Spirals
‘It is the form of embryos, horns, whirlpools, hurricanes and galaxies, the path that energy takes when left alone, the path of unfettered yet balanced growth... A spiral is a cosmic symbol that represents one or the other of several dualities: growth or decay, ascent or descent, evolution or involution, offering or receiving, revealing or hiding. The spiral processes in nature form a language evoking the mythic journey, regeneration & awakening - as fronds and flowers whorl open to light - by ascending to a higher rung… It is the sacred way of commandment and prayer, the spiral voice of God and the sacred call to God. Various deities speak through spiral whirlwinds and through columns of whirling dust, smoke and fire. Humans pray to deities along the same spiral paths by making offerings with ascending smoke spirals and by blowing through spiral conch shells and ram horn trumpets…’ The Book of Symbols by Taschen
Labyrinths
‘The labyrinth is an ancient symbol whose convoluted form, found naturally in seashells, animals intestines, spiderwebs, the meandering body of the serpent, the eddying of water, the internal structure of underground caves, & the whirling of galaxies of space, has always been suggestive to the imagination. Spirals & meanders, precursors to the labyrinth have been found among cave paintings of prehistoric peoples, often incised on or near goddess figurines, carved animals, cave walls and thresholds. These Labyrinthine spirals indicate the symbolic passageway from the visible realm of the human into the invisible dimension of the divine, retracing the journey souls of the dead would have taken to reenter the womb of the mother on their way to rebirth….’ The Book of Symbols by Taschen
Natural Collections
I still have that childlike wonderment of the natural world. Colour and shape dictate everything I collect from the garden - bird egg shells; yellow and orange spiral snail shells; an old horseshoe we dug up from the front garden; a red admiral butterfly; blackbird and pheasant feathers which my neighbour collects for me; magpie feathers; and acorns from the oak tree.
When I travel to new places I collect empty sea shells. I have a collection of limpet shells in a rainbow of shades, brown-orange-greenish, mussel shells, intricate and complex, exotic shells from the British coastline and The Red Sea.
I also collect plants. I have a young collection of hellebores, in a whole array of colours and shapes: dusky hues, opulent wines, deep sultry purples, double petalled frills, speckles, luminous yellows, chartreuse greens, pink and apricot blushes.
The Garden
There is no separation between my work and my home. Colour and nature consumes me on a daily basis, through my paintings and my garden. My studio is situated in my garden and I see my garden as my second studio. It's a place where I orchestrate colour and shapes. It's also a place of wonderment, a place where I can learn the shapes of unfurling ferns and document the new butterflies, as well as the birds, which flit from tree to tree. With the fleeting seasons, the colours change too. Winter is ethereal; there's thick fog like ghosts in the fields and sparkling silver branches. Vivid colour erupts out from everywhere in Spring. Summer is all the shades of green, acid, apple, forest & moss. Autumn is gilded in honey, amber, russet and ochre; branches are strewn with yellow and gold leaf jewels.
Leaf Shapes
I know the shapes of my favourite leaves well. The jagged edges & arrow shapes of dandelion leaves. The elegant curves of mulberry and hops leaves which look like angel wings. The distinctive oak leaf, steeped in history & folklore. Alchemilla Mollis leaves which look like scallop shells, reminiscent of the Goddess of Love, Venus. She emerged from a giant scallop shell from the sea. The Alchemilla Mollis leaf also catches water like jewels or pearls.
'If you will stay close to nature, to it's simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable'
- Rainer Maria Rilke
Artist References
Georgia O'Keefe, Hilma af Klint, Paul Klee, Picasso, Rothko and Howard Hodgkin.