Celtic
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1741 creative works found
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went to the Brecon Beacons in South Wales at the weekend and photographed these beautifull, mystical trees coverd in moss and lichen. They inspired me to do a bit of artwork :-) Doorway comes from St. Konan’s Kirk, Loch Awe,Scotland
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Watercolor on watercolor board, original sold. I’m honored and happy to announce that Imber has selected this image for the Pay It Forward group. This is what Imber wrote: ” “I wish I could have painted it!!!!!!!!!! She is so talented!!!!!! All those explanation marks made me laugh – its so nice to be appreciated now and then, isnt it? Thank you, Imber! Im a sinsere when I write that this was a great surprise and really made my day, and week. Everybody, click on the link and check out Imber’s beautiful imagery!!! Rhiannon is a Welsh goddess known by many names and in many manifestations, associated with light, summer, warmth, abundance, white horses, and birds to name a few. She has many faces and turns up again and again in the great mythic cycles for she is the primal force of nature and life itself. One of her better known manifestations left the realm of Fairie and her marriage celebration with a god in order to elope and wed a mortal. For this she was banished from the fairie dimension, lost immortality, and most of her powers. Still, Rhiannon maintained some relationships with the Fae,small birds, and wild creatures. If you’ve read the Mabinogion, you know she kept herself focused and centered during the many dark years that followed,never abandoning hope. The shadows in the painting are included because as we live, we acquire knowledge of what dwells within those shadows. Like the fairies, shadows may appear to be one thing and later prove quite another. Passing through dark forests in life sometimes leaves us bitter or unteathered spiritually, we might feel aimless, frustrated, or angry. Holding sacred the inner heart light enables us to take both the bitter and sweet of our existance and expand inner vision by seeing beyond our immidiate needs and sensations. Life can and will still hurt, very much so at times, but rather than destroy us the experience can prove transformative. The white dove is sacred in many spiritual traditions, and is included because she’s also associated with Rhiannon (and Aphrodite). Behind it burns the inner fire of Rhiannon’s being. Text and image copyright Helena Nelson -Reed
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A montage of my photographs, the traditional Scottish Croft was photographed on the magical Isle of Ulva, Scotland and the woods were photographed on a misty morning in July on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.
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I AM HONORED AND WANT TO EXPRESS MY GRATITUE TO ARTIST AND MUSICIAN DONALD DEAN FOR SELECTING THIS PAINTING AS HIS PAY IT FORWARD CHOICE. TAHNK YOU SO MUCH, DONALD. YOU ARE A TALENTED ARTIST IN YOUR OWN RIGHT AND A SWEETHEART TOO! HERE’S WHAT DONALD WROTE ABOUT THIS IMAGE” / “Its asking a huge amount to nominate just one artist amongst all the fantastic work on the bubble, but in order to perpetuate the group you need nominations. If I have to pick one artist who i find inspiring it would have to be Helena nelson-Reed. Now there is the even more difficulte task of nominating just one work amongst all her magic. Well,l let me tell you I’ve been back and forth through all her paintings on bubble several times and i choose The Hollow Hills. The imagry and delicays are mesmorising. Every time you view this piece you get something different from it and her explination just adds. I find with all her work a deep spirituality that comes through the painting and without knowing it invades your soul but also her warmth of character i believe shines through her work and for me after a difficult decision this painting captures all of those qualitys. I cannot express enough just how much her work moves me i think it comes down to the fact that not only does Helena create magical images she infuses the work with such an underlying philosphy that you cannot but be moved by her work.” Celts believed (and many still do) that earth is alive, intersected by a web of energy currents, or ley lines. The concept is similar, but not identical to the Chinese tradition of feng shui. Shorelines, hilltops, groves, wells, springs, and burial mounds (cairns) were believed to serve as points of entry into the fairie world. On certain dates the portals are either wide open or entered easily when the traveler used the correct incantation or ritual gesture. During Samhain veils between dimensions were thought especially thin, a time when spirits and ghosts may entered our world with ease. Samhain was a ritual period when one’s dead were honored and restless souls placated. Depending on the community, it could be a time for casting fortunes and auguring. Sensible folk stayed indoors close by the fire, for strange mischief was afoot and mysterious energies rode the winds. For mortals, crossing dimensions wasn’t without danger. The risk included not returning to one’s original place in time and geography with body, mind and soul still intact. Many entered faerie and never returned. Others returned but lost their minds along the way. Examples of some mythic imagery and personal symbolism follow. On the left side, is a faerie hill, the entry to Faerie. The woman represents the intuitive self, or soul, and the hill is the unknown. The entrance is luminous and beckons in the dark. At night the wilderness can be mysterious and frightening, it’s easy to get lost. Setting out to find a Hollow Hill and doing so with only stars lighting the way infers the traveler is serious about his/her quest, and is brave (or foolhardy) enough to take risks. Birch is a word descended from a Sanskrit and Indo-European word meaning “bright” and “shining”. Some state it’s directly derived from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning “to protect or shelter.” For this reason birch trees protect and disguise the entrance. Their bark is shining in the night, indicating no ill will befall the pure of heart who enter here, but to survive and avoid being lost the traveler must stay focused upon her goal, just as she will this distant light in the darkness. She might detour or tarry along the way, but it’s frightening, difficult journey that purifies and strengthens the spirit, not the destination or Fairie itself. We can’t reach The Hollow Hill without first undergoing The Quest. Text and Image copyright Helena Nelson – Reed
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Poulnabrone dolmen is a 5,000 year old portal tomb in the limestone Burren area of County Clare, Ireland. The dolmen consists of a massive flat capstone supported on several upright pillars, and would originally have been covered by a mound of earth. Archeological excavations found several traces of human remains at the burial site, which now stands as a stark reminder of an ancient civilisation. Looking back through the mists of time, who knows what ancient religious rites took place at this barren and windswept scene? Winner of the Heritage in Stone group challenge Stone Circles and Standing Stones.
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Inspired like a lot of my work, by the book The Secret Garden. I am facinated by / the notion of secret doors which may lead to magical experiences or new adventures.
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Inspired by the beautifull song of the same name by Enya. Several of my own photographs merged together in photoshop CS2.
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Watercolor on board, colored pencil. Ravens are intellegent, interesting birds with distinct personalities. Last year I taught a watercolor workshop in Yellowknife NT, 100 miles south of the arctic circle, a place that must be the raven capital of the world. Many women I met there also like them and had stories illustrating just how special these corvids are. Raven flies through the spiritual traditions and myths of Celtic and First Nations peoples. Sometimes with positive associations, other times not, depending on the culture telling the story. This painting was created a few years ago and the exerpt is taken from the portion of my notes describing the way I personally relate to ravens. My father died a few months ago, prior to that he was cared for by my mother and myself, with home health (hospice) nurses coming by every three days. Watching a loved one slowly depart mind and body over a course of days, weeks, months and even years is something many women (and men) are doing these days. Our children grow up, but within a few years we begin caring for aging parents. This painting celebrates not only raven and the waning moon, crone phase of life but the way observing the decline and death of loved ones can sober a person. We look death straight in the eye, realizing that the empty darkness within the skull’s socket is our fate as well. This realization, once it hits you in the gut, is strangely liberating and can shed new light and perspective. Sometimes, at the end of those long days taking care of dad and witnessing all that transired, I’d stand outside in the Texas night. I’d breath in the cool, cedar scented air, gaze up at the moon and try to process it all, just like the woman in this painting. “From birth, when we enter the world of light, until death, when we journey outward through the center of the Big Dipper and onward to the land beyond the pines, women own the power to perpetuate tradition and culture. Worldwide, regardless of patriarchal society’s efforts to negate, steal, and belittle this truth, woman is the cohesive balance within the family. Our caring hands deliver new life, and often escort life out of this world as well, when we care for and accompany our dying relatives to the very end. Our love and actions weave the strands of life within family and community into a cohesive net. When society convinces us otherwise, or prevents women from doing so, the net frays and unravels. The burdens are often heavy, yet women endeavor to perpetuate their powerful role within family and community. All women are sacred, carrying within the promise of future generations. Nothing and nobody can take this away. “ Text and image copyright Helena Nelson -Reed. Please do not use without written permission.
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Lady of the Wildwood portrays the second, mother aspect of the Great mother (virgin, mother, crone) and is based on ancient Celtic myth and spirituality. When creating her I incorporated an alchemical formula for gold (wholeness and balance), a form of blessing on anyone who studies the image and the places where she hangs. Most of the elements represent images of alchemical symbols used during the early Dark Ages. Her consort is the Stag King, another painitng on my Red Bubble page. Here’s a portion of the material I’ve written about her: “I am the feminine spirit of the wildwood; past, present, and future. I sprout the fertile acorn, guard the pregnant doe heavy with fawn, and personify life energy emanating from the primordial forest itself. Withing my womb you see the Royal Child, my future dancing baby. We represent a visual doorway opening into the circle: embrace the poetry of my closed system in which all is connected, the great web of creation is my being. Nothing is simply a thing; all has life and properties of its own. Beware; don’t make the mistake of assuming this doesn’t exist. Think of the pentagram and its five points: the elements of earth, water, fire, air and the fifth essence, ether (the quint – essence); life quality made by a sentient, universal creative force. Pale and luminous against deep forest shadows, I am light itself, ruling the kingdoms of nature. My heart glows with life, rosy with health. Within the shadows are my creatures, my beloved hares and deer, birds and salamanders, all composed of graceful, vine – like patterns. This represents their wild environment and interconnectedness. You can understand me on many levels, all true, for I represent Queen of Fairy, the feminine energy of the wild and untamed wood. The Lord of the Wildwood, masculine energy perfected and personified, is my consort. I am the goddess in her guise as Earth Mother and protect the feral and freeborn. I am metaphor and allegory for certain truths, yet just as easily convey a personal meaning only you understand”. Text and image copyright Helena Nelson-Reed. Please don’t use without written permission.
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Watercolor and pencil on drawing paper. “My people are the Tuatha de Danann, and I’m the lover of handsome Caoimhin, he of the long, curling locks. Bored with those around me, I fell for this wild man. Driven from my land of Fianna for wanton behavior he was immoral even by our lax faery mores, but when he held in his arms, I cared not. And so I left the fairy dimension, accompanying him to the human world. We made love and laughed by the sea without cares until one day the magical wave sent by my father, Manannan Mac Lir swept me from mortal shores. I’d fallen asleep and was napping on the warm sand and pebbles of Glendore Bay in fair County Cork, when it caught me unaware. Trapped in its swift undertow I was returned to Fianna. For such and more I’m now a goddess of the otherworld, afterlife, and physical beauty, a goddess of the sea, often called the ruler of the waves. Fairy humor! For who knows better than I the sea’s great strength, the myriad hidden paths meandering beneath the western oceans, and that there is indeed life after life after life? From my lover I learned the deception of fair appearances, a graceful wave’s hidden power, ways of crossing one realm to another and back unseen. While forbidden to leave Fianna ever again, there are secret ways by which I travel to the earthly dimension, my still body lying as if asleep while spirit flies abroad. Often I don the guise of sea bird or shapely earth woman accompanied by three brightly feathered birds. These magical little creatures are always with me, and I feed them apples plucked from the World Tree that grows in the Otherworld. Their sweet singing charms the ailing to sleep, and waves of healing wash away pain and sickness while they dream”. Text and Image copyright 2007 Helena Nelson -Reed. Please don’t use any part or form without written permission.
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SAMHAIN / Entry for The Spirit Walks contest / (Halloween , All Hallows Eve, All Souls Night) Celtic New Year / Beginning of Winter Festival of the Dead,ruled by the Crone aspect of the Goddess. Now in her wise woman aspect she returns to the underworld with the energies of the earth to rest and digest the years growth and lessons.The nights grow longer in the dark grip of winter untill the Sun is re-born at Yule (Winter Solstice) and the Goddess will return re-newed and virginal at Imbolc (Feb 2nd)
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I love hornets, I don’t like being around them but I’ve always thought that there are much worse jobs if you have to be reincarnated as an insect. / Nobody messes with a hornet. I was thinking of the Book of Kells when I got the idea for this. I worked for about a month burying small details in it so it’d be a decent conversation piece. 100% from scratch in 3DsMax and PS Add theyellowfury to your watchlist / Image copyright © 2008 Simon Deevy. Copying and displaying or redistribution of this image without permission from the artist is strictly prohibited. Closeups / / - /
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The magnificently situated Eilean Donan castle on the shores of Loch Duich, Western Highlands of Scotland. Most famous for being featured in the film ‘Highlander’ in the 1980’s
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The complete and real title is : “Poupée – InnerSelf”. I asked to myself : Stars… They bright the sky, our eyes, our mind & soul. They are inside of us. We always look for them, for these glimpses of lights and happiness. / Do we really know ourselves? / Do we realize that we have all of this inside of us? / What are we in fact? / As we don’t really look in the correct place, we don’t really know ourselves i decided to ‘almost’ delete the face. My gallery is Copyright © Wandering Soul. All rights reserved. / All the materials contained in my gallery may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my written permission. My images do not belong to the public domain. / Please read the Etiquette Policy and respect it! / Modifying, tubing, cropping, using it for letters or stationeries, layouts, backgrounds, stock, copyrighting, stealing my work is not only against the law but unethical. / Altaring or using without express written permission is stealing. View More ART here!
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ORIGINAL FOR SALE $2800 plus P&H From the original Mandala, acrylic 100cm x 100cm with metallic and glitter overlays. The Hallows of Ireland The Morrigan – Samhain / Triple Goddess; Great Queen; Warrior Queen; Queen of War and Death; Shapeshifter (Raven/Crow); Protector; Goddess of Fertility / Bearing Claiomh Solais (The sword of light and death) / Wife of The Dagda The Dagda – Beltane / Master of Magic; Fearsome Warrior; Skilled Artisan / Guardian of Coire Anseasc, the never empty cauldron with healing powers / Master of the Harp / Husband to The Morrigan / Son of Danu / Father of Brigid Brigid – Imbolc / Exalted One; Bright Goddess; Goddess of healers, poets, smiths, women; Keeper of prophecies and dreams; The Flame of Ireland; Keeper of sacred wells and sacred earth; Goddess of Spring / Carrying Brigids Cross; Keeper of Lia Fail, the stone of destiny and coronation Danu – Lughnasadh / Great Mother; Goddess of faery ways; Goddess of fertility and wisdom; Goddess of Imagination; Earth Mother; Matriarch of the Tuatha De Danaan; Goddess of wealth and abundance / Carries the Spear Luin, the spear of might and light I never know where these Mandalas come from… All I know with this one is that I woke up one morning and The Morrigan was standing at the foot of my bed and the entire image was in my head and I just had to paint it… Now it sits on my wall and I look at it and wonder… Recently, while looking at this mandala, I saw that the big oak trees painted either sides of the four figures were forming the shape of the celtic cross underneath the sun cross… the more I look at this mandala, the more comes to me. I woke up one morning and came out into the kitchen just after I had finished this work and the rainbow was spot on the stone of destiny! It was goosepimple stuff, I tell you! The spirits walked my house that morning! These big powerful mandalas are connections… connections with spirit, connections with others, connections with myself. My ancient celtic ancestry is in full bloom… ALL RIGHTS RESERVED! Please DO NOT COPY this picture. It is protected in more ways than one… Cheers:) Marg
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The Morrigan is the Celtic Goddess of War. She has the power to decide who lives and who dies Pastel on Black Canson Paper
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More to see and buy at my website at www.celtic-photography.co.uk
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A witch travels through the doorway into another realm
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Just in time for St. Patty’s day. / In Canada, Saint Patrick’s Day is an official holiday only in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Text inspired by the Dropkick Murphys song.
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The mysterious and ancient Rollright Stones in the depths of Oxfordshire, England. Photographed on a misty, frosty afternoon a few days before Christmas. A Robin came and sang to me….
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You never know what you might find deep in the woods!
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/ The Morrigan is a Celtic goddess of battle, strife, and fertility. Her name translates as either “Great Queen” or “Phantom Queen,” and both epithets are entirely appropriate for her. The Morrigan appears as both a single goddess and a trio of goddesses. The Morrigan frequently appears in the ornithological guise of a hooded crow. She is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann (“Tribe of the goddess Danu” or the land of the Faries) and she helped defeat the Firbolg at the First Battle of Mag Tuireadh and the Fomorians at the Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh. She is often read about in books that are about the Fae. She appeared to the hero Cu Chulainn (son of the god Lugh) and offered her love to him. When he failed to recognize her and rejected her, she told him that she would hinder him when he was in battle. When Cu Chulainn was eventually killed, she settled on his shoulder in the form of a crow. Cu’s misfortune was that he never recognized the feminine power of sovereignty that she offered to him. She appeared to him on at least four occasions and each time he failed to recognize her. 1.When she appeared to him and declared her love for him. / 2.After he had wounded her, she appeared to him as an old hag and he offered his blessings to her, which caused her to be healed. / 3.On his way to his final battle, he saw the Washer at the Ford, who declared that she was washing the clothes and arms of Cu Chulainn, who would soon be dead. / 4.When he was forced by three hags (the Morrigan in her triple aspect) to break a taboo of eating dogflesh. / / Resources: Background: Funky Terrain by MatrixStock http://matrixstock.deviantart.com/art/Funky-Terrain-2-72714593 and Misty Ocean by LucieG-Stock http://lucieg-stock.deviantart.com/art/Misty-ocean-1-104660883 Woman by dazzle-stock http://dazzle-stock.deviantart.com/art/No-Sleep-For-The-Wicked-108278956 Crow brushes by lugubrum-stock http://lugubrum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Lugubrum-stock-crowbrush-53834827
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