Paintings & Illustrations
I make paintings and illustrations in various mediums, but my favourite is probably the combination of fine-liners and watercolours. Sometimes I draw with an idea in mind, but most of the time I draw from what I’m feeling, and through this process I often work through difficult emotions or understand better what’s going on inside me. I like to draw in pen so that every mark i make is permanent. It forces me to work with the pictures rather than trying to control it.
Music Man
This was made as a gift for a very special person. His veins run with music in a really inspiring way. When he gave me a canvas as a gift it showed he acknowledged how important art is to me, I wanted to give something back that equally showed how I appreciate his passions.
Pen on paper. 2017.
'The Lights are on but no-one's home'
For me this picture represents the 'mixed states' I experience often, with Bipolar.
I experience mixed states often which can be a mixture of depression and hypomania at the same time, which is a very strange sensation to try to explain to people, but as I was nearing the end of this picture, it occurred to me that this is sort of how it feels. The lights are on inside me and I'm full of energy, ideas, inspiration, motivation, excitement, but I'm sort of trapped in the grey, heavy, depressive exterior weighing me down and not allowing me to execute anything.
But eventually the fog does lift and the windows open.
Watercolour and pen on Paper. 2023.
More information on Bipolar from @mindcharity :
https://www.mind.org.uk/.../bipol.../bipolar-moods-symptoms/
Lacuna
I see old houses like people, with different characters and stories to tell, weathered by life but still standing. This one for me represents change and a connection to the spiritual world.
Pen, watercolour & acrylic. 2017.
Baked
It’s scary to think about what the world might look like in the future.
Watercolour and fine-liners on paper. 2022.
Addiction
This picture represents, for me, not addiction specifically to drugs, but an addiction that can take over anything, given the chance. I find myself falling pray to addiction at times, but if it’s not drugs or alcohol, I get just as easily addicted to denying myself things, healthy fad diets, yoga or whichever new exercise I’ve found, food, my phone, netflix etc…
Pen, Watercolours & acrylic on paper. 2022.
Shiny
This picture started off as a doodle and as it progressed it gained various different meanings but in the end I’d like to leave this one to people’s own interpretations.
During a shakti energy healing meditation (with Claudine Sabet from https://www.awakenandheal.co.uk/ ) I recieved a message which was simply three words ‘Crimson, Gold and Glitter’ so I used these to help guide the colour palette for this picture.
Fine-liner and watercolours on paper. 2022.
Nightmares #1 - Butterflies
This is the first in a series of small, hand-drawn illustrations titled ‘Nightmares’. I’m using a list of prompts that someone posted online for a past ‘Inktober’. I’ve found that using random words or prompts can help me to get out of my head and expectations, and help keep my creativity flowing.
Fine-liner pens and watercolour paints on paper. 2022.
Forgiveness
This old house is full of mystery and intrigue, we don’t know how long it’s been there and what stories it holds inside.
The full moon is when the energy is at its highest and it bridges the gap between reality and the spiritual world so other beings can easily roam free among us. Each of these spirits represent somthing i needed to forgive and let go of.
Acrylic and ink on canvas. 2018.
Down the river we go
Dear, close friends of mine got married and we spent the week prior to the wedding sailing down the river on their house boat. My boyfriend wrote a song for them titled ‘down the river we go’ and after the wedding I collected the bridesmaids bouquets and dried and pressed the flowers to made this picture as a wedding gift.
Mixed media: Dried pressed flowers, acrylic, flour & salt glue mixture, thread, watercolours. 2020.
If you have flowers or plants for a special/ sentimental occasion and would like a picture made with them please contact me with your request
Ocean
This was inspired by a song called ocean from the artist Ren https://youtu.be/xoi7pI0zGPA
In hindsight I’m sure this was also inspired by the strange, seemingly never ending limbo we were all placed in during the pandemic.
Fine-liner pens and watercolour on paper. 2020.
What's she building in there?
This was inspired by a Tom Waits spoken word poem 'What's he building in there?' This was the first picture that I made as art therapy to myself. I changed the way I paint and draw to reflect my mental state and to create spontaneously and without a pre-concieved idea.
Pen and watercolour on paper. 2017.
The Weary Traveller
He roams foreign lands becoming more enriched with every new sight and sound. Listening to the haunting voice that whispers relentlessly, pushing him further and into deeper wisdom.
Watercolour and fine-liners on paper. 2019.
Sanitise your Heart
I had a dream that my heart fell out of my chest but was still attached by a few bloody strings. I was holding it my hands and panicking- not that it had fallen out, but about whether I had sanitised my hands before and whether my heart would become infected.
We’re being reminded constantly during this pandemic to wash our hands, carry sanitiser, wear our masks, but it is also important to look after our hearts.
Check in with yourself and your heart and be kind to your emotions.
Pen and watercolours on paper. 2020.
Midnight
Romance, magic and the comfort and illumination that the dark night brings.
Pen and watercolours. 2018.
Down the rabbit hole
I have bipolar disorder and ADHD and one symptom of both of these things is an over-sensitivity to all the senses. In spring particularly, I often feel as if I’ve taken psychedelics, as the noises, colours, light and sensations are so over whelming. It’s really fun at first - like free drugs! but it quickly gets very tiring and I find myself longing for the dark winter again.
Pen on paper, digital manipulation. 2020.
Can of Worms
I started this picture when I first started therapy back in 2019 and just finished it recently. It represents exactly how I felt around the time of my first session, like I was opening a can of disgusting, dark ugly worms and it made me feel sick thinking about it. I knew once I opened it there was no going back, and it turned out to be the best decision of my life!
Acrylics, pen and collage on canvas.
Luna Mountains Lino Print
Moon, stars and mountains lino print. This was my first Lino printing attempt (since college)
I made this during an occupational therapy session at a pain clinic I attended for a month to treat my fibromyalgia. Although I always make art, it did remind me that sometimes just making art for the sake of it - especially crafts can be a really important way to switch your focus from pain (be it physical or emotional) to somthing alive and flowing that doesn’t need an end goal or result.
Lino printing ink on paper. 2021.
Luna Mountains Lino Print
Moon, stars and mountains lino print. This was my first Lino printing attempt (since college)
I made this during an occupational therapy session at a pain clinic I attended for a month to treat my fibromyalgia. Although I always make art, it did remind me that sometimes just making art for the sake of it - especially crafts can be a really important way to switch your focus from pain (be it physical or emotional) to somthing alive and flowing that doesn’t need an end goal or result.
Lino printing ink on paper. 2021.
Loki
This picture has no explanation or specific meaning. I called it Loki after someone I met who loved this picture so much and spent hours looking at it and laughing. They made reference to the little guy fishing a piece of pizza off the moon, I pointed out that it was actually a human heart, but I liked the difference in view! You can tell so much about a person through our individual interpretations of art, pictures and symbols.
Pen and watercolours on paper. 2017.
Lance your wounds and let the colours flow
Just as you need to lance an infected wound to release the pressure and pain, you should also lance your emotional wounds. Instead of bottling up painful feelings and emotions, stick that knife in at the start, bear the sting and see how our pain transforms into strength, beauty and colour.
Pencil, pen & watercolours. 2016.
A Place for me and no-one else
This picture was made from a feeling that the world was getting a bit too much. I just wanted a place where I could go to and hide that was away from the world where no-one and nothing could get to me. I didn't want to disappear completely but I just wanted to 'be' without having to explain myself or accommodate anyone else.
Pen on paper. 2016.
Home is where the Budhilde is
My boyfriend had lived with me in a community but had to move out and was feeling a little lost and homeless, so this was to represent that wherever he goes is home, like a snail carrying everything on his back, and that no matter where he is, all of us (Budhilde) are still with him, still family and still home.
Pen & watercolours. 2018.
In a nutshell
The feeling of wanting to be alone, and put the world on pause.
The mysterious sky always reminds me that whatever the problem is, its minuscule in the grand scheme of the universe.
Pen on paper. 2017.
Awakening
This was the first drawing I made on returning from a long travelling trip during which I'd made a lot of spiritual practices and released my creative block. The feeling was about being in a state of limbo, in-between different realities and having too many people want to help me, or wanting me to explain myself or watching and judging and just wanting to be left alone to figure things out in my own time.
Pen, pencil felt tip pens and chalk on paper plus digital manipulation. 2016.
Pink
The emotional parasite delicately whispers into your thoughts. This was inspired by a quote from Eckhart Tolle - although visually you might not guess this!
Pen, felt-tips and watercolours on paper. 2018.
Unt-eye-tled
I believe in being in the present, although its not always easy, and sometimes the mind gets stuck in the past or the future, but it can be helpful or even comforting to recall some of those memories and influences.
Pen and watercolours on paper. 2017.
Lunartics
We think we know what's going on with the moon, we blindly accept what we're told, but do we really know? Is it not a little ignorant to think we are the only life in this giant universe?
When I feel consumed by bad feelings, often looking at the moon in the night sky helps me to feel calm and remember how small my problems are on the grand scale of things.
Pen on paper. 2017.
Jealousy
Jealousy can sting, it can be dark and explosive, but if we let it, it can also be a useful tool.
If we can withstand the pain a little and allow it to break some barriers, it can be an indicator of our feelings. It can show us what is important and what we hold dear. If we can hold strong through the storm then we are rewarded with fresh, light air and a peaceful calm.
Acrylic on canvas. 2018.
Self portrait
I started with this as the first of a series of self portraits as a practise of self-love and acceptance
Pencil on paper. 2016.
For requests of drawings or paintings from a photograph contact lunarbonesart@gmail.com
Ghost Town
Only a trace of whispers left behind.
I love derelict houses so much because their bones hold so much experience, stories, life. Weathered by time, crumbling with the weight of past experiences and lack of support or care, but still leaving a strong impression.
Pen and watercolours on paper. 2019.
Day Trip
This was made as a present for my brother to capture a memory. Digitally made from a photo I took of him. In the background is some borrowed imagery from ‘The Big Lez Show’ of which my brother is a huge fan. Leading him on his journey is his cat Gups.
Whenever I make a piece of art as a gift for a loved one, it just falls out of me with so much ease, love is the greatest motivator!
Digital art using Affinity Photo