Artfire Collection of artists

I thought I'd share this Artfire collection. I don't think I've ever shared any before. My piece is the tree with all of the playing card symbols in the middle row. The link to the collection and all of the individual shops is HERE.

Millefleurs Triptych with Unicorn, Cranes, Rabbits and Dove

Name of art piece: "Millefleurs Triptych with Unicorn, Cranes, Rabbits and Dove"

size: 13" x 10" on 14" x 11" paper

printed on archival paper

artwork © 2014 by Lise Winne

AVAILABLE THROUGH MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE SHOP HERE

Note: the copyright watermark does not appear in any purchased versions of this print.

This piece is a Renaissance-inspired artwork and inspired by (and in the tradition of) the Renaissance Unicorn tapestries. Here is one instance of one of the pieces done during the Renaissance.

This print is also available in a framed version at Valley Artisans Market. The original is going to be hung in a new gallery I was admitted into. More information on that coming soon. If you have an Etsy account, it may be available there as well, though I am featuring rotating themes, and there is less likelihood of it being there than in my Artfire shop (which has the advantage of a guest check-out if you don't want to join as an Artfire patron).

Symbolism:

The crane is a symbol for longevity, a youthful appearance, a happy and successful marriage as well as an omen of protection.

The unicorn is a symbol for purity, the mystical and divine, the spiritual, healing sorrows of the heart, healing toxicities in the body and banishing poisons in ones life whether they be emotional, spiritual or physical.

Rabbits are a symbol of femininity, abundance and luck. They are also a symbol of fear (of tragedy and disaster).

The dove is a symbol of peace, hope and messages from the spirit. They sometimes refer to pacifism and passive resistance too.  

Here are some of the details of the piece:

MY WEBSITE

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY ETSY ON-LINE STORE

Paul Brady, newly discovered (for me) Irish singer

Since I specialize in Celtic and Irish music (and have also been known to steal ideas from ancient Irish art for my painting projects), I don't know why I missed artist, Paul Brady. But I sure am glad I discovered him now! I fell in love immediately with his voice and this rendition of The Lakes of Pontchartrain. He is 30 years old in this video. Enjoy!

some other Beltane fests I found on the web

This one is from Glastonbury, UK

This is one from Ulster County, NY

and included a maypole dance in addition to the bonfire dance.

This is meant to be a continuation of my other two posts, Beltane Favorites and A Beltane Party, 2014.

Our party had many more drummers (with some professionals in the mix) than either of these two events.   

A great way to celebrate spring!

A Beltane Party, 2014

Beltane Fire Dancer

2014

In the last post, I mentioned some of the artists on my private Facebook page that celebrate Beltane and make Beltane-related art. If you are new to my blog see the previous post HERE. 

Do you wonder what a Beltane festival or party is? Go here to the Wikipedia article on it. In short, it is a Gaelic festival about the arrival of Spring typically celebrated on May Day (or a weekend before or after, for those who work M - F). 

Since I know a lot of people who love to celebrate these events, I get invited to a lot Beltane rituals, parties and art-happenings. The fire dancer above was at one of the ones I attended. You can't see her costume, but she wore boots, a mini skirt with bright metallic-like spangles and a headdress with horns. There were at least 10 drummers there to keep her on beat. At this particular event there were about four fire dancers and one fire-eater.

Some people showed up in costume: there were women with a bouquet of flowers around their head, other folks with horns and leaves on their heads and heavily tattooed, some were wearing the Celtic tree of Life somewhere on their person, some re-enactors came with full body chainmaille and impressive ornate swords, some people came with Irish capes and some people didn't dress up at all. In other years I have gone, some people showed up with Green Man masks and regalia and some came with faerie costuming. I was disappointed they weren't there this time. This year there were more tee-shirts, jeans and beer than other years, possibly because there were a lot of young rock bands in the barn on the property (or maybe it was the cold night: who wants to cover up a nice costume with blankets or a coat?).

Some Beltane festivals have Maypole dancing as well, but that kind of event usually takes place in the day time. It also features women with long dresses and flowers in their hair as this picture will confirm. I have also done quite a bit of Maypole dancing throughout the years to celebrate Beltane.

Almost all of the Beltane festivals I have been to feature a bonfire where people dance to drums. For these pictures, these bonfires had just been lit, so there were no dancers yet. There were 3 bonfires in all. A large medieval-like catapult was used to throw a minimal fire into a large pile of wood (i.e. to light the bonfire). 

Here are some pictures of the bonfires:

I liked this photo of a boy in profile:

Here are some more pictures of the fire dancers:

Beltane is also about sitting around fire pits, socializing (the picture is blurry because it was after sundown, a few minutes before the sky turned pitch black):

It is also about eating, drinking and being merry. In this case I was more interested in what was going on behind the people eating, which is why they aren't particularly featured:

Which brings me to a situation where more explanation is probably due. This Beltane party was held at a friend's studio (and grounds). He is a sculptor and there are sculptures everywhere, on everything imaginable. I'd love to tell you who made all of these beautiful pieces (and he very much deserves the credit), but since they are on his private property, I won't, but it makes for an even more enchanting Beltane experience.   

Here is one of his sculptures that has been offered a beer by some of the guests in the background (again, it was taken after sundown, so it is amazing I got any photo at all):

Here is one of the roads (this particular road led to the party, which is why there are lanterns placed along it). In the dark, the lanterns illuminate the faces of the sculptures. It is really a cool effect when you're tired and you are stumbling your way back to your car. Every road should be lined with sculptures to help you on your journey through life:

Some of the statues along that road:

Here is gypsy-type caravan he made complete with a relief sculpture above the door:

Even the wood-stacking shelter gets some sculpture:

How about a tree? Super fuzzy photo -- but you get the idea...

Even a cart that he made gets the treatment:

Here is another one of his carts (just because I liked it). One of his sculptures you can see in the background of the photo:

Here is one last one I took (before I couldn't take any more pictures of anything except fire):

Perhaps another year I can get some Beltane photos that aren't challenged by a quickly setting sun!

I hope you've enjoyed going down Beltane lane with me.

Beltane favorites

Olde Beltane Photo

by unknown

I know so many artists and musician friends who celebrate Beltane. On Facebook, many (or maybe even most) of my musician and artist friends were posting Beltane paintings and photos on May 1 and inviting me to their Beltane festivals and parties. I browsed through them and decided to post some of my more favorites here on my blog (in the interest of you getting to know them too).

I responded the most to the one above. It looks like an old photo and the arms of one practically turn to wings through the time exposure. This one was posted by Laurie Ann Haus, a truly amazing vocalist with an incredible range who does a combination of metal, Celtic and classical, somewhat reminiscent of Trans Siberian Orchestra. We found each other's music many, many years ago on Myspace and have been friends ever since.

Here are some others from my Facebook friends that you might enjoy:

    Merry Beltane by Paulina Cassidy

I got to know Paulina's delightful work through Enchanted Folk, a community of artists and musicians. She has produced many tarot and oracle decks, all fun and charming here on Amazon. 

 Beltane by Sue Miller

I became aware of Sue Miller through her brother Tom Pacheco who records CDs at the same recording studio where I record (with Scott Petito). We travel in so many of the same circles and I constantly see her work on many of the on-line magazines I subscribe to. 

Hand painted Beltane alterpiece by Linda Ravenscroft

As with Paulina Cassidy, I also got to know Linda through the Enchanted Folk community. She has published a number of books and sells them through A.C. Moore and other craft stores as well as through Amazon here.

photo of Beth Chapin Reineke, recording artist and assistant recording engineer at Scott Petito Productions (also mentioned above).

I've always loved this photo of Beth. And the dragon approves!

I hope you've enjoyed this! 

I'll be getting back to my work as a fantasy artist soon!

commemorative art: for Robert F. Winne

Robert F. Winne commemorative art

© 2014

completed on the one year anniversary of his death

center design by Robert F. Winne

complimentary border design by Lise Winne

My father always loved pattern. He was an architect, but made lots of little doodles. This is one that I responded to and thought I would use for a commemorative piece. It is a rare color doodle (he tended to work in pen and ink because he was color blind). It is interesting that he included red and green in this design since he often couldn't tell them apart. 

His doodles focused on pattern and shapes and they tended to be symmetrical (unusual for a man since women tend more towards symmetry in their art than men do).

When I was younger, particularly in highschool, my art was mostly abstract art and some of it looked quite a lot like his. Perhaps I will share it some day. But then after getting the "sculpture bug" after going to a lecture and slide show on Kathe Kollwitz when I was 18 years old, I decided that I wanted to make visceral art instead, in the Kollwitz tradition, pieces that made statements, had meaning, spoke about things that mattered. It went with my Quaker background too (causes). I did make quite a lot of it (never published on the web) until about 1998 or so, when I decided to compliment my Renaissance CD, "Wingd With Hopes" with fantasy related art and music. Now I have gone back to "Expressionist" art and illustrations for a little while until I complete a few "assignments". Then I'll be back here. Promise.

I hope this border design is like a big hug to my dad. I think he would have liked it? He tended to like bold pattern.

I started a blog about my father HERE. The table of contents is on the right hand side. Unfortunately I haven't been able to put as much time into it as I would have liked. That's another story...