Strength and Determination

Hi everyone - yes once again it's been a long time between posts. I haven't created much art recently, and I'm not big into making New Year resolutions, but I am going to try and endeavour to create more art this year. If I do, I of course will keep you updated so cross your fingers for me. Perhaps you could also check back every now and again, or drop me a note to encourage me too!

Another area that I haven't done much of recently is write. I love to write. For me it's just as valid an outlet for expression as drawing, playing guitar and I'm an avid book reader and song lyric listener fan as much as one of art.

If something gets stuck in my head and rattles around and won't get out, writing it down in some form, whether prose or a poem, seems to exorcise the daemons! I'm not comparing myself to Blake or T.S. Elliot - I'm more like Pooh Bear or Dr. Seuss when it comes to verse and I'm somewhat rusty with it too. But, I had a bee in my bonnet and needed to let it out, so here's me just getting it out there.

I am me by Angela Cutler

To be as me as me,
Took a very long time.
I am what you see,
What else could I be?

I struggled a lot,
The path that I trod,
I’d pause to take stock
Searching like Sherlock.

I got there you know,
Discovered my truth,
I go with the flow,
Not one to follow.

I’m happy it’s true
To know that I’m me,
I can’t be like you
With your differing view.

Take what you see,
No sliding scale of
Christianity!
Accept me for me.

You tell me you’re right.
I know my own mind.
I’ll put up a fight,
I may not be polite!

Don’t say I’m misled,
Don’t want your doctrine.
I’ll look straight ahead
Feeling quite liberated!

My heart is my own,
In that I delight,
Love I’ve been shown,
Bright like a gemstone.

I’m glad to be me,
Be all that I am,
I’m finally free,
Living my reality.

So as you can see
I’m really alright,
Cos I’ve found the key

To be as me as me. 

Copyright 2017 Angela Cutler

Sleeping Ferret Prints Available

Fine Art Prints Now Available on Etsy

Thank you to everyone who liked my drawing of the sleeping ferret. As I received such a positive response, I have made an Etsy listing if you'd also like to own Ruckus! In order to keep the integrity of my work the prints are professionally Giclee printed on fine art paper and I have to say the quality is astounding. I actually prefer the prints as there's a little more contrast and the art paper is a little whiter than my original and there's no graphite shine. The prints are available with off-white card mounts and fit into a standard 10" x 12" frame.

I know there's a lot of art lovers out there...and ferret lovers - this would make a fantastic gift.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/289866403/sleeping-ferret-drawing-giclee-print

Mounted and framed original drawing of Ruckus Ferret Sleeping

Creating a Ruckus!

I'm an animal lover, well perhaps nature enthusiast might well be a better description. I've always loved being outdoors and as a child growing up I loved all the nature that lived around me, avidly watched 'Life on Earth' on BBC TV and always had a wistful Disney-esque hope that I could surround myself with animals that would feed out of my hand or not run away when I approached them. Living in the suburbs of London that only really limited me to sparrows, ducks and the neighbourhood cats which were willing to come close for a pat or food. Now that brings me onto the topic of pets. My parents weren't pet people, nonetheless, my elder brother's resourcefulness for 'not pets', meant we grew up with his small menagerie of frogs, toads, snakes and lizards and escaped crickets that would chirrup in his bedroom that were dinner for his 'not really pets'!

Click on images for larger version.
Completed graphite and water colour pencil drawing.
Ruckus ferret sleeping © 2016 Angela Cutler

So now I have my own proper pets what did I choose? I don't remember where or why, but there has always been one animal that has fascinated me from the age of about 10. I must have seen it on TV and then there was a book in the local library which I looked at repeatedly. This animal was then certainly on the 'not really a pet' category as it was then the preserve of old men in flat caps 'up North'! However it captivated me with its cheeky bandit mask, slinky long body and intelligent beady eyes. Of course, it was a ferret and in those days they were a working animal and had a reputation for fierceness and being somewhat malodorous. People didn't keep them as pets, until much later when they did!

Paw detail.
Ruckus ferret sleeping © 2016 Angela Cutler

Light Space & Time - updated

Special Recognition Award From Light Space & Time Art Gallery

I am so pleased to announce that I have been awarded with 'SPECIAL RECOGNITION' in the Painting & Other Category by Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery for my art work 'SING FOR THE SUN'. This was my first foray into art competitions and I am just so surprised and happy to be placed, and I am hoping this will help me gain increased exposure for my art and for myself as a serious artist. As an emerging artist who has yet to sell or exhibit my work - it means so much to receive such positive feedback whether it's Google+ likes, comments or in this case to be placed alongside many other talented and experienced artists.

My art work 'Sing for the Sun' has been awarded with Special Recognition
from Light Space & Time Gallery's Sept 2014 'Nature' competition.

Hidden

The Mighty Wren!

The wren is the smallest of garden birds, yet for its size this diminutive avian has, gram for gram, the loudest voice! Quite surprising!

As I was contemplating the subject matter for my next art work, I was thinking of drawing something dramatic like a wolf, or admired in the UK, like a fox. However, a series of personal events occured during this period that made me look hard at a few matters in my life. The most significant being that a good and dear friend passed away suddenly. Whilst dealing with my grief, it made me look at what's important in my life and re-prioritise a few things and then quite unexpectedly, I had the vision of a little wren hiding in the hedgerow and I knew this had to be the subject matter of my next work.

Hidden © 2014 Angela Cutler

At the time I didn't know why I should draw a wren as it seemed the farthest away from something large, mammalian and dramatic; but the image seemed burned into my mind so I went with it.

When I start a new piece I have an idea and it just feels right for that moment. I often have a clear idea of how I want the main pencilled image to look, but not always a clear idea of the background. For this piece, I knew that I needed to have the little wren hidden away in the undergrowth as is their natural nature to do. Apparently, they are one of the most common garden birds, but due to their tiny size and secretive natures, we don't often see them. We only notice them by their very loud, shrill warbling song.

My little wren coming to life. ©2014 Angela Cutler

Earlier this year whilst on holiday in Somerset, I took several photos of the spring flowering hedgerows as they were so pretty and delicate. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to incorporate the hedgerow plants in my drawing as I didn't want it to become too busy...it could be easy to over-power the little wren. I just wanted a hint of hedgerow so I drew a few pretty campions, grass and a fern - just enough to give a flavour.

This picture was a little bit of a departure for me, as with my last drawing - Sing for the Sun - I added a hint of colour to the pencilled bird and I was aware that the flowers made putting in the background a little trickier. I wanted the feeling of the bird hiding in the darkness of the undergrowth, but with the light from outside filtering in...perhaps even calling to him to come out.

Wren study © 2014 Angela Cutler

It was then, only once I finished the drawing and even a week afterwards, that I realised what the meaning of it is. Sometimes, you need to step out of a life situation or out of what you are or have become, to chooose between the dark and light or perhaps out of a situation in life that arose, make your voice heard and stand up for what you believe is right and make that change! But I am just as happy if you see my drawing as a pretty wren in the hedgerow.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the little wren and my background narrative. Please Like on Google+ or leave a comment.

Magnificent Me - Kids Yoga Book!

All I have to say is 'We've done it!"  Along with the author Dawattie Basdeo and me as the designer and illustrator, it taken us a year and a half of hard work, but finally we have our Kids's Yoga Activity Book and our Kid's Empowerment Cards ready for sale!!! And we are so proud of what we've achieved and hope you'll love them for your kids too.

Our book is called, 'Magnficient Me, Magnficient You - The Grand Canyon (ISBN: 978 1 78279 8194)', and is released for worldwide sale through Amazon and other retailers from December 2014 as a paperback and eBook (RRP £5.99). Published by Our Street Books.

Here's what MELANIE LEE, a yoga teacher had to say about our book: "I felt the book was imaginative and informative, there was a clear story that flowed. Lots of visual aids which are so important to children and there was a good balance of emphasis placed on postures and breathing and meditation Loved the affirmation. Personally speaking as a teacher this book would fit in with many areas of the curriculum. Thanks for a good read".

Our affirmation cards are called, 'Magnificent Me, Magnificent You - Empowerment Cards' and are available initially through Holistic World Online Shop and other retailers like Amazon Marketplace soon (RRP £12.99).

Sing For The Sun

 'They sing only for the sun, so I am told, These little wonders, in gleaming gold'.

As I grew up in suburban London as a young girl, I developed an interest for the wildlife around me. I became fascinated that in this urban landscape of tarmac and brick, birds and animals lived happily alongside. We had a small garden and my mother would throw left-over scraps of bread out for the ubiquitous sparrow and on Sundays she'd leave out on the lawn our discarded chicken carcass until all the garrulous neighbourhood starlings had picked it bare. Birds for me in my urban landscape for the most part were made up of these commonplace, noisy squarking avians, and of course pigeons.

© 2014 Angela Cutler. Sing for the Sun. Pencil, acrylic and oil pastel on paper.

Being the yougest of three children and a girl, I wasn't allowed out as much as my older brothers, I seem to remember that a lot of my time was spent gazing out of the windows at the world outside that was denied me. One of my brother's had an ever-changing hobby interest and for a short while he joined a respected UK birding organisation and became a 'RSPB Young Ornathologist', and it was quite a responsibility to have a hobby that consisted of five syllables at the age of ten! So rather than lobbing scraps on to the lawn, he made a bird table and made very serious notes of all the different varieties of birds that visited our garden...which as noted above was quite a small repertoire.

The Hare and the Midnight Moon

It seems that many cultures are fascinated by our long eared lagamorph friends, more commonly known as rabbits and hares. And I too, hold a fondness for rabbits, having kept one as a pet as a child and being familiar with their rabbity cuteness in the fields around where I live. But where did my reverence for the hare in nature and mythology come from? I've very rarely seen hares in the countryside, and the few times I have been so lucky, I've felt that I've been witness to something very special. Especially so because of their secretive natures, that they usually live in rugged countryside and the rarity of numbers in England...but is there more to it?

© 2013 Angela Cutler. Let Your Light Shine. Pencil, oil pastel, acrylic on paper.

Perhaps it's because the hare has become part of our psyche imbued with spirituality since ancient times, not just in the UK, but across the world and in different cultures. The hare has been revered and associated with the moon, as it has been noted that there is a hare shaped shadow on the moon itself and also because of their nocturnal nature. The hare is a mysterious creature and so many legends and myths abound with it often symbolising growth, rebirth, new beginnings and good fortune.

Art Goes Pop

Recently, I rummaged in my old bedroom at my parents and found two books of music album artwork; I hadn't seen them in about 25 years! But they really took me back to my childhood and the enthusiasm I had even back then for graphic art - I used to LOVE browsing through those catalogues looking at the immense variety of styles and art. What always jumped out at me is how music album art was so immediate, so 'in yer face' and was/is designed to grab your attention immediately. It's so crass - there's no subtley.

Album Cover Album book by Paper Tiger

Diving Down Deep

Immersed! Keep staring at this painting, pull yourself towards it, feel it surrounding you, fall into it and drown in its depths. This is my intention for painting this abstract, that you might experience what I feel when I close my eyes, pray, meditate and reach my spirit and mind outside of me and find that connection to God. My experience that I am trying to portray, could I suppose be called transcendental.

© 2012 Angela Cutler. Immersed. Oil pastel and acrylic on paper.

Whilst the painting is only roughly A3 in size, when I look at it I really want the painting to be enormous. Something I could step into, that I could turn around and see it all around me, above me and below me. But if I look at it and close my eyes, I can still feel my original thoughts from when I was inspired to paint it, and this is how I imagine it to be.

This is one of my early attempts at exploring art and media by just letting whatever I feel for that moment develop on the paper. I start off with a thought, an expression of me in time, and I allowed that to flow through me. I don't really know what the end result is ultimately going to be and by half way through I think I've probably messed up, although I do try and not be judgemental about what's appearing. However, by the end, somehow it's coalesced into something quite dynamic. I'm trying to keep my mind out of the process and just express from my heart; and I find I'm surprised each time!

Twilight Flight

Escaping the Twilight Zone

Here in Britain we've been experiencing one of the wettest winters in 100 years. Winter had seemed to be never ending - the dark days, even darker nights, chilly temperatures and above all rain, rain, rain and more rain. We have been deluged. With the rain came overcast and continuous days of greyness with hardly a spark of sunshine breaking through. It's hard to get through winter that have been as long this one. It made me think of struggle. More immediately, those struggling with floods and its after-effects and the heartache it causes or those struggling with other internal emotions that through their own darkness often can't see the light. Sometimes, I myself, feel like I'm living in twilight - never quite reaching the joy that I believe should be in my life. But I do try and my faith pulls me along and constantly my heart is drawn to God's light.

© 2014 Angela Cutler. Twilight Flight. Pencil, oil pastel on paper.

I live just outside London, on the edge of the countryside and one dark night driving along a country lane bordered by fields I saw a ghostly waft of white feathers silently flit across the road infront of me and then to land as light as a dancer on a fence post. It was a barn owl. As quickly as she had flitted across the road, I had sped past, but the image and the beauty, once again. was ingrained on my mind...and in my heart. Even if it was only seconds - it was a moment of sheer beauty and delight.

On Wings Like Eagles

When I started this blog early last year I had intended to update it regularly with many of the paintings and drawings I had started to create. However, as is usual other things in life seemed to divert my attention, but I promise to update far more regulary from now on. For those who like some background, I had spent the last 20 years working in a stressful professional environment as a graphic designer and internet administrator with a long and tiring commute in all weather on public transport. All my energy seemed to be spent focussing and then recovering from my daily grind and although I tried not to, health issues started to compromise my life and I came to a realisation that something had to give. At one point, I thought it was me...I had come to the end of my physical tether. I have always been a very independent woman brought up on the good old protestant work ethic, but after much soul searching I decided to quit my career, downsize and change my life. I am very fortunate to have a very supportive husband who for years could see my creative spark which for me had been lost through administrative tasks, reports, budgets, corporate graphics and deadlines. He encouraged me to take this sabbatical and re-ignite the spark!

On Wings Like Eagles © Angela Cutler

I didn't know at that point almost 2 years ago now, if I still could draw or paint or even if I have the creative vision or enthusiasm to do it having not done very much at all in the interim. And in actual fact, I found the 'idea' of starting quite daunting...what if I failed? There was only one thing to do and that was to try. I started out not even knowing what materials to use...paint and if so what type, pastels, pencil, large, small. I didn't know. So I just started off with what I had in the house - pencils, pastels and some craft paint. I started to find pleasure in the process without worrying about what the end result would be. I was encouraged to see some lovely abstract art works appear which I found very satisfying as I felt they were expressing a little bit of my private feelings. I will post some of these early faltering steps soon.

Christmas Time is Hare Again!

I apologise for the terrible pun, but I'm feeling in a Christmassy mood and have painted a few little canvas's. My brother gave me a pack of tiny A6 canvas boards for my birthday earlier this year - and at first I didn't quite know what to do with them...A6 is really, very, tiny! My preferred medium is acrylic - it just so happened that I had bought quite a lot of it and oil pastels, and both don't really translate to...tiny! So I kept the canvas's for a time when inspiration struck.

Hare running in the snow - December 2013. Acrylic paint on A6 canvas board

Drawing on the Magnificient

I started my blog earlier this year with the intention of regular entries showcasing some of my artworks with some personal musings - however, I do realise there's been somewhat of an hiatus. In early spring, a friend asked whether I could illustrate a children's book that she had written - she explained her intention with the book, and naively, having never illustrated a book before, I said yes. Without previous experience, both of us really didn't understand the magnitude of the undertaking at the time - literally it has taken us all summer...and autumn!

Magnificent Me, Magnificent You - The Grand Canyon

A Children's Activity book. Front Cover.

Click on the images for larger versions.

She initially saw my drawings/paintings and liked the way I worked and felt we would make a great team for her ideas. I work from the heart and explore love and light, and her ethos is to support children both physically and spiritually. She focuses on well-being through yoga - not just bendy stretches, but healthy mind, body and spirit. I always feel that any focus on health through any tradition has to be good thing, but because of my beliefs, we agreed that there would not be a religious aspect to what we did.

Illustration for The Grand Canyon children's book

I instantly loved her book's storyline, ethos and idea. The story focus's on twins Crystal and Leo who have a wishing mirror that transports them to a new place and follows their journey of discovery, not only of themselves, but of the world around them.  They learn about spiritual traditions from different cultures and discover how to bring these practices into their everyday lives.

Artists, Exhibitions and Inspirations

So, yes, I realise that there's been a bit of a hiatus between my last entry and this. So I best get on with things then...

I've been checking out other artists and open exhibitions within the locale as I'm interested to see the type of work that's out there and how my art compares. Today I visited the Herts Visual Arts (HVA) Summer Exhibition which is held in Harpenden, a very pleasant leafy Hertfordshire town in England, UK. So not only did I have the opportunity to peruse art and chat to artists - I also enjoyed lovely afternoon which absolutely required a visit to one of the charming pubs in the area!

Of Tides and Currents

The weather in England is so changeable, that's why us Brits are forever discussing the weather as a topic of conversation - it becomes part of who we are - forever ingrained in our cells. I visited Pembrokeshire in Wales, UK recently, and true to form the weather changed day to day and unfortunately for me, not for the better.

The Wave © Angela Cutler 2012

Pembrokeshire is a lovely part of Wales - mostly quite rural with small towns and some picture postcard seaside towns like Tenby. However, the draw for me is St. David's on the farthest south-western point jutting out from the peninsula. St. David's, the place, is so called due one of the holiest men of Wales and their patron saint, born at about 500AD. An historic cathedral was built in his name and in its time was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Christendom. That all has past, but the cathedral still stands and attracts a host of tourists from around the world. A little further out, off the beaten track, if you care to explore is the supposed spot that he was born and raised - a small chapel sits here named after David's mother, St. Non, as well as a sacred spring whose water's are said to heal the sick.

St. David's, Pembrokeshire © Tony Crook

Even after all the centuries have passed, here you still feel the past pushing against the present; fervent Christianity has waned here, belief in saints and healing water are now no more than curiosities. However, the area is so steeped in its history that you can still feel this exude from the granite it sits on. When I visited, the weather closed in, the sky turned grey, a stern breeze blew and it rained and rained. Far from putting a dampener on my holiday the weather somehow lent an ethereal feel to the place - the light was not just grey, there was a shifting of subtle hues which gave rise to a mood that almost made you feel time could shift easily and magically from the present to the past. There was nothing else to do with my time here except explore and when the weather further closed in, sit quietly and allow the atmosphere to soak in. It's little wonder this area draws so many artists to live in or paint the place. As I sat on the headland being somewhat battered by the weather, I could not help but feel imbued with the history and rugged beauty surrounding me.

A Walk on the Wild Side

I am the flame. © Angela Cutler 2013

I have always had a connection with nature. As a kid I would be fascinated by whatever I could find in my garden - what we as adults find ordinary, was extraordinary to me then. I even remember as a toddler sitting watching ants industriously scurry by, I'd watch spiders spin webs and wrap up flies, I'd try and find caterpillars, so that I could put them in a jam jar and watch them turn into hard, crusty crysalis's; then transform into butterflies...mostly 'cabbage whites' as I recall. I was just amazed by the enormous variety of life and lifeforms, of colour, of everything living. I have two older brothers who brought home a plethora of unusual pets - grass snakes, toads, lizards, stick insects. As I grew older, I'd watch and feed the garden birds and then later, we did have some more usual pets - a goldfish from a fair, a mouse saved from a zoological supplies shop, gerbils and fancy rats; we never had a dog or cat. I would also watch all the David Attenborough nature programmes on TV, read natural history books too and my favorite place to visit was the zoo - I got to be pretty knowledgeable about the flora and fauna around me. Much later, I almost read Ecology at University rather than Art. Almost.

Glastonbury - A Kind of Magic

© Angela Cutler. Out from the darkness, May 2013 

Anyone who has visited Glastonbury, UK, knows it's a spiritual mecca for an eclectic mix of everyone for many centuries. The history of the area goes far back in time to prehistory and myth. There are links to King Arthur who is said to be buried in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey which is now remains in ruins - how true that is I don't know, but it's always been good for the tourist trade. Other myths say that Joseph of Arimathea visited the Isle of Avalon (Glastonbury) and stuck his staff into the ground so that every year an unusual thorn bush blooms out of season. There's long been a reverence to female Goddess power linking it to the landscape and two famous springs adjacent to each other flow with red iron infused water and the other with fresh clear mineral water.

A Zen Inspired Logo

So I hope you have noticed the header for my blog with its new logo for Soul's HeART. What else could I design except a zen-inspired circle. The circle is such a universal symbol of life, of the Universe, of wholeness, unity and of something without beginning or end. I try and paint from a place of feeling hence the heart, so I blended the two together to create my new logo.

The Kimpton Art Fair and is Art Fair?

The art fair had some notable local and regional artists and some of the pieces were very obviously professional artists and their reputation well deserved. Other art pieces were by keen and enthusiastic amateurs and it's good to see that they supported the local community and weren't put off by thinking their art was not deserving enough to be there.