Joy, Communication, Patience, Release, Forgiveness, Openness  (The Angel Card Series):

This series was initiated by a woman I have never met,  though I hope to meet tonight, who asked if I could do some abstract, simple and cheerful paintings. I thought I'd have a go and used the angel cards for inspiration. For those who have not come across angel cards, they come out of the Findhorn Community. Their shadow counterparts are called the devils.

Healing 2:  This painting stayed determinedly unfinished since the initial burst of creation. In my last frantic few days, when all the others somehow found completion, this one didn't. It eventually dawned on me that perhaps this picture, Healing 2, was meant to be work in progress for the duration of this exhibition.

Mystery of Life:  This piece was inspired by dance and by poetry, and unsurprisingly a man, or to be more precise, men. In October, in Hong Kong, I attended a Five Rhythms Dance Workshop led by Ellen Watson from Esalen. After some time dancing, possibly somewhere in the middle of "Flow", we stopped and wrote in our journals for  about 15 minutes exploring the words "deep" "black" and "mystery". And then having written, we were asked to distill our writing to exactly 17 words...a magic number. My 17 words were:

Black, violet, two shades gold...silver
Mystery of my life
Man ~ deep black mystery to me
Red!

Sacrificial Bull:  Apart from the initial two paintings exhibited (nos 1 & 2), this was the painting that was created first, and started the whole exhibitionist ball rolling.  The bull has had a sacrificial role in many cultures. In Mithraic and Roman cultures, it was sacrificed at the turn of the year; its blood symbolizing the masculine essence that fertilized the feminine earth and returned life to the land. In Celtic history, the Druids sacrificed a white bull during the mistletoe cutting ceremony. And while today we may be used to associating the bull with maleness and strength, in the older cultures it could have a feminine connotation. The crescent shape of its horns marked it as a lunar rather than solar animal. What feelings does it evoke for you?