CheeramydeerCowzebeleonAll the above are indispensible in their own
way, but the extra details I incorporate into
my work come from the brushes, paints,
mosaic pieces, jewellery components, gel
plate prints and collage papers. Whatever is
tickling my creative fancy at that point and
anything which will make my work interesting
to me. That multi-disciplinary Magpie always
wins out!
---Can you tell us about your fantasy animal
series?
Are they animal, vegetable or mineral? In
truth they are a combination of all these plus
mechanical parts and plenty of ‘bling’ scanned
from my huge stash of beads, jewellery
components, ribbons and trimmings that I use
in my mixed media mosaics.
The series evolved from my wish to create
100 creatures for a 100 day Instagram project.
However, it soon became apparent they were
far too time consuming to just churn out on a
factory conveyor belt! Consequently I stepped
away from that idea and took the pressure off
myself. This removal of a deadline has enabled
me to be more detailed and to allow each
piece to develop organically in its own time
frame.
I adore all fauna and flora, but the
amalgamations of random parts of animals
truly sent my imagination into overdrive.
The devil is in the details- pink nail polish on
Jelduckyring’s web toes, the stitching together
with staples of the Horcamhino body parts
(whimsical, if a bit gruesome, perhaps!). The
chainmail armour on Octoeleino. I had a ball
creating these animals and I hope that shines
through in my work. Creating their names was
fun too!One day I would love to make a children’s
book, a poetry book or just a picture book
from this series;with the help of a writer of
course!. It would be interesting to develop
a back story and narrative, although the
viewer is deliberately invited to create their
own interpretation. So far I have finished 19
quirky animals but would love to create 100
eventually; so watch this space!---What would your advice be to an aspiring
photographer/digital photo artist?For me it was a revelation I could create
digital art even though I was a very amateur
photographer.Don’t get obsessed with taking the perfect
photo. It’s not necessary as it all changes and
may even virtually disappear after multiple
layers have been applied in Photoshop.Think of a photograph as the underlying
structure just awaiting you embellishment and