When last we spoke, I was in the midst of my neurotic phase. Well, I eventually got over that phase...by getting into an even more neurotic form of artwork. :)
It all started when H1 and I went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving in 1991. Of course, a visit to Green Apple Books was mandatory. That trip was the best ever, and not just because I got some prime vintage dresses in the Haight.
First Celtic painting: Tapestry, 1992. All my early paintings were quite large, in the 2x3 to 3x4 foot range.
I've always loved Irish designs, probably due to the fact that my Dad's family thought they were Irish (they weren't, but they were Celtic). However, Celtic Knotwork is devilishly difficult unless you have a really, Really, REALLY good guide. And on that fateful trip to Green Apple Books, I found it: The Holy Grail of Celtic Knotwork design: Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction, by George Bain.
Well! For a person who has a fascination with patterns, control, and a bit of OCD, this was the bomb!
Journey, 1992: This painting had to be repainted in 2001, due to mold damage and horrible colors (I was poor at the time, I had to make do with what I had on hand).
I got busy learning how to create celtic designs--most importantly, the over/under pattern that defines Celtic Knotwork.
In all the time since, I've only done two non-celtic pieces. Designing the paintings is almost as much fun as actually painting them.
I started out hand-drawing the designs on to the canvas, then outlining in paint and filling in the background around the design.
Journey, Redux, October 2001: Repainted, with all new colors. Much better! I cannot believe I painted this thing twice. :D
Tuppence, June 1994: Based on the reverse of the Irish Twopence coin. The coin design is an adaptation of a detail of an ornamental bird from an illumination in the Second Bible of Charles-the-Bald in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
Disintegration, December 1996: A birthday present for another friend: Her favorite song, with lyrics written out in runes. (Have I mentioned I'm a bit OCD? )
I eventually graduated to Illustrator (I love Illustrator!); now I do the designs on my Mac (which allows me to make the designs absolutely symmetrical--there's that OCD thing again :), then trace the designs onto the painted background using either black or white carbon paper.
Celtic Cross, Feb 1997: My first Illustrator-drawn design, an original tattoo design for a friend. It has a flaw, on the inside of the bottom left loop. This one was never transferred to canvas.
Celtic Cross 2, March 1997: Another celtic cross tattoo design for the same friend, later turned into a birthday painting for another friend who loved it. I don't believe in wasting a good design. :D
Blessings On Your House, May 1999: A birthday gift for another very good friend. This is the last painting that I hand-drew onto the canvas.
Wedding Rings, Summer 2000: The design I created for our wedding rings and invitations. Mine has a diamond in place of the eternity knot.
Celtic Eternity Knot, Spring 2001: The result of playing around with Illustrator's various special effects.
To be continued.....
(Ratings and comments always appreciated!)
(All images © merwoman, all rights reserved)
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Comments
I liked your line about thinking they were Irish, but they weren't. It reminds me of a good friend who had always thought he was Irish and knew everything about his Irish ancestry, until he found out that the family that came over dropped the "a" from Mac, thus making it Irish instead of Scottish. I guess the Scottish were hated more than the Irish at the time. Anyway, then he took up bagpipes.haha. Rated.
Rated
You do great work, Christine. Great work. :-D
Thumbed.
I couldn't find the flaw in the Celtic Cross....
rated
Thank you so much for posting these wonderful creations. I'm always so heartened to see how creativity finds its myriad expressions through what we allow to come into our sphere of awareness! That and how serendipity seems so happenstance, yet can be so absolutely, precisely on time as well. (I am a painter, as well... )I cannot tell you of the times a book has fallen off the shelf at my feet, page open to precisely what I'd been waiting for, etc. It is one's choice to either pick it up and See what's there...or pick it up and place it back on the shelf - or just step over it. How happy we all are that you made the San Fran trip and stopped by GreenApple books...
Wonderful work!
~water
Mrs. Michaels and Brenda, thank you! You know how we artists are--we could live on compliments. :D
Donna, I had not painted anything like that before I got the design book. I had several pieces of celtic jewelry, including some vintage stuff, but had no idea how to create designs myself. I now have 3 copies of the book (one I use for following the pattern in pencil, it gives me a kind of kinetic experience of the design), plus 5 or 6 other celtic design books. Bain's is still the best.
Noah, I would love to see that design. Is there a website I could look up? Mac/Mc: I've been told (don't know how true it is) that some of the Scotch Presbyterians who were moved into N Ireland did this in order not to further rile the locals, but I have no idea if that's true or not. And bagpipes are good! I love bagpipes. One of the coolest uses of bagpipes, ever, is AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top." Awesome video, too--Bon Scot playing the pipes. :)
Julie, those paintings took a ridiculous amount of time, especially because I'd kind of be making up the patterns as I went along. Sometimes I'd get to what I call the crosshatching, to show the over/under, and find out it didn't work, and I'd have to erase it and try again. This is why I love Illustrator. No erasing. :D
Connie, I think Tuppence would make a lovely tattoo. I actually have 3 tattoos on my ankle, all celtic bands that I designed myself. It's cool knowing no one else will ever have exactly the same tattoo as me. :) The flaw in the first Celtic Cross is on the inside of the lower left loop--the design works, but I somehow missed putting in one of the edges. :P
Ah, JRDog, Celtic music! I have a mass of Celtic music, it's ridiculous really. Just my "best Celtica" collection is enough to fill 3 CDs with 21 or so songs each, and that's with only using a few songs off each album. It's wonderful music.
kmbearden, thank you for stopping by! The designs are really almost impossible to create unless you get some instruction, because they are not at all intuitive. Copying, yes, that's doable with the background; designing, not so much.
like~water, thank you. :) There's a thin line, I think, between neuroses and passion, especially when it comes to patterns. I do love the interconnectedness, and being able to follow a single line through the entire design.
DJ, fluid is the perfect word. I think that's one reason there aren't a whole lot of corners in Celtic work.
Cat--lush is a lovely word! And so is inspiration, Gary. Thank you! :)
John, you know the way to an artist's heart. At least an artist with an obsession for symmetry. :) At some point, I just have to tell myself, "Be done with it, it's good enough." That's hard, because I can always find something else in the painting that could be better--a more even edge, maybe, or more consistent width on the paths. :P
RATED by an all things Celtic fool
Great work. The ornamental bird's my fave. And I can relate to the OCD, or at least an AR version of it when it comes to presentation.
WOOF
This stuff is really wonderful.
I have a book, somewhere, on all the designs (and errors) in the Book of Kells. Seen it onst too!
These are beautiful. I have to agree, the colors in Journey Redux are a lot better.
Victor, thank you! I reworked that one 3 times, trying to get the patterns to stand out. My friend (a guy) screamed like a little girl when he saw it, he was so excited. Good for an artist's ego. :)
Bob, I'd love to lift a pint with another Celtic fool. :D
Thank you, Nana! The Book of Kells is amazing, one of the first Celtic works that I fell in love with.
Woof Man, thank you! You are sweet as ever. :) I love the bird, too, and it's the only design I've painted "as is." I think my designs are a bit simpler than yours, though. :)
Caruso, I'm glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for coming by.
Susan, you are just the best. Thank you, my friend. :)
I will respond to the rest tomorrow...sorry for being so delayed, I've spent every minute possible of the last three days working in the garden, and I'm exhausted and sore, and I'm going to bed. :)
Sao Kay, Tuppence does seem to be ahead in the comments so far. It's one of the simplest Celtic paintings I've ever done; I didn't feel the bird needed anything to distract from it.
Thank you, Jane! I was much more pleased with the new version. I was in the process of repainting this when I found out that my Big Beautiful Blue (or, more formally, Silverstone Searching For The Purest Blue; you can see her here: http://tinyurl.com/cj6k3a) had cancer and we would have to have her put to sleep. I painted it originally during a very trying time, and repainted it during another one. I think of her every time I look at it.
Shiral, it can be a bit maddening, especially when you get to that last join and it just....doesn't. But I love it anyway. Apparently I am a glutton for punishment. ;) I haven't done one for awhile, and I'm starting to get the itch. Maybe this summer when it gets too hot to spend all day outside.
Latethink, I told myself I was part of the great tradition of the starving artist. :D It is, unfortunately, not a cheap passtime for me. It's a bit better now that I'm generally doing much smaller canvasses, but I am an Art Supply Whore (sorry, Donna): I get in an art store and start fondling the nice expensive brushes and gazing longingly at all the beautiful shades...and then it's all over. :-p
::blush::
See? ;)
I've never done a commission work, but I'm certainly not opposed to the idea. And if it was smallish and simplish it wouldn't take long or cost a whole lot.
Mary--how wonderful! Were there kilts? I love a formal Scottish wedding with kilts. And bagpipes. I'm totally jealousing. :)
Kris--thank you for stopping by, I'm glad you enjoyed them. There will be at least one more installment in the next few weeks.