Moon Wing - 2024

A watercolour and gold leaf series of paintings exploring my Celtic and Chinese heritage. Folktales and storytelling interplay with bird symbols from each culture.

This is a work in progress and there are 2 more paintings to come.

Click on the title of each painting to find Giclée prints in my Etsy.

Cranes and Stars

Chinese cranes swoop across a moon carrying golden stars in this folk-tale inspired painting. I created the original using watercolours, embellishing each painting with gold ink or gold leaf.

Owl Moon

A barn owl carries a golden swirling mass across the moon in this painting. I played with the belief that owls are the guardians of souls, transporting spirits to the afterlife in various cultures and folklore.

Murmuration

One of my annual adventures is to find the starling murmurations where I live in Yorkshire. The swirling mass of birds descending to roost is utterly magical, and I love how it marks each year for me.

Bridge of Magpies

When I was researching birds in Chinese folklore, I came across the Bridge of Magpies - a poem depicting magpies connecting lovers. Whilst they are seen as being sinister in European folklore, magpies are a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture.

Cassy Oliphant - Swans - German Etching A3 copy.jpg

Twelve Swans

Based on the Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, I drew on other variations of the story to inspire this painting, sewing gold necklaces into the paper and adorning them with golden crowns.