COURTNEY DAVIS SACRED ART
Your consciousness can change the consciousness of others
ART 1995-1999
KING ARTHUR'S RETURN 1995
Paperback Published by Cassell
King Arthur's Return was another co-project with Helena Patterson and combined images from the earlier Symbols Of The Grail Quest written by Ian Forrester Roberts and the Arthurian Zodiac that never got published, plus a selection of other Arthurian images I had created over the years.
BOOK OF CELTIC SAINTS 1995
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
Celtic Saints was the first book from my split with my business partner and with it the loss of all my previous work in settlement. With the advance on the book I had a purpose built shed made as a studio and purchased an Apple Mac computer with the idea of using it to help create Celtic designs. This never happened and even today, its all worked out in pencil as I was always to busy to study how to work with it.
People think that my art is created in some idyllic state and even though each day I was overshadowed by Merlin, my outside world was mostly traumatic.
While working on the book, a couple turned up who were moving to Chicago and they wanted to promote my art. After my recent episode with my ex business partner I declined 3 times. Eventually I said yes and Articulture was formed and this led to a Courtney gallery in the center of the City of Chicago.
CELTIC IMAGE 1996
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
By the time I started on Celtic Image I had was pursuaded by my new agents I needed to move to a bigger property that had a room I could use as a studio, so the shed I had built was left behind in the old property.
A fellow Celtic artist David James lived not far from my home in Abbotsbury.On the times I met David he always reminded me of a Hobbit. He lived alone, living and creating his art and a small magazine in a very small secluded cottage.
David had written a foreword to my first book The Celtic Art Of Courtney Davis, so was a joy to work with him on Celtic Image.
This period also saw my first website www.celtic-art.com.
CELTIC MYTHS CELTIC LEGENDS 1996
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
Celtic Myths began after moving from Abbotsbury to a converted farmouse that was listed in the Doomsday Book and my studio was a very draughty medieval Tythe barn.
I was now making regular trips to the States promoting my books and attending openings of my art exhibitions at the Articulture Gallery in Chicago.
It was
CELTIC ORNAMENT- ART OF THE SCRIBE 1996
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
I was creating one of the pages of this book, when I remembered something that Marshal Lever a teacher I was studying with had told me years before I started creating the books. In a private sitting he mentioned that I was burned at the stake at the time of the Cathar's for creating books that were not in line with the Church's beliefs, and here I was going through that same journey again. In this present incarnation I had certainly gone through physical attacks in the early Merlin days in Saffron Walden from those who believed I was working with Satan because of the art I was creating, even though its source was the old Gospel books. I even had a church praying for my soul in Cornwall. I obviosly never learn.
CELTIC WOMEN 1997
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
Celtic Women was written by Lyn Webster Wilde and I remember pursuading the publisher to illustrate this project. I had already created created a cover design and felt a strong passion to follow it up with similar goddess art. I was very disapointed once I got the contract and saw the book text, as the illustrations needed were mostly of a dark nature than an uplifting one.
CELTIC PILGRIMAGES 1997
Hardback/Paperback Published by Cassell
Pilgrimages was a project with Elaine Gill who worked with me on the Celtic Saints and the Saint Patrick , and Celtic Verse and also David Everett.
CELTIC ILLUMINATION The Irish School 1998
Hardback/Paperback Published by Thame s & Hudson
Most of the books I created on my own never needed too much research, Celtic Illumination was very different. I had a broadband line installed in the barn for web access. Thankfully this was a time when the web was becoming very useful for research and I managed to borrow some very precious books from Southampton University, some were nearly 2 foot in width with beautiful illustrations that were not seen in other publications. Trinity College in Dublin sent me a complete photocopy of a Psaltair associated with Columcille, traditionally called the Battle Book of the O'Donnells, the book was carried into battle.
I was very pleased with the finished work.
ST. PATRICK / A VISUAL CELEBRATION 1999
Hardback Published by Cassell
This book began to form while I was doing promotional events in Chicago, New York and Boston. I was staying with Father Dennis O'Neill at his church in Chicago, although busy with his duties he still took time to show me around the City. One of these visits was to the highly Celtic decorated Old St. Pat's Church. They were looking to commission a Book Of Patrick to be filled with names of parishioners past and present, by donation.
The book commission never materialised, but the mock up I had created as an idea, later took the form of Saint Patrick a Visual Celebration. It was a time when the Merlin connection was particularly strong and we would often finish a page a day.
CELTIC BEASTS 1999
Hardback / Paperback Published by Cassell
While working on the book, Celtic Beasts, with Father
Dennis O’Neill in 2000, I was guided to include a great
deal on the shamanic nature of some of the early Celtic
saints. That influence stayed with me and in 2007 my work began to move into a more a more shamanic form of art and the impression was that this was under the guidance of Grey Wolf. This period also saw an old friend come back into my life called Shining Bear who I had worked on a Finn McCool movie project with a few years before. While the influence of this new energy only lasted a few weeks, the Shapeshifter painting would be the first in a series when Grey Wolf returned in 2006.
RENEWAL COLLECTION
In late 1997 I was recovering from my second spine operation and loosing my business and art to my ex manager, I decided I needed to reclaim the energy at least from my lost work. The background to this intention was the fact that it was almost impossible to walk as my body healed and a continuous series of death threats to myself and my family from a business partner with very dark friends. I decided that I would create 5 paintings that would draw in the elements from many of the most popular lost works, the new art would be the 60 x 40 cms in size, much bigger than my usual A3 illustrative work for the books.
Labyrinth was the first and looking back it really feels it captured the reclaiming of my power with the energetic support of the Mage, Merlin. The new art became totally consuming and I worked night and day, completing, then moving directly on to the next painting.
It was the most traumatic, painful and overwhelmingly creative time of my life and it was in a period of less than a month . It became a very reflective time while engaged on each piece of art and my intention slowly changed from resentment to a sense of releasing.
The labyrinth with its constant twists and turns came alive inside me, I could continue to live in a space of indignation at what the Universe had handed to me or reflect on the new art and its beacon of new hope for a better future. Resting in the hands of the Beloved, that all is as it should be was a better option to kicking and screaming at the quality of the path being traveled.
Finn Mac Cumhail was the second piece of art, an earlier version of the image was part of a series I created as a story board for a movie project that sadly never happened.
Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html
Golden Cup was the third painting in the series and quite special to my heart. Looking back it feels like a a glimpse of things to come, 21 years on. My wonderful life now here on Tara, seems overflowing with goddesses both on the physical and ethereal realms.
Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html
Epona was the fourth painting, the original artwork was from the Book of Celtia back in 1994, a publication I was very proud of. You can view more of my art at www.courtneydavissacredart.com Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html
God is Love and God is Light
The painting came from one of my first attempts at art in 1977 while looking after my mother after my fathers death. I had visited a pointillism exhibition in London and it fired my imagination to try it out myself. I revisited the art in 1994 for my Art of Celtia book as a coloured version. The original inspiration came from an experience in the hospital after my first spine operation. Though in a great deal of pain, there was a real sense of being cradled and protected by unseen forces. It was from that experience that I dedicated my life to re-connection with the Beloved.
Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html
Fusion was the sixth painting, the original artwork was from the Book of Celtia back in 1994. It portrays the fusion of the pagan and Christian religion..
Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html
The painting Awakening was a celebration to my partnership in The Gallery Of Secrets, in Bridort in Dorset Uk in 1997. There was a large space on one wall that needed filling and so over one month Awakening was birthed. No sooner it was completed the whole venture was dissolved and lost pretty much lost control of my business again.
Thankfully kept hold of the painting and a customer who had regularly visited the gallery to view my progress, bought the painting.
The closure of the gallery totally changed my life and slipped into a very deep depression for a time. I discovered a book by Paul McKeena how to change your life and began playing the cd that came with it constantly. I downloaded it onto a small MP3 and played the track wherever I went. I took a few weeks but one day realised that I was singing in my head and had moved from the constant gloom.
I remember a quote from somewhere " I am never in control of what happens around me, but i am always in control of what happens within me" pretty well sums up this period.
Music by Michael Law www.synfinity.eu/synfinitymichael.html