Isis in Villa Magante

Since I've been in the Dominican Republic I've been focusing my work on larger pieces. Isis is the first finished piece, standing at 40cm tall! She was found on Hastings beach on 21st May 2012, on a slightly cold, but hopeful spring day.

Hastings beach, down by Rock-a-Nore.  The tide is out and I'm ready for the driftwood!

Isis in the raw. 

I wanted to leave the impression of her hair, with just the hint of a pattern in the wood, leaving the rest to the observer's imagination.  Below is Isis in the Caribbean sun, miles away from where she was found, and bringing together three different cultures, from three continents!

So what do I know about Isis, well she's the Egyptian Goddess of magic, wife and sister of Osiris, and is also the namesake of the River Thames as it flows through Oxford. A lot of the iconography associated with the story of Isis and Osiris can be found in early Christian religions, where the figure of Isis suckling her son Horus, was transformed into the figure of Mary holding the baby Jesus. There are other striking similarities between the story of Jesus and that of Osiris and Isis as they both contain elements of death and rebirth.

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Lysithea

Photos of my new lady, Lysithea.  She's finished, and I'm now working on her presentation box.  Part of the inspiration for the story behind her name, is J.M.Waterhouse's evocative artwork, 'A Mermaid', and then following the art trail, Tennyson's poem, 'The Mermaid'.  I'm planning to to a bit more research on Waterhouse and the locations he used for his seascapes, which evoke so many memories of my own seaside walks.

Lysithea; 24.5cm High. 

Lysithea, detail.

Date with the early evening light

Determined to take a few photographs of one of the beaches I go to collect driftwood, and other objects left by the sea, I ended up reaching the beach off of Rock a Nore in Hastings after the sun had set.  I had lost the light, but I persevered with my camera and ended up taking one or two OK shots, capturing the atmosphere of the early evening.

Looking over towards Fairlight.

Rock a Nore beach, catching the fading light.

Along the beach I started to see bits of driftwood, a fantastic surprise, as Hastings beach is not that good for driftwood.  So in the fading light I took photographs of these pieces, and collected them as I went.  To begin with I could see the wood clearly, but as I was retreating to my car, the light had faded so much I didn't have a clue what I was picking up!  At least, I knew it was wood ;)  This really added to the experience of searching for wood to carve...it was exciting to open up my bag the next day to see what I had picked up!

Now the fun of looking for the wood, and becoming more aware of the beach surrounding, becomes part of the process of creating the finished piece.