her eyes and ears.

Never tell a secret when there is a bluebird nearby. She might hear you.'

Pic of the Week . . . Brian Froud . . . Plus WIP Update

I'm combining my two weekly posts into one today - a little unusual for me, I know, but hey! The reason, I never got round to posting on Tuesday, and I'm away this weekend so won't be able to tomorrow. Seemed like a good idea to me.

First up, Update on WIP: Son of Jack

For those who don't know, it IS being published. 27th November. Yeah, we're doing it ourselves through Amazon, but it was never destined for anything more. The whole point of writing Son of Jack to use it as an experiment to see how easy and how successful Amazon publishing is. If I make a fortune, yay! If it manages to go on to bigger and better things, yay!! But if it doesn't do too well I haven't lost anything, not a single penny; I'm a novel up on my list and I'm more the wiser how ebooks work. Plus, I still get to call myself a published author, yay!!! Nothing to lose really.

We're having a launch party on the 27th (to let you know there's one other novel that's being launched and possibly a collection of short stories courtesy of our writers' group - and this is just to begin with. There will be other novels in the future no doubt. The hotel where we're holding it have so far been great. They've allowed us to have the room for free as long as we can get the local press involved. This means advertising for both us and the hotel, so we really aren't spending any money, YAY!!!!

Anyway, more on that later.

Pic of the Week.

I decided to revisit Brian Froud (visit blog) this week. Why? Well, I'm off down to his part of the world this weekend - Devon - so I thought it an apt idea (and I do like his work).

Have a fab weekend everyone (I know I will) and enjoy!

Pic of the Week - Linda Bergkvist . . .

Hi all, it's that time of the week again. Yep, Pic of the Week...

This week I've decided to remind us all of the works by Linda Bergkvist. I think I've posted about her once or twice in the past, but it's been a while and so thought she needed another appearence.

This piece is called 'Jeirehneen' and I love the dark, subtle feel to it. If you're able to zoom in, I love the detail of the face and the wings - and if you look even closer above the guy you can see a fairy sitting in the tree watching the flock of birds. Jeirehneen doesn't hold colours that jump out at you and catch the eye like many other pieces I've published, but it still has a stunning mystery to it that I'm loving.

Enjoy and have a grand weekend...

Pic of the Week . . . Jena Della Grottaglia-Maldonado . . .

That's one hellova name - but then she's one hellovan artist.

My friend is getting married this weekend - ahhhh bless - and so I thought I'd go with the whole wedding theme. Not to put a downer on the event, I suddenly thought of the film 'Corpse Bride' and so googled it to see what it would come up with. Apart from the usual pictures of the film and the animated characters, I come across this little gem.

Jena Della Grottaglia - or the Autumn Goddess as she is also known as - has a gallery on both DeviantArt and her own website (worth a visit just to see it. It's stunning!). From her about me page I read that when she was younger the teacher set them an essay assignment of 1000 words, so she drew a picture and handed that in instead, claiming that a 'picture speaks 1000 words'. Classic!

So anyway, Jena Della Grottaglia-Maldonado's 'Corpse Bride'.

Enjoy and have a grand weekend...

Pic of the Week . . . Lauren K. Cannon

This week I'd like to introduce to you Lauren K. Cannon. She was born in New Jersey, USA in 1986 and is fascinated with the strange, the macarbre and the beautiful.

Her work is just amazing. I love the eye of this piece. There's something mellow yet haunting about it, and I think this chance discovery is worth more than gold. Check out the website of Lauren K. Cannon to see more of her work.

Have a great weekend and enjoy!

'Her Wound'