"The Wished For" Watercolour Painting, 2007 By Shelley Turner©
This painting measures about 3 ft x 2 ft. It took me about five years to complete, and was a labour of love. This painting is dedicated to my husband for the deep bonds we formed together while travelling in the South West of England for many years. Our companion was our terrier Peter, who you have already met in a detail from this painting on my Flickr gallery.
Even as a child I loved the Legends of Britain and I grew up reading about Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and their Quest to find the Holy Grail. Arthur’s advisor Merlin the Enchanter also fascinated me and when you add the Holy Grail and its possible location at one time into this mix of stories based in the South West of Britain I was always keen to explore this part of England.
If the Grail ever existed, and if it ever did come to England for safe keeping in the loving trust of Joseph of Arimathea not long after Christ’s death, it would have been a very simple vessel I am sure. Perhaps a plain terracotta bowl, or polished wooden cup passed around the table in the Last Supper, as Jesus shared his last meal with his friends and disciples, knowing that one of them would set in motion events that in many ways, had been pre-ordained.
For my version of The Grail that Merlin holds, I chose with a little artistic license, a plain pewter cup, but one that shone from within and with that iconic shape that we associate with a chalice of such importance. We all know that Galahad, [or Perceval, depending on which tales you read], as one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Tales of Arthur Pendragon, achieved the Grail, because of his innate purity, but I have this theory that Merlin knew where it was all along. He knew that the madness of searching for the Grail would never really achieve the healing of Arthur’s Kingdom, which had become a wasteland of in-fighting and mistrust, waiting yet again for the blood of the Fisher King to heal it.
The Grail is a symbol of what must be healed from within. Merlin knew that ultimately the Golden Time of Arthur would come to an end, but the dream would stay alive for centuries to come, so as the Grail glows with an inner light in my painting, the evergreen foliage of ivy and the yew starts to grow from Merlin’s body, representing the eternal Green Man. Other plants spill out from his robes; the Druid mistletoe, the apple of life and temptation, and the acorns of the oak tree, symbols of knowledge and wisdom. Insects, birds and even a toad are attracted to the regenerative qualities of The Grail that Merlin holds. The colours of Merlin’s robes are chosen with care, as they represent the elements of earth and water.
As we follow the hawk moth out through the ruins of the medieval Gothic window we encounter the element of air, and move through the seasons of autumn, winter, spring and into summer, where the skies clear above Glastonbury Tor. The Hawthorn of Glastonbury Abbey fruits and then flowers, finding its way back through the window and into the presence of the Grail. Merlin’s fate was also sealed with a Hawthorn tree, but that is another story.
The European Blackbird seen perched on a carved, yet living stand of box tree, is a play on the French language of ‘merle’ meaning the common blackbird [Turdus merula] that represents ‘The Merlin’, a nod to the Enchanter’s powers and also to his persuasive personality, which all shamans and prophets have, perhaps used as a kind of armour to ward off the unwary or any aggressive encounter.
All are attracted to the ‘fire’ within the Grail, the element that can warm and inspire you, but also destroy you utterly if used incorrectly. The fifth element of the spirit is in the question that Merlin is asking you to consider as his hand rests on a human skull, a symbol of death that is inescapable; the eternal life that the Grail contains is held in his other hand, which he appears to be offering up to you. Merlin is therefore allowing you the chance to consider a choice that will determine the outcome of the destination of your soul.
This painting was painted because for me, it also represented a golden time in my life, and since then I have sometimes been in some difficult and unchartered waters as we all often experience as we mature and age. I was not ready to return to this time of my life and share all the things that meant so much to me. But now, Merlin is speaking to me again, and this is why sharing this painting heralds the opening of my film archives, and all that gave me so much joy, and formed the person I am today.
Following this image of my painting on my gallery on Flickr, you will start to see the photographic film work that I pursued over many years. I am hoping to choose some examples that will breathe new life into The Matter of Britain, the Golden Time of King Arthur and the Quest for The Grail that has haunted and upheld me all my life, and I will gradually upload them on Flickr and my website as and when I can.
It is not just the landscapes of Britain that speak of a deep spirituality that still remains; of a time of kinship and common good that was held together by faith and decency of the common man - it can come again, because it is still there in all of us, wherever you are. You just have to believe it to achieve what we truly wish for.
Love to all, Shelley.
"The Wished For" Watercolour Painting, 2007 By Shelley Turner©
This painting measures about 3 ft x 2 ft. It took me about five years to complete, and was a labour of love. This painting is dedicated to my husband for the deep bonds we formed together while travelling in the South West of England for many years. Our companion was our terrier Peter, who you have already met in a detail from this painting on my Flickr gallery.
Even as a child I loved the Legends of Britain and I grew up reading about Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table and their Quest to find the Holy Grail. Arthur’s advisor Merlin the Enchanter also fascinated me and when you add the Holy Grail and its possible location at one time into this mix of stories based in the South West of Britain I was always keen to explore this part of England.
If the Grail ever existed, and if it ever did come to England for safe keeping in the loving trust of Joseph of Arimathea not long after Christ’s death, it would have been a very simple vessel I am sure. Perhaps a plain terracotta bowl, or polished wooden cup passed around the table in the Last Supper, as Jesus shared his last meal with his friends and disciples, knowing that one of them would set in motion events that in many ways, had been pre-ordained.
For my version of The Grail that Merlin holds, I chose with a little artistic license, a plain pewter cup, but one that shone from within and with that iconic shape that we associate with a chalice of such importance. We all know that Galahad, [or Perceval, depending on which tales you read], as one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Tales of Arthur Pendragon, achieved the Grail, because of his innate purity, but I have this theory that Merlin knew where it was all along. He knew that the madness of searching for the Grail would never really achieve the healing of Arthur’s Kingdom, which had become a wasteland of in-fighting and mistrust, waiting yet again for the blood of the Fisher King to heal it.
The Grail is a symbol of what must be healed from within. Merlin knew that ultimately the Golden Time of Arthur would come to an end, but the dream would stay alive for centuries to come, so as the Grail glows with an inner light in my painting, the evergreen foliage of ivy and the yew starts to grow from Merlin’s body, representing the eternal Green Man. Other plants spill out from his robes; the Druid mistletoe, the apple of life and temptation, and the acorns of the oak tree, symbols of knowledge and wisdom. Insects, birds and even a toad are attracted to the regenerative qualities of The Grail that Merlin holds. The colours of Merlin’s robes are chosen with care, as they represent the elements of earth and water.
As we follow the hawk moth out through the ruins of the medieval Gothic window we encounter the element of air, and move through the seasons of autumn, winter, spring and into summer, where the skies clear above Glastonbury Tor. The Hawthorn of Glastonbury Abbey fruits and then flowers, finding its way back through the window and into the presence of the Grail. Merlin’s fate was also sealed with a Hawthorn tree, but that is another story.
The European Blackbird seen perched on a carved, yet living stand of box tree, is a play on the French language of ‘merle’ meaning the common blackbird [Turdus merula] that represents ‘The Merlin’, a nod to the Enchanter’s powers and also to his persuasive personality, which all shamans and prophets have, perhaps used as a kind of armour to ward off the unwary or any aggressive encounter.
All are attracted to the ‘fire’ within the Grail, the element that can warm and inspire you, but also destroy you utterly if used incorrectly. The fifth element of the spirit is in the question that Merlin is asking you to consider as his hand rests on a human skull, a symbol of death that is inescapable; the eternal life that the Grail contains is held in his other hand, which he appears to be offering up to you. Merlin is therefore allowing you the chance to consider a choice that will determine the outcome of the destination of your soul.
This painting was painted because for me, it also represented a golden time in my life, and since then I have sometimes been in some difficult and unchartered waters as we all often experience as we mature and age. I was not ready to return to this time of my life and share all the things that meant so much to me. But now, Merlin is speaking to me again, and this is why sharing this painting heralds the opening of my film archives, and all that gave me so much joy, and formed the person I am today.
Following this image of my painting on my gallery on Flickr, you will start to see the photographic film work that I pursued over many years. I am hoping to choose some examples that will breathe new life into The Matter of Britain, the Golden Time of King Arthur and the Quest for The Grail that has haunted and upheld me all my life, and I will gradually upload them on Flickr and my website as and when I can.
It is not just the landscapes of Britain that speak of a deep spirituality that still remains; of a time of kinship and common good that was held together by faith and decency of the common man - it can come again, because it is still there in all of us, wherever you are. You just have to believe it to achieve what we truly wish for.
Love to all, Shelley.