~ Tree of Ages ~
The Tree of Ages is a massive oak, stood alone on top of a ridge. It is at the centre of all life and of all stories, with each root, branch, and leaf representing a different path. Constantly growing through the ages for all eternity, it is at the centre of the world. It records the beginning and end of all life.
In Irish mythology, trees are a connections to the our ancestors, their deep roots reaching down into the depths of the world, forming a connection between our world and the spirit world. The oak tree in particular has a special significance, as the daur (door), to the Otherworld. From this place the faeries emerge and dance and play music.
The tree sits amidst a protective stone circle that wards off evil, protecting the doorway to the faerie world through which the faeries emerge, dancing and singing with their music. At the centre of the tree, guarding the entrance sits an icon of Cernunnos, the horned god, radiating with life-giving magics.
The tree has many mushrooms blooming out of it, referencing their duel-role as transformers of the old and deceased, and as the seeds of new life. It is also a reference to the symbiotic relationship these organisms can have with their hosts, enlightening them with wisdom and nutrient, as well as protecting them from harm.
It is surrounded by personifications of the seasons, an everlasting cycle of states that make up a tree’s yearly cycle. In the spring, new shoots sprout, eer representing the fertility of spring, the dog of the summer hunt, the waterbird, or swan, hails in the coming of the rains, and the hawk, the death of winter.
~ Rebirth ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed’
– Antoine Lavoisier
~ Tree of Ages ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 500mm
‘We are all but recent leaves on the same old tree of life and if this life has adapted itself to new functions and conditions, it uses the same old basic principles over and over again. There is no real difference between the grass and the man who mows it.’ – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
~ Going Up! ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasamgate Bodhi Svāhā’ (Gone gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment hail!’) – Heart Sūtra mantra
~ Levitating Sacred Dimensions ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘When the light turns green, you go. When the light turns red, you stop. But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?’
– Shel Silverstein
~ Path to Enlightenment ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘The path to enlightenment is really very simple – all we need to do is stop cherishing ourself and learn to cherish others. All other spiritual realisations will naturally follow from this.’ – Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
~ Spirituality ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘The opposite of spiritual is not material but egotistical.’
– Michael Pollan
~ Peace ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.’ – Thich Nhat Hanh
~ The Seven Chakras ~
Watercolour & Pen
500 x 700mm
‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.’
― Albert Einstein