GUEST INTERVIEW: FANTASY ARTIST JOSEPHINE WALL

THE SPIRIT OF FLIGHT by JOSEPHINE WALL

This week we are excited to share with you an interview with one of our favorite Fairy artists,

 JOSEPHINE WALL

"From childhood, Josephine has had a passion for light and color, fantasy and visual storytelling. Her enchanting and detailed images flow freely from her fertile imagination in an endless cascade of ideas. Jo uses her favorite subjects; fairies, castles, children, butterflies, magicians and mythical figures, to draw her audience into colorful paintings filled with hidden images embedded in the intricately  detailed scenes."*
Kirks Folly has had the pleasure of adapting one of her most popular fantasy paintings, The Spirit Of Flight into a collection of jewelry and accessories. We recently had the opportunity to work with Jo again on a second collection inspired by her painting "The Phoenix".
 We are extremely pleased to have Josephine as our guest this week. Please welcome her warmly as she shares the inspirations for her magical artwork. Welcome Josephine Wall, and thank you for agreeing to be our guest this week. Let’s get started.

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND "SPIRIT OF FLIGHT"?
Ever since I was a young girl I have always been fascinated by the idea of being able to fly like a bird, and often dreamed that I could.!  With "Spirit of Flight" I have tried to portray the joy and exhilaration of being able to soar high and view the world from above.

The Spirit of Flight Necklace designed by Kirks Folly

WHO IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE AND WHAT DOES SHE REPRESENT?
The central figure represents the love of movement, and freedom.  The Spirit of Flight, the force responsible for the powers of movement of the wind and air, has gathered around her all the flying things she loves. Birds, insects, flying fish, swirling leaves, seeds of dandelions and sycamore trees, butterflies and fairies all dance around her in a grand array of wild free motion.

WHY DID YOU USE THIS PIECE AS THE COVER OF YOUR BOOK, IS IT YOUR FAVORITE?
I used this piece as the cover of the book, because it is the painting that (more than any other) people associate with me.  It seems that no matter what product is made using my work this one is always first choice - it gets on everything.!!  It has been on cards, puzzles, journals, mugs, posters, tiles, bead designs and of course your beautiful jewellery - it seemed an obvious choice.  Although it has brought me lots of luck over the years, it is not necessarily my favourite, as I have quite a few "favourites". 

THE PHOENIX by JOSEPHINE WALL

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND "THE PHOENIX"?
The Phoenix inspires me because of the wonderful story - "Rising majestically from the flames, this colourful and proud Phoenix embarks on his journey through the world. As he will live for 500 years or more he will travel to all corners of the earth and see many wonderful sights before returning to his nest to be consumed by fire and be re-born to continue his journey".  One of the first presents I gave to my husband was a silver phoenix to wear around his neck - we both think that it keeps him from harm..!! 

The Phoenix inspired necklace by Kirks Folly
To view a larger image click here

CAN YOU GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
At the moment I am working on a commission for a beautiful model living in California whose favourite Indian Goddess is Lakshmi.  I have tried to make her look as magical as possible with all the correct objects in each of her four hands.  She is in a lovely garden together with her guardians - four white elephants, and two white tigers.  There are too many other images in the painting to mention here, but when it is finished it will on my website.

WHERE CAN OUR READERS SEE MORE OF YOUR WORK?
www.josephinewall.co.uk has hundreds of images grouped into 'Fairies', Goddesses', 'Surreal', Zodiac, 'Air & Water' and of course my 'Latest'.  www.josephinewall.co.uk  
https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheOfficialJosephineWall.  
My gallery is in Poole, Dorset U.K. and all are more than welcome to view as many as 30 originals plus close to 100 limited edition prints.  I could also arrange to meet them and say hello.

Looks like we’ve reached the end of our time together. Thank you again for this wonderful interview, Josephine. 
Readers, be sure to visit Josephine Wall’s website to see more of her astonishing works. And if you are in the U.K. don’t miss an opportunity to see her original works. Light and energy simply emanate from her paintings!

Until next time…

“SPARKLE THE WORLD”

CONGRATULATIONS 

TRACEY MCCARRIHER of Corapolis, PA

the WINNER of our MAY 2014 Drawing!

Tracey, Please email us @236helenjane@gmail.com, 

so that we can get your beautiful Mother of Dragons Necklace to you.

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THE ORIGIN OF MOTHER'S DAY

The ancient Greeks were among the first to pay tribute to mothers. Their spring festival honored Rhea the mother of all Greek Gods, sometimes known as Cybele and often depicted as a Mother Nature figure flanked by lions. 

But the precursor to the American holiday, Mother’s Day, was called Mothering Sunday and was praticed  in medieval times. During this holiday on the fourth Sunday of Lent, Britain servants were allowed to travel home and spend the day with their mothers. 

The modern Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis.  Anna admired her mother, Ann Reeves- Jarvis who had tended to the wounded during the American civil war and later became a community activist. When young Anna was twelve it is believed that she heard her mother pray that one day there would be a day honoring the mothers everywhere for all their good works. Anna never forgot that prayer and when her mom died in May of 1905 the plan for a holiday was born. On the second anniversary of her mom’s death, Anna held a church memorial dedicated to her mother’s good deeds. In May of 1908 Anna held another memorial and handed out white carnations, her mother’s favorite flower.

Shortly after she contacted philanthropist and Philadelphia department store owner, John Wanamaker and they formed a Mother’s Day committee in hopes of honoring all mother’s all across the nation. 

In 1910 West Virginia became the first state to observe the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. After a fierce letter writing campaign using the argument that most all holidays were male-based, Anna got Congress to federally recognize the holiday. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill that made the second Sunday in May officially Mother’s Day. The holiday was meant to be spent in church, after which sons and daughters would write loving letters to their mothers. Carnations were worn that day, pink or red honored living mothers, white honored mom’s who had passed.

As the years passed, more and more carnations were sold. By 1920, greeting card and candy companies got into the Mother’s Day biz. Anna was not happy with the commercialization of the day and spent the rest of her life attempting to have it removed from the American calendar. 

But thanks to Anna's love of her mother, millions of moms receive love and attention on Mother’s Day.

We wish you all a Happy Mother’s Day…

“SPARKLE THE WORLD”

Leave us a comment if you'd like a chance to win our May giveaway drawing. Click here for details. 

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From the Design Room: GRIFFIN, SPHINX or WINGED LION?

From our design workshop we share another piece from our mythology collection, our majestic Winged Lion necklace.  While our inspiration comes from our love of all winged creatures, we have noticed that the line between fantasy and mythology is becoming blurred.

Celestial Winged Lion by Ye Cheng Hong

Digital artists, gaming developers and Hollywood increasingly draw on the world of myth to stimulate our interests. And television series are following suit with shows like HBO’s Game of Thrones (fictional historical fantasy) and the History channel’s Vikings (fact-base Norse mythology fantasy) meeting great success even as smaller networks find audiences for shows like Sinbad (Middle East/Persian mythology) and Atlantis (fictional fantasy based on Greek myth).

Fashion also has tossed repeated nods to mythology this decade. Labels from Alexander McQueen to Karl Lagerfeld have drawn inspiration from Greek mythology and with the success of Dolce & Gabanna’s 2014 Olympus collection, expect to see more mythology-inspired trends popping up in everything from scarves to footwear.

Greek Sphinx

As we researched our Winged Lion design, we were surprised to find that the Sphinx, the Griffin and the Winged Lion are often interchanged, and offer this clarification.

 Sphinx: In Greek mythology the Sphinx has the head of a woman, the body of a lioness, the wings of an eagle and a serpent-headed tale. In Egypt most Sphinx have a human male head and the body of a lion but have no wings. Variations of the Sphinx spring up in historical records of almost every culture. 

Griffin

Griffin: Generally Griffin have the body, tail and back legs of a lion and the head, wings and front talons of and eagle. While popular in Greek art, evidence points to Ancient Persian and Egypt as the originators of this mythical beast. Griffin were known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. 

Venice film Festival Winged Lion

Winged Lion: These creatures appear just as their namesakes. They are lions with wings, and serve as "streng of the lion" protective talismans. But often the griffin and the winged lion are interchanged. The origin of the winged lion is said to be Persia and Babylonia, where they are called shedu and lamassu and protect households.

But many depictions of these two creatures have the head of a human and refer back to a version of the Sphinx. 

We were able to find images of true Winged Lions in the Lion of Venice, the symbol for Venice, Italy and we also found a World War II protective medal depicting this powerful creature.

When all the research was said and done, we designed our Winged Lion Necklace to be an undeniable classic and graced it with a timeless elegance that hints at the enchanted myths of old and new alike. We really enjoyed creating this piece and feel it offers a unique addition to our Kirk Folly  fantasy jewelry collection.

 Please share your thoughts on this design with us and continue to...

“SPARKLE THE WORLD”

P.S. Don't forget Mother's Day is  next Sunday, May 11, 2014

Leave us a comment if you'd like a chance to win our May giveaway drawing. Click here for details. 

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