Artwork description:

"Staircase to The World" Mermaid etching combines organic and architectural elements such as the Art Nouveau wrought iron staircase. The Victorian dolphin lamppost found on the South Bank near the Hayward Gallery.


I have always had romantic associations with the sea ever since I was child and have, throughout my life as an artist produced a great deal of fantasy art. I have a particular fondness for mermaids and fairies -something that has also stemmed from childhood which has remained with me ever since. I have derived my inspiration for these etching from illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Aubrey Beardsley and some of the Victorian fairy painters such as Richard Dad. I also derive a great deal of my inspiration from Gothic and Eastern Architecture as well as from Gaudi (Spanish architect) and other organic, Art Nouveau influences.I use crosshatching to explore space, perspective, contours, organic and architectural structures, textures and curves as well as Escher like concentric and geometric designs.

For a detailed description of the process of etching, please refer to my monochrome "Sea Spirits" etching: part of the mermaid series.

Materials used:

Original hand drawn line etching on zinc inked and pressed onto paper.

Tags:

#decorative #surreal #surrealism #fantasy #underwater #surreal art #ethereal #psychedelic #dreamy #dreamlike #subconscious #quirky #under the sea #surrealist #psychological #ethereal art #psychedelia #art nouveau #surreal'